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In today’s edition: Canadian researchers succeed in rethickening melting Arctic ice, India sees the use of tobacco by its adult population drop by 50% in two decades, and over 5,000 flamingo chicks hatch in a former “climate disaster hotspot”.
Sea ice is melting fast, but attempts to rethicken it are showing early signs of success. Research teams in northern Canada are drilling holes in sea ice and pumping 50,000 tonnes of ocean water up on to its surface. This freezes almost immediately, thickening the 1.5-metre-deep ice by about 50cm and protecting the ice at the start of the melt season.
Source: The Guardian
In 2000, roughly one in five adults in India smoked tobacco, and nearly half of all adults were consuming some form of the substance, including products that are sniffed or chewed. Since then, rates of both have roughly halved across all genders and age groups.
Source: Our World In Data
The country’s Supreme Court has issued a binding directive order to the government ensuring equal marriage rights for gender and sexual minorities. Same-sex marriage in Nepal has been provisionally recognised after an interim ruling from the Nepal Supreme Court in 2023.
Source: QNews
State laws banning Pfas in clothing and textiles have significantly reduced the amount of toxic “forever chemicals” used in the products, which public health advocates say marks a major public health win and underscores the value in protective policy.
Source: The Guardian
Researchers at Stanford University have found a way to potentially make joint replacements far less common: regrow aging cartilage and stop arthritis before it even starts.
Source: Science Daily
Housing coalitions promoting community land trusts and real estate cooperatives have developed across multiple US cities and states – and they’re seeing impressive results. These coalitions pressure statehouses and city councils to support CLTs, housing cooperatives, investment trusts, and related community ownership strategies in which community members have a stake in both decision-making and the ownership of land and housing.
Source: Shelter Force
At the Van den Berk nursery, trees large enough to provide meaningful shade – such as linden trees – are being grown in huge quantities, before being carefully transported and transplanted to cities in need.
Source: Deutsche Welle
The World Health Organization considers snakebites a neglected tropical disease. BBC journalists talk to a man doing public education in Nepal while rescuing snakes that might otherwise be killed out of fear. He teaches how to recognise deadly species and why seeking medical treatment quickly is important.
Source: BBC News
A 4,500-year-old Indigenous way to produce food uses no pesticides and returns plots to the rainforest after five years of use. It might be the answer to many of the problems plaguing modern agriculture.
Source: BBC News
In a salt lake that had almost dried up five years ago, more than 5,000 flamingo chicks have hatched in a win for the species and wider conservation attempts. After a number of initiatives to save the “climate change hotspot” located in the Central Anatolia plateau, the lake is now hosting a new generation of the birds.
Source: Good News Network
