The world didn't fall apart. You just got your news from the wrong place

December 16, 2022 11:03 AM

99 Good News Stories You Probably Didn't Hear About in 2022 from Future Crunch & The Progress Network
posted by ellieBOA (8 comments total)

This is SUCH a great list.

I subscribe to Future Crunch (and yet I hadn't heard about most of these stories, because I don't always read my emails when they come in, sigh), and I am always so pleased to learn about positive change in the world.

SO MANY reasons for hope and celebration:

* the Philippines banned child marriage
* Colombia decriminalized abortion and India's Supreme Court upheld the right to choose for 73 million single women - the first time a legal question about abortion in India has been approached from a women's perspective
* The United States ended forced arbitration for survivors of workplace sexual assault and harassment - one of the country’s most significant workplace reforms in decades <<< this is huge and I did NOT know about this
* Indonesia's incredible Raja Ampat Archipelago, where fish populations have rebounded, coral is recovering and livelihoods for local communities have improved.
* the UN General Assembly declared access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment to be a universal human right
* 35. There were some really big milestones for tropical disease prevention this year. Niger became the first African country to eliminate river blindness, Malawi, Togo, Vanuatu and Saudi Arabia all eliminated trachoma, saving tens of millions of people from the world’s most common cause of blindness, and Benin, Uganda, Rwanda, and Equatorial Guinea eliminated sleeping sickness
* UNAIDS said that global AIDS deaths fell to 650,000 in 2021, down by 11% since 2019, and UNICEF reported infections among children under five have fallen by more than 50% since 2010
* The IEA raised its global forecast for renewables growth by 76% compared to two years ago, in what it called its largest ever upward revision, and said renewables are now on track to overtake coal in global electricity production by 2025 - an astonishing shift beyond the wildest dreams of green campaigners just a few years ago
* Oh, and the United States Senate passed an international climate treaty so powerful it could avert nearly 1°F of global warming, and nobody noticed.
* Between 2005 and 2019, nearly 415 million people were lifted out of what is known as multidimensional poverty, a measure that includes health, education and standard of living. Children saw the fastest reduction, with child poverty falling from 34.7% to 21.8%

I mean, on and on and on.

And it says 99 Good News Stories, but it's actually more like 300-500, since each item links to multiple stories.

I need news like this. It's what makes it possible for me to keep trying to add my small contribution toward a world where more of this stuff happens.

Some things really do get better

and we need to know that.

Thank you so much for posting this, ellieBOA!

Here's to more good news in 2023.
posted by kristi at 11:30 AM on December 16, 2022 [9 favorites]

Also it's REALLY worth clicking through to the linked stories. The Future Crunch summary says " bison returned from the brink of extinction to the plains of America" but the linked Washington Post story, Once nearly extinct, bison are now climate heroes, says:

In 1900, fewer than 1,000 — of an estimated 30 to 60 million — remained, many in zoos.

... federal, tribal and private herds have brought the species back from the brink of extinction. The estimated number of bison nationwide — while far from the millions — now hovers in the low hundreds of thousands.

There are so many people doing so much to make things better in so many different fields.

I am grateful to each of them.
posted by kristi at 11:42 AM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

Great list! The one that struck me is the near elimination of guinea worms. Infestations around 1990: 3.5 million. This year: 9.
posted by zompist at 11:45 AM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]

This is a great list and a great thing to share, thanks!

Journalism focused on the things in the world that are going wrong is absolutely essential for making the public aware of what is and isn't working in our societies, and what actions we need to take. But too often it seems that the positive results of those actions get lost in the noise. I know for me personally the news can sometimes feel overwhelming, and like nothing we do turns the tide against the awfulness. But that's not true. I appreciate this type of reporting for reminding me, and all of us, that when we choose to take action, even imperfect action, we can and do make things better.
posted by biogeo at 1:12 PM on December 16, 2022 [7 favorites]

"* Between 2005 and 2019, nearly 415 million people were lifted out of what is known as multidimensional poverty, a measure that includes health, education and standard of living. Children saw the fastest reduction, with child poverty falling from 34.7% to 21.8%"

That's not worldwide, that's just in India alone!
posted by xigxag at 1:49 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]

Much needed balance, and welcome goodness going into some challenging holidays . . . thanks!
posted by pt68 at 3:08 PM on December 16, 2022 [1 favorite]

That's not worldwide, that's just in India alone!

Something like 3,300 people lifted out of poverty. Every hour.
posted by officer_fred at 3:13 PM on December 16, 2022

Came into the thread worried I’d hear things like, “such-and-such metric is meaningless,” and “yeah but what about X.” So, thank you for leaving this light on.

Similar to what biogeo said, I find success stories so much more motivating than the opposite. Stoke the fires of possibility.
posted by TangoCharlie at 10:24 PM on December 16, 2022 [2 favorites]