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.
How community rights can prevent deforestation
This article is published in collaboration with Trust.org (Thomson Reuters Foundation). Ensuring rainforest communities have secure land rights can reduce deforestation and land-use conflicts and prevent tens of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, new research shows. The World Read More...
Regenerative grazing may improve soil health
Targeted or regenerated grazing techniques achieve healthier pastures. This pasture management methodology basically consists of managing grazing on the plots of land according to a predetermined calendar adapted to variable annual conditions and receiving the animals in a staggered way. It Read More...
Meanwhile, the shift to clean energy is creating lots of jobs
The go-to argument for opponents against climate action is that it’s bad for the economy and kills jobs. Not true! A new report from climate advocacy organization NextGen Climate America shows that investments into clean energy, such as efficiency improvements, renewable energies and electric Read More...
World’s first industrial-scale carbon capture
We recently wrote about a Belgian company converting climate change related byproducts into ethanol that is sold on as fuel. Switzerland-based Climeworks is going a step further by capturing CO2 from the air for commercial uses. Climeworks have developed a filter that binds CO2 by direct air Read More...
Shell launches carbon capture project to take massive amounts of CO2 out of the air
Wind, sun, biomass, geothermal, there are so many exciting and promising alternative energy sources that represent our future—hopefully cleaner—planet. Many people don't associate fossil fuel giant Shell with this future. However, while Shell will continue doing its part and contribute to Read More...
Chinese scientists have decoded 'panda language'
Scientists in China say they have deciphered the meaning of 13 different giant panda vocalisations. During a five-year study of panda "language" at a conservation centre in the southwestern Sichuan province scientists found giant pandas communicate using specific sounds to indicate when they are Read More...
How cockroaches could save lives
Cockroaches are often associated with dirty kitchens and grimy bathrooms - scuttling away as soon as you enter the room and turn on the light. But pest controllers aren't the only people interested in them - these insects are inspiring research into antibiotics, robots and mechanical limbs, writes Read More...
Making green fuels, no fossils required
Using solar or wind power to produce carbon-based fuels, which are commonly called fossil fuels, might seem like a self-defeating approach to making a greener world. But when the starting material is carbon dioxide, which can be dragged out of the air, the approach is as green as it gets. The Read More...
Renewables key in race against climate change clock
Any plausible game plan for capping the rise of Earth's surface temperature depends on replacing fossil fuels with energy sources that generate little or no carbon pollution. That means renewables, especially solar and wind, both of which face fewer constraints to growth than more established clean Read More...
California universities launch experiment to go carbon-neutral 'at scale'
What does it look like when a university decides to walk the walk as well as talk the talk on climate change? The University of California system – which encompasses 10 university campuses and two national scientific research laboratories – is about to find out. Two years ago, Janet Napolitano, Read More...