Indonesia is expanding its rollout of the rotavirus vaccine to prevent diarrheal diseases in infants nationwide. This will make a big difference—diarrhea causes one in every ten deaths of children under the age of one, and one in every twenty for children under the age of five in the country every year.
https://asianews.network/indonesia-expands-rotavirus-immunisation-nationwide
Last week, Mexico's Supreme Court threw out all federal criminal penalties for abortion, ruling that laws prohibiting the procedure are unconstitutional and violate women's rights. The latest Latin American victory for reproductive rights wasn't due to luck or moral arcs, but an ambitious legal strategy that has been in the works for years.
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favour of same-sex relationship recognition in Bulgaria, championing the rights of two women married in 2016. This landmark decision paves the way for greater equality, requiring Bulgaria to ensure the protection of same-sex couples' rights to private and family life.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/08/court-rules-bulgaria-must-recognize-same-sex-relationships
Two big wins for human rights in Asia. A lesbian couple in South Korea have welcomed their first child via IVF in a historic milestone for the country’s LGBTQ+ community; and Hong Kong's top court has ordered its government to legally recognize same-sex relationships, giving it two years to enact a scheme.
https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/09/07/south-korea-lesbian-ivf
In the last decade Taiwan has shifted from lax alcohol control to a global exemplar of responsible drinking. Tighter advertising restrictions, revised taxation, and enforced minimum age laws have resulted in an 80% drop in alcohol-related traffic deaths and a 40% decrease in drunk-driving injuries.
https://www.thinkglobalhealth.org/article/successful-battle-against-bottle
For nearly as long as Medicare has existed in the United States, it has alarmed politicians and budget experts. Now, however, something strange has been happening. Instead of growing as it always had before, spending per Medicare beneficiary has nearly leveled off. 'Without a doubt, this is the most important thing that has happened to the federal budget in the last 20 years.'
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/09/05/upshot/medicare-budget-threat-receded.html
China's aggressive 'war against pollution' over the past decade has led to a 42% drop in pollution levels since 2013. This remarkable progress has added 26 months to the average Chinese citizen's lifespan. Measures include restrictions on car usage, bans on new coal plants in polluted areas, and mandated cuts in emissions.
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/30/asia/air-pollution-report-china-south-asia-intl-hnk-scn
Most people assume that unhoused people cannot manage their money. This is not true. Canadian researchers gave 50 people experiencing homelessness a one-time lump sum of $7,500, and the recipients spent it mostly on food, housing, transit, and clothing. They also spent an average of 99 fewer days homeless and spent less time in shelters—'costing' society less by doing so.
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/21528569/homeless-poverty-cash-transfer-canada-new-leaf-project
Paris has revolutionized its water management, transforming the historic Canal Saint-Martin into a clean, swimmable waterway. Since 2009, the city has set up thousands of water fountains, reduced water prices by 8%, saved a million cubic meters of water a year by fixing leaks, and cut water usage by 10%.
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Scotland is planning to move to a four-day work week for civil servants.
https://fortune.com/2023/09/04/scotland-4-day-work-week-pilot-civil-servants/amp
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In Sierra Leone, four in five births now take place in healthcare facilities, up from half a decade ago.
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In Bangladesh new funding will bring primary healthcare to 2.5 million children.
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In India almost 30,000 more children will survive past their first birthday this year compared to last year.
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in Ghana, immunization rates have skyrocketed thanks to drones.
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Traveling through the world’s most traffic-heavy city just got a lot quicker (and greener).
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Oh, and Chile just became the sixth country—and the first in South America—to implement a feminist foreign policy.
https://www.americasquarterly.org/article/a-spotlight-on-chiles-feminist-foreign-policy
The state of New South Wales in Australia has suspended logging in 106 'koala hubs' on the mid-north coast while they consider plans to establish a great koala national park. The hubs cover about 5% of the proposed 176,000 ha of forest and contain 42% of the recorded koala sightings in the area since 2000.
Deforestation continues to decline in Brazil, with a 66% drop in August compared to the same month last year. President Lula has also designated another two new Indigenous reserves to protect almost 207,000 hectares of forest against illegal loggers and gold miners, and the government has removed thousands of cows owned by land grabbers in Ituna-Itatá, one of the most deforested areas in the Amazon.
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/09/deforestation-in-the-amazon-rainforest-continues-to-plunge
Mexico has joined a growing list of countries that are working to criminalize environmental damage, also known as ‘ecocide.’ If passed, the new Mexican bill could send offenders to jail for up to 15 years for 'any unlawful or wanton act committed with the knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment.'
In a hard-won victory for environmentalists, new legislation in California will permanently protect the iconic Western Joshua tree, making it the state’s first law to focus on a climate-threatened species. Between 1895 and 2016, the annual precipitation in Joshua Tree National Park dropped by 39% due to rising temperatures.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/28/california-protect-joshua-trees-conservation
Since the late 1700s, engineers have worked to tame the Mississippi River to flow in a fixed course to reduce flooding and create shipping channels. However, in the face of accelerated land loss, they have changed to an 'engineering with nature' approach, with efforts to reconnect the river to the vast areas of its delta, and to reintroduce fresh water and sediment to restore the coastal system.
https://e360.yale.edu/features/neptune-pass-louisiana-mississippi-delta
Peregrine falcons are back from the brink of extinction and are now flourishing across the USA, thanks to a decades-long collaboration between falconers and researchers. Since 1974, the reintroduction program has released over 6,000 peregrine falcons, and the species was officially de-listed as endangered in 1999.
The newly designated ‘Archibald Lake Wilderness Area’ in Nova Scotia will protect 684 hectares of old-growth forest, wetlands, and three lakes. The area is home to 37 rare species, including seven that are endangered, like the mainland moose and Canada warbler.
Wild Atlantic salmon in New England have had their most productive year in over a decade with more than 1,500 salmon counted in the Penobscot River in Maine, which is home to America’s largest run. Conservation groups have worked hard to remove dams and restore salmon in the area, and it looks like their efforts are paying off.
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Humpback whales have made a spectacular recovery in the Salish Sea.
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A new ruling from the EPA will protect waterways in the USA from harmful vessel discharges.
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Atlantic puffins in Maine have enjoyed a second consecutive rebound year with a stable population of 3,000 birds.
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Conservation groups in Minnesota have saved the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area from two mining leases.
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The number of wild golden eagles in Scotland has risen to its highest level in 300 years.
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Africa have increased by 5% since 2016 to nearly 228,000
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Conservation group African Parks will release 2,000 southern white rhinos into the wild after buying the world's largest private captive rhino breeding operation.
According to analysts, the gap between clean and dirty energy is only going to grow. By 2030, technology improvements could slash today’s prices by half for solar, and a quarter for wind. The energy technology revolution is real and happening right now—a point that keeps getting lost in the drumbeat of doom about how difficult it is, and will be, to leave fossil fuels behind.
China installed 44.8 GW of solar in the second quarter of 2023, a 153% year-over-year growth, according to its National Energy Administration. In the first six months of this year, China installed 5.4 GW of hydropower, 22.9 GW of wind, 78.4 GW of solar, and 1.7 GW of biomass generation. No other country comes even close.
https://www.mercomindia.com/china-solar-capacity-q2-2023-up-153-yoy
The world’s largest wind turbine, a 16 MW monster from Goldwind, located offshore from Fujian Province, China, has smashed the record for the most power produced by a single turbine. On the 1st September, the turbine—which has a 252-meter diameter—produced 384.1 MWh in 24 hours as a typhoon hammered southeast China, enough to power roughly 170,000 homes.
Clean steel is coming. Over the past 12 months, the outlook for a sector once considered hard to abate has changed significantly. Last week was a huge one for companies trying to pioneer steel decarbonization technologies, with three enormous investments announced in Sweden, the United States, and Japan.
https://www.mining-technology.com/news/boston-metal-series-c
German lawmakers have approved legislation for the replacement of fossil-fuel heating systems, passing a major climate policy plan that will require newly installed heating systems in new housing developments to be at least 65% powered by renewable energy starting in January next year.
Cheap, long-lasting LEDs are the latest chapter in the extraordinary decline in illumination costs since the Middle Ages. In 2010, LEDs accounted for barely more than 1% of global lighting sales; last year, they were more than 50%. In the United States, residential energy consumption for lighting has fallen by half in less than a decade.
Sticking with the theme. In April this year, The Wall Street Journal published an article with the headline "Don’t Expect Mass Adoption of Electric Cars Anytime Soon" that included a forecast showing that global sales would only reach 15% of the total market by the end of this decade. In July 2023, global EV sales reached 16%. Ouch.
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/09/10/world-ev-sales-15-of-world-auto-sales
The US battery manufacturing sector shares something in common with Spinal Tap, in that it's being cranked to the max. In the past week we've seen a $3 billion joint venture unveiled by Daimler, Cummins and Paccar; a $542 million investment into materials firm Ascend Elements; and a $2 billion gigafactory announced in Illinois by Chinese manufacturer Gotion.
https://www.energy-storage.news/gotion-to-build-us2-billion-gigafactory-in-illinois
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If you're tired of feeling hopeless about climate change then you should look at these charts.
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Electric scooters are already displacing four times as much oil as all the electric cars.
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Why the Inflation Reduction Act is way bigger than you think.
https://www.distilled.earth/p/the-climate-bill-that-keeps-on-giving
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Europe is slowly waking up from its hydrogen daydreams.
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A transmission project bigger than the Hoover Dam just broke ground in New Mexico.
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Don't believe one person can change the world? Think again.
Researchers at Imperial College have invented a blood test for children that analyses changes in 161 genes to determine whether a fever is caused by bacteria, viruses, or an inflammatory disease. Current tests aren't great—three-quarters of children hospitalised for fever never receive a diagnosis. Genetic tests could speed up and improve diagnoses and reduce unnecessary antibiotic use.
You've probably heard about, or thought about the use of artificial intelligence to talk to animals. Turns out this is a lot more complicated than it seems.. Elizabeth Kolbert, who does this kind of thing better than anyone, takes a deep dive into global efforts to use AI to decipher the clicks of sperm whales. This is mind-expanding stuff, and finishes with a jaw-dropping account of the birth of a baby whale. Best thing we read this week.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/09/11/can-we-talk-to-whales
A tour de force from global health researcher Saloni Dattani on the story of the malaria vaccine. Malaria has long been one of the deadliest diseases on the planet, killing hundreds of thousands of people every year, and yet it took 141 years to develop a vaccine. Why? And what happens now that we have one?
https://worksinprogress.co/issue/why-we-didnt-get-a-malaria-vaccine-sooner
Ok folks that's it for a while.
Thanks for reading.
I now return you to "God Damn Politics."
And "Stupid people doing Stupid stuff."
Thanks for posting all of those! I really appreciate the positivity this morning.
thank you, that was a very good buncha stuff!
@corlin
Thanks. You've made my "hope" levels go up some this morning.
@corlin I guess they're more practical and useful in a lot of ways. More people actually need them, they are cheaper, and they are simpler to make, or so I assume. It also takes fewer natural resources to make one.
Very few people outside of the US live in suburbs.
Most of humanity live in dense cities. Where the electric scooter is the perfect vehicle.
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Global solar manufacturing capacity is going to more than double this year.
https://www.pv-tech.org/module-capacity-to-more-than-double-in-2023-reaches-1tw-in-2024-cea