I see so much shitty news, is there anything good in the world of conservation and env sciences?

the-awkward-turt:

Yes! There really, really is.

I know it’s hard not to feel hopeless with the threats of extinction, climate change, and environmental degradation looming over our heads, but there are lots of smart, passionate people out there making a difference.

Here is a small sampling of positive environmental/conservation stories from 2018:

The European Union voted to entirely ban the use of certain single-use plastic products. Increased public pressure on American businesses has led several major chains to voluntarily phase-out certain plastic products used in their stores.

The Ocean Cleanup organization has launched a trial vessel designed to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. With the information they gain from this vessel they hope to eventually launch many more.

A recent UN report suggests that the ozone hole is healing itself and may be partially repaired by 2030 and entirely by 2060.

While the situation of the world’s coral reefs is still dire, tons of incredibly talented and passionate people are working not just on protecting the world’s reefs, but also on rebuilding previously damaged ones. This just became much easier due to the discovery of a method called “microfragging”, which causes new corals to grow at 40x the usual rate. There will soon be over 100,000 new corals added to the rebuilding of Florida’s reefs.

The kakapo went from being extinct in the wild to now having a steadily growing wild population of 116 birds. Several critically endangered species like keel-scaled boas and California condors were found to be trending upwards in recent population analyses.

In 2018 Hong Kong finally joined the rest of China in banning ivory trade. China also recently banned the “medicinal” use of rhino horn and tiger bone.

Younger generations are shown to be significantly more concerned about issues such as environmental degradation and climate change, so with each passing year a greater percentage of the working and voting population is on the side of environmental protection and stopping climate change.

It’s vitally important that we cultivate an attitude of defiance and hope, rather than one of hopelessness and inaction. One of the most useful skills that people involved in environmental activism or conservation can cultivate is the ability to get back up and keep fighting even after terrible setbacks.

As long as there are people living on this earth, as long as there is a single patch of forest or a single coral reef, this fight will be worth fighting.

Others please feel free to add other positive environmental/conservation stories as I know I only mentioned a small number of them.

bogleech:

revretch:

awed-frog:

Prairies are some of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, with the tallgrass prairie being the most endangered. Only 1-4% of tallgrass prairie still exists.

Prairies are critically important, not only for the unique biodiversity they possess, but for their effect on climate.

The ability to store carbon is a valuable ecological service in today’s changing climate. Carbon, which is emitted both naturally and by human activities such as burning coal to create electricity, is a greenhouse gas that is increasing in the Earth’s atmosphere. Reports from the International Panel on Climate Change, a group of more than 2,000 climate scientists from around the world, agree that increased greenhouse gases are causing climate change, which is leading to sea level rise, higher temperatures, and altered rain patterns. Most of the prairie’s carbon sequestration happens below ground, where prairie roots can dig into the soil to depths up to 15 feet and more. Prairies can store much more carbon below ground than a forest can store above ground. In fact, the prairie was once the largest carbon sink in the world-much bigger than the Amazon rainforest-and its destruction has had devastating effects.

[source]

I just have to add–that extensive root system? It’s not just how the plant eats, and how it keeps itself from getting pulled out of the ground during storms, or dying when its aboveground portion is eaten… it’s how it talks to its friends and family, how it shares food with its friends and family, and more than likely, how it thinks. That’s a whole plant brain we’ve domesticated away, leaving a helpless organism that has trouble figuring out when it’s under attack by pests, what to do about it, has very little in the way of chemical defense so it can do something about it, and can’t even warn its neighbors. Even apart from the ecological concerns, what we’ve done is honestly pretty cruel.

Here’s some more articles on this too!

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/may/02/plants-talk-to-each-other-through-their-roots

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141111-plants-have-a-hidden-internet

https://www.the-scientist.com/features/plant-talk-38209

Whether or not you think this should qualify as a form of “intelligence” as we know it (which in itself as a pretty nebulous and poorly defined thing), plants exhibit complicated interactive behaviors that help them grow and thrive, and the way we harvest a lot of them for our produce just doesn’t even give them a chance to reach their maturity and begin trading nutrients the way they’re supposed to.