• Between 2016 and 2021 the number of people killed by air pollution from fossil fuels fell by almost 7 per cent, from 2.25 million to 2.09 million, largely thanks to the closure of coal-fired power stations. The Times.
• EU greenhouse gas emissions down 8 percent in 2023. Politico.
• Researchers were able to train rats to pick up on the scent of illegally trafficked elephant ivory, rhino horn, African blackwood, and pangolin scales. IFL Science.
• Australia to slash $10 billion off student debt amid cost of living pressures. Reuters.
• Ozone hole continues healing in 2024. Earth Observatory.
• Texas woodpecker no longer endangered after 54 years. Chron.
• Thailand moves to end statelessness for nearly 500,000 people. UN News.
• Plants absorb 31% more CO2 than previously thought. SciTech Daily.

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• New York hit its distributed solar goal a year early. Renewable Energy World.
• New ‘bioplastic’ degrades in water faster than paper — and could replace Styrofoam, other single-use plastics. Good Good Good.
• China’s emissions have flatlined amid blistering renewables rollout. The Progress Playbook.
• The EU got 52% of its electricity from renewables in second quarter of 2024. The Progress Playbook.
• How a nearly extinct crocodile species returned from the brink in Cambodia. AP News.
• The Cuyahoga River was so polluted, it used to catch fire. Now it’s making a comeback. NPR.
• US power grid added battery equivalent of 20 nuclear reactors in past four years. The Guardian.
• PhD student finds lost city in Mexico jungle by accident. BBC.
• The American chestnut may be the first tree species brought back from functional extinction. MIT Technology Review.
• Half a pound of this powder can remove as much CO₂ from the air as a tree. Los Angeles Times.
• In the 1980s, mountain gorillas in Rwanda were on the brink of extinction due to poaching and habitat loss. Now they’re doing so well that they need more space. World Economic Forum.

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• The company Equatic has created a technology that extracts hydrogen from seawater while also removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in the ocean. Heatmap.
• The Saiga antelope was close to extinction in 2003, when the population was down to 21,000. The population has increased to 1.3 million today. Actual News.
• Egypt declared malaria-free after 100-year effort. BBC.
• Viet Nam eliminates trachoma as a public health problem. WHO.
• Queensland’s youth crime rate has halved across the past 14 years. ABC.
• Since 1970, 37 countries have cut the probability of their citizens dying before they reach age 70 in half. Duke Global Health.
• Between 2000-2022, there has been a 75% decline in youth incarceration in the United States. The Sentencing Project.
• Fentanyl deaths in the U.S. have dropped faster than expected. NPR.

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• The Global Fund partnership has saved 65 million lives and cut the combined death rate from AIDS, TB and malaria by 61% since 2002. Friends of the Global Fight.
• Elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in India. WHO.
• Global EV and PHEV sales just reached a new record in September. A whopping 1.7 million electric vehicles were sold around the world, an increase of 30.5% year-over-year. Inside EVs.
• New cervical cancer treatment regime cuts risk of dying from disease by 40%. The Guardian.
• Global teen pregnancy rates have dropped by one-third since 2000. Our World in Data.
• Breast cancer mortality rates overall have dropped by 44% since 1989, saving approximately 517,900 lives. American Cancer Society.
• 2024 sees smallest summer surge in gun violence rates in 6 years. American Progress.
• China’s buoyant airborne turbine reached a record height of 500 meters above ground generating power at a rate of over 50 kW. China Daily.

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• WHO validates the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Pakistan. World Health Organization.
• Brazil eliminates lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem. World Health Organization.
• 1.3 million future deaths prevented by Gavi-supported vaccines in 2023. Gavi.
• Northern bald ibis: Back from the brink. CNN.
• Colorado has built more than 40 wildlife underpasses and 3 overpasses, reducing wildlife-involved crashes around 90%. Denver 7.
• World-first therapy using donor cells sends autoimmune diseases into remission. Nature.

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• North Carolina hospital company forgives debts of 11,500 people. NBC News.
• In a world first, a woman’s type 1 diabetes is reversed by her own stem cells. Nature.
• Global poverty rate has returned to pre-pandemic levels. World Bank.
• Sierra Leone almost halves maternal mortality in five years. UNICEF (PDF link).
• Self-driving Waymo vehicles get into injury-causing crashes less than one-third as often, per mile, as human-driven vehicles and a non-Waymo vehicle bore primary responsibility for most if not all of these crashes. Understanding AI.
• India’s one-horned Asian rhino population has almost tripled in the past four decades thanks to conservation and anti-poaching efforts. New Straits Times.
• 14 of the 38 OECD countries have acheived a coal-free power system. Ember.
• Jimmy Carter’s first century. Breaking the News.

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• Microbes make nutrients out of thin air; richer source of protein than beef, fish. Interesting Engineering.
• Ozone layer still well on track for full recovery. United Nations.
• Governor bans use of conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ minors in Kentucky. AP.
• US national forests are being replanted thanks to bipartisan legislation. Time.
• Wind power overtook gas to become the EU’s second largest source of electricity behind nuclear, and by the first half of 2024 renewables generated 50% of electricity in the EU. European Commission.
• Pakistan is now the third-largest importer of solar panels in the world. Financial Times.
• Electric cars in Norway outnumber petrol for first time. The Guardian.
• Jordan becomes first country to receive WHO verification for eliminating leprosy. WHO.
• Until the 1990s, less than 1% of the global population in countries was legally protected from domestic violence. But by 2023, 9 in 10 people lived in countries with legal measures to combat domestic violence. Our World in Data.

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• In the United States between 1993 and 2022, domestic violence rates dropped by 67 percent and the rate of rapes and sexual assaults fell 56 percent. PBS.
• Heman Bekele, a 15-year-old Ethiopian immigrant to the United States, has been named Time’s Kid of the Year for inventing soap which may treat skin cancer. Time.
• Rhino poaching plunges 80% in South Africa thanks to dehorning program. The Progress Playbook.
• Massachusetts becomes the 20th state to offer tuition-free community college. The Christian Science Monitor.
• US drug overdose deaths decline by roughly 10.6 percent. NPR.

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• The Apache Trout, Arizona’s state fish, has been removed from the endangered species list due to collaborative conservation efforts. US Department of the Interior.
• In July 2014, coal provided 38% of the United Kingdom’s electricity. In July 2024, it provided 0.59%, and at the end of this month it will reach 0%. Financial Times (PDF).
• In the first six months of 2024, every 9th car sold in the world was fully electric, specifically every 4th in China, every 7th in Europe, and every 14.5th in the United States. The EV Universe.
• Many of us can save a child’s life, if we rely on the best data. Our World in Data.
• Vaccines have reduced infant mortality by 40% over the last 50 years. Our World in Data.
• In the US, the IRS recovers $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes from high wealth tax dodgers. ABC News.
• Teen vaping hits 10-year low in US. ABC News.
• Around 6.6 million deaths were linked to childhood malnutrition in 1990. By 2021, this had fallen to only 2.4 million. Our World in Data.
• Autonomous, solar-powered boats in Hong Kong can gobble up 176 pounds of waste an hour and carry 441 pounds on board. CNN.
• The total amount of metals needed for the energy transition is far smaller than the total weight of fossil fuels we burn away each year. Bloomberg.
• The share of coal in Australia’s main grid falls below 50% for first time. Renew Economy.

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• Despite achieving rapid economic growth, China has reduced air pollution by 41% since 2013. The Progress Playbook.
• Gun violence in Brooklyn this summer dropped to the lowest levels ever recorded. Gothamist.
• The number of shootings in Portland has declined nearly 35% since Mayor Ted Wheeler declared a gun violence emergency in July 2022. OPB.
• The number of Brazilians living in extreme poverty dropped by 40 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. The Brazilian Report.
• In the UK, the infant mortality rate fell from 6.3 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1993 to 3.9 in 2013. Nuffield Trust.
• The typical U.S. worker out-earned inflation by $1,400 a year. NBC News.
• Ozempic could delay ageing, researchers suggest. BBC.

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