Choosing to take notice of good news stories will not, of course, cancel out the worrying ones. Nor will it act as a cure for mental health problems. It may, however, go some way to redressing the balance and giving us just a soupcon of hope that good things are going on all around us too. These are a few of our favourite stories from 2023 so far.
Two Sites Chosen For A British Rainforest Project
Creg y Cowin on the Isle Of Man and Bryn Ifan in North Wales have become the first two sites named as the beneficiaries of Aviva’s £38 million fund to restore and expand British rainforests which, after many years of destruction to clear space for farming or development, now cover just one per cent of the country. The benefits are multi-faceted; the restoration of trees to the areas will remove carbon, thus providing cleaner air and water and reducing the risk of flooding. It will, additionally, provide habitats for wildlife and restore lost or ailing eco-systems. And finally, it will benefit local communities who will have greater access to nature and be involved in a variety of rainforest projects. To find out more, watch the Wildlife Trust’s video here.
NHS To Offer Drug To Treat Inherited Cancers
Breast and prostate cancers are amongst those that are commonly inherited, thanks to faulty versions of BRCAs genes. It’s good news, then, for anyone suffering from these cancers as the NHS has approved the use of olaparib, a targeted therapy that will treat people with this specific form of the disease, improving quality of life as well as diminishing the chance of recurrence. Five per cent of women with breast cancer carry inherited gene faults; olaparib will improve their chances of survival by approximately one third and extend life – and improve quality of life – for those with prostate cancer too.
An Upsurge In The Number Of Children Reading
Screen time gets a bad rap – and for good reason on the whole. However, harnessed in the right way, it can have a positive impact on children too: a report entitled 2023 What Are Kids Reading discovered a significant uptick in numbers of British and Irish children reading, having collectively devoured 27 million books in the past year (that’s up a quarter from the year before). One of the chief drivers of the improvement? The rise of Booktok, via which readers share mini reviews of books that that have enjoyed.
Solar Power
The rising cost of energy thanks to the war in Ukraine is, by most metrics, a source of worry rather than a reason to rejoice. But one side effect of such is that the number of households installing solar panels has hit a seven-year high, with 50,000 homes making the switch. It does, of course, require a financial outlay, but for those in a position to do so, it will bring bills down in the long term as well as having huge benefits for the environment.
Mattel Launches A Barbie With Down’s Syndrome
Inclusion is a topic that is much discussed, with decision makers across many industries finally realising the need for a broader spectrum of representation. Toy maker Mattell has now brought out a doll with Down’s Syndrome to ‘enable all children to see themselves in Barbie’, partnering with the American National Down Syndrome Society to bring the toy to market responsibly as part of the Barbie Fashionista line. It is part of a wider programme of inclusion which has seen the manufacturer bring out a Barbie who uses a wheelchair and another who wears a hijab.
Scientists Discover A Microbe That Will Help The Climate
Scientists who have been carrying out work on the Italian island of Vulcano have discovered a reason for hope in the fight against the climate emergency. A team of divers identified a microbe that goes by the name of cyanobacterium, which is found in volcanic seeps and consumes CO2 incredibly quickly. As Damian Carrington writing in The Guardian puts it, ‘The researchers hope to utilise microbes that have naturally evolved to absorb CO2 as an efficient way of removing the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere. Ending the burning of fossil fuels is critical in ending the climate crisis, but most scientists agree CO2 will also need to be sucked from the air to limit future damage.’ It may not be a silver bullet, but this carbon capturing organism might just be one more tool in the fight to absorb climate-heating gas. And we need all of the tools we can get.
By Nancy Alsop
May 2023
