In today’s edition of Squirrel News, over 20 million more African children are being fed at school, the EU aims to cut down on food and textile waste, and Amazon rainforest losses from fire drop 65%.
A report from the World Food Programme last week showed the rise in the number of children fed at school in sub-Saharan Africa is the biggest increase of any world region, pointing to governments’ prioritising of education and less dependence on foreign aid as reasons for the change.
The European Union has updated the EU Waste Framework Directive to ensure countries find ways to reduce food waste, a significant contributor to carbon emissions, by 2030. The directive also includes new restrictions on textile trash.
This year saw steadier rainfall and not a repeat of last year’s drought conditions, but authorities think the decrease also reflects the more care farmers are taking as a result of increased surveillance to prevent land clearing, as any of last year’s fires were started for the purpose of land clearance.
New research finds that indigenous controlled rainforest territories might help reduce respiratory diseases such as asthma, often caused by burning rainforest territories. Territories that were left untouched appeared to have better health outcomes for residents.
Researchers from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro have developed a drug that could help repair damage to the spinal cord. Currently, there are no accepted methods to reverse these injuries, which commonly result in paralysis of the limbs.
A team of doctors successfully operated remotely on a patient over 4000 km away, using robotics. 5G networks allowed the surgeons to conduct urological surgery on a patient over 4500 metres above sea level. This technology could enable people in remote, inaccessible areas to still receive life-saving treatment.
By 2026, Bordeaux plans to produce 41% of its energy from renewable sources, predominantly solar panels. It plans to place them on municipal buildings in public spaces, and on roads and cycle paths. To preserve the city’s architecture, new, transparent panels will be used.
The “Miyawaki method” involves planting small forests in urban areas. Due to the lack of competition from other trees, these “tiny forests” can mature in 10 years instead of 100. Now they are being planted across Scotland.
Wildlife biologists in a Rhode Island saltmarsh are using a low-cost ‘ark’ solution to raise nests of the saltmarsh sparrow, buying the species time to adapt to rising tides. In addition, they are teaching younger biologists this work that they call ‘the definition of hope’.
Long polluted by industry and sewage with barely any fish species by the late 1900s, the Chicago River is seeing a recovery similar to the Seine in Paris. A floating wetland project and sewage system improvements have been cleaning the water, and now wildlife and swimmers are returning.
