💡 Warp News #307
🌎 Growth without increased emissions now a reality in most countries. 🦟 Scientists succeed in creating mosquitoes that block malaria. 📊 Africa expected to have higher economic growth than Asia.
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😡 How long are we going to accept the news media’s false picture of the world?
I remember from my time in politics surveys showing that parents were usually satisfied with their own children’s school – yet believed that the Swedish school system was in a terrible state.
That doesn’t add up.
This is a common phenomenon, not just in education and not just in Sweden. People are generally more satisfied with their own situation, but believe that most others are doing badly.
Hannah Ritchie writes about this in her latest newsletter. One example:
60 percent of the Dutch say it was a bad year for the Netherlands, but only half as many say it was bad for them personally.
This newsletter includes news about a global survey showing that people are more satisfied with their lives, and that fewer people are dissatisfied than ever before.
I am convinced that news media are a major reason for this dissonance. We have a good grasp of our own lives, but when it comes to our city, our nation, and the world, we rely largely on the news media – and they focus on negative events.
This makes me increasingly angry, for two reasons:
- If we believe the country we live in is going to hell, that obviously affects how we act and how we vote.
- News media take no responsibility for the fundamental imbalance in their reporting.
There are plenty of problems in the world, no doubt about it, but some of them are indirectly caused by today's journalism.
Why isn’t this a major discussion within media organizations and among journalists? Why don’t they actively try to change the balance in their news coverage? Why don’t they take their share of responsibility when populist, authoritarian politicians achieve electoral success?
How long are we going to accept this?
Mathias Sundin
The Angry Optimist
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💡 Fact-based optimistic news of the week
☀️ Renewable energy is the scientific breakthrough of the year – surpasses coal as power source worldwide
The journal Science has named the advance of renewable energy as the breakthrough of the year after solar and wind power surpassed coal as a power source globally. In 2004, it took a full year to install 1 gigawatt of solar power capacity globally – today twice that amount goes online every day.
🦟 Scientists succeed in creating mosquitoes that block malaria
Researchers in Tanzania have for the first time in Africa created genetically modified mosquitoes that prevent the malaria parasite from developing. The modified mosquitoes contain naturally occurring molecules from frogs and bees that effectively stop the parasite Plasmodium falciparum.
🔭 Google's former CEO is funding four new telescopes to be completed within four years
Eric and Wendy Schmidt are investing in building four large telescopes, including a space telescope that will rival Hubble. One of the telescopes, Argus Array, consists of 1,200 small telescopes that together can photograph the entire northern sky in a few minutes.
👁️ Number of people needing treatment for trachoma has decreased by 94 percent
Trachoma is the world's leading infectious cause of blindness. The number of people requiring interventions against trachoma has dropped from 1.5 billion to 97.1 million since 2002. Over 1.1 billion doses of antibiotics have been donated to combat the disease.
📊 Africa expected to have higher economic growth than Asia for the first time
The IMF predicts that sub-Saharan Africa will grow by 4.4 percent in 2026, compared to Asia's 4.1 percent. Africa's stable outlook is supported by a weak dollar, lower debt pressure and high commodity prices for gold and copper.
🌏 Fewer people than ever before say they are living truly bad lives
33 percent of the world’s adults are now classified as “thriving” according to Gallup’s Wellbeing Index—the highest level in more than a decade. The rise in wellbeing is visible across all demographic groups. Men and women, young and old alike now rate their lives more positively than before.
🌎 Study: Economic growth without increased emissions now a reality in most countries
Countries representing 92 percent of the global economy have now decoupled consumption-based carbon emissions from GDP growth. China's emissions have plateaued over the past 18 months and may have peaked.
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