Hi folks, Gus here. We've noticed that the length of the newsletter has been blowing out a little, which is a great problem to have because it means our internet tentacles are finding more stories than we can cover. In order to make things easier to digest, we've made a slight tweak to our format, with a bunch of shorter links at the end of each of the sections. We hope you enjoy the change.
Good news you didn't hear about
Punjab, home to over half of Pakistan's population, has made remarkable strides in education in the 21st century. Between 1998 and 2020, the province doubled school enrolment from 13 million to 26 million students. Initiatives have included making education free and providing conditional cash transfers for girls' education. World Bank
Indonesia is expanding its rollout of the rotavirus vaccine to prevent diarrheal diseases in infants nationwide. This will make a big difference—diarrhea causes one in every ten deaths of children under the age of one, and one in every twenty for children under the age of five in the country every year. Asia News
Last week, Mexico's Supreme Court threw out all federal criminal penalties for abortion, ruling that laws prohibiting the procedure are unconstitutional and violate women's rights. The latest Latin American victory for reproductive rights wasn't due to luck or moral arcs, but an ambitious legal strategy that has been in the works for years. El País
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favour of same-sex relationship recognition in Bulgaria, championing the rights of two women married in 2016. This landmark decision paves the way for greater equality, requiring Bulgaria to ensure the protection of same-sex couples' rights to private and family life. HRW
Two big wins for human rights in Asia. A lesbian couple in South Korea have welcomed their first child via IVF in a historic milestone for the country’s LGBTQ+ community; and Hong Kong's top court has ordered its government to legally recognise same-sex relationships, giving it two years to enact a scheme.
In the last decade Taiwan has shifted from lax alcohol control to a global exemplar of responsible drinking. Tighter advertising restrictions, revised taxation, and enforced minimum age laws have resulted in an 80% drop in alcohol-related traffic deaths and a 40% decrease in drunk-driving injuries. Think Global Health
For nearly as long as Medicare has existed in the United States, it has alarmed politicians and budget experts. Now, however, something strange has been happening. Instead of growing as it always had before, spending per Medicare beneficiary has nearly leveled off. 'Without a doubt, this is the most important thing that has happened to the federal budget in the last 20 years.' NYT
There are around 48 million kids eligible for preventive malaria drugs. In 2013, hardly any of those kids got them. In 2023, almost 100% will, with half the funding coming from The Global Fund and a third from donations to the Malaria Consortium, the charity made famous by Give Well. Effective altruism FTW.
China's aggressive 'war against pollution' over the past decade has led to a 42% drop in pollution levels since 2013. This remarkable progress has added 26 months to the average Chinese citizen's lifespan. Measures include restrictions on car usage, bans on new coal plants in polluted areas, and mandated cuts in emissions. CNN
Most people assume that unhoused people cannot manage their money. This is not true. Canadian researchers gave 50 people experiencing homelessness a one-time lump sum of $7,500, and the recipients spent it mostly on food, housing, transit, and clothing. They also spent an average of 99 fewer days homeless and spent less time in shelters—'costing' society less by doing so. Vox
Paris has revolutionised its water management, transforming the historic Canal Saint-Martin into a clean, swimmable waterway. Since 2009, the city has set up thousands of water fountains, reduced water prices by 8%, saved a million cubic metres of water a year by fixing leaks, and cut water usage by 10%. RTBC
Even more good news you didn't hear about
In Sierra Leone, four in five births now take place in healthcare facilities, up from half a decade ago; in Bangladesh new funding will bring primary healthcare to 2.5 million children; in India almost 30,000 more children will survive past their first birthday this year compared to last year; and in Ghana, immunisation rates have skyrocketed thanks to drones. Scotland is planning to move to a four-day work week for civil servants; in London, all primary school students will now get free meals; and travelling through the world’s most traffic-heavy city just got a lot quicker (and greener). In the United States, the IRS is coming after millionaires for overdue taxes, and young people have become progressively less likely to use alcohol. Oh, and Chile just became the sixth country—and the first in South America—to implement a feminist foreign policy.
If it bleeds, it leads
The only home we've ever known
The US government has cancelled oil and gas leases on 10.6 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and prohibited all drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Alaskan oil production has dwindled in the last three decades, and the ban will protect grizzly and polar bears, snowy owls, migratory birds, and herds of moose and caribou. Reuters
The state of New South Wales in Australia has suspended logging in 106 'koala hubs' on the mid-north coast while they consider plans to establish a great koala national park. The hubs cover about 5% of the proposed 176,000 ha of forest and contain 42% of the recorded koala sightings in the area since 2000. Guardian
Deforestation continues to decline in Brazil, with a 66% drop in August compared to the same month last year. President Lula has also designated another two new Indigenous reserves to protect almost 207,000 hectares of forest against illegal loggers and gold miners, and the government has removed thousands of cows owned by land grabbers in Ituna-Itatá, one of the most deforested areas in the Amazon.
Mexico has joined a growing list of countries that are working to criminalise environmental damage, also known as ‘ecocide.’ If passed, the new Mexican bill could send offenders to jail for up to 15 years for 'any unlawful or wanton act committed with the knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment.' Guardian
In a hard-won victory for environmentalists, new legislation in California will permanently protect the iconic Western Joshua tree, making it the state’s first law to focus on a climate-threatened species. Between 1895 and 2016, the annual precipitation in Joshua Tree National Park dropped by 39% due to rising temperatures. Guardian
It’s been a long journey to get here. We can finally move on from the debate over whether Joshua trees should get protection, to focusing on actually implementing measures to help ensure that they get through the very difficult decades ahead.
Brendan Cummings, Center for Biological Diversity
Since the late 1700s, engineers have worked to tame the Mississippi River to flow in a fixed course to reduce flooding and create shipping channels. However, in the face of accelerated land loss, they have changed to an 'engineering with nature' approach, with efforts to reconnect the river to the vast areas of its delta, and to reintroduce fresh water and sediment to restore the coastal system. Yale360
China has established the world's first International Mangrove Centre in Shenzhen to coordinate international cooperation and exchanges on mangrove protection. Boasting 35,000 hectares of wetlands, with 296 hectares dedicated to mangroves, Shenzen is planning to become a ‘wetland city’ by 2035, with 50 percent of its wetlands under protection. China.gov
Peregrine falcons are back from the brink of extinction and are now flourishing across the USA, thanks to a decades-long collaboration between falconers and researchers. Since 1974, the reintroduction program has released over 6,000 peregrine falcons, and the species was officially de-listed as endangered in 1999. Gazette
If you want a success story, they are truly a success story. It's not all gloom and doom. There's not nothing that we can do.
Amy Ries, Decorah-based Raptor Resource Project
The newly designated ‘Archibald Lake Wilderness Area’ in Nova Scotia will protect 684 hectares of old-growth forest, wetlands, and three lakes. The area is home to 37 rare species, including seven that are endangered, like the mainland moose and Canada warbler. CBC
Wild Atlantic salmon in New England have had their most productive year in over a decade with more than 1,500 salmon counted in the Penobscot River in Maine, which is home to America’s largest run. Conservation groups have worked hard to remove dams and restore salmon in the area, and it looks like their efforts are paying off. AP
A few more home runs
Humpback whales have made a spectacular recovery in the Salish Sea. A new ruling from the EPA will protect waterways in the USA from harmful vessel discharges. Atlantic puffins in Maine have enjoyed a second consecutive rebound year with a stable population of 3,000 birds. Conservation groups in Minnesota have saved the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area from two mining leases. California has four new packs of endangered grey wolves, bringing the grand total to eight new wolf packs since 2015. The number of wild golden eagles in Scotland has risen to its highest level in 300 years. Elephant populations in southern Africa have increased by 5% since 2016 to nearly 228,000, and conservation group African Parks will release 2,000 southern white rhinos into the wild after buying the world's largest private captive rhino breeding operation.
Saving the world is cheaper than ruining it
In December last year, the International Energy Agency estimated that renewables would overtake coal as the world's largest source of electricity by early 2025. Now they've had to bring their estimates forward to 2024, thanks to this year's explosive growth in solar and the plateauing of electricity generation from coal. IEA
According to analysts, the gap between clean and dirty energy is only going to grow. By 2030, technology improvements could slash today’s prices by half for solar, and a quarter for wind. The energy technology revolution is real and happening right now—a point that keeps getting lost in the drumbeat of doom about how difficult it is, and will be, to leave fossil fuels behind. Canary
Coal generation in the 27 EU countries plummeted by 23% in the first half of 2023. In May, coal generation accounted for just 10% of electricity generation, a historic low. Fourteen countries recorded their lowest total coal and gas generation over the first six months of the year, with the Netherlands operating without coal for 17 consecutive days in June. Guardian
China installed 44.8 GW of solar in the second quarter of 2023, a 153% year-over-year growth, according to its National Energy Administration. In the first six months of this year, China installed 5.4 GW of hydropower, 22.9 GW of wind, 78.4 GW of solar, and 1.7 GW of biomass generation. No other country comes even close. Mercom
The world’s largest wind turbine, a 16 MW monster from Goldwind, located offshore from Fujian Province, China, has smashed the record for the most power produced by a single turbine. On the 1st September, the turbine—which has a 252-metre diameter—produced 384.1 MWh in 24 hours as a typhoon hammered southeast China, enough to power roughly 170,000 homes. Euro News
Clean steel is coming. Over the past 12 months, the outlook for a sector once considered hard to abate has changed significantly. Last week was a huge one for companies trying to pioneer steel decarbonization technologies, with three enormous investments announced in Sweden, the United States, and Japan.
German lawmakers have approved legislation for the replacement of fossil-fuel heating systems, passing a major climate policy plan that will require newly installed heating systems in new housing developments to be at least 65% powered by renewable energy starting in January next year. AP
Cheap, long-lasting LEDs are the latest chapter in the extraordinary decline in illumination costs since the Middle Ages. In 2010, LEDs accounted for barely more than 1% of global lighting sales; last year, they were more than 50%. In the United States, residential energy consumption for lighting has fallen by half in less than a decade. Bloomberg
China's EV sector continues to blow all predictions out of the water, accounting for 36.9% of all vehicle sales in August 2023. Reminder: in August 2020, exactly three years ago, market share was 5.6%. Sinopec, the country's top oil refiner, now expects gasoline demand to peak this year, two years earlier than previous outlooks had predicted. Reuters
Sticking with the theme. In April this year, The Wall Street Journal published an article with the headline "Don’t Expect Mass Adoption of Electric Cars Anytime Soon" that included a forecast showing that global sales would only reach 15% of the total market by the end of this decade. In July 2023, global EV sales reached 16%. Ouch.
The US battery manufacturing sector shares something in common with Spinal Tap, in that it's being cranked to the max. In the past week we've seen a $3 billion joint venture unveiled by Daimler, Cummins and Paccar; a $542 million investment into materials firm Ascend Elements; and a $2 billion gigafactory announced in Illinois by Chinese manufacturer Gotion.
Expect more cowbell. The global average lithium battery price fell below $100/kWh in August, the psychologically-important threshold at which it becomes possible to make an electric vehicle for less cost than its fossil-fueled counterpart. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence
Even more reasons to stop doom-scrolling
If you're tired of feeling hopeless about climate change then you should look at these charts. Global solar manufacturing capacity is going to more than double this year, and electric scooters are already displacing four times as much oil as all the electric cars. Why the Inflation Reduction Act is way bigger than you think. Europe is slowly waking up from its hydrogen daydreams. In the United States, geologists just found what could be the world's biggest lithium deposit in a volcano, and a transmission project bigger than the Hoover Dam just broke ground in New Mexico. California shows what the future of EVs will look like in the rest of the country. Don't write off the legacy automakers yet—here come Mercedes and BMW. Don't believe one person can change the world? Think again.
Indistinguishable from magic
Physicists in Finland have peered through the looking glass, and the atoms on the other side belong to a world of opposites. For the first time, using 250,000 extremely cold rubidium atoms, researchers have made an exotic quantum object, called an Alice ring, which changes the properties of other quantum objects when they either pass through or are simply viewed through it. New Scientist
Chirality is the signature of life, the 'handedness' of living molecules, which means they are not superimposable on their mirror image—just like our right hands cannot be superimposed on our left hands. New research lends support to the theory that this quality may have been caused by the magnetic field of primordial Earth, which would act as a beautiful link tying geophysics to biochemistry. Quanta
Researchers at Imperial College have invented a blood test for children that analyses changes in 161 genes to determine whether a fever is caused by bacteria, viruses, or an inflammatory disease. Current tests aren't great—three-quarters of children hospitalised for fever never receive a diagnosis. Genetic tests could speed up and improve diagnoses and reduce unnecessary antibiotic use. New Scientist
Doctors in New York and Philadelphia have shown that playing Mozart to newborns reduces the pain they experience during a standard heel prick blood test. The trial, involving 100 infants, is the first to demonstrate this effect in predominantly non-white babies. The study showed music significantly lowered their pain, as measured with the standard Neonatal Infant Pain Scale. Medical Xpress
One way to heal a brain injury? Open the patient's mind. Psychedelic drugs such as LSD, DMT, and MDMA may offer a unique treatment pathway for stroke and traumatic brain injury, as well as for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. A growing number of scientists are exploring whether these powerful medicines might help patients learn lost and new skills. Nat Geo
First-person-view drone racing is a sport in which professional pilots fly high-speed aircraft through a 3D circuit. In a milestone for mobile robotics and machine intelligence, Swiss engineers have developed an autonomous system that can compete with the best human pilots, beating the world champions of two international leagues in real-world head-to-head races. UZH
The information highway is still super
You've probably heard about, or thought about the use of artificial intelligence to talk to animals. Turns out this is a lot more complicated than it seems (the s0-called Dr Dolittle Challenge). Elizabeth Kolbert, who does this kind of thing better than anyone, takes a deep dive into global efforts to use AI to decipher the clicks of sperm whales. This is mind-expanding stuff, and finishes with a jaw-dropping account of the birth of a baby whale. Best thing we read this week. New Yorker
The Karakoram Highway is a 1,300 kilometre road that runs from the small city of Hasan Abdal near Pakistan's capital of Islamabad to Kashgar in China's autonomous Xinjiang region. Cutting through some of the most astounding rock faces on the planet, it's the road trip of dreams, yet few have ever heard of it, or how it came to be. BBC
To write an average business book, an author requires the following: a reliable laptop; a willing publisher; a decent, celebratory social media audience; a sense of great import; and a twenty-page conceit stretched to a two-hundred-page length. Scaling People is not one of these books. And Claire Hughes Johnson, the former COO of Stripe, is not one of these people. The Generalist
A tour de force from global health researcher Saloni Dattani on the story of the malaria vaccine. Malaria has long been one of the deadliest diseases on the planet, killing hundreds of thousands of people every year, and yet it took 141 years to develop a vaccine. Why? And what happens now that we have one? Works in Progress
What Open AI really wants. What time is really for. Why lifting weights is for everyone.
Dutch artist Thomas Kole has made a digital reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec Empire, on the site that is now home to Mexico City. At its height, in the early 16th century, this city was one of the largest in the world, home to 200,000 farmers, artisans, merchants, soldiers, priests and aristocrats.
That's a wrap, let us know what you think of the format tweaks! We'll see you next week.
With love,
Gus and Amy
