Victories — Week 3
By: Marcus Day
Here’s what we found this week.
Elephant baby boom in Kenya — numbers double over three decades
via Kevin Boone/Facebook
‘Kenya's elephant population has more than doubled from 1989 to today, its wildlife service announced at an event marking World Elephant Day. Tourism Minister Najib Balala said authorities have ‘managed to tame poaching’.”
Read more on the story here.
2. Generous Americans Are Actually Giving More To Charities Through The Pandemic, Surveys Say
Photo by Chloe Muro
'“The report from Lending Tree reported that about two-thirds of respondents said they had not changed their charitable giving habits from previous years—with 34% donating more than once within the last year.
The report also uncovered increases in forms of giving which aren’t usually recorded due to the inability to write them off on income taxes. These included donating to a local relief fund (13%) and sending money to a loved one who was laid off (12%).
While personal charity is a great marker to judge how charitable a society is, it’s equally amazing to note that large-scale corporate giving actually increased during 2020.
In June, Fidelity Charitable, the largest organizer of donor-advised funds (DAFs)—a kind of charitable savings account—reported that these funds have donated $3.4 billion in 2020, a 28% increase in giving in the first six months, over the same period over the previous year.
Together the donors directed a whopping 667% increase in their grants to food banks and other food assistance programs across the States.”
Read more on the story here.
3. Once Left For Dead, The Aral Sea Is Now Brimming With Life Thanks to Global Collaboration
Photo by Arian Zwegers
“Kissing the borders of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the North Aral Sea is experiencing an ecological resurgence following a long period of decline.
In 2005, a $86 million project from the World Bank made repairs to dykes and paid for the construction of an eight-mile dam.
This project raised water levels of the sea by 11-feet in just seven months—going far beyond scientists’ hopes of a rise over three years.”
Read more on the story here.
4. Wind And Solar Just Hit a New Record in 2020 as Coal Declines
Photo by Martin Pettitt
“Wind and solar produced a record 10 percent of global electricity in the first half of 2020 as the world's coal plant fleet ran at less than half its capacity, analysis published Thursday showed.
Overall, the percentage of power drawn from wind and solar has more than doubled from 4.6 percent in 2015 – the year of the landmark Paris deal on climate change.
On the other hand, generation from coal – the most polluting fossil fuel – fell 8.3 percent in the first half of 2020, the analysis showed.”
Read more on the story here.
5. A miner in Tanzania finds $2 million gem, will use the proceeds to build. School and health facility in his community
“A Tanzanian small-scale miner, who became an overnight millionaire in June for selling two rough Tanzanite stones valued at $3.4m (£2.6m), has sold another gem for $2m.
It is one of the rarest gemstones on Earth, and one local geologist estimates its supply may be entirely depleted within the next 20 years.
He told the BBC two months ago that the windfall would not change his lifestyle, and that he planned to continue looking after his 2,000 cows, adding that he did not need to take any extra precautions despite his new-found riches."
Read more on the story here.