Environment
Need some good news about the environment? The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.
Rhino conservation success: Global populations surge to 27,000
In an encouraging turn of events, the worldwide rhinoceros population has defied the odds and demonstrated astonishing indications of recovery. These magnificent species, which once numbered approximately 500,000 in Africa and Asia in the twentieth century, have suffered grave threats from poaching Read More...
How swimmable cities could change the face of urban cooling
DECEMBER 21ST, 2023 UPDATE: This solution is a Reader’s Choice selection of 2023! Thank you for nominating the solutions that left you feeling optimistic this year. Swimming in floating pools in the Hudson and East Rivers was formerly a popular way for New Yorkers to escape the oppressive Read More...
Harnessing nature’s cooling power: US announces $1.13 billion investment in urban trees
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack of the United States presented a game-changing plan to address record-breaking heatwaves and climate change. This effort, which will receive $1.13 billion in competitive funding, aims to plant trees in metropolitan areas across all 50 states, Washington, DC, and Read More...
A massive solar farm rises from a former landfill in the United Kingdom
The Ockendon solar farm, the third largest of its kind in the UK, is harnessing the power of the sun on what was once a bleak trash site in Essex in a revolutionary feat of eco-reinvention. The waste management company Veolia infused new life into this unexpected environment, where more than Read More...
A baby beaver sighting heralds the reemergence of California's beaver population
Bill Leikam, the president of the Urban Wildlife Research Project and fondly known as The Fox Guy, recently had a revelation while analyzing film from a wildlife camera along a Palo Alto creekbed. Amid the familiar wildlife, an unfamiliar creature darted across the screen. Leikam, a seasoned Read More...
Innovative “self-cooling” walls address rising temperatures
This year, Houstonians witnessed their city reach a searing 109 degrees in late August, tying a historic temperature record. Temperatures rose beyond 100 degrees for the duration of the previous month, underscoring the critical need for creative heat-resistance measures. The problem is keeping Read More...
Water purification revolutionized by a sustainable 3D-printed "living" material
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, made an astounding discovery that could change the way we deal with water contamination. They developed a revolutionary "engineered living material" that promises not just effective pollutant removal but also sustainability and Read More...
Sharks and hurricanes: How do marine predators cope with storms?
Hurricane Idalia wreaked havoc in Florida last Wednesday, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake as a powerful Category 4 storm. Homes were swamped, highways transformed into rivers, electricity lines were downed, and at least one person died in a traffic-related tragedy. Humans, with our Read More...
Flora, fauna, and funga! UN advocates for new turn of phrase in conservation discourse
The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) argued for the inclusion of fungi in conservation debates alongside flora and fauna so that fungi are “recognized and protected on an equal footing with animals and plants in legal conservation frameworks”. This shift in perspective Read More...
Representatives from 185 countries establish the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund
Amid mounting worries about the health of our planet's ecosystems, delegates from 185 countries gathered on Thursday, August 24th in Vancouver, Canada, for the Global Environment Facility's (GEF) Seventh Assembly to declare a critical step forward. They presented the Global Biodiversity Framework Read More...