Great Things Happening in the World Today

Watching the news can make it seem like only terrible things are happening in the world. Good news never seems to get the coverage it deserves. However, there are plenty of remarkable things happening in this world and here are a few to bring a smile to your face! 

“the answer to every problem involved penguins” 
– Rick Riordan

Watching the news can make it seem like only terrible things are happening in the world. Good news never seems to get the coverage it deserves. However, there are plenty of remarkable things happening in this world and here are a few to bring a smile to your face! 

Across the United States air & vehicle traffic have significantly decreased since the start of the pandemic. As a bonus, air pollution has temporarily decreased as well. The Northeastern part of the U.S. has seen atmospheric levels of nitrogen dioxide air pollution (mostly caused by car and truck emissions and electricity production) drop by 30% compared to the same time period last year. It is the lowest atmospheric level of nitrogen dioxide of any March since 2005. Levels have also declined over major polluting cities such as Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle. 

“The environment is where we all meet;
where all have a mutual interest;
it is the one thing all of us share.” –Lady Bird Johnson

“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the
way its animals are treated.”
-Mahatma Gandhi

During 2019 – early 2020, Australia was ravaged with wildfires that destroyed 2.5 million acres of land. Koalas, who are in danger of extinction, were among the animals killed. Over 10,000 koala bears were lost in the fires. A group called Science for Wildlife and San Diego Zoo Global rescued 12 koalas from the Blue Mountains and helped rehabilitate them from their burns at Taronga Zoo. 5 of the 12 are ready to be released back into their natural habitat. After assessing the area they were rescued from, they have established it has grown plentiful of food and the trees have grown strong enough to support the koalas. They have also been fitted with radio tracking devices, which will help conservationists “follow them” and find out more about how they use the land after the fire and possibly more pockets of surviving koalas.

A FedEx driver, with the help of TikTok, helped a 6-year-old boy named Cooper to reach the goal of his life. Cooper chased down his FedEx driver, with his skateboard, and asked him to mail it to his idol, pro-skatboarder Tony Hawk. The FedEx driver, Mr. Farrar, didn’t know the address but used his TikTok account to put a message out to the universe for Tony Hawk with the hopes he’d respond back with just a video to show Cooper. Tony Hawk then responded on his TikTok account thanking Cooper for the board and that Hawk was sending Cooper his own board complete with autograph. The updated video can be seen here.

“I think that skateboarding can absolutely help make peace…
I know skateboarding can bring people together.
You can travel anywhere and if someone’s skateboarding,
they like you regardless of where
you’re from or what you do. You skateboard and that’s it.”
Jamie Thomas​​​​​​​