• Even though 3 in 4 Americans think crime rose this year, 2023 featured one of the lowest rates of violent crime in the United States in more than 50 years, as well as one of the largest national declines in murder on record. Jeff-alytics.
• In 2023, US states have passed 103 gun safety laws for a total of 620 since 2012. Giffords.
• Canada is promoting child care for $10 a day. Vox.
• The number of U.S. electric school buses has more than doubled since last year. US Department of Energy.
• Power generated by wind and solar in the US is slated to eclipse coal-fired electricity next year. Axios.
• More than a third of power consumed in Delhi is green. The Times of India.
• Since 2010, road traffic deaths have fallen by 5%. World Health Organization.

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• FDA approves 2 gene therapies for sickle cell. One is the first to use the editing tool CRISPR. AP News.
• Australian EV sales have increased by 185% since 2022. The Guardian.
• Electric vehicles and hybrids grow to a record-high 18% of U.S. light-duty vehicle sales. EIA.
• Forecast warns when sea life will get tangled in nets — one year in advance. Nature.
• November jobs report shows labor market is flourishing in US. Axios.

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• Detroit is close to recording its fewest homicides in nearly 60 years. Detroit Free Press.
• Egypt wiped out hepatitis C. Now it is trying to help the rest of Africa. New York Times.
• Murders due to gender violence in Spain have decreased by 29% in the last 20 years. Ministerio Del Interior.
• Since 2016, 25 million people in eastern and southern Africa have gained access to electricity. World Bank.
• Child and teen cancer deaths fell 24% in the last 2 decades in the US. NBC.
• Deforestation across the Amazon rainforest so far this year has slowed dramatically, down 55.8% from the same period a year ago. Reuters.
• The world’s solar capacity has doubled in the last 18 months. PV Magazine.
• Detroit’s newest road can charge electric cars as they travel on it. Axios.

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• 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.

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• 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.

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