Environment
Need some good news about the environment? The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.
Grauer’s gorilla population makes surprising comeback in DRC
A recent study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has good news for gorillas. The study found that the number of Grauer’s gorillas, the world’s largest gorilla subspecies, has increased from 6,800 compared to a 2016 estimate of 3,800. The 3,000 animal increase is a promising sign Read More...
Japan strives to harness the incredible power of typhoons
In the last week of September, the metropolis of Tokyo, Japan, along with the country’s chain of small offshore islands, was narrowly missed by Mindulle, the third super typhoon to form in the Western Pacific this year. The storm, which originated close to the island of Guam, had powerful wind Read More...
Bull elk with a car tire wrapped around its neck for two years is finally free
In 2019, wildlife officers first sighted an elk sporting an unlikely (and uncomfortable) ornament around its neck—a car tire. The wildlife officers happened upon the elusive elk while conducting a population survey for Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and mountain goats in the Mount Evans Read More...
Why fish poop is more important than we realize
A new study published in Science Advances has some news for the scientific community: We should be paying more attention to fish poop. While not a glamorous subject, the study finds that fish and their feces play an underappreciated role in ocean ecosystems. Why fish? Phytoplankton in the Read More...
Shareholder pressure leads to right-to-repair evaluation at major tech company
The EU and the UK have both recently expanded right to repair laws aimed at reducing e-waste and saving customers money. As this movement gains popularity, Microsoft shareholders have successfully pressured the company into expanding the repairability of its goods. Although the US has limited Read More...
Mongolia to fight desertification by planting one billion trees
Mongolia’s presidential press office announced that the country will combat desertification by promising to plant a billion trees, starting next week. “Mongolia aims to realize the target by 2030 to combat climate change and desertification,” the country’s president Ukhnaa Khurelsukh Read More...
These sleek pieces of furniture are mainly made from seagrass
From capturing greenhouse gases to removing plastic waste from our oceans, seagrass has proved itself an invaluable ally in our fight against some of today’s most pressing environmental concerns. Now, the underwater plant is making its way into furniture design in a bid to enhance the Read More...
These bike garages in Denmark are made from recycled wind turbine blades
While wind turbines play an important role in our transition towards a post-carbon world, they do pose a few environmental concerns. For example, most of the wind turbines operating today have a lifespan of about 20 years, which means that a large number of these gigantic pieces of machinery will Read More...
Refugees in Cameroon turn desert camp into a lush forest
In 2014, thousands of refugees who were fleeing the violence linked to militant group Boko Haram in Nigeria came to Minawao, Cameroon, a desert region badly affected by climate change. Since 2014, almost 70,000 refugees had made the space their home, cutting down the last standing trees to support Read More...
Public libraries are climate justice tools
We’ve written about how libraries should double as food banks, but did you know that public libraries are also essential to climate justice? As more regions face extreme temperatures due to climate change, libraries are increasingly serving as refuges for heat-vulnerable residents. For Read More...