• According to multiple sources, homicide rates in the US are lower now than almost any time in the last 60 years. Noahpinion.
• In just one year, Colorado is using a billion fewer plastic bags. 9News.
• How the small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu drastically cut plastic pollution. The Guardian.
• Teen girls invent AI device to reduce wildlife collisions. CBS News.
• Biden pardons thousands of LGBTQ+ service members convicted for sexual orientation. CBS News.
• Epileptic teen receives first ever seizure-controlling brain implant. engadget.
• Chad eliminates human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) as a public health problem. WHO.
• Current best-practice policies could prevent approximately 66% of the total deaths originally estimated to be caused by trans-fatty acids intake annually — equivalent to almost 183,000 lives saved each year. WHO.

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• Human rights are much better protected than they were one or two hundred years ago. Our World in Data.
• Rare Caribbean wildlife species saved from extinction. BBC.
• Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped to its lowest level since March 2018. Mongabay.
• Over the past decades, Nepal is the only developing country in the world that doubled its forest cover to 45 percent. Nepal has further tripled its tiger population to 355 wild cats in the last 15 years. World Bank.
• Solar power’s giants are providing more energy than big oil. Bloomberg.
• Clean-energy investment this year to be twice that of fossil fuels. WSJ.
• 23.9% of all new cars sold in California last quarter were zero-emission vehicles. California Energy Commission.
• Scientists find plastic-eating fungus feasting on Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Futurism.
• Maryland governor pardons over 175,000 low-level marijuana convictions. Reuters.
• The world’s first coal-to-nuclear reactor plant just broke ground in Kemmerer, Wyoming. electrek.
• Gas power output nearly halves in California in one year as batteries steal the show. The Progress Playbook.
• A CRISPR gene-editing therapy for cystic fibrosis has been successful in mice. New Scientist.
• Iberian lynx is no longer endangered. ABC News.
• Sierra Leone bans child marriage. Semafor.

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• The last ozone-layer damaging chemicals to be phased out are decreasing in the atmosphere and the ozone layer is recovering. The Conversation.
• Canadian province of Alberta quits coal power six years ahead of schedule. The Progress Playbook.
• The uninsurance rate for Black Americans declined from 20.9% in 2010 to 10.8% in 2022. US Dept of Health and Human Services.
• Violent crime is down and the US murder rate is plunging. CNN.
• Thailand to become first Southeast Asian nation to legalize same-sex marriage. CNN.
• In the US, half a million undocumented spouses will be shielded from deportation and given a pathway to citizenship and the ability to work legally in the United States. The New York Times.

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• Investments in tropical diseases have saved 8 million lives since 2000. 32 million more lives could be saved by 2040. Vox.
• Deaths from tetanus have declined from 250,000 each year in the early 1990s to less than 35,000 by 2019 thanks to vaccines. Our World in Data.
• Free contraception and sex education helps Finland reduce teenage abortions by 66%. Reuters.
• Global spending on clean energy this year is set to be twice the amount going to fossil fuels. IEA.
• Long-range EVs now cost less than the average new car in the US. Bloomberg.
• Additions of fossil fuel-based electricity capacity peaked in 2010, oil and gas capital expenditure peaked in 2014, and internal combustion engine (ICE) car sales have declined from their highs of 2017. Fossil fuel demand peaked in the industrial sector in 2014 and in the buildings sector in 2018. The Progress Playbook.
• A new study reveals elephants can call each other by name. Vox.
• AI discovers nearly 1 million new antibiotics. Penn Medicine News.

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• India achieves 16% decline in new TB cases, 18% reduction in mortality since 2015. The Hindu.
• Melinda French Gates is committing $1 billion to women’s rights. New York Times.
• Domestic violence rates in Australia fall by two-thirds since the 90s. AFR.
• Since its peak in 2009, the number of people in prison in the US has declined by 24 percent and the Black imprisonment rate has declined by 46 percent since 2008. FWD.
• In the US, Murder is down around 18 to 19 percent in more than 260 cities with available YTD data for 2024 compared to the same timeframe in 2023. Jeff-alytics.
• One man, Piyush Tewari, determined to prevent traffic fatalities, set up the SaveLIFE Foundation which has saved hundreds of thousands of lives on India’s roadways. Rolex.
• Cancer-causing benzene levels were cut in half at US refineries in 2023. EHN.
• India adds record 10 GW of solar capacity in Q1 2024, marking almost 400% year over year increase. The Economic Times.
• In April, battery electric vehicle sales in Brazil increased 1,120% over the year prior. Clean Technica.
• New Jersey ditched cash bail. Now thousands fewer are in jail and crime didn’t go up. The Trace.
• NASA satellites can predict flash droughts months in advance based on the glow of plants. Space.com.
• Even in Saudi Arabia, renewable power is cheaper than fossil fuels. The Economic Times.

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• The world has (probably) passed peak pollution. Sustainability by Numbers.
• In the early 1980s, there were around 400,000 estimated cases of polio annually. In the last few years, there have been around 4,000. That’s a hundred-fold decline. Our World in Data.
• New data suggests that China’s carbon dioxide emissions peaked in 2023 and will start declining from this year onwards. The Progress Playbook.
• On 77 of the 83 days to May 28, California saw periods where wind, solar and hydro output exceeded total electricity demand. The Progress Playbook.

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• Global maternal mortality drops by 50% over the past 35 years. Our World In Data.
• Queensland declared drought free for the first time in more than a decade. ABC.
• Overdose deaths in the US fell for the first time since the pandemic in 2023. Axios.
• Belize, Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis. Unicef.
• The most dangerous form of heart attack has declined by nearly 50% during the past 15 years in the United States. UPI.
• Qatar improves access to education for 7 million children across Asia. The Peninsula.
• Around 20 years ago, there were fewer than 100 Iberian Lynx, compared to more than 2,000 in 2023. Olive Press.
• In a milestone, the US exceeds 5 million solar installations. Electrek.
• US companies have announced more than 100,000 jobs in clean energy manufacturing since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. PV Tech.
• Wind power overtook gas as UK’s biggest source of energy last year. The Times.

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• An estimated 2.1 billion cases of malaria—and 11.7 million malaria deaths—have been averted globally between 2000 and 2022 as a result of scaling up malaria control interventions. WHO (PDF link).
• The number of people requiring intervention against neglected tropical diseases has fallen from 2.19 billion in 2010 to 1.62 billion in 2022, a decline of 26%. WHO.
• Fossil fuels generated just 23% of the EU’s electricity in April — a new low. The Progress Playbook.
• Brazil has the lowest number of murders in 14 years. Gov.br.
• Most crime in England and Wales has fallen by 90% in the last 30 years. The Conversation.
• Mass shootings in the United States down 29% from last year. Forbes.
• United Methodist Church lifts bans on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex weddings. NPR.
• An older adult today is likely more cognitively able than their grandparents were at the same age and age-related deficits in cognition are diminishing over time. ScienceDirect.
• Coal’s share of power in India falls below 50% for first time since the 1960s. Economic Times.
• A record-breaking 30% of the world’s electricity was produced by renewables last year. CNN.
• The poverty rate of Uzbekistan is estimated to have been slashed from 36 percent in 2015 to 17 percent in 2022. World Bank.

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• Portugal is averaging 91% renewable electricity in 2024, with Europe’s lowest power prices. The Progress Playbook.
• The world now gets more than 30% of its electricity from renewables. The Progress Playbook.
• The number of fish on US overfishing list reaches an all-time low. Mackerel and snapper recover. AP.
• The US maternal mortality rate fell from 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 to 22.3 per 100,000 in 2022. CNN.
• Average monthly rent dropped by 12.5 percent in Austin, Texas in December and rents dropped by 21 percent in Salt Lake City. The Real Deal.

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• In the 50 years since 1974, vaccines prevented 154 million deaths. Vox.
• Globally, Gen Z is financially better off, at the age they are now, than previous generations were at the same age. The Economist.
• EU Parliament approves ban of products made with forced labour. Reuters.
• China’s EV sales now over 50%. CarNewsChina.
• In the 1970s, less than half of Morocco’s primary-age children attended school. Today, nearly every child is in school. Our World in Data.
• 87% of all people above age 15 were able to read as of 2022, up from 67% as recently as 1979. GZero.
• Real hope for cancer cure as personal mRNA vaccine for melanoma trialed. The Guardian.

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