Climate Action
What is Climate Action? Climate Action is humanity's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our planet's resilience against climate change. From adaptation to mitigation, at The Optimist Daily you will learn about the most recent positive news stories and solutions targeting climate change and other environmental issues.
Stressing out crops could be a good thing
Plants have feelings too. Although they are not conscious, plants release hormones in response to stimuli such as mechanical stimuli - like touch, wind, or rain - light, water, gravity, and nutrients. For example, when you run a knife down a rhubarb stalk, thousands of genes are activated, and a Read More...
California is making composting a statewide practice
Composting is an easy and fun way to cut down on our carbon emissions while making our own fertilizer. Despite this, a lot of green waste like vegetable scraps and lawn trimmings wind up in landfills. Here they rot and release methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. Read More...
What you need to know about NASA’s new mineral dust detector
Did you know that a billion metric tons of mineral dust - equivalent to 10,000 aircraft carriers - from deserts and dry regions on Earth get carried by strong winds into the atmosphere? Scientists are sure that this dust impacts the environment and climate, but there isn't enough data to determine Read More...
UK surgeons perform first carbon-neutral operation
Healthcare and sustainability have been at the forefront of global discussion lately. Doctors at the UK’s Solihull Hospital in the West Midlands have accomplished something that prioritizes both of these major issues: the world’s first “net-zero” surgery. To take care of patients Read More...
Stanford study shows cleaner air leads to more crops
Fertile soil, good seasons, and plentiful water aren’t the only things that affect our crops. Air pollution, and one air pollutant in particular, negatively affect the number of crops we can grow. Using satellite imaging, Stanford researchers discovered just how many nitrogen oxides affect Read More...
Ikea US will soon be offering consumers solar panels
Soon, shoppers in the US at Ikea will be able to buy more than just cute household furniture and accessories. Ikea announced an exciting new product in a press statement: solar panels. The Swedish home and living giant partnered with SunPower, a California-based company that sells and installs Read More...
Firefighting goats and The Ojai Valley Fire Safe Council
Surrounded by rugged steep mountains penetrated by hot dry Santa Ana winds, the Ojai Valley is particularly susceptible to wildfire, being in the top one percent of regions in the U.S. and the top three percent in California. The region's limited evacuation routes, vulnerable grid dependency, and Read More...
G7 countries plan to stop fossil fuel development overseas
Environmental and energy ministers from the world’s largest economies agreed to stop funding any overseas fossil fuel development by the end of 2022. This will cut off investment in high carbon pollution programs that threaten the world from meeting its climate targets. The G7 countries Read More...
Wildlife Conservation Society builds massive database of Amazonian wildlife
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists have been working on an enormous project: building an extensive database of the wide array of wildlife in the sprawling Amazon Basin. For this study, an international team of 147 scientists hailing from 122 research institutions and nature Read More...
Watchdogs zero in on greenwashing financial institutions
Individuals and companies around the world are looking to invest with their conscience and only support eco-friendly enterprises. Many fund managers noticed the rise in popularity of funds in line with ecological, social, and governance (ESG) principles and embellished how green they Read More...