• Just 13% of workers in the U.S. are now earning less than $15 an hour; two years ago, that number was 31.9%. Axios.
• The proportion of the world’s adults with a net worth of less than $10,000 has plunged this century, from 75% in 2000 to less than 40% in 2023. Axios.
• Baltimore reports 36% decline in homicides for 2024. Hoodline.
• In 2023, Latin America and the Caribbean fell to the lowest poverty rate in the last two decades. World Bank.
• Over 200 million schoolchildren gained access to improved water, sanitation, or hygiene services between 2015 and 2023. Unicef.
• Since 2006, Rwanda’s overall life expectancy has risen from 56 to 70. Think Global Health.
• Morocco’s multidimensional poverty rate decreases from 40% to 5.7% in last 20 years. Hespress.
• Colombia deforestation fell to 23-year low in 2023. Reuters.
• In the United States, wind power has generated more electricity than coal for the second month in a row. Sherwood.
• Power producers in the United Kingdom cut the use of fossil fuels in electricity generation by 16% over the first five months of 2024. Reuters.
• Used electric cars are not just cheap—they are cheaper than similar gas cars. The Atlantic.
• In 1991, 48 countries had abolished the death penalty. Today 112 countries have abolished it. Amnesty International.

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• Indonesia has lifted 3 million people out of poverty in a decade. Antara.
• The homicide rate in Boston has fallen 78 percent in just one year. The New York Times.
• From overfished to sustainable harvests: Pacific bluefin tuna rebound to new highs. NOAA Fisheries.
• Germany achieves 58% renewable energy share in first half of 2024. DPA International.
• Three-quarters of the European Union’s electricity has been generated by CO2 emissions-free sources so far this year. Reuters.

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• 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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