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The number of AIDS deaths worldwide dropped 10 percent in 2007, as did the number of new infections in children, because of increasing access to treatment, the United Nations reported. Prevention efforts like condom use and education tripled in some countries. (2008/07/29)
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50 New Species Discovered Each Day in 2006 |
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16,969 species new to science were discovered and described in 2006 -- an average of nearly 50 species per day -- reports the International Institute for Species Exploration in partnership with the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.
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Asthma Inhalers Going Green |
By the end of the year 22 million asthma patients will be breathing with the help of new environmentally friendly inhalers. The current inhalers use Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) which are the main cause of ozone depletion in the stratosphere, which are being phased out in the United States on December 31.
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Hybrid car sales during the year 2000 numbered fewer than 10,000. Last year sales climbed to 330,000 vehicles.
In May 2008, auto sales for every US manufacturer was down by up to 28%. Only Honda sales were up (by 16%) led by their popular hybrid.
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Extinct Plants Rediscovered in Flora-Rich Queensland |
50 plant species new to science are discovered and documented in Queensland, Australia every year. In fact, two plant species thought to be extinct since 1873 were rediscovered this year in the area of Cape York. (Queensland government's State of the Environment report, 2008)
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Encouraging Rise in UK Paper Collections |
A new study revealed that the UK collected over 8.6 million tons of recovered paper last year, a big jump over the previous year and an increase of 7.5%. The rise mirrors the growth reported in both 2005 (8.7%) and 2004 (12.8%).
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Suicide Rate Drops in Young Men |
"The suicide rate among young men in England and Wales is at the lowest level for 30 years," reports the BBC.
For males aged 15 to 24, the overall suicide rate dropped from 16.6 per 100,000 people in 1990 to 8.5 per 100,000 in 2005. Amongst men aged 25 to 34, overall suicide rates declined almost seven percent.
(Read All Good Bites)
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Abortion Rate at 30-Year Low |
The U.S. abortion rate has reached a 30-year-low. In 2005 a survey of abortion providers showed the rate was lower than the number of abortions in 1975, which was just two years after Roe v. Wade became the law of the land. The results revealed an eight percent drop in totals from 2000 to 2005. -Alan Guttmacher Institute
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Trucker Drives Million Miles, No Accidents |
Michael Crone was honored by his Indianapolis trucking company for his consistantly safe driving -- over one million miles with no accidents in his 20-year career. The 43-year-old truck driver was the 13th in the company’s history to achieve the mark.
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Organic Cotton Sales Double |
According to the Organic Farm and Fiber Report 2007, organic cotton
sales rose 53 per cent in a two-year period, driven by demand from the
clothing and home product industries.
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Amazon Deforestation Reduced Dramatically |
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Deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon have dropped by 25 percent each of the past three years, according to Brazil’s environment ministry. From July 31, 2004, through 2007, an average of 4,000 more square kilometers of forest each year have been spared from clear-cutting over the previous period (1,544 sq. miles). — WWF
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Ivory Cross-Border Trading Banned by eBay |
eBay announced this week a ban on international trading of elephant ivory from all its sites worldwide after an animal welfare group found that 94 percent of the ivory up for auction there was potentially illegal.
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Divorce Rate in U.S. Hits 37-Year Low |
America's per capita divorce rate has declined steadily since its peak in 1981, dropping by one-third to its lowest level since 1970. Divorce rates in England and Wales have fallen as well. (source: AP 07/05/10)
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Heart Patients Living Longer |
Heart disease rates have been falling for decades due to healthier lifestyles, but now death rates after severe heart attacks have been cut in half over the last six years, thanks to new treatments and anti-clotting drugs. Death rates of patients in 14 countries fell from 8.4% to 4.5% between 1999 and 2006, a study showed.
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San Francisco's Garbage Trucks Go Green |
All of San Francisco's 400 garbage and recycling trucks now run on alternative fuel, cutting 21 percent of their greenhouse gas emissions with the use of liquefied natural gas, and biodiesel B-20 made from food scraps.
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Domestic Violence Plummets in U.S. |
Domestic violence against spouses and intimate partners in the U.S. fell by nearly two-thirds in recent years, reaching a 30-year low. Government figures show the marked declines began in 1994.
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Turkmenistan Teens Can Now Attend College |
Turkmenistan’s new president has scrapped a rule that required high school graduates to work for two years before they enter university. President Gubanguli Berdymukhamedov signed an order dropping work requirements and reinstating university entrance exams.
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Aid From Rich Nations Doubled in 4 Years |
Industrialized nations are giving more economic assistance to the world's impoverished states, revealed the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development in statistics released on Jan. 29, 2007. Aid rose by 8.8 percent in 2005, the fifth consecutive annual increase, and had more than doubled since 2001.
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Asian Poverty Reduction at 95% |
In 1990 there were 500 million people living in poverty in East Asia and the Pacific region. That number is now under 200 million, and the World Bank projects that by 2011 it will be under 20 million — a reduction of 95 percent.
— Ray Kurzweil, author, inventor and futurist speaking at the Ted Conference
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Worldwide Air Crashes in 2006 Lowest in 53 Years |
Air travel is getting safer as the number of plane crashes worldwide fell to its lowest level in 53 years during 2006. Even while air travel increased by 4 percent over the previous year, 22 fewer commercial flights ended in disaster.
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Europe's Air Getting Cleaner |
European emissions of acid rain-causing sulphur dioxide have declined by 65 percent since 1990, achieving a 2010 target to cut pollution from coal-burning power plants and heavy industry years ahead of schedule.
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Endangered Gorillas Prosper in Heart of Africa |
A 2003 census showed Gorillas in Africa have increased their numbers by 17 percent since 1989, not due to a change in the number of births, but because "there's no more poaching."
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NY Subway Crime Dips to Lowest Rate in 37 Years |
New York subway crime has plummeted more than 37 percent in 2006. That's on top of the decrease in 2005 of about 5.5 percent. Robberies were down 21 percent in 2006. Grand larcenies declined 46 percent and assaults fell 55 percent, NYPD data showed.
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Rate of Deforestation in Amazon Slowing |
Deforestation rates in the Amazon are declining, according to data
released by the Brazilian government. Rates of deforestation from 1 August 2005 to 1 August 2006 dropped an estimated 11 percent.
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Crimes Down by 50,000 in Scotland |
Nearly 50,000 fewer crimes were committed in Scotland last year compared with the previous 12 months, down 6 percent. Violent crime fell 7 percent and crimes of indecency 10 percent, while housebreaking and other dishonesty offences dropped for the seventh year in a row.
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Florida Crime Rate Lowest in 30 Years |
Florida's crime rate has dropped to its lowest level in more than 30 years. 2005 produced a 4 percent drop in overall crime rate, down for the 14th straight year.
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A new method of counting Giant Pandas in the wild using DNA revealed
there was more than double the estimated number living in one reserve
and, based on the finding, as many as 3,000 of the elusive and
endangered animals in the mountains of China, rather than the 1,590
previously thought.
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Chesapeake Bay's Grasses are Renewing |
Grasses in the Chesapeake Bay are rebounding, covering double the acreage they did in 1984. In 2005, grasses, a key component of the bay's health, inhabited 78,260 acres, 7 percent more coverage than in 2004. Efforts to control Nitrogen must be redoubled to reach scientists' goals of 185,000 acres in 2010.
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Random House Ups Recycled Paper Usage |
Leading U.S. publisher Random House will use more recycled paper in its books — up to 30 percent from its current 3 percent — and preserve more than 550,000 trees a year. By 2010 nearly a third of the uncoated paper used will be recycled and at least 10 percent for glossy paper within two years.
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Volkswagen UK's New Green Policies |
Volkswagen Group UK, which includes Audi, launched a new environmental policy switching to renewable energy to power two of its plants; buying 100 percent recycled paper for the head office; implementing an Environmental Management System and encouraging staff to reduce and recycle.
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Brazil Fueling 1 Million Cars on Sugarcane |
Latin America’s largest country, Brazil, is the world’s biggest producer of bio-ethanol and 1 million Brazilian cars already run on the fuel made from sugarcane. The cars, introduced three years ago, can use either gasoline or bioethanol.
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Connecticut to Use Only Safe Cleaning Products |
All state agencies in Connecticut will now use only environmentally safe cleaning products in their facilities. Green products maintain sanitary conditions while minimizing harmful side effects and improving indoor air quality.
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Chemical Pollution Decreases |
The EPA reported that chemical pollution released into the environment fell more than 4 percent from 2003 to 2004, due mostly to the metal mining, electric utility and hazardous waste industries.
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Enterprise Rent-A-Car Adds Biodiesel Cars to Fleet |
Enterprise Rent-A-Car has added five biodiesel vehicles to its Portland fleet, testing customer demand for environmentally friendly rentals. The Jeep Liberties come filled with bio-fuel and can be refilled at four local stations or with regular diesel.
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Tanzania Bans Plastic Bags |
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The manufacturing, importing, buying and using of thin plastic bags is now banned in Tanzania. Bags are blamed for harming livestock, blocking drains and reducing soil fertility.
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China will invest around 1.2 billion USD over the next five years to curb the pollution of the Songhua River, funding more than 200 projects, half of which will address industrial pollution, 70 will focus on sewage processing.
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The prevalence of new H.I.V. infections has fallen significantly in southern India, the region most heavily infected. The decline by more than a third from 2000 through 2004 was attributed to increasing use of condoms. — Lancet, 06/3/31
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Polio Vaccines in Somalia |
The World Health Organization has launched a five-day polio immunization campaign in Somalia to vaccinate nearly one and a half million children under age five against the crippling disease, which is on the decline there.
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A new coral reef was discovered off the Thai coast, which is home to over 30 types of hard corals and at least 112 species of fish, including a parrot fish never seen in Thailand until now — and as a rare species of sweet lips. It's an area of 1.4 square miles, 270 hectares, and scientists call it "spectacular."
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Golden Monkeys Surprising Comeback |
China's golden monkeys, a species more endangered than giant pandas (and almost as adorable), have made a surprising comeback with populations quadrupling in the past two decades from 200 in the early 1980s to around 800.
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Decrease of American Women Smoking |
For the first time in 40 years, less than 20 percent of women smoke (one third of women smoked in 1965). Wanna quit? Free help line (800) 784-8669.
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Lower Lead Levels in U.S. Kids |
Levels of lead have dropped dramatically. In 1976, 88.2 percent of U.S. children had elevated blood lead levels compared to 1.6 percent today. (Feb. 25, 2006)
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Since 2000, U.S. forests have expanded by an area larger than Delaware. — Jan. 2006 Smithsonian
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Mayors Combat Greenhouse Gases in US |
More than 160 mayors have pledged to curb greenhouse gases in their cities according to the guidelines of the Kyoto Protocol. (2005)
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States Set Renewable Energy Goals |
Eighteen states, including power hogs California and Texas, have set requirements or goals for renewable energy. New York, for one, aims to generate 25 percent of the state's energy from renewables by 2013, up from 19 percent today. (Jan. 2006)
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