Some Good News On The Climate From 2021

While this past year's long list of environmental disasters may seem daunting, it overshadows all the good things that happened. So I wanted to pass on some uplifting climate news from 2021!

The United States rejoined the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) brought together nations from around the world to combat the problem. For environmental and economic reasons, the transition from from coal powered plants to carbon free energy suppliers has sped up. According to an article in the MIT Technology Review, more companies are constructing plants that actually suck carbon out of the air and investment in clean energy technologies has risen to all time highs, hitting $30 billion by the end of the third quarter 2021. Companies around the world are trying to clean up their manufacturing, packaging and delivery process, so that it has a minimal impact on the environment. The amount of trash and plastic we create is very problematic. You've probably heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (if not, click here to take a look). Plastic lasts for centuries and eventually turns into micro-plastics. Worse, fish and other aquatic species mistake plastic for food. Now, here's the good news. The earth actually has microbes that might be able to consume this waste. This is being studied by scientists and could be ground breaking. That said, we still need to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Here's a short list of additional environmental achievements to celebrate:

• Keystone XL oil pipeline was cancelled

• Giant pandas aren't endangered anymore

• The ozone layer is actually healing

• Mexico banned animal testing

• Over 50 countries came together to protect 30% of earth's land and oceans

• Hawaii banned coral harming sunscreen

• And Florida voted to spend $300 million on conservation!

This is all great news! My hope is that it leaves you hopeful that we can and will turn the corner and create a cleaner, greener planet.