Quick summary of all the most important good news from last week.
Abundant Harvests: Global crop supplies are surging, driving prices much lower than in 2022-2023. The Bloomberg Commodity sub-index for grains and oilseeds has dropped to a four-year low, down 50 percent from its 2022 peak after Russia invaded Ukraine. Compared to a decade ago, 2024-25 is projected to see global harvests up 10 percent for wheat and rice, 15 percent for corn, and 30 percent for soybeans.
Children's Wellbeing: Dozens of Colorado elementary schools now have vibrant green spaces where children can explore, play, and soak up all the mental and physical health benefits that come with spending time in nature. And a new study clearly demonstrates the multiple benefits they provide.
Safer Than Ever: A new airline safety study is clear on one thing: Flying is safer than it’s ever been. MIT researchers found the risk of a fatality from commercial air travel was 1 per every 13.7 million passenger boardings globally from 2018-2022. To sum it up, passengers today are about 39 times safer than in the ’60s and ’70s - and it’s likely to get even safer.
Salmon Resurgence: Shattering the previous high, sockeye salmon are returning to the waters of Washington in record numbers. At a single dam, there were 165,071 sockeye counted through July 31, far surpassing the previous record of 54,000.
Florida Everglades: Home to the world's largest ecosystem restoration project. As of now, progress is moving “apace” and it’s on track to be completed in 2029.
Conservation Success: New Caledonia's efforts to protect endangered flightless bird is paying off, as the population of the flamboyant Cagou has almost tripled since 2017, thanks to monitoring and threat management. Around 60 birds lived in the Blue River Provincial Park in 1984; today there are over 1,000.
Gel to Stop Bleeding: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first gel-based treatment for controlling moderate to severe bleeding. Cresilon’s Traumagel is a first-of-its-kind plant-based gel that was designed to “stop and control life-threatening bleeding in a matter of seconds”. Traumagel is expected to launch in late 2024.
Big Pharma Deal: Americans pay a lot more for prescription drugs than people in any other developed nation, but the White House has now completed “negotiations” with ‘Big Pharma’ that will finally lower those prices for millions of seniors on Medicare.
Two Important Roles: Food banks play a crucial role in keeping communities fed across the globe. Another vital but lesser-known benefit? They’re helping to fight climate change, with a recent impact report outlining the link between food banks and a reduction in carbon emissions. Breaking down the numbers, food banks associated with The Global FoodBanking Network provided 1.7 billion meals to over 40 million people last year. That’s the equivalent of mitigating an estimated 1.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide.
U.S. Milestone: In good news for both Americans and the planet, coal is set to be eclipsed in 2024. From January through July of this year, wind and solar in the U.S. generated more net electricity than power from coal, according to recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Electric Superhighway: A vast ‘electric superhighway’ is set to distribute renewable energy around the UK. The project - connecting northeast Scotland with the southeast coast of England - will be the UK’s biggest subsea energy transfer project. It’s part of a wider move to modernise the grid for the shift away from fossil fuels.
Global Plastic Treaty: A watershed moment in the fight against plastic as the US, one of the world's biggest plastic makers, supports a major policy shift to reduce the quantity of new plastic produced each year. The move will boost the prospect of UN agreement on a manufacturing cap, with the final round of negotiations due to take place in late November, reports Reuters.
China versus UK: China added as much new clean energy generation in the first half of this year as the UK produced from all sources in the same period last year, according to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) think-tank, as wind and solar power generation continues to surge in China.
Global Inequality Down: It's generally accepted that while inequality between countries has fallen in the last few decades, inequality within countries has risen. New research by economists from Columbia University and the Federal Reserve Bank Of New York now suggests that the situation is even better - within-country inequality has been falling for the better part of a decade, if not more. "Our message is an optimistic one. World poverty is also declining rapidly for a large set of reasonable poverty lines and faster than estimated by the World Bank."
That's it, you are up to date.
Today's Articles
Cancer Nutraceutical: Manuka honey reduced breast cancer cell growth by 84 percent without harming healthy cells or causing major side effects.
Simple Solution? Copying Spain's wealth tax would easily solve global climate action finance requirements.
Finalists: The Ocean Photographer of the Year is a celebration of our beautiful planet and this year's entries are as stunning as ever.
New Photovoltaic Panel: Breakthrough means that there is no need to choose between crops or solar panels - both can work in harmony.
Mystery Solved: Why flamingos stand on one leg - even for experts, this hasn’t been an easy question to answer.