Today (2017 C.E. - 2025 C.E.)

Silhouette of wind turbines at dusk

Wind overtakes fossil fuels as U.K.’s primary source of electricity

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In a historic win for the LGBTQ+ community, Aetna reached a settlement today with a group of plaintiffs alleging medical discrimination in their fertility coverage. The insurance company is paying out $2 million to the members of the class action lawsuit, as well as restructuring how they cover fertility for queer couples moving forward. This marks the a major step toward ending fertility-based medical discrimination for LGBTQ+ couples in the U.S.

Technicians carrying photovoltaic solar module while installing solar panel system on roof of house

U.S. President Joe Biden announces $7 billion in federal solar power grants

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President Biden marked Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in federal grants for residential solar projects serving 900,000-plus households in low- and middle-income communities. The projects are expected to eventually reduce emissions by the equivalent of 30 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and save households $350 million annually, according to senior administration officials.

Plastic pollution in the water

Plastic-choked rivers in Ecuador are being cleared with conveyor belts

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Created by the tech start-up Ichthion, the Azure system’s simple design has the capacity to stop and collect around 80 tonnes of plastic per day. The Azure system is a boom device that stretches across the river to stop objects floating on the surface. It extends two feet down into the water, allowing fish and other organisms to move freely below and is placed at an angle allowing the natural water flow to direct all debris into one corner of the riverbank.

Creek flowing

‘NATURE’ becomes an official streaming artist to raise millions for conservation

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Through the new “Sounds Right” project, ‘NATURE’ itself is registered as a streaming artist on major music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. This allows the Earth’s audio cameos to bring in money for protecting the environment worldwide. Streaming royalties earned by ‘NATURE’ will be collected by the EarthPercent conservation nonprofit, which hosts the Sounds Right Conservation Fund. The money will go to rights-based projects that focus on the world’s most biodiverse and threatened regions.

space debris in Earth orbit

India aims to achieve debris-free space missions by 2030

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Low Earth orbit is littered with about 30,000 objects larger than a softball and millions smaller than a centimeter. A bombshell study found unexpectedly high amounts of vaporized metals polluting Earth’s stratosphere, which is home to the fragile ozone layer, whose chemical makeup can be altered by satellite material. Another study posted to the preprint server arXiv suggested that debris from burning satellites could be altering our planet’s magnetic field.

A Polar bear surrounded by arctic wilderness

Biden limits oil drilling across 13 million acres of Alaskan Arctic

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Future oil and gas drilling will be limited across more than 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, the nation’s largest expanse of public land, under a sweeping Biden administration plan aimed at protecting sensitive ecosystems and wildlife. In a separate move, the Department of the Interior has announced that it will block a controversial road crucial to operating a planned copper and zinc mine in northern Alaska, saying it would threaten Indigenous communities and fragment wildlife habitat.

Rainforest scene

Brazil’s President Lula creates two new Indigenous territories, bringing total to 10

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The Cacique Fontoura reserve will be in Mato Grosso state and the Aldeia Velha territory will be in Bahia state. They will cover a combined total area of almost 132 square miles. Speaking at a ceremony in Brasilia, Lula said Indigenous peoples should be patient as he seeks to fulfill his pledge of creating 14 new territories. Last year, he demarcated six territories in April and two more in September.

Aerial view of river and mangroves

Brazil boosts protection of Amazon mangroves with new reserves in Pará state

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Brazil’s Pará state has now protected almost all of its Amazonian coastline after establishing two new conservation units that make up the world’s largest and most conserved belt of mangroves. The environmental victory came after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the decree for the two reserves on March 21, placing an additional 184,600 acres of mangrove ecosystems under federal protection.

Mosquito on a leaf

New types of mosquito bed nets could cut malaria risk by up to half, trial finds

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Nets treated with two types of insecticide rather than one were trialed in 17 African countries where malaria is endemic between 2019 and 2022. During clinical trials when a net was coated with the insecticides pyriproxyfen or chlorfenapyr, alongside pyrethroid, malaria transmissions were reduced by between 20% and 50%. More than 600,000 people died from malaria in 2022 and 249 million people were infected, according to the latest data from the World Health Organization.