This week's top stories
Transformative progress in Africa’s fight against tuberculosis
The WHO's latest TB report shows Africa has made the greatest progress among all regions in tackling the world’s deadliest infectious disease, with a 42% reduction in deaths and a 24% decrease in infection rates since 2015. Top of the table is Zambia, whose TB preventive treatment efforts between 2018 and 2022 have cut the rate of HIV-associated TB by half and reduced deaths by nearly 80%.
Are we going to see a decline in carbon emissions this year?
The IPCC has set 2025 as the year by which greenhouse-gas emissions must peak if the world is to stay within the Paris climate agreement. All eyes are now on China. Forget what just happened in Baku - this is by far the most important climate story happening right now (but you know that already because we've been banging on about it ALL YEAR).
- The Economist suggests there's reason for hope given the China’s economic slowdown and this year's unprecedented scale-up of renewables.
- Bloomberg 🎁 is predicting an emissions peak, driven by China's accelerating shift to clean technologies and a slowdown in heavy-polluting industries.
- The Financial Times:
"A survey of 33 domestic and 11 international experts found 44% expected the emissions from the world’s biggest polluter had either peaked already or will peak by 2025, more than double the 21% in 2023 who responded positively, and up from just 15% in 2022."
A remarkable reversal in drug overdose deaths in America
Fatality rates have been declining for seven months straight. CDC data recorded 16,000 fewer overdose deaths between June 2023 and June 2024. Several theories could explain the drop, including law enforcement efforts to reduce fentanyl’s availability and affordability, which have impacted potency: In 2023, 70% of tested counterfeit pills contained lethal fentanyl; now it’s 50%. New York Times 🎁
The HPV vaccine is saving the lives of millions of young girls
In 2020, 194 countries committed to eliminating cervical cancer. Since then, 144 countries, most recently the Lao People's Democratic Republic, have introduced the HPV vaccine. Lao's nationwide initiative aims to protect over 124,000 girls aged 10–14, both in and out of school, from cervical cancer, with support from UNICEF, WHO, Gavi, and the Australian government.
Huge improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene access in China
Between 2000 and 2020, access to safe water in China increased from 45.7% to 91.3%, access to sanitary toilets rose from 18.7% to 78.5%, and access to hygiene bathing facilities rose from 26.0% to 88.4%. An analysis of household data also shows significant improvements in accessibility across urban-rural divides. BMC
Global solar capacity hits 2 TW, and installations are accelerating
Around 60% is from ground-mounted solar farms, while rooftop solar makes up 40%. What’s really astounding about this is the pace of change - it took 68 years for the world to install the first terawatt, and just two more to add the second. We need to install 8 TW by 2030 to keep the world on a 1.5C pathway. Not impossible. Global Solar Council
Rwanda’s commitment to feeding kids
In Rwanda, four million children across pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools are now covered by the World Food Programme's Home-Grown School Feeding initiative. The government has also lowered parental contributions and cut taxes on rice and maize to reduce costs. Africa News
Indonesia to phase-out coal and gas power within 15 years
Big story. The Indonesian government plans to phase out all coal-fired and fossil fuel power plants by 2040. Fossil fuels accounted for 81% of Indonesia’s electricity generation capacity between 2018 and 2023, making this ambitious transition a highly positive step toward a cleaner energy future. Bloomberg 🎁
AI's hands are coming online
If you are curious about robotics, you really need to read this. There's a revolution underway in how robots learn, moving away from explicit programming to AI-powered self-learning through imitation and practice. While significant challenges remain, engineers believe we're approaching a breakthrough where robots could develop general physical capabilities similar to humans. New Yorker 🗄️
OPEC cuts oil forecasts, again
One of the more bullish industry bodies, OPEC has revised its global oil demand growth forecast downward for the 4th time this year. OPEC now expects 2025 growth to reach 1.54 million bpd, down from 1.64 million bpd. While there is a downturn in energy-hungry countries like China, the slower demand growth is also attributed to a greater shift toward clean energy in industry and transport. Reuters
Syrian tomb yields ancient alphabetic script
Archaeologists excavating a Syrian tomb have unearthed the oldest known example of alphabetic writing – etched onto finger-length, clay cylinders carbon dated to around 2400 BCE. That’s some 500 years earlier than other known scripts, upending our understanding about when and where alphabets came from, how they spread and the role they played in early civilisations. Phys.org
China to switch on one of world’s most powerful x-ray lights
China is firing up an x-ray light source powerful enough to reveal the atomic-scale structure of proteins. The High Energy Photon Source creates laser like x-rays, siphoned into beamlines, which scientists can use to image structures at atomic level and capture chemical reactions in nanosecond frames. “It’s like getting a major new telescope. You can see things that were not observable before.” Science
More conservation wins in the United States
In the largest conservation action in the state’s history, South Carolina has secured $50 million to protect 250 km2 of the Pee Dee River basin, in California, $113 million has been approved to acquire land for conservation, and $17 million for restoration projects, and in Nevada, $375 million from the sale of public land will be used to fund 36 recreation and restoration projects across the state.
Scientists discover thousands of new genes
Biologists have taken a deep dive into the ‘dark proteome’, uncovering thousands of genes in previously overlooked sections of the human genome. The findings have major implications for our understanding of human biology and ability to treat disease from pancreatic cancer to obesity. One newfound gene, for example, generates a miniature protein that appears key to a childhood cancer. Science
The ecological renaissance of Australia’s Lord Howe Island
More than 30 species of threatened flora and fauna have recovered since a $15 million eradication program eliminated 300,000 mice and rats five years ago. The island contains a fragile cloud forest ecosystem, where 85% of its species are found nowhere else. Among them is the woodhen, which is now numbered at over 2,000 individuals after plummeting to 30 individuals in the 1970s. ABC News
Credits: Emma Siossian, Hannah Ross, Ian Hutton, Dean Hiscox and Jack Shick, Bree-anna Brunjes.
If it bleeds it leads
Presented without comment.
