• Since the year 2000, stunting in children under 5 years of age has declined by one-third, and today, there are 60 million fewer undernourished children. Unicef.
• Extreme poverty rate dropped faster than ever during the past decades. Gapminder.
• The poverty rate in Tajikistan has fallen from 32% in 2009 to 13.4% in 2022. World Bank.
• The Azores bullfinch has been brought back from the edge of extinction. European Commission.
• Over the past decade, the Black Mambas, an all-female anti-poaching unit in South Africa, has eliminated rhino poaching in the Olifants West Nature Reserve. BBC.
• 2023 might be the year of peak emissions. Climate Analytics.
• Solar and wind comprise 88% of all new energy capacity built in India up to October 2023. Solar Quarter.
• Hoboken, New Jersey has had zero traffic fatalities since January 2017 by lowering the speed limit, increasing visibility, adding bike lanes, and installing curb extensions. Bloomberg.
• The US doesn’t have universal health care — but some states almost do. Vox.

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• Globally, deaths from particulate pollution have dropped 16% since 2005. 200,000 lives have been saved per year by reducing air pollution. El Pais.
• Intimate partner homicide in Austalia has declined 38% since 2016, the rate of partner violence has decreased by over 50%, and rates of sexual harassment have reached their lowest levels ever in every state and territory. The Conversation.
• Cases of severe malaria in Rwanda decreased 85% since 2016. All Africa.
• In the US, food prices have largely flatlined for months, gasoline prices are about 10% lower than a year ago, and the average cost of much of what goes into a shopping cart has been roughly unchanged for a year. Reuters.
• US EV sales are having a record-setting year. Canary Media.
• Record 89% of Finland’s electricity from fossil-free sources last year. YLE.

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• Global efforts to combat tuberculosis have saved over 75 million lives since 2000. WHO.
• Since 2017, 226 million people in Africa have been protected from yellow fever via a single-dose vaccine that provides lifelong protection. WHO.
• Global inequality has declined. Cato.
• Pregnant women across the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be offered free healthcare. Guardian.
• The number of kids in foster care in America is lower than it’s been in decades. Statista.
• China’s emissions set to fall in 2024 after record growth in clean energy. Carbon Brief.
• Despite news that electric vehicle sales in the US are slowing, sales in the third quarter of 2023 exhibited the strongest year-on-year growth since the fourth quarter of 2021. Heatmap.
• Deforestation in Colombia down 70 percent so far this year. Yale Environment 360.
• Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon down 22% in a year. Phys.org.
• 6,000 acres of land have been re-greened in West Bengal, India. Reasons to be Cheerful.
• AI could predict heart attack risk up to 10 years in the future, finds Oxford study. The Guardian.
• Base editing, a new form of gene therapy, sharply lowers bad cholesterol in clinical trial. Science.
• How child mortality has declined in the last two centuries. Our World in Data.

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• Bangladesh eliminates visceral leishmaniasis, Maldives interrupts leprosy transmission, and North Korea eliminates rubella. WHO.
• In 2023, Niger became the first country in Africa to eliminate Onchocerciasis (also known as river blindness); and Senegal is now on track to become the second. WHO.
• India to extend free food grains program for 800 million people by five years. Reuters.
• Cleaner air in London brought about by the Low Emission Zones contributed to a 4.5% reduction in long-term health problems and an 8% decrease in respiratory issues like asthma and bronchitis. Medical Xpress.
• A combination of treatments cut the risk of death in people with advanced bladder cancer by more than half. Nature.
• The amount of coal used in the United States has fallen from about 2.8 million tons a day in 2008 to about 1.1 million tons a day this year. IEEFA.
• Portugal was powered solely by renewables for an entire weekend. PV Magazine.
• EV sales are booming in the United States. Sales rose by 49% in the third quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2022. Kelley Blue Book (PDF link).
• U.S. solar generation has grown 12x in a decade. PV Magazine.
• The COVID-19 vaccination campaign saved 2.4 million lives in 141 countries. Futurity.

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• The Mosquirix vaccine for malaria has cut deaths among young children by 13% and reduced severe cases by 22% during its four-year pilot rollout to two million kids in three countries. Science.
• Access to electricity in Tanzania has increased from 7% in 2011 to 37.7% in 2020, one of the fastest access expansion rates in sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank.
• In Europe and North America, dementia has fallen by 13% per decade over the past 25 years. Financial Times.
• From 2000 to 2021, the imprisonment rate in the US fell by 70% for Black women and by 48% for Black men. The 19th.
• Number of sea turtle nests on Florida coasts exploding, even tripling in some regions. ABC News.
• Some deaf children in China can hear after gene treatment. MIT Technology Review.
• The typical American family got about 37% richer between 2019 and 2022. Noahpinion.
• 40% more snow leopards in Bhutan. Warp News.
• 98% of Uruguay’s grid is powered by green energy. NPR.
• This Japanese city is piloting EV wireless charging at traffic lights. electrek.
• The world has made substantial progress in increasing basic levels of education. Our World in Data.

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• Between 2002 and 2022, the Global Fund saved over 59 million lives through its HIV, TB, and malaria programs. Friends of the Global Fight.
• Between 2013 and 2021, cases of measles in Indonesia decreased by 95% and rubella incidence decreased by 89%. WHO.
• New cervical cancer therapy cut the risk of women dying or the cancer returning by more than a third. BBC.
• Denver experimented with giving people $1,000 a month. It reduced homelessness and increased full-time employment. Insider.
• In the US so far this year, homicides nationwide have declined 11% to 12%. Los Angeles Times.
• Crime in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level on record. BBC.
• 50 million more girls have been enrolled in school globally since 2015. UNESCO.
• Half of the world is past a peak in fossil power. Ember.
• Kids are much less likely to be killed by cars than in the past. Economist Writing Every Day.
• Human Progress has launched a new tool with access to thousands of datasets including visualizations of the rise of global income, life expectancy, democracy, education, the end of famine, and more. Human Progress.
• Over the last seven years, Kenya has trained over 1,200 nurses and under-five mortality has more than halved. World Bank.
• Last year, 55,870 hectares of land were reforested in Xizang, China, employing over 1.68 million people. Global Times.
• Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of solar fell by around 15% each year, and installed capacity rose by 25% per year. If this trend continues, solar will become the dominant form of energy for the world. Nature.
• UK emissions fall 3.4% in 2022 as coal use drops to lowest level since 1757. CarbonBrief.
• In August, when heavy rain hit parts of Chile, tens of thousands of people had to evacuate their homes as their communities flooded. Many got a warning a couple of days in advance, thanks to a tool called Flood Hub that rolled out in the country earlier this year. Fast Company.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• Poland gives support to centrist opposition after 8 years of nationalist rule. AP.
• Brazil set to widen lead as cleanest major power sector. Reuters.
• Bionic hand solves user’s pains in more than one way. Interesting Engineering.
• New AI tool diagnoses brain tumors on the operating table. The New York Times.
• Boston’s high school dropout rate fell by more than half. Here’s their blueprint. Next City.
• ‘People are happier in a walkable neighborhood’: the US community that banned cars. The Guardian.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• Only 8.6% of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty. This is the lowest percentage in human history. World Bank.
• 100 million doses of a cheap, reliable malaria vaccine are in the process of being manufactured. BBC.
• Egypt has gone from having one of the world’s highest rates of hepatitis C to being on the path to elimination in less than ten years. WHO.
• Millions more students to receive free school meals under expanded U.S. program. PBS.
• UK minimum wage set to rise in 2024. Euronews.
• The monarch butterfly is no longer endangered. Science.
• World’s electricity supply close to ‘peak emissions’ due to growth of wind and solar. CarbonBrief.
• Wind generation exceeds demand for electricity for the first time ever in Ireland. Euronews.
• AI predicts 70% of earthquakes a week before they occur. Interesting Engineering.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• 40 years ago, Stanislav Petrov saved the world. Vox.
• Renewables sail past 70% on Australia’s main grid, send coal to new lows. Renew Economy.
• The Indian state of Rajasthan hits record-low share of fossil fuel generation for four consecutive months in 2023. Ember.
• Since 1990, the number of healthy years of life lost due to infectious diseases more than halved. Financial Times.
• In Southest Asia, the maternal mortality rate has declined by 41% and under-five mortality has declined by 45%. WHO.
• Kenya achieves remarkable 68% decline in Aids-related fatalities. Star.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• The proportion of the world’s children living in extreme poverty fell from 20.7% to 15.9% between 2013 and 2022. Overall, 49.2 million children were lifted out of extreme poverty during this period. World Bank (PDF link).
• A guaranteed basic income program for pregnant woman in Delaware resulted in $299,520 in reduced hospital stays and $21,600 in reduced emergency department visits. For every dollar invested into the program, there was a return of more than three-dollars. WDEL.
• In Bangladesh, the proportion of market turmeric samples containing detectable lead decreased from 47 percent in 2019 to 0 percent in 2021. Turmeric mill worker blood lead levels dropped a median of 30%. ScienceDirect.
• Globally, the murder rate has dropped 17% in the past 20 years. Warp News.
• Sixty-seven per cent of the world’s population, or 5.4 billion people, are​ now online. Internet users in low-income countries increased by about 17 per cent over the past year. ITU.
• Leposy has declined around 20% since 2013. WHO (PDF link).
• In the last ten years, girls’ school enrollment in Nigeria has skyrocketed from 1.76 million to 2.87 million – representing a 64 per cent increase. UNICEF.
• The number of countries with low health coverage has decreased from 68 to just 14 from 2000 to 2021. WHO (PDF link).
• The Azores bullfinch, one of Europe’s most endangered birds, has bounced back from the brink of extinction after 20 years of habitat restoration in Portugal. Smithsonian.
• UK wind-energy capacity overtakes gas generation for first time. Bloomberg.
• Since the passage of the IRA, companies in the United States have invested over $92.4 billion into EV and battery factories and have created more than 80,000 new jobs in the same time frame. EDF.
• Germany likely to pass 50% mark for renewable power this year. Reuters.
• Florida is now adding more solar power than any other state. Canary Media.
• Semaglutide is not only effective for weight loss, but also reduces heart attacks and stroke. Vox.
• Life-changing cystic fibrosis treatment wins $3-million Breakthrough Prize. Nature.
• Cash bail disproportionately impacts communities of color. Illinois is the first state to abolish it. AP.
• Median black household income is now at the highest level it has ever been. Economist Writing Every Day.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.