Any Good News in 2019?

I'm posting this a bit early this year because the mainstream (political) news in the United States has been so depressing, I figured my readers could use a cheerier alternative. I know I could.

Health:

2018 was a good year for those fighting malaria. Algeria and Argentina have now eradicated the disease. New cases of malaria dropped by half in India. Malawi is immunizing all children with the new vaccine; other African nations are expected to follow suit.

Vaccinations in Malawi, via Doctors without Borders.

2018-19 was also a positive year for public health. The Philippines introduced universal health insurance. Rwanda is vaccinating 95 percent of its children against measles and polio. Sudan vaccinated thirteen million children against these illnesses. Less remarked upon, but still important: India has since 2014 supplied 90 million sites with flush toilets. Most families now have access to one.

In Europe and North America (though perhaps not the White House), dementia rates have fallen by 15 percent in each decade since 1990. In 2018, U.S. drug overdose deaths declined, suicide rates in Japan fell to their lowest level ever, and life expectancy in Russia reached its highest level ever.

Globally, HIV deaths are down 33 percent since 2010.

Environmental improvement:

South Africa, England, Canada, Belize, and Argentina have created new marine conservation sites. Australia has initiated a re-wilding project on the Yorke Peninsula. Chile is turning 407,000 hectares of private land into a national park. The U.S. Senate has passed a law protecting 1.3 million acres of federal land. Perhaps Mitch McConnell isn't 100 percent evil.*

Ethiopia announced a plan to plant four billion new trees and monitor their growth with its new satellite. On 29 July the nation planted 350 million trees in twelve hours. China announced that forest now covers 22 percent of its land surface. Costa Rica has reached 50 percent forestation.

Tree planting, Ethiopia, via Smithsonianmag.com.

Poaching of rhinos and elephants declined by over 25 percent last year. Populations of Siberian tigers and humpback whales are recovering; the latter has reached 90 percent of its pre-hunting total.

Britain ran its electrical grid without coal for two weeks. Germany announced it will shut down all its coal-fired electrical plants by 2038. Senegal and Israel have joined an international anti-coal pact, Powering Past Coal. India in 2018 added to its grid 12 gigawatts of clean power. Paris has purchased 800 electric buses to begin replacing its old fleet.

Social and economic justice:

The number of human beings living in extreme poverty ($2/day) continues to decline. Between 1990 and 2018 this cohort shrank from 2 billion people to 600 million.

Nine U.S. cities have eliminated veteran homelessness. The 30 largest American cities experienced a 3.5 percent decline in crime last year. American states that have decriminalized marijuana report a precipitous drop in domestic violence injuries. I bet they all experience shortages of Doritos and miniature candy bars, though.

Nineteen African countries have since 2009 reached gender parity in primary schooling. Northern Ireland has legalized abortion and same-sex marriage. Saudi Arabia has granted women the right to travel alone, register vital records, and serve as legal guardians. Botswana and Angola have decriminalized homosexuality.

**

The news stories above are via FutureCrunch’s Good News page, which is worth the occasional visit.


* He is, in fact, 98.7 percent evil.