Good News Notes: “With wide-scale deforestation, some of the world’s most polluted cities and rivers, and wildfires so vast they often blanket neighbouring countries in smog, Indonesia is one of the world’s most high-profile environmental offenders. But when it comes to coral reefs, the rapidly industrialising Southeast Asian nation is doing more to restore the…
Category: ocean
Experts Optimistic Coral Reefs Will Survive
Good News Notes: ‘“Coral reefs are amazing and beautiful, and we must conserve them,” Sam Purkis, chair of the department of marine geosciences at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, told VOA. Although coral reefs only cover 0.1% of the ocean floor, they are a lifeline for the planet. With…
A half-mile installation just took 20,000 pounds of plastic out of the Pacific – proof that ocean garbage can be cleaned
Good News Notes: “It’s been nearly a decade since Boyan Slat announced at age 18 that he had a plan to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. Slat, now 27, is a Dutch inventor and the founder of the Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit that aims to remove 90% of floating ocean plastic by 2040. That…
Tasmania’s giant kelp forests starting to regrow just a year into rescue trial
Good News Notes: “A little over a year ago these giant kelp were just tiny brown smudges on a laboratory plate. Now they are pillars of hope in the fight to save Tasmania’s giant kelp forests from extinction. Cayne Layton and his team of scientists from the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) began a selective breeding…
Drone images give hope for return of kelp on U.S. West coast
Good News Notes: “Tranquil images of the Pacific Ocean taken by a drone show that California’s kelp forests may be making a comeback after years of depletion, bringing good news in the fight against climate change. Kelp, which reduces global warming by soaking up carbon dioxide from the air via photosynthesis, has died off dramatically…
Solar desalination device will provide clean water to 400,000 Kenyans
Good News Notes: “Now, a Dutch-based blended finance manager Climate Fund Managers (CFM), and Solar Water Solutions are working together to develop the installation of up to 200 desalination units in Kitui County, Kenya. The project eventually aims to provide clean water made of brackish groundwater for 400,000 Kenyans by 2023. The new solar-powered desalination system works…
All UK’s electricity will come from clean sources by 2035, says PM
Good News Notes: “Speaking from Manchester, the prime minister said the target could be achieved through advances in wind power and other renewable sources. The shift towards renewable energy is part of government efforts to cut carbon emissions by 78% by 2035. However some green groups have warned that the UK is behind schedule for…
Phykos’s carbon-capturing robotic seaweed farms are like planting fore
Good News Notes: “A new prototype of a small, solar-powered robotic vessel recently started sailing in the Pacific Ocean, pulling an underwater rack filled with seaweed. The startup developing the technology, called Phykos, says each platform holding the fast-growing kelp may be able to capture as much CO2 as 250 trees—and though the approach still needs…
Little fluffy clouds may help save Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
Good News Notes: “To slow the speed at which high temperatures and warm waters bleach the corals of the Great Barrier Reef, Australian scientists are spraying droplets of ocean water into the sky to form clouds to protect the environmental treasure. Researchers working on the so-called Cloud Brightening project said they use a turbine to…
Ecoriginals Brings World’s Greenest Diapers and Wipes Stateside With U.S. Expansion
Good News Notes: “Loved by green-minded parents in Australia and New Zealand for the past decade, Ecoriginals, the world’s first and only plastic-neutral diapers and wipes company, today announced that its eco-friendly products are now available in the United States. Ecoriginals’ diapers are ninety percent plant-based and up to forty percent more absorbent than standard disposable diapers. The mix-and-match packs of…