“1.2 trillion tons of ice melt annually.”….“2024 was the hottest year on record.”….“carbon dioxide levels are higher than the past 800,000 years.”….“97% of the Great Barrier Reef has died.”….“Arctic ice volume has declined by 80% since 1980.”

It is easy to see these awful things happening in the world and feel like our fate is sealed, the world is doomed. You might wonder, is anything getting better?  

The answer is yes. There is actually so much to be positive about in this world, and often the good things are drowned out by exclusively harrowing news. For example: although the planet is still warming, causes of climate change are slowly being reversed, in particular the top two factors–burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

Let’s start with fossil fuels. Fossil fuels—coal, oil, and gas—are the primary driver of climate change, responsible for roughly 68–69% of global greenhouse gas emissions and nearly 90% of all carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. They are the primary cause of increases in extreme weather, rising sea levels, and ecosystem damage. 

By contrast, renewable energy sources, like wind, hydropower, and solar, can generate electricity with little to no greenhouse gas emissions, a much safer replacement to fossil fuel combustion. 

And guess what? Over the last 15 years, the price of renewable energy has become cheaper than fossil fuels for the first time. In 2023, ~81–91% of newly commissioned renewable power was more cost-effective than new fossil fuel alternatives. As a result, in 2025, wind and solar power generated more electricity than fossil fuels in the European Union (EU) for the first time in history. It’s making a difference. 

Let’s also talk about deforestation. Forests play a critical role in regulating climate, protecting ecosystems, and supporting human life. They store CO2, produce the oxygen we breathe, and are home to about 80% of the world’s terrestrial species. But 15 billion trees are being cut down annually, destroying habits, disrupting food chains, ecosystems and rain cycles, and releasing stored CO2 into the atmosphere.

Even so, there is good news.

According to the Global Forest Resources 2025 Assessment, deforestation has slowed in all the world’s regions in the last decade. Moreover, there are 36 countries that have actually increased their forest cover over the past two decades. 

China leads in terms of total reforestation, but mighty Costa Rica has more than doubled the size of its forests over the past few decades. 

Now think of this: how easy is it to plant a tree? If everyone planted just two trees, we’d not only offset the 15 billion cut down, but we’d also have a surplus of over one billion trees producing oxygen, reducing CO2 emissions and restoring ecosystems and that doesn’t even include the five billion that are already planted annually. It is so easy for someone to do a small thing, like planting a tree. It may not seem to make much of a difference, but together, it makes an astronomical—or at least planetary—impact. 

There’s more. Take the ozone layer. Even though in early September 2000 a hole in the ozone layer expanded to be historically large, spanning the equivalent of nearly seven times the territory of the European Union, our ozone layer is now expected to fully recover by 2066. 

The ozone layer is a shield in the atmosphere that keeps harmful radiation from frying us, our crops, and all living things. In the 1970s, a scientist named Mario Malina discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) emitted from the coolants in air conditioners and refrigerators were damaging the ozone layer. 

Nations around the world recognized this problem and signed the 1989 Montreal Protocol—a global treaty that banned CFCs. As a result, the ozone layer has slowly been recovering and is on track for full recovery. It’s estimated that this recovery will have prevented over two million annual cases of skin cancer around the world.

There’s so much more. For example, microplastics, the small plastic pieces that pollute our oceans, can kill  animals from zooplankton to whales. 

Well, in Japan, scientists created a plastic that dissolves in seawater and leaves no microplastics. We might finally stop seeing turtles wrapped in plastic bags.

Speaking of turtles, in the last couple years Florida has seen more sea turtles hatching than in the last 40 years.  

So next time you read a story about dolphins dying or the planet roasting, remember, there are also good things in this world, you just have to look for them. Or even better, plant a tree and create good things yourself! •