An eclectic bundle of uplifting news snippets to brighten the day.
Humpback Comeback
Humpback whales were almost entirely wiped out by commercial whaling in the 19th and early 20th centuries and were one of the first species to be federally protected in 1970. Due to amazing global conservation efforts, the current global population has rebounded from a low point of 10,000 back to nearly 80,000, as of 2022. While a number of humpback populations in areas of the world are still listed as threatened, this positive upward tick shows incredible promise for ongoing conservation efforts.
Meanwhile, the world’s largest shipping container line rerouted its entire fleet to protect endangered blue whales. The Mediterranean Shipping Company changed its navigation route off Sri Lanka after research found it would reduce the risk of ships hitting the animals by 95 percent.
A Good Year for the World's Oceans: 2022 has been a positive year for our planet's oceans with a raft of important initiatives taking place. Read on...
Poverty Reduction
Cambodia's poverty rate plummeted from 39% to 18% in the last decade; Vietnam lifted almost 10 million people out of poverty during the same period, and Indonesia achieved one of the most spectacular development successes of the 21st century, lifting 25 million people out of poverty between 2000 and 2021. The biggest story of the year however, came from India, in what the UN called a ‘historic change.’ Between 2005 and 2019, nearly 415 million people were lifted out of what is known as multidimensional poverty, a measure that includes health, education and standard of living. Children saw the fastest reduction, with child poverty falling from 35% to 22%
On the other side of the world, there's yet more positive news: The US Census Bureau reported that the poverty rate in America plummeted to 7.8% in 2021, and the number of children in poverty fell by nearly half. To put this in context - in 1993, one in four children lived in families living below the poverty line. 26 years later, that’s fallen to roughly one in ten. The magnitude of this decline is unequalled in the history of poverty reduction efforts in the United States.
How Much it Would Cost to End Global Hunger: Looking at every intervention available to us, researchers have found the best combination of policies to feed everyone on the planet. And the price tag is quite low; about one third of what the US spends on its military each year or about 15 times what the European Commission spends on administration costs. Read on...
Solar Explosion
The global solar industry produced 295 GW of panels in 2022, representing an incredible 45 percent year-on-year increase compared to 2021, and it looks like that was just a warmup. The sector is now betting on annual sales of 940 GW of solar by 2025. That's 5.8 percent of total global electricity demand, every year, or the equivalent of the world’s entire fleet of 438 nuclear plants every 20 months, reports Bloomberg.
China Charges Up
In China, the largest car market in the world, almost 30% of all new vehicles sold were fully electric in 2022 - up from 13% in 2021 and just 5% in 2020, reports CleanTechnica. At this pace, pure battery electric vehicles will be comfortably over a third of China’s new car market by next year, blowing the predictions of even the most optimistic analysts out of the water.
“Here’s all you have to know about men and women: Women are crazy, men are stupid. And the main reason women are crazy is that men are stupid.” George Carlin
On this Day
30 December 1902: A new southing record was set by Robert Falcon Scott, in company with Ernest Henry Shackleton and E.A. Wilson, as they reached the Ross Ice Shelf at the head of the Ross Sea in Antarctica.
A teenager has raised significant amounts of money for others by carrying out thousands of random acts of kindness. Read on...
Collection of hilarious signboards spotted beside the road in the tiny Colorado town of Indian Hills. Read on...
Mood Booster
Against all odds, the world's smallest wild dog uses its unique abilities to survive and thrive in the hostile conditions under the scorching desert sun of the Sahara.