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.
Nepal’s tiger population nearly doubles due to wildlife conservation efforts
The number of tigers roaming Nepal’s southern region has doubled since the country signed the 2010 Tiger Conservation Plan. Wildlife groups and conservationists have welcomed the news as a sign that political involvement and innovative conservation strategies can reverse the decline of the Read More...
New scientific finding could help stop global decline in bee populations
After carefully investigating the main causes behind the drastic decline in global bee populations, researchers have finally managed to wrap their head around why the pollinators have become so vulnerable to pesticides in recent years. The study has unveiled that the main problem is actually tiny Read More...
Tanzanian government offers special protection status to one of its forests
The government of Tanzania has granted special protection status to one of its forests after research showed that it was on the brink of destruction. The woodland is home to a recently discovered species of chameleon and threatened animals including bush babies and elephants. The environmental Read More...
The plastic-free businesses are thriving amid the global environmental crisis
While many consumers are changing their personal relationships with single use plastics, bringing a reusable bag to the grocery store can feel futiIe in the face of the globe's consumption of 300 million metric tons of plastic each year. In the wake of the global anxiety about climate change, an Read More...
Country diary: what happens when nature takes back control
About 15 years ago livestock grazing ceased in this field, on the southern edge of Blaid’s Wood, two miles south of the city center. An aerial invasion from wind-borne tree seeds followed, and ash, silver birch, alder, and willow seedlings appeared everywhere. The bird-sown seed of bramble, Read More...
Climate change is pushing giant oil firms to spend more on greener businesses
Some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world are increasingly investing in greener and more sustainable business ventures. Such investments follow the growing concern of governments about climate change and the high possibility of them imposing stiffer taxes on carbon emissions. As a Read More...
New plant-focused diet would ‘transform’ planet’s future, say scientists
The first science-based diet that tackles both the poor food eaten by billions of people and averts global environmental catastrophe has been devised. It requires huge cuts in red meat-eating in western countries and radical changes across the Read More...
We can turn the whole economy carbon neutral. Here's how
If the world is to meet the Paris climate agreement objective of limiting global warming to well below 2° C, it will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy and industrial system to net zero across the world by around 2060. That is undoubtedly technical possible and at a relatively Read More...
French court cancels Monsanto weedkiller permit on safety grounds
A French court canceled the license for one of Monsanto’s glyphosate-based weedkillers on Tuesday over safety concerns, placing an immediate ban on Roundup Pro 360 in the latest legal blow to the Bayer-owned Read More...
Solar farms could help reverse the alarming decline in pollinators
Researchers see potential in planting more wildflowers on solar farms to help reverse the worrying declines in bees, butterflies and other key pollinating insects observed in recent years. Solar panel sites are expected to take up six million acres of land before 2050. Scientists see this as an Read More...