Daily the Good Good Good staff collects the very best excellent news on the planet and shares it with our neighborhood. Listed below are the highlights for this week!
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The Finest Constructive Information We’re Celebrating This Week —
Manufacturing of a extra sustainable, cost-effective, low-carbon cement is on the rise — it may assist scale back building carbon emissions
Other than water, concrete is the most-used materials on the planet, with about 14 billion cubic meters getting used yearly. However concrete manufacturing releases carbon dioxide (CO₂), one of many greenhouse gases that drives local weather change.
Fortunately, manufacturing of a extra sustainable and cost-effective low-carbon cement, typically nicknamed “inexperienced” cement, is scaling up. A brand new plant subsequent to an present cement plant in Redding, California, will produce about 15,000 tons of low-carbon cement yearly.
Whereas this represents solely a small share of the concrete produced yearly — it’s half of a bigger motion to make the method of concrete manufacturing extra sustainable.
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Extra good “inexperienced” building information:
The U.S. now has one quick electrical automobile charging station for each 15 gasoline stations
In simply the primary quarter of 2023, the variety of public fast-charging stations for electrical automobiles throughout the U.S. elevated by 7.6%. There are actually almost 8,200 whole stations — one for each 15 gasoline stations.
Because of funding from the Nationwide Electrical Car Infrastructure program, $5 billion was allotted to assist fill gaps within the electrical automobile charging networks.
Other than the assistance from that funding, there’s one other factor driving the expansion: extra individuals are driving electrical automobiles. As electrical automobiles proceed to take up more room on the roads (cleansing up our air within the course of!), firms operating charging networks are busier than ever — serving to their profitability, and furthering growth plans for much more stations.
Whereas one EV station for each 15 gasoline stations may not sound like loads (it’s true, we have to have many extra to satisfy rising demand!) — it’s unimaginable progress from the place we had been even only a few years in the past. And one other instance of a good local weather “tipping level.”
Forward of reveals in Omaha, nation music star Zach Bryan took a detour to assist Nebraskans impacted by devastating tornadoes
The latest tornadoes in Nebraska had been much more devastating than Midwesterners are used to — in suburban Omaha and close by Eklhorn, a minimum of 150 properties had been broken or destroyed. One of many dozens of reported tornadoes registered as one of the vital extreme within the space’s historical past.
And whereas there have been miraculously no fatalities, the harm throughout the area left lots of of residents with out properties.
Immediately, the Nebraska neighborhood rallied, with volunteers leaping in to assist with cleanup — amongst them was nation singer Zach Bryan, a Nebraska native who was coincidentally within the space for his “Quittin Time Tour.”
Extra celebrities doing good:
A brand new, first-of-its-kind research discovered that world conservation efforts are serving to gradual biodiversity loss
A bunch of scientists from dozens of analysis institutes spent 10 years taking a look at 665 conservation initiatives — some from as way back as 1890 — throughout totally different international locations, oceans, and species. They simply revealed their findings — and so they’re extremely encouraging.
In two out of each three circumstances, the conservation initiative had a constructive affect on decreasing biodiversity loss. The authors stated the findings had been a “ray of sunshine” for conservationists trying to shield endangered and threatened animals and ecosystems.
Much more encouragingly, when a conservation initiative didn’t assist the meant species — which occurred in a single out of 5 circumstances — others nonetheless benefited from the trouble.
Why is that this excellent news? At the moment, one out of each three species being monitored is endangered as a result of human exercise. Whereas we have to cease that dangerous exercise within the first place, it’s actually excellent news to search out that human intervention within the type of conservation efforts can even assist gradual and reverse the harm we’ve already carried out.
Locals and wildlife officers labored collectively to save lots of 130 beached whales in Western Australia
Not too long ago, greater than 150 pilot whales had been beached within the city of Dunsborough in Western Australia. Along with rescue groups and veterinarians, locals shortly rushed to assist save them.
They labored collectively to carry the whales upright and preserve their blowholes clear till they may very well be returned to the water. Whereas tragically a few of the whales died — they had been capable of save a big majority of them, 130 in whole.
In keeping with one skilled, sometimes with a mass seaside stranding like this, just a few whales survive. Pilot whales are extremely sociable, and stick collectively even when an injured member of the pod will get too near shore.
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Extra excellent news for marine animals:
Satellite tv for pc imagery and AI simply helped researchers uncover an additional 64,000 sq. kilometers of coral reefs
Utilizing satellite tv for pc photographs, machine studying, and on-ground data from a worldwide community of individuals dwelling and dealing on coral reefs researchers uncovered an additional 64,000 sq. kilometers of coral reefs — an space the dimensions of Eire.
Meaning the world’s coral reefs are near 25% bigger than beforehand thought, and brings the dimensions of the planet’s whole coral reef ecosystems (crucial for shielding marine life and coastlines from the impacts of local weather change) to 348,000 sq. kilometers — the dimensions of Germany.
Earlier strategies made it more durable to find out the extent of coral reefs — however because of high-resolution satellite tv for pc knowledge masking the whole world, researchers can see reefs as deep as 30 meters down and get far more correct measurements.
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Extra excellent news for coral reefs:
Greater than 100 tattoo artists are taking part in a fundraiser to boost cash for folks in Gaza
Over the previous few months, Palestinian American activists Randa Jarrar and Ariana Bazlamit have been organizing in Los Angeles, brainstorming methods to assist their folks as violence, hunger, and displacement wage on — when Jarrar got here up with the concept for a tattoo fundraiser.
They began reaching out to their tattoo artist associates, and the Hibr mission was born. Now, over 170 tattoo artists throughout the globe shall be providing tattoos in assist of Palestinians this weekend.
Income from the artists’ designs shall be despatched again to Jarrar and Bazlamit, who will redistribute funds to people on the bottom in Gaza.
The response to the occasion has been so common — they’ve already added two extra dates, and opened the mission to extra tattoo artists trying to take part.
Extra excellent news of the week —
The EPA simply handed a regulation that might power coal crops to just about eradicate air pollution or shut down completely. Coal crops will now have till 2039 to cut back 90 p.c of their greenhouse air pollution.
A rainforest “cacao mission” is offering a wildlife refuge whereas producing earnings for cacao farmers in Sierra Leone. The area is a biodiversity hotspot, house to greater than 400 species of wildlife, together with endemic and threatened species, and greater than 100 forest-dependent communities.
A “important milestone” for LGBTQ+ rights within the Caribbean, the Dominica Excessive Courtroom overturned a ban on same-sex relations. A homosexual man dwelling in Dominica introduced the case, saying the regulation violated his constitutional rights — and the court docket agreed.
Bloomberg is funding youth-led local weather motion in additional than 100 cities all over the world. Every metropolis will obtain an preliminary disbursement of $50,000 — with an incentive to obtain an extra $100,000 to additional assist youth-led efforts.
And that’s excellent news as a result of… Youth councils are taking part in an enormous position in saving cities from local weather change.
Tons of of religion leaders urged Congress to assist $1.65 billion in funding to struggle AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The leaders despatched a letter to the appropriations committee asking them to fund the work of the World Fund, which has saved 59 million lives since 2002, by means of 2025.
A brand new barbershop in Denver is staffed with previously incarcerated folks. R&R Head Labs completely employs previously incarcerated and justice-impacted people, serving to handle the monetary, logistical, and emotional inequities related to reentry into society.
A transgender man fled Russia, the place being trans is unlawful, to search out security within the “trans refuge” state of Minnesota. Erik Beda and his husband fled to Minnesota — which simply celebrated one yr as a “trans refuge” state — after Russia added the LGBTQ+ neighborhood to its extremist record.
The EU simply voted to ban the destruction of unsold garments underneath new “ecodesign” laws. Serving to handle overproduction within the textile trade, the laws additionally requires a “digital passport” for product data on dishwashers, televisions, and extra.
A brand new, non-invasive urine check is “altering the sport” for prostate most cancers screening. Affecting almost 13% of American males, prostate most cancers is probably the most prevalent most cancers in males except for pores and skin most cancers.
Scientists developed a brand new mRNA vaccine that may ship therapies extra successfully in kids with mind most cancers. As a result of many chemotherapies are unable to penetrate the protecting barrier across the mind, mind cancers stay among the many most difficult tumors to deal with — particularly in kids.
Cities throughout the U.S. are elevating taxes to assist enhance and supply entry to baby take care of households. In New Orleans, for instance, the cash each helps cowl the price of kids to attend — and towards enhancing baby care middle high quality.
Greater than $6 billion in loans for 317,000 Artwork Institutes college students was simply forgiven. President Biden introduced the aid for attendees of the now-closed artwork colleges, saying they “falsified knowledge,
Below new federal guidelines, LGBTQ+ staff can’t be misgendered or denied bogs at work. The brand new steerage strengthens protections for trans and nonbinary staff for the primary time in 25 years.
A biomedical engineer designed a groundbreaking stroke screening for sickle cell sufferers in Africa. The reasonably priced screening will assist scale back the probability that kids born with sickle cell illness — an estimated 300,000 infants per yr — will die from stroke, one of many illness’s most typical problems.
In related excellent news… one other modern diagnostic strategy helps deal with one of many world’s deadliest ailments in kids.
Activists are putting in “guerilla benches” at bus stops in California cities, inspiring native officers so as to add official seating for transit passengers. One in every of them tweeted a photograph of his 64-year-old neighbor sitting on the curb at a bus cease to attract consideration to the shortage of seating for bus riders.
