1. Climate tipping points; usually portrayed in the negative, as a component of ecosystem collapse sparking a chain of disasters. Can there be positive climate tipping points? Markers that show progress; that climate benefits are being achieved? Last year some notable academics voiced claims that some breakthroughs in low-carbon tech. could soon start a big (unstoppable?) wave of beneficial decarbonisation. Positive tipping points including “small policy interventions to promote electric cars, green fertilizers & plant-based alternatives to meat”. These might, in effect, unlock rapid reductions in carbon emissions. One suggestion for how individuals can support positive tipping points: “participate in democracy”. Participate in the decision making. Because through democracy, “we have a voice”.

2.  A “50% increase in renewable energy capacity to almost 510GW in 2023 … was not far off track … for fulfilling 2030 targets”. &.200 countries signed an agreement at the COP climate conferences to increase “the global renewable energy capacity to 11,000 gigawatts/GW by 2030” (was judged that: that would be a very meaningful accomplishment). The key to achieving the bigger goal may be “the complete buy-in from the world’s superpowers.”

3.  Negatives of legacy/current cancer screening tests can include “invasiveness, cost, & limited accuracy for early-stage disorders”. & Now something much better on the horizon: a U.S. biotech company announced “a revolutionary new protein-based test” (focused on blood proteins) showing promise as a less intrusive & more effective way to screen for cancers in early stages. Including for 18 different types of cancer. The new testing is apparently promising for higher sensitivity & specificity. The researchers/developers look towards a future in which a “cost-effective, highly accurate, multi-cancer screening test” can be part of mainstream healthcare.

4.  “45% of a traditional data centre’s energy demand is just for cooling” because they produce so much heat. A great new idea with synergy, gaining traction based in the U.K., is: repurposing data centre heat energy to heat public swimming pools. A new process can now capture the excess heat created by the data centres & recycle it for community use. A green energy provider recently invested £200m into this project idea, enough to heat ~150 pools.

And playing out last year in Texas:

5.  A City of Houston law apparently called for a fine for feeding the homeless without City permission. By [mid-2023?] ~90 tickets were issued over several months to volunteers within a loosely organized group named ‘Food Not Bombs’ who were: serving meals to needy & homeless people in Houston. At one point, so many potential Houstonian jurors said they objected to issuing an up to $500 fine (which the City’s attorney was seeking), that no unbiased jurors could be successfully recruited for a jury trial. Last I have read, the City had yet to win a single case of imposing such fines. Although, contrarily: “over 24,000 signatures asking to end tickets for feeding the homeless [were] submitted to Houston City Council.”

“A single gentle rain makes the grass many shades greener. So our prospects brighten on the influx of better thoughts.” — Henry David Thoreau