Good News for Humankind
The world's latest milestones for climate, justice, freedom, peace, health, and more
October 28 – November 3 2024 C.E.
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Calendar
The Azores, an autonomous Portuguese archipelago, has approved legislation to create the largest marine protected area (MPA) network in the North Atlantic Ocean. Spread across about 110,800 square miles, the new MPA network covers 30% of the ocean surrounding the archipelago. Half of the network is “fully protected,” and half is “highly protected.” In the “fully protected” parts, extractive or destructive activities like fishing are not allowed, while activities such as diving, swimming, and marine tourism are regulated.
President Biden has issued a formal presidential apology to Native American communities for the atrocities committed against Indigenous children and their families during a 150-year era of forced federal Indian boarding schools. "After 150 years, the United States government eventually stopped the program," the president said. "But the federal government has never, never formally apologized for what happened — until today. I formally apologize, as president of the United States of America, for what we did."
A Tokyo high court in Japan recently ruled that the government’s policy against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The ruling marks the second time that one of the nation’s eight regional high courts has ruled in favor of marriage equality. The Tokyo high court ruled that the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is “a groundless legal discrimination based on sexual orientation” that violates the constitutionally guaranteed right to equality and dignity regardless of sex.
In the first nine months of 2024, the consumption of hard coal in power plants to generate electricity fell by 39% compared to the same period the previous year. This was a result of an overall decrease in electricity generation, an increase in electricity production from renewables, and increased electricity purchasing from neighboring countries. Overall energy use also continued to fall and is set to reach a new annual record low since Germany’s reunification in 1990.
Indigenous peoples in Colombia have been granted the authority to protect, manage, and conserve biodiversity within their territories according to their knowledge. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has issued a decree that lays out the standards required for Indigenous authorities to issue regulations regarding the protection, preservation, use, and management of natural resources in their territories and effective coordination with state authorities. These powers will be exercised according to their self-government structures.
New research from Amsterdam University Medical Center introduces a promising new treatment approach for type 2 diabetes (T2D) that has the potential to greatly reduce or even eliminate the need for insulin therapy. This innovative approach, which combines a novel procedure known as ReCET (Re-Cellularization via Electroporation Therapy) with semaglutide, resulted in the elimination of insulin therapy for 86% of the 14 patients participating in initial trials. Globally, T2D affects 422 million people. While insulin therapy is commonly used to manage blood sugar levels in T2D patients, it can result in side effects such as weight gain and further complicate diabetes management.
The Biden administration has forgiven another $4.5 billion in student debt for more than 60,000 borrowers. The latest round of relief is a result of the U.S. Department of Education’s fixes to the popular, but once-troubled, Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. President Biden, who has forgiven more education debt than any other president in U.S history, said that the number of borrowers to benefit from the program under his administration now exceeded 1 million.
After initial consumer confusion and irritation, Ireland’s first-ever deposit return scheme for plastic bottles and cans has finally been embraced by the public, with 111 million containers returned in August – up from 2 million in February when the scheme launched. In the eight months since its launch, 630 million containers have been deposited at reverse vending machines up and down the country.
New research from U.C. Berkeley, published in Nature, points to a new material – a bright yellow powder that resembles turmeric – that could help rid the air all around us of CO2. The scientists say that just 200 grams of the material can absorb up to 20 kilograms of carbon in a year – which is approximately the same absorption potential as a tree. The substance could be easily integrated into carbon capture systems already deployed to remove CO2 from refinery emissions or to capture atmospheric carbon and store it underground.
The Atlantic sturgeon – a keystone species – was driven to functional extinction in Europe in the middle of the twentieth century. Supported by a grant from Rewilding Europe’s European Wildlife Comeback fund, a pioneering initiative has seen this iconic fish reintroduced in a Swedish river for the first time. A total of 100 juvenile sturgeon were translocated from a breeding facility in the village of Born auf dem Darß, on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, which is operated by the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Research Center for Agriculture and Fisheries in Rostock.
Although it was traditionally believed that Portuguese explorers were the first humans to arrive on the Azores – an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atlantic Ocean – there is evidence to suggest otherwise. Researchers have discovered that 5-beta-stigmasterol is present in sediment samples from between 700 and 850 C.E. This compound is found in the feces of livestock, such as sheep and cattle, neither of which are native to the islands. Additionally, mice on the Azores were discovered to have mitochondrial DNA suggesting they first arrived from Northern Europe, suggesting that they were brought to the islands by Norwegian Vikings.
After a decades-long effort, more than 30% of the world's oceans are now formally protected in Marine Protection Areas (MPAs) limiting fishing, underwater drilling, and other damaging activities. The protection proves a massive boon to conserving biodiversity, combating climate change, and maintaining critical ecosystem services around the world.
These milestones have been added to the Archive of Human Genius - our database of social change milestones – past, present & future.
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