Any Good News in 2021?

As the days (in the Northern Hemisphere) grow shorter, coronavirus continues to ravage large parts of the world, the United States slouches toward fascism, and climate disasters grow ever more regular, it is easy to despair. The early months of winter are thus a good time to review the positive news stories of the year, via  Future Crunch. Few of these items made it to American newspapers or cable news services; all remind us that optimism is not an unrealistic outlook.

* Argentina legalized and Mexico decriminalized abortion, while Switzerland and several Mexican states legalized same-sex marriage.

* Suicide rates fell by 5 percent in the United States last year, despite the pandemic. American cancer death rates reportedly fell by 30 percent from 1990 to 2018. Europe also experienced declines. The World Health Organization approved for use the first malaria vaccine. Haiti brought its cholera epidemic under control - there have been no reported cases there since January 2019.

* New York and New Mexico legalized marijuana. Oregon decriminalized possession of all illegal drugs.

* Banks and governments pledged 14 billion dollars to fight deforestation in northern Africa. South Korea promised to plant 3 billion trees by 2050. Pakistan went ahead and planted 1.5 billion trees this year.

* Audi, Mercedes, and Volvo announced they will switch to all-electric car production by the end of the decade. Ford announced it will stop selling gas-powered cars in Europe by 2030. Barcelona began giving free three-year public-transit passes to residents who agreed to give up their cars.

* As of Fall 2021, endowment, pension, and sovereign-wealth funds worth 40 trillion dollars agreed partially or wholly to divest from fossil fuel production. China ended its funding of foreign coal-fired power plants and reduced the share of coal in its electricity budget below 50 percent. In the United States, the Biden administration ended support for the Keystone XL pipeline.

* The Canadian Mik'maq recovered their sovereign fishing rights. The Dakotas recovered sacred lands in Minneapolis; the Passamaquoddies bought back some of their ancestral land in Maine. Bison were reintroduced to the Salish-Kootenai reservation in Montana.

Even misspellings yielded some nice results this year. The image here shows what happens when you try to google "Santa hat" and instead type "Santa bat." (Image courtesy of Jo Jorgensen, via Twitter.com.)