Day by day the Good Good Good group collects the perfect excellent news on the earth and shares it with our neighborhood. Listed here are the highlights for this week!
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The Finest Optimistic Information We’re Celebrating This Week —
A group of biologists discovered greater than 700 species of animals on a latest mangrove expedition in Cambodia
Not too long ago, a group of biologists ventured into the guts of a Cambodian mangrove forest to survey the wildlife that lived inside the thickets of tree roots and branches — and it was a powerful success.
The group discovered 700 completely different animal species — and suspect they didn’t even scratch the floor: “If we might take a look at the world in even better depth, we’d discover 10 instances extra, I’m certain.”
Of the 700 animals discovered, researchers recorded 74 species of fish and 150 species of birds, 15 of which will be discovered on the crimson record of threatened and endangered species.
Why is that this excellent news? Whereas mangroves are sometimes (rightly!) hailed for his or her potential to offer coastal safety and locking in carbon, “the worth of mangroves for biodiversity conservation as properly because the companies that animals present to mangrove forest well being — is usually ignored.” Not anymore.
Functions for the American Local weather Corps are actually open — with 2,000 positions to fill throughout the nation
To rejoice Earth Day, President Joe Biden simply delivered a really thrilling announcement: Job functions for the American Local weather Corps are actually open.
To start out, this system is recruiting over 2,000 positions in 36 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico. Finally, this system will prepare and make use of greater than 20,000 individuals in climate-related jobs like putting in photo voltaic panels, combating wildfires, rebuilding wetlands, and extra.
Moreover, by way of a brand new partnership with the North American Constructing Commerce Union, members will even be eligible for a streamlined path to federal climate-related jobs upon completion of their service within the corps.
Why is that this excellent news? The creation of the Local weather Corps has been a key demand from activists and environmental teams. It’s modeled after an identical program that supplied jobs for thousands and thousands through the Nice Melancholy, and importantly: all program contributors might be paid, and most jobs don’t require earlier expertise.
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As soon as a ‘biodiversity basket case,’ uncommon and endangered native fowl species are actually thriving in New Zealand’s capital
By the Nineteen Nineties, many native fowl species in Wellington, New Zealand had been nearing native extinction as a result of human exercise, habitat loss, and the introduction of pests.
Due to many years of conservation efforts, the town’s native birds are again and so they’ve introduced their birdsong with them. Since 2011, the typical variety of native fowl species within the metropolis’s parks and reserves has risen by 41% — with some species growing by as a lot as 260%.
It’s additionally resulted in a constructive suggestions loop: the extra residents encounter native birds day-to-day, the extra impressed they’re to guard them.
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Extra excellent news taking place in cities world wide:
Drivers and first responders helped save an individual from a burning automobile on the aspect of a significant freeway
Sam Orobovich’s automotive burst into flames after hitting a light-weight pole and guardrail on the aspect of I-94 in St. Paul, Minnesota. With the driving force’s aspect door tight towards the guard rail, he was trapped inside — till individuals began pulling over to assist him get out.
Dashcam movies present at the least 5 individuals pulling on each the driving force and rear doorways and utilizing roadside gadgets to try to break the window to assist Orobovich get out.
A Minnesota Freeway Helper pulled up, efficiently broke the window, and the group pulled Orobovich out of the window to security away from the automobile.
He issued an announcement thanking the helpers, “I’m alive at present as a result of a number of Good Samaritans {and professional} first responders saved my life. Fred Rogers used to say that at any time when somebody sees one thing scary, ‘Search for the helpers. You’ll all the time discover people who find themselves serving to.’”
He went on to commend their uniquely heroic actions, selecting to danger their very own lives by operating in direction of a fiery automotive crash “that might explode at any second” to assist a stranger.
New mosquito nets have helped stop 13 million malaria instances and 1000’s of deaths
This World Malaria Day comes with some extremely excellent news: new, state-of the-art mosquito nets have prevented an estimated 13 million malaria instances and 24,600 deaths.
The New Nets Venture distributed 56 million dual-insecticide nets from 2019 to 2022 in 17 nations the place malaria is endemic to deal with insecticide resistance in some mosquitoes. The brand new nets had been discovered to enhance malaria management by 20 to 50 % in comparison with normal nets.
Whereas we’ve seen important progress, in 2019 alone, 386,000 individuals in Africa nonetheless died from malaria, of which 274,000 had been youngsters underneath 5. Yearly, there are an estimated 200 million new instances in malaria-endemic nations.
Extra excellent news to rejoice on World Malaria Day:
The U.S. simply broke floor on its first-ever high-speed rail line — it should join Los Angeles and Las Vegas
Builders simply formally broke floor on the primary “high-speed” rail line within the U.S. Connecting vacationers between Las Vegas and Los Angeles in underneath two hours, it may very well be accomplished by the tip of the last decade.
Along with reducing down commute instances and lowering greenhouse gases, it’s additionally believed that the brand new rail will open the door for the development of a complete high-speed rail community throughout the U.S.
The prepare will journey at 186 miles per hour and entice an estimated 11 million passengers yearly. The U.S. Division of Transportation estimates it might lower 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions yearly and create 35,000 new jobs.
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Extra train-related excellent news:
Over the previous 50 years, international immunization efforts have saved at the least 154 million lives
A landmark examine simply discovered that international immunization efforts have saved an estimated 154 million lives over the previous 50 years — the overwhelming majority of which (101 million) have been infants. That’s the equal of round 6 lives saved each minute for the previous 50 years.
Led by the World Well being Group, the examine reveals that immunization is “the one best contribution of any well being intervention” to make sure infants get pleasure from lengthy, wholesome lives.
With essentially the most important influence on lowering toddler mortality, the measles vaccination accounted for 60% of the lives saved. Notably, the polio vaccine has resulted in over 20 million individuals with the ability to stroll at present — as a substitute of being paralyzed.
Vaccination towards 14 illnesses in whole has “immediately contributed” to lowering toddler deaths by 40% globally over the previous 50 years.
The examine additionally discovered that for every life saved by vaccines, a mean of 66 years of full well being had been gained — and 10.2 billion years whole had been gained over the complete 50-year timeframe.
Extra excellent news of the week —
Mom Earth will now obtain royalties while you take heed to nature sounds on main streaming platforms. Basic appears like ocean waves, wind, rainstorms, birdsong, and extra will now be acknowledged underneath an official artist — NATURE — on all main streaming platforms.
New York Metropolis simply launched its “Open Streets” season with the largest-ever car-free Earth Day celebration. Throughout all 5 boroughs, 53 streets and plazas all through the town had been stuffed with public artwork and neighborhood programming as a substitute of automotive site visitors.
Netflix is celebrating Earth Day with launch of a brand new docu-series referred to as ‘Our Dwelling World’ — narrated by Cate Blanchett. The four-part collection is now streaming and takes viewers by way of the magnificent untold tales of the connections between species throughout the globe.
Seven nations are actually producing 100% of their electrical energy from renewable sources. One other 40 nations generated 50% of their electrical energy from renewables, in what consultants are calling an “irreversible tipping level” second.
After years of being ravaged by illness, a nonprofit simply efficiently planted 40,000 coral substrates within the Caribbean. FUNDEMAR has been essential to restoring coral reefs all through the Caribbean, cultivating eight completely different species, together with the notoriously hard-to-breed Pillar coral.
Serving to restore waterways to their pure state, a file variety of river boundaries had been eliminated throughout Europe in 2023. Connecting rivers helps wildlife journey and migratory fish attain breeding grounds, and eradicating dams permits water ranges to differ, serving to improve the variety of crops and animals.
Offering clear power by way of present infrastructure, Germany has put in over 400,000 plug-in “photo voltaic balconies.” Totally different from rooftop photo voltaic, the balconies are a a lot smaller system containing one or two panels plugged proper into an outlet.
An ultrasound clinic is utilizing AI to detect varieties of breast most cancers sooner. The AI scan makes use of software program that compares the photographs taken towards roughly 200 million different breast scans, serving to extra shortly and precisely determine breast most cancers, which is most curable when it’s detected early.
Revolutionizing conservation efforts, scientists simply pinpointed a fungal virus harming frogs and toads. A brand new examine recognized a novel virus that has been impacting over 500 amphibian species for many years.
Reaching one other clear power milestone, California simply went 9.25 hours utilizing solely renewable power sources. Almost each day for the previous six weeks California’s electrical grid has run on photo voltaic, wind, and different clear power sources for hours at a time.
Farmers in Vietnam are lowering methane emissions by altering the best way they develop rice. They’re utilizing much less water and a drone to fertilize the crops, which is each uniquely weak to local weather change and a contributor to it.
There are rising efforts in drugs amongst physicians to take ladies’s ache extra severely, particularly in reproductive care. Not too long ago surfaced tales, adjusting ache measurement approaches, funding in analysis, and extra are serving to drive the much-needed shift.
California simply introduced the creation of the primary new state park in a decade. The 1,600-acre Dos Rios tract within the state’s crop-rich Central Valley is ready to open on June 12 and change into California’s 281st state park.
Ingesting glasses of wine alongside the 26.2-mile route, a London marathoner raised $22,000 for an area hospice middle. Tom Gilbey is a wine connoisseur and did a blind wine style check for each mile he ran on the course to assist increase funds.
The FTC simply voted to ban noncompete agreements, releasing employees to pursue new jobs and begin companies. Noncompete clauses have restricted employees from freely altering jobs and the brand new rule will assist promote profession mobility, innovation, and competitors.
The “most important” setting deal since 2015, U.N. delegates are actually negotiating the phrases of the brand new international plastics treaty. It’s a vital alternative to cease the fossil gas business’s pivot from transportation and electrical energy technology to plastic manufacturing.
Nice Smoky Mountains Nationwide Park is opening a ‘firefly lottery’ for fortunate winners to see a uncommon firefly mild present. Synchronous fireflies illuminate summer time nights in nationwide parks throughout the U.S., prompting conservation efforts to guard the beloved bugs.
The U.S. Division of the Inside is investing $36.9 million to wash up “legacy air pollution” in Kentucky, Mississippi, and Missouri. The funding might be used to plug orphaned oil and fuel wells to deal with environmental and security hazards within the state.
