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Dec 15, 2022

Good News Only Thursday

Updated: Dec 29, 2022

Eclectic bundle of good news nuggets from around the world.


30 x 30

Kris Tompkins views the UN Biodiversity Conference’s goals to protect 30 percent of land and sea worldwide, commonly known as 30 x 30, as “absolutely doable". And she is in a unique position to say so, having helped conserve 14.7 million acres of land and 30 million marine acres. She and her late husband Doug Tompkins (who co-founded North Face) spent more than $345 million to buy large parcels of land in Chile and Argentina and restore the grasslands, forests, and waterways. In 2018 and 2019, she handed over nearly one million acres to the Chilean government. This was added to four million acres of their own land that formed five new national parks and enlarged three existing ones. A contract with the Chilean government assures that Tompkins Conservation stays involved for the next ten years to guide and support the ecosystem restoration. In Argentina, Kris signed over the land under the condition it would remain protected for at least 99 years, thus creating or significantly enlarging six national parks.

 
 
Unprecedented Success

Bangladesh has reduced its infant mortality rate by 85 percent since 1971. Health experts say Bangladesh has achieved “unprecedented success.” After securing its independence, Bangladesh put in a number of goals to reduce infant, child, and maternal mortality rates through its Health and Family Welfare Ministry, and among countries with the highest rates of each, Bangladesh has made the most progress. Such progress may be slow and steady - but often, that’s the very best, most important news to celebrate.


New Mexico Childcare

New Mexico is the first state to offer free childcare to a majority of its population. In the midterms, 70 percent of voters also approved a constitutional amendment to fund early childhood care, effectively making it a universal right.


Smoke Free NZ

New Zealand has passed a bill banning the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009. The legislation is aimed at preventing future generations from taking up smoking at all, as part of a wider government endeavour to make the country “smoke free” by 2025. “Thousands of people will live longer, healthier lives and the health system will be $5bn better off from not needing to treat the illnesses caused by smoking,” said the health minister.


Peru's Pre-Incan Tech

Parched Peru is restoring pre-Incan dikes to solve farmers' water problems. The abandoned irrigation dikes distributed water before Europeans came to South America. The amunas - permeable stone-and-adobe walls 18 inches high that run for miles across this imposing landscape - divert excess water from streams that during the rainy season would otherwise flow uncontrolled down the mountains and eventually be lost in the Pacific Ocean. They then infiltrate that water into the soil, replenishing the water table and ensuring its gradual release throughout the year in natural springs. The ancient technology also improves water purity and helps prevent erosion and landslides.


Ctrl Salt Delete

For the third year in a row, Minnesota is opening the now-traditional “Name a Snowplow” contest to residential voting. Past winners include Plowy McPlowFace, Snowbi Wan Kenobi, The Truck Formerly Known As Plow, Blizzard of Oz, Plowasaurus Rex and Edward Blizzardhands. Voters are encouraged to head to the DoT website to cast their vote, with submissions open until tomorrow night. The only limitations are a 30 character name that excludes vulgarity and political partisanship.

 
 

Universal Charger

The European Union has given phone manufacturers a deadline of 28 December 2024 to adopt a common charging cable: a USB Type-C charger. In good news for avoiding unnecessary waste and irritating expense, the law has now entered the EU's Official Journal, and with it an exact date has been set for the requirement. Companies like Apple, whose iPhones use an Apple-made charger, will not be able to sell new devices in the EU after the date unless they use a universal cable.

 

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.”

Soren Kierkegaard

 
On this Day

15 December 1791: The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution - the Bill of Rights, which is a collection of mutually reinforcing guarantees of individual rights and limitations on federal and state governments - were adopted as a single unit.

 





 
Mood Booster

Crazy rooftop skiing in France.



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