Nancy Knowlton

Bishop Museum and Australian Museum Scientists Describe Two Species Previously Thought to Be Extinct - Bishop Museum The discovery of the live animals in New Guinea, originally known only from fossils, is a story of hope for biodiversity and the importance of conservation across the Pacific.

Thanking Kristofer Helgen and Tim Flannery (can't find you on Bluesky 🙁) for my lost then found news to me good news for Mar 10 #EarthOptimism www.bishopmuseum.org/newsroom/bis...

Cutting meat by 30% ≈ flying 70% less ≈ 1/6 of cars electric ≈ decarbonising nearly all cement plants. 🌍

Dr @iain-staffell.bsky.social and Dr Nathan Johnson show ~20 such ‘climate wedges’ are needed to limit warming to 1.5°C. #ClimateAction #NetZero

Beavers were brought to the desert to save a dying river. 6 years later, here are the results. Their engineering feats are pretty dam incredible.

Bring in the beavers - my news to me good news for Mar 9 #EarthOptimism www.upworthy.com/beavers-brou...

Sex and the sea snail: how a plucky marine lab brought a mollusk back from the brink Once abundant in California, the white abalone had all but vanished. Now, thanks to an innovative breeding program, it’s staged a remarkable comeback

#OceanOptimism www.theguardian.com/environment/...

EV Vegetable Vending in Chennai City Empowers Women and Reduces Plastic Waste | Happy Eco News EV vegetable vending in Chennai City combines women‑led electric autorickshaws selling fresh produce with a revival of traditional cloth bags to reduce plastic waste and boost sustainable urban liveli...

Ok, I know things are broadly grim, but here's my news to me good news for Mar 8 - women making a difference #EarthOptimism happyeconews.com/ev-vegetable...

Thank you! At an event last night I said "If the word hope doesn't work for you try, 'Never fucking surrender.'" The word hope seems too sunny to a lot of people, but the heart of it as I'm interested in it is: we make the future in the present, if we show up, and that never surrender part.

I charged my EV last night (from 20 percent to 100 percent) and it cost me about $17.

Beyond the no gas, the car just rides so beautifully. Got it in July and cannot imagine ever going back to gas car.

Nature Report, Killed by Trump, Is Released Independently

So proud to be a part of this, and thanks @katharinehayhoe.com for the shout out on the Bright Spots chapter, which is what I have worked on! #EarthOptimism www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/c...

Fifty years after New Zealand stopped whaling, humpback population showing signs of recovery Breeding is getting more competitive, suggesting the population is growing, a new study shows.

This is a marvelous change not only for the Humpback whale 🐋 population but for all of us. We need to keep our gentle giants from going extinct.
Fifty years after New Zealand stopped whaling, humpback population showing signs of recovery | RNZ News share.google/X1HB3JFgaePK...

How electrifying a Bay Area rail system made trains faster, cleaner, and more frequent A $2.4 billion upgrade is shaving minutes off Caltrain trips through Silicon Valley, doubling weekend ridership, and reducing riders’ exposure to toxic diesel pollution.

How electrifying a Bay Area rail system made trains faster, cleaner, and more frequent

Over 40% of global shipping by volume exists to move fossil fuels from one place to another.

A huge share of the world's maritime infrastructure has been built around a system that is going to change dramatically as renewable energy and electrification displace fossil fuels.

Electric Buses Have Passed a Brutal Cold-Weather Test Overhead chargers on key bus routes in Madison, Wisconsin are enabling the zero-emissions vehicles to run despite freezing conditions.

running electric buses in freezing weather is my news to me good news for Mar 3. #EarthOptimism reasonstobecheerful.world/wisconsin-el...

Many of the solutions with the biggest promise for curbing climate change also protect habitats.

These are just some of the solutions that do both:

🌳 Protect Forests
🚶 Improve Transportation
🌱 Improve Nutrient Management

Visit the drawdown.org/explorer to discover more!
#worldwildlifeday

A headline from GB News stating: Motorists switch to using public transport to avoid paying £5 daily congestion charge

In shock news, motorists have switched to public transport to avoid paying the Oxford Congestion Charge.
A spokesperson* said: "This is exactly what was meant to happen, and it did."

Condors nesting for first time in 100 years in Northern California Breaking news from the Yurok Tribe: Strong evidence suggests the birds may be incubating an egg in an old-growth redwood tree.

Some days make it hard to focus on good news, and sometimes I refrain altogether. But #condors nesting are my news to me good news for Mar 2 #EarthOptimism earthhope.substack.com/p/condors-ne...

Successful seagrass restoration on #WorldSeagrassDay is my news to me good news for Mar 1 #OceanOptimism #EarthOptimism

Kicking off March by celebrating #WorldSeagrassDay!

And where is one of the largest seagrass fields?

🌿Saya de Malha is a rare example of seagrass meadows in the High Seas and the largest submerged ocean bank in the world.

Reframing Energy for the Age of Electricity | Ember We need to count energy from the perspective of the consumer in order to understand the changes sweeping the energy sector. There are four battles in the energy system and electrotech is set to win th...

Oh hey @ember-energy.org & @mliebreich.bsky.social, love the new report on modernizing Sankey diagrams. What do you think about further subdividing 'Useful Energy' into 'Life Support' and 'Other' (or similar names)? Basically, distinguishing energy that keeps people safe and healthy from other uses.

Meanwhile, Reform want to send us back to the 1970's.

— producing a combined output of 74 megawatts from 18 floating turbines, sufficient to power the entire city of Inverness (population 65,000) continuously and indefinitely from tidal energy alone.

While we sit around to find out how bad exactly it all is, a bit of cheer: the best baguette of Paris competition was won by a Sri Lankan who appears to have started as a dish washer in restaurants and eventually trained as a Boulanger.

www.paris.fr/pages/la-mei...

Helsinki just went a full year without a single traffic death The capital city is Finnish’ed with car-related fatalities.

“Helsinki hasn’t registered a single traffic-related fatality in the past year…Citing data that shows the risk of pedestrian fatality is cut in half by reducing a car’s speed from 40 to 30km/hr, city officials imposed the lower limit in most of Helsinki’s residential areas and city center in 2021.”

*SO* thrilled yesterday to see the first screening of An Irish Atlantic Rainforest, the film about my 17-year journey rewilding a West Cork farm.

It went far and away beyond my hopes: a mesmerisingly lovely, immersive piece of work, almost dreamlike in parts, but grounded in ecology and daily life.

Cambios en la generación eléctrica en China y EE.UU. entre 2024 y 2025. Un solo año.

Por cierto, detalle, al margen de lo obvio. China es el país del mundo con una apuesta más fuerte por la nuclear.

TU Delft Campus makes switch to geothermal energy After years of preparation, research and construction, the moment has arrived: the geothermal well on TU Delft Campus has officially been put into operation. The well supplies sustainable heat to the ...

TU Delft Campus makes switch to geothermal energy www.tudelft.nl/en/2026/tu-d...
As a result, CO₂ emissions from building heating will decrease significantly, with reductions expected to reach approximately 80% by 2027.

China's policies to advance vehicle remanufacturing Targeted subsidies, industrial zones and funding are propelling the vehicle remanufacturing sector

China adopted the circular economy
as a national priority since 2009 recognising it can generate growth decoupled from resource use. This case study covers growth in the vehicle remanufacturing sector. www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-exa...

Germany tops two million battery-electric cars in circulation - electrive.com Germany has passed the two-million mark for electric cars on its roads. As of 1 January 2026, a total of 2,034,260 battery-electric vehicles were registered

A Alemanya ja hi ha 2 milions de cotxes elèctrics circulant per les seves carreteres!

Malgrat les traves que hi tenen (sobretot els preus desorbitats a les electrolineres)

www.electrive.com/2026/02/27/g...

ReJoule’s second-life electric vehicle battery energy storage system gives used batteries a powerful second act that outlasts many new utility-scale storage systems.

EPIC is funded by California utility customers under the auspices of the @californiapuc.bsky.social.

CONTD.

'Birdbrain' benefits: How being an expert birdwatcher may boost cognition New research shows that seasoned birders — including older adults — had denser tissue in parts of the brain tied to attention and perception.

For all you #birders out there (including me) -
'Birdbrain' benefits: new research shows that seasoned birders had denser tissue in parts of the brain tied to working memory, spatial awareness & object recognition. #BirdBrain

Link for more information: www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Despite significant federal headwinds, US renewables just had a record year.

Notably, 93% of new generation capacity expected to be added to the US grid this year is projected to come from wind, solar and batteries.

Involuntary parks: Human conflict is creating unintended refuges for wildlife Few locations on Earth are as haunting or deeply ironic as so-called involuntary parks — places too toxic, dangerous, or otherwise made off-limits for human habitation, but which have paradoxically an...

File under silver lining - my news to me good news for Feb 23. #EarthOptimism news.mongabay.com/2026/01/invo...