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.
Scottish scientists are developing a technique to recover phosphorous from sewage
With the planet’s reserves of phosphorus running low, Scottish researchers are working on a new technique to recover this vital element from sewage. Phosphorus, which is a key ingredient in the fertilizers that grow our food, can’t be plucked out of the air and has to be mined in a handful of Read More...
Portuguese children to crowdfund European climate change case
Portuguese schoolchildren from the area struck by the country’s worst forest fires are seeking crowdfunding to sue 47 European countries, alleging that the states’ failure to tackle climate change threatens their right to Read More...
San Francisco and Oakland sue fossil fuel companies over sea level rise
The cities of San Francisco and Oakland expect to be paying a hefty chunk of change in the coming decades to offset the effects of climate change. According to papers filed this week in State Superior Court, San Francisco expects to be paying out about $5 billion for climate change mitigation this Read More...
Bold conservation ideas go from concept to reality on this new collaboration platform
There are plenty of ideas about how to conserve species that are nearing extinction. However, little is done to implement those ideas. Part of the problem is that it's extremely difficult to find people and resources to partner with outside the world of conservationists. That’s why one frustrated Read More...
Could this fungus help solve the world's plastic problem?
The world has a plastic problem. Not only is plastic being dumped into landfills and oceans at an alarming rate, but all this plastic can take up to a millennium to degrade. A group of scientists in Pakistan believes they may have found a possible solution in a soil fungus that rapidly devours Read More...
China's 'sponge cities' aim to re-use 70 percent of rainwater
Asian cities are struggling to accommodate rapid urban migration, and development is encroaching on flood-prone areas. Recent flooding in Mumbai was blamed in part on unregulated development of wetlands, while hastily built urban areas are being affected by flooding across India, Nepal, and Read More...
The U.S. should go Dutch to avoid building another Houston
Want to design a city to maximize flood damage? Start on very flat land — any kind of slope will help water flow out of Read More...
Study shows organic soil has a 26 percent higher potential for carbon storage
Organic soil has a 26 percent higher potential for long-term carbon storage than soil from conventional farms, finds new research. The study, which is a cooperative effort from Northeastern University and nonprofit research organization The Organic Read More...
Amazonian locals key to saving 'lungs of the planet' says study
Locals are more effective than governments in protecting the world's largest rainforest, a study said on Tuesday, amid efforts to crackdown on soaring illegal Read More...
New artificial reef at Sydney Opera House will shelter local marine life
Looking to replace some of the natural habitat lost to development in the Sydney Harbor, scientists are set to install an artificial reef outside the iconic Sydney Opera House as a way of preserving local marine biodiversity. The scientists have created specially designed hexagonal-shaped modules, Read More...