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.
This solar-powered bike path lights up at night
Biking has found a resurgence across the world, leading countries to better the infrastructure that surrounds bikes. Having lanes designated solely for bikes in one way of encouraging bike use, but another much more spectacular way is to roll out a solar-powered bike path that glows bright blue at Read More...
First U.S state to vote on implementing carbon tax
Voters in Washington state will decide on implementing the first direct carbon tax in the U.S. on the burning of fossil fuels. The bill would make polluters pay for their carbon emissions, encouraging business to conserve or switch to clean energy while raising money for green initiatives. The Read More...
Paris allows anyone to plant an urban garden anywhere
Paris just passed a new law that allows anyone to plant an urban garden within the city’s limits. Upon receiving a permit, gardeners can grow plants on walls, in boxes, on rooftops, under trees, or on fences. They can cultivate greenery in front of their homes or offices. They can grow Read More...
America needs to allocate some defense funds to the climate action budget
Beyond its devastating effects on the environment, climate change is a major contributor to refugee flows, the spread of disease, and conflicts over basic resources like food and water. And its not just environmentalists who are claiming this. CIA analysts and U.S military strategists have labeled Read More...
As arable land disappears, here come the vertical farmers
As cities expand, eating up swathes of countryside in the process, agricultural pioneers are finding new ways to grow the fresh produce we need, in containers, empty buildings and any other spare space they can find to create new vertical farms. "We are just trying to imitate nature. It's not as Read More...
A huge carbon capture scheme is reviving hope for “clean coal”
The plant will harvest 90 percent of the carbon dioxide it produces. by Jamie Condliffe October 5, 2016 When it reopens later this year, the W.A. Parish Generating Station in Texas will be the largest coal power plant in the world with a retrofitted carbon-capture system. But the scheme is perhaps Read More...
To effectively combat climate change, involve women
Africa, Climate Change, Featured, Food & Agriculture, Gender, Global, Headlines, TerraViva United Nations, Women & Climate Change | Opinion Esther Ngumbi is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology at Auburn University in Alabama. She serves as a 2015 Read More...
Switching to low-carbon technology provides economic opportunities for cities
The transition to renewable energy is good for the economy. In a study that examined cities spread over 89 nations, researchers found that making the shift to low-carbon technologies offers many cities with “significant economic opportunities”. In fact, the report found more than 1,000 economic Read More...
First steps of The Ocean Cleanup Plan are under way
Before cleanup of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can commence, researchers are flying over it at low-altitudes to get an account of just how much debris actually lies in the patch. What they have found so far is that it might just be worse than we originally thought, underlining the urgency needed Read More...
Paris climate agreement takes effect after EU approval
The landmark Paris climate change pact will enter into force around the world after European Union lawmakers endorsed the agreement. So far 62 nations had ratified the deal. However, they only represented 52 percent of global carbon emissions. The EU ratification pushed the Paris agreement past the Read More...