📈 Human Progress
In the last decades humanity has made great progress with less extreme poverty, increased health, wealth and democracy. We follow in the tradition of professor Hans Rosling.
☣️ Toxic chemical emissions have decreased by 21% over ten years
Emissions of toxic chemicals in the USA decreased by 21 percent between 2013 and 2022. Over this ten-year period, emissions from manufacturing facilities decreased by 9 percent while the economic value that the manufacturing industry contributed to the American economy increased by 14 percent.
🌽 The Food Price Index has dropped for the seventh consecutive month – the lowest in three years
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that the Food Price Index in February fell to its lowest level in three years. Prices for cereals, especially corn and wheat, decreased by 5 percent.
🌬️ Significantly improved air quality in Europe over the past two decades, study shows
A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health demonstrates significant improvements in air quality across Europe. Levels of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide have decreased by 1.7-2.7 percent per year.
🐖 Genetically modified pig kidney transplanted into human for the first time
For the first time, surgeons have transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified pig into a living person. This type of kidney could help reduce the shortage of organs.
🌦️ Weather forecasts have become much more accurate
Four-day forecasts now have the same accuracy as one-day forecasts did 30 years ago.
📉 New study: Poverty has decreased more than we thought, as has inequality – including within countries
Extreme poverty is almost 40 percent lower than previously thought, and economic inequality is decreasing both between and within countries.
🧒🏿 UN: Historic milestone as the number of child deaths falls below 5 million for the first time
Since 2000, the global under-five mortality rate has more than halved. Several low- and lower-middle-income countries have surpassed the global decline, with some reducing child mortality by more than two-thirds.
🦐 Discovery of 100 new marine species in New Zealand
A team of researchers has discovered at least one hundred new marine species in the Bounty Trough off the south coast of New Zealand. The expedition found dozens of molluscs, three fish, a shrimp, and a predatory squid.
🧬 Reviving the mammoth is getting closer
Colossal Biosciences has succeeded in creating elephant cells that can be reprogrammed into various cell types, including those required to create a mammoth. This success opens new possibilities for research around extinct species and the conservation of endangered species.