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.
Vietnam to phase out coal, invest in gas and renewables
Vietnam’s prime minister says the country will stop building coal power plants and look to gas and renewables to power its electricity grid. In a statement on the government website, Nguyen Tan Dung said new energy plans should protect the environment and strictly follow “international Read More...
Genetic engineering could save an iconic American tree from extinction
American chestnut trees were once among the most majestic hardwood trees in the eastern deciduous forests, many reaching 80 to 120 feet in height and eight feet or more in diameter. The “then boundless chestnut woods” Thoreau wrote about in Walden once grew throughout the Appalachian Read More...
Leonardo DiCaprio is giving away $15 million to environmental causes
Leonardo DiCaprio announced that his foundation will be give more than $15 million to fast-track cutting edge sustainability and conservation projects around the world, during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Dicaprio, giving an acceptance speech for the Crystal Award, Read More...
In a corner of the Himalayas, India now has its first organic state
Sikkim, the northeastern Indian state snuggled between Bhutan and Nepal, has now rid its agricultural land of pesticides and fertilizers making it the country’s first organic state. The 75,000-hectare area was transformed as per the policies of the Indian government’s National Programme Read More...
Vitamin D is a boon to the fertility of wild animals
Vitamin D is called the sunshine vitamin because its most efficiently absorbed by taking in the sun's rays. A new study suggests wild sheep who get a sufficient dose of the vitamin boast a healthier reproductive system. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland tracked levels of a Read More...
Could artificial trees be part of the climate change solution?
In the fight against climate change, trees are an ally. They suck in carbon dioxide, reducing the harmful greenhouse gases. But there’s a problem: we’re asking them to work overtime. Trees can’t absorb enough of the carbon dioxide humanity is throwing at them unless we turn every inch of Read More...
How giant icebergs could be fighting climate change
Latest News Save for later Saved Subscribe Scientists study the impact of iceberg meltwater on the carbon-sequestering phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean. All else being equal, global warming means more giant icebergs breaking off Antarctica and sliding into the ocean. But, as these massive hunks Read More...
Here's how technology is helping to tackle the world's waste crisis
The amount of waste created by humans, the emissions that come with it and the price of disposing it are rising at an alarming, unsustainable rate, but new advanced technology offers an array of solutions to turning waste into something useful. One of such examples is US-based Ener-Core which has Read More...
95% of expert economists agree: Cutting carbon makes sense
Citi Group isn't the only one to say that fighting climate change is cheaper than doing nothing. The excellent Climate Consensus blog over at The Guardian just reported on some interesting research based on a survey of expert climate economists. Of those economists who had actually engaged Read More...
Counting elephants: The largest wildlife census ever conducted
The Great Elephant Census, funded by Microsoft billionaire Paul G. Allen, began in February 2014 and is beginning to deliver results. Ninety researchers from various organizations have joined aerial teams flying survey transects in 18 elephant range countries. Preliminary results reveal both good Read More...