As many of you probably know, many states and countries across the world have decided to go into an at-home lockdown, where people are not allowed to leave their houses unless it is for something absolutely necessary, such as buying groceries. This government request can really be a challenge and even impossible for some, but people all across the world are putting in efforts to provide shelter for those in need.

California Governor

There have been measures put in place by the California government to put homeless people in hotel rooms. There is a sector of this population who has been tested positive for the coronavirus, and with lack of adequate care or shelter, the numbers would likely only growing, infecting some of the most vulnerable of our population. Luckily, “Gov. Gavin Newsom’s legislative team has reportedly secured roughly 4,000 hotel rooms statewide with the hopes that the initiative could help lead to permanent housing after the COVID-19 crisis has been contained” (GoodNews). It is encouraging to see that people in California are making efforts to both help the homeless population during this time of crisis, and also potentially improve their lives after all of this has passed as well.

Four Seasons Lobby

Also, in New York City, Ty Warner, the chairmen for the company that owns the Four Seasons— one of the nicest hotels in the city— has offered the entire hotel up to doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers who are working on the frontlines to combat the virus. He was reported saying “Many of those working in New York City have to travel long distances to and from their homes after putting in 18-hour days. They need a place close to work where they can rest and regenerate” (Good News). Having to travel far to return home only would increase the likelihood of these workers in catching the disease, so this generous act helps prevent that. It is also important that they are cutting down on their commute time, so they have more time to rest in between shifts. When we see companies in the private sector choosing to aid the social welfare of the community, and putting revenues and profits out of their minds, it is encouraging to see what the country can do. We are seeing this type of generosity all over the world, such as in places like the United Kingdom and Spain. People everywhere, really are making the efforts to combat this virus once and for all, and help as many people as possible until we finally reach that goal.

For my second post of this week, I wanted to highlight good news that is completely unrelated to the coronavirus outbreak. I have been watching the news everyday for the past week and the entire broadcast is dedicated to updates surrounding the pandemic. While this is obviously very important news, and any changes to the situation is something everybody needs to be aware of, I just wanted to draw attention to a few things that are going on in the world amidst the crisis, but still totally unrelated.

The first story I found involves scientists in the United Kingdoms efforts to combat climate change. These scientists one million seedlings of seagrass in the ocean, which is meant to help reduce Co2 emissions into the ozone. Dr. Unsworth— one of the many researchers dedicated to this project was quoted saying “It’s incredibly productive and just sucks carbon into the sediments, traps particles that are locked there for millennia. That means that carbon dioxide is not in the atmosphere.” The seagrass planted also plays a vital role in reestablishing unwatered ecosystems that had been deteriorating. The planting of these seedlings are able to both help give different types of marine-life a home while still combating climate change.

There is also news of a boy, only nine years old in Russia who has been selling paintings he has done, and donating the money to a local animal shelter. He has also asked members of his community to donate food and supplies directly to the shelter. It is heartwarming to see a child so young go out of their way to make an impact for these animals. This is an example of how even those the youngest in our society have the ability to impact those around us for the better.

Image of Boy’s Artwork

Finally, the last story I would like to share is simply about a five year old boy in Arkansas, who decided to dress up for school as his favorite person— the school security guard. Often times when we are younger we tend to idolize people like firefighters or we dream to be the president of the United States. It is easy for people such as security guards, lunch ladies, bus drivers, etc. to go under appreciated. However, this boy’s gesture of kindness showed how much he valued the work of this guard and that his work is just as important to society too. Overall, whether the acts are small are big, people everywhere are still making the efforts to brighten peoples day amidst these hard times.

Image

Amidst this global pandemic, it can be difficult at times to see any positivity or light at the end of the tunnel. However, people all over the world have been doing their bests to aid their communities in these hard times, highlighting that yes— it is still possible to have hope in humanity. Today I wanted to share some of my favorite examples of people being selfless and helping out others, even if they are complete strangers.

Our first story takes place in Scotland, where the owner of a local corner store decided to give away over $6000 of goods to seniors. Considering the elderly are being impacted by COVID-19 at a much higher rate than the rest of the population, this is important because a lot of older people are scared to leave their homes, out of fear of contracting the virus. People like Iqbal—the store owner— are doing what they can to aid these seniors, by bringing food and other necessities directly to their doors to ease the stress and panic of some of these people. Iqbal was quoted saying “Money can be made in the future, you don’t want to make your money by putting your prices up in a situation like this—people will remember after all this is over”, emphasizing that during this global crisis it is much more important to put the needs of the community above making a profit.

Iqbal Giving Away Care Packages

I also wanted to highlight a landlord in Portland, Maine who said he would not be taking rent from his tenants in April because of the virus. The coronavirus has lead to many people, especially in the food and service industry, to miss out on receiving vital paychecks that help pay for things such as rent or groceries. Much of the fear surrounding this pandemic is not merely catching the virus, but how the closure of businesses across the globe will impact their livelihoods. Fortunately, there are landlords out there such as Nichols from Portland who understand these struggles and are looking to help fight against the fear and panic.

Nichols–The Landlord Not Collecting Rent

There are countless other stories like these across the entire globe, highlighting that in times of panic, it is important that we put the needs of others above our own personal economic gain. People are making the effort to help those most vulnerable in our society so we can all get past this pandemic together.

Image

Unfortunately, January of 2020 did not start the new decade off on the best note. We had a lot of global scares, with the bush fires in Australia being some of the most devastating. With many species facing extinction, and homes burned many thought it would be ages before we would finally see an end to the tragedy in Australia. However, officials just recently declared that the fires have been contained due to recent high volumes of rainfall. While the fires are not completely out, the rain has still helped to lead to a tremendous improvement and much more manageable conditions for the firefighters to finish off the job (GoodNewsNetwork).

Early on Thursday morning, The New South Wales Rural Fire Service sent out a tweet saying “In what has been a very traumatic, exhausting and anxious bush fire season so far, for the first time this season all bush and grass fires in NSW are now contained, it has taken a lot of work by firefighters, emergency services and communities to get to this point.” (The Hill).

I think the main thing to focus on in this story is the perseverance of the Australian community. Firefighters worked tireless for weeks to help manage the situation, so they could achieve the goal of returning the country to a safe place to live once again. Even though many risked their lives, these men and women put all of their efforts into combating these fires. Also, these fires received a tremendous amount of attention on social media with various people and companies starting campaigns to help donate anything they can to the cause. One of the more popular ones was Adopt a Koala, where people could donate money to receive a certificate of their “pet koala”. This money would go to various things such as medicine and bandages for injured koalas, or the planting of trees to help reestablish their destroyed ecosystem. Overall, even people that live thousands of miles away have been making the effort support the cause, and prevent any more lives from being lost.

Image

At the end of the day, sometimes it is just luck that Australia received a historical amount of rainfall amongst the tragedy that was occurring. But without all the people across the world doing what they could to help in any way possible, even the rain alone would not have been enough. Hopefully, we can see continued progress in Australia as the days go on.

My story for the week is how recently studies came out that 2018 was that the life expectancy in the United States increased for the first time in four years. In 2017, the average expectancy was 78.6 years, but in 2018 there was a slight increase to 78.7 (GoodNewsNetwork). While this does not seem like major change, in comparison to the previous years where we had seen declining numbers, this is a huge deal. 

A major driving force as to why we are seeing this change is how the “U.S. saw 67,367 fatal overdoses in 2018 – down 4.1% from 70,237 in 2017” (US News). This shows that the efforts the country has been making to defeat the opioid crisis has been making an impact. We also see “The death rate decreased the most among people 15 to 24 years old, with a decline of 5.1%” (Wall Street Journal). This is the age range that has been the most severely effected by the crisis, so it is encouraging to see a noticeable change in the death rates of this group of people. 

Chart

I remember when I got my wisdom teeth taken out I was given nearly double the pain killers that I actually needed for the recovery period. I have heard multiple stories where people who have never taken a drug a day in their life, first became addicted after a surgery, but I know over the past few years this area is one of the main ones that people have keyed in on, to fight opioid addictions before they even begin. I have also had friends who had older siblings die from opioid use, over the past few years so I understand the pain that comes with the loss of someone battling a drug addiction. Often times people blame the user, saying it is their fault for getting involved with these drugs and there is a lot less sympathy when they pass away. I believe that our countries shift in attitude towards the situation over the past few years is the biggest reason as to why we see drug related deaths dropping. We are more understanding of how difficult it is to battle addiction, and we need to offer our support instead of hate and condescendence.

Image

On a slightly different note, while the main factor in this increase in life expectancy has to do with this decrease in overdoses, we also see encouraging changes in other fields as well. There has also been a decrease in the infant mortality rate, and cancer and heart disease related deaths. Overall, it is exciting to see that less and less people’s lives are being cut short due to unfortunate reasons, I am excited to see the results for next year to see if we can continue to improve on this trend.

image

My post for this week focuses on a small tribe town in Dindori, India. Their government noticed that the school attendance rates in the region were startlingly low, and they figured this had to do with the fact that there was no permanent location for the children to attend their classes. A group of people decided to team up with the railway company and turn old and abandoned train cars into classrooms. Principal of the school Santosh Uike was quoted saying “Out of the 96 students in the three classes, the school was seeing a maximum attendance of only 50. But after the school was remodelled as a railway station, complete with the train engine and coaches, the attendance rose to 87, which is just nine short of the total student strength,”, emphasizing how much the renovation really made a difference in the families decisions to send their children to school. More details on the story can be found here.

image

I believe this is an important story because in the United States it is easy for us to forget how much of a privilege it is that the average person expects to graduate from high school throughout their life. According to the OECD, as of 2017, 82.3 percent of Americans received a high school diploma, where as in India, only 33.3 percent received one. There is a strong correlation between lack of education and higher rates of poverty across countries of the world, so it is imperative for the heads of governments to start making changes in their schooling programs, if they hope to see improvements for their citizen’s living conditions. It is inspiring to see the people in Dindori making these strides to make education more accessible in their community. Their creative problem-solving strategy to reduce costs by using old train cars is also impressive, because this allowed them to create change without having to spend an overwhelming amount of money on new structures for a school building. This highlights that it is more realistic to bring school to children in remote areas across the world than many one formerly believed.

Between the friends I have made over the years and the things I have learned, I have always really enjoyed going to school. I believe it has been one of the main factors in making me a more independent and driven person, so I am very happy to see these children in India being given the chance to experience a better education than they were ever granted before.

One of my favorite news stories of this week has to do with a new scientific finding by researchers in New Zealand that has to do with possible treatment for brain related illnesses. The research has found evidence that the brain has blood pressure sensors that are released when blood pressure becomes to high or low, and these chemicals are meant to help regulate and bring it back to a healthier pressure. As Professor Alexander Gourine from the UCL Division of Biosciences UCL Division of Biosciences puts it “When blood supply is reduced, they release a chemical signal to nearby nerve cells that raise blood pressure, restoring blood flow to the brain. What we have discovered is that the brain has an automatic way to make sure that brain blood flow is preserved” Science Daily.  This is something that scientists have believed to have existed for years, but this is the first time that there is conclusive proof of these sensors existence. Gourine has been further working with researchers from various perts of London and New Zealand to see how these brain sensors can be beneficial.

image

This is very important because as GoodNewsNetwork puts it  Good News Network “It could pave the way towards new treatments for dementia, high blood pressure, migraines, and a dozen other conditions”. Dementia is something that most people believe is something that is simply inevitable as old age comes, but now with new findings like this, this does not necessarily have to be the case. Part of the reason why I like this story so much is because it reflects how important it is to fund research and education. There are many science discoveries in the health world we often take for granted, such as vaccinations or antibiotics, but none of this would be possible without the people working tirelessly in a lab trying to find a cure for these illnesses.

image

Throughout all of my years in school, science was never a strong suit of mine and it was not something I was even remotely interested in as a career, but I still carry a lot of respect for the people like those working at or associated with the UCL Division of Biosciences, and am excited to see where their further research can take them. It is very scary to think that when I am older there is a possibility I will forget my loved ones, but with people like this working hard, this might not have to be something future generations will ever worry about.

My goal for my passion blog this semester is to share my favorite positive news stories of the week and offer insight as to why I think they are important. Every time I read or watch the news, all that seems to be covered is topics such as war, death, political gridlock , and other things that highlight the worst parts of our world. While these are important matters sometimes it is important to remember that there are people that are making efforts to impact those around them in a more positive way. I want to share and give my opinions on these people because sometimes it is nice to appreciate the good that we still have in the world.

image

With that being said, the first news story of the semester I would like to highlight is that Airline jet Blue Jet Blue is the first major airline to announce they will officially be going carbon neutral in 2020, in attempt to reduce their contributions to climate change.  “This expansion is expected to offset an additional 15-17 billion pounds (7 to 8 million metric tons) of emissions per year—the annual equivalent of removing more than 1.5 million passenger vehicles from the road” (goodnewsnetwork). They are accomplishing this goal by implementing new engine technology and working with organizations like ecoact . More information on the full story can be found here.

image

Battling climate change has proven to be one of the most overwhelming and challenging issues of the genre. Often times people are encouraged to reduce their personal amount of waste by doing things such as using reusable straws, and while it is important to be aware of our own impacts on the environment, I understand why people can feel as if their efforts are minuscule in comparison to what really needs to be done to improve the current circumstances. Also, not everybody is in a place financially where they can make dramatic changes to their lifestyle such as buy an electric car. It is encouraging to see major corporations such as Jet Blue making the efforts to reduce their carbon footprint because of how much the airline industry has an effect on the gases omitted into the sky. Often times people think of corporations as only caring about their profits, but Jet Blue has proven that they are able to make investments that not only improve their company, but the condition of the globe as well.