We’re starting the week at Squirrel News talking about the number of children living in extreme poverty dropping by roughly 18% worldwide, the grassroots campaign pushing back against smartphone usage, and how Ireland became a model for progress in almost every conceivable field.
The figure dropped by about 18.7% globally between 2014 and 2024, from 507 million initially to 412 million as of last year. Although South Asia has more than halved its child poverty rates in general, India shows the largest reduction in the number of extremely poor children in the region.
Wind and solar power generated more than a third of the South American country’s electricity in August, making it the first month on record where renewable sources have crossed this threshold.
Pollution, warm oceans and hungry urchins devastated Pacific kelp. Now, thanks to divers with hammers, one of the world’s most successful rehabilitation projects has helped it rebound.
Farmers in western France are experimenting with an unusual type of fertiliser: powder made from algae grown on wastewater. When combined with mineral fertilisers, this bio-based product can reduce their use by up to 25% without sacrificing yields.
Up to 136,000kg of organic material enters the Staten Island Compost Facility every day. Over the course of several weeks, the waste is shredded, screened, and transferred into aerated static pile bunkers where composting begins. After curing and screening, the end product forms a dark, nutrient-rich compost and avoids the methane emissions that come with landfill-based decomposition.
In response to growing ICE presence across the US, local groups are holding Know Your Rights training sessions to educate both immigrants and allies about what to do (and not do) if federal law enforcement is present.
The temperate grasslands of Colorado are considered the most threatened major ecosystem on the planet, with an average of two million acres lost annually, mostly when converted for development or cropland. To fight this, ranchers are taking a conservation approach to save their lands from construction.
Based on the principle that “childhood is too short to be spent on a smartphone”, a grassroots campaign with a simple concept has signed up hundreds of thousands of parents: delay getting your child a phone until they’re 14, and access to social media until the age of 16.
The East Asian country is no stranger to higher life expectancies when compared to the rest of the world. As increased quantities of sugar and salt crept into diets in the rest of the world, Japan went in the other direction, with people in this region exploring healthier lifestyle habits such as staying active into later life, walking and using public transport more than elderly people in the US and Europe.
In comparison to the deeply conservative, poverty-bound Ireland of the 1950s, life expectancy has climbed from 70 to 83 years, infant mortality has decreased substantially, and GNI per capita has risen from €1,700 to €51,000. Additionally, half the population now holds a university degree, and the country recently voted in a gay, mixed-race prime minister.
