5 Ways To Make 2017 Better
The past year of 2016 has been a difficult one, filled with many bad occurrences such as the deaths of many beloved celebrities, and in some people’s eyes, the unpredictable presidential election.
Many people’s hope in the world has shrunk drastically. So now more than ever, we need some positive news that will lift people’s spirits and restore at least some of their faith in the world.
1. The largest ocean cleanup in history, The Ocean Cleanup Project, plans to clean- up 40% of the ocean’s plastics starting this year.
As of now, over 5 trillion pieces of plastic litter the ocean. The trash has accumulated into 5 different patches throughout the ocean, but the largest one is between Hawaii and California and is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
An artificial coastline will be put in the center of the patch and floating plastic will be caught by solid screens rather than nets, allowing sea life to pass beneath the barrier. The debris is then extracted, shipped to land, and recycled. The project requires no external energy sources; it is powered 100% by natural ocean currents.
The pilot is to be deployed this year, and a full-scale cleanup is to be launched in 2020.
With this one system, half of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch could be removed in 10 years.
If you’re passionate about making a difference in the world’s oceans and marine life, you can go to https://www.theocean- cleanup.com/fund/ to give your share and help make this project possible.
2. The manatees are making a comeback! 50 years ago, they were listed as endangered, and nearly became extinct due to overhunting and collision with boats.
But with the increasing population of these charismatic creatures, they were able to be removed from the endangered species list.
If you want to help ensure that these creatures continue to thrive in our waters, go to http://www.savethemanatee.org/ and give your support!
3. World hunger has been one of the biggest problems in the world for a very long time. It is a problem that people are constantly trying to make come to an end.
Maybe it will never fully come to an end, but for the first time in 25 years, there may be hope.
In the 1980s, Ethiopia suffered a civil war that brought about a drought and a famine that killed at least 600,000 people.
Although Ethiopia currently in the middle of yet another dreadful drought, they are no longer suffering from losses due to starvation.
In fact, the amount of hunger worldwide has fallen drastically since the 1990s. It has gone from 17 countries having an “extremely alarming” level of hunger and 25 more with an “alarming” amount, to only 8 with an alarming amount.
To help bring world hunger to an end, you can contribute by going to this website and learning about the different ways to stop this tremendous issue: https://borgen- project.org/10-ways-stop-world-hunger/.
4. After a long fight, a new agreement has been reached that will protect Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest from logging.
This rainforest is the world’s largest temperate rainforest, stretching for 21 million acres.
It is also the home of the Spirit bear, a rare subspecies of black bear with white fur.
Having this beautiful and vast rainforest protected from logging is “a gift to the world,” said Richard Brooks, the forest campaign co-ordinator for Greenpeace Canada, when being interviewed by CBC News.
Go to https://www.nature.org/ourinitia- tives/regions/northamerica/canada/place- sweprotect/great-bear-rainforest.xml to give this significant rainforest your support.
5. In July of 2016, more than 800,000 volunteers came together to help India fight climate change, and completely smashed the world record for the number of trees planted in one day.
50 million trees of 80 different species were planted in just 24 hours.
The country had experienced immense loss of its forest over the past few centuries, but after this day, about 29 percent of the country’s territory was restored.
This act has led to other countries follow- ing in India’s footsteps and setting the goal to cut deforestation in half by 2020 and end it by 2030.
To find solutions to deforestation and to help bring it to an end, here is where you can go http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/ forests/solutions-to-deforestation/!
