Climate change is a topic with hardly any good news. It’s hard being told day in and day out that we’re burning up our little space rock, and that we’ll never get another one. Climate anxiety is real, and with the recent bushfires devastating the east coast of Australia, it’s been a particularly confronting time recently.
So, in an attempt to balance out all the climate crap, here’s some of those good news stories about the world we live in.
Because it hasn’t just been Greta Thunberg sailing around the world inspiring us this year.
Scientists Have Worked Out How To Get Bacteria To Eat CO2.
At the moment, bacteria are fed sugar in labs. Scientists have spent a decade working out how to engineer a form of E. Coli that eats carbon dioxide instead, and guess what? They’ve cracked it.
Find out more here.
Healthy Coral Sounds Attract Fish To Sick Reefs.
Scientists working on the Great Barrier Reef have made a pretty cool discovery. If they play healthy coral sounds – think fish eating coral, shrimp snapping, fish grunting – in a part of the reef that has had all the coral wiped out, fish will come. In fact, in just 40 days, the fish population in areas with the added audio doubled.
Find out more here.
Kenyan Women Have Restored A Coral Reef
Speaking of coral reefs, a reef off the coast of Kenya that was almost completely dead is being restored. The women of Wasini Island have lead the project, and have overseen the return of seagrass, fish, lobsters, and octopus to the reef.
Find out more here.
We Might Be Getting Our Solar Power From Space Soon
If you’ve ever worried about how we’ll get solar power on cloudy days, the answer could be to send it directly from space. Scientists are working on technology that could harvest solar power through satellites and them beam it down to earth when we need it, and it might not actually be as far away as we first thought.
Find out more here.
Kelp That Can Cope With Warmer Waters Is Being Planted In Tassie
After the Tasmanian population of giant kelp was hit hard by warming waters, scientists have lab-bred ‘super kelp’ that can cope with the conditions. It’s being planted in all of the areas that have lost giant kelp, and as it grows it will start sucking up carbon, too.
Find out more here.
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