New discoveries have impacted the Earth allowing for more hope for Earth’s future.

In the year 2023, scientists discovered numerous positive science and climate events all around Earth; many you may have missed scrolling through social media. These events have advanced scientific discovery and continue the fight against climate doomism (helplessness towards climate change) by exploring Earth and unsolved concepts.

Katelyn Pinon (11) believes, “one significant scientific discovery I remember from 2023 was the rediscovered Brazil trees and just general forest restoration.” In 2023, the new Brazilian president slowed deforestation by 48%. The redwood trees in California were believed to be facing the fate of extinction from the Californian wildfires. That was until scientists discovered that the plant came up with a strategy to protect themselves- they had a secret reserve of tree buds hidden beneath their bark. Nature is always ready to defend itself!

Nearing the end of 2023, many countries decided to look into electrical power rather than emitting more fossil fuels. With the help of scientists, the positive statistics shown towards climate change were enough to convince many countries to work towards making the switch. Research says that there is 70% chance that greenhouse gas emissions will fall in 2024 which would leave 2023 as the highest year for carbon emissions. And, at a recent UN meeting, many nations pledged to contribute to tripling the planet’s renewable energy. Breakthroughs for lithium batteries, nuclear fusion, and other forms of renewable energy are on the rise!

Medical advancements from last year will save many lives in 2024. A recent study showed the success of frozen organ transplants. Lab-tested rats were able to successfully receive a transplant lung that was previously frozen for 100 days. Several recent projects have been focusing on body-maps. They will be able to map our vital organs and improve the accuracy of medical diagnosing. One of the most explored areas of body-mapping is analyzing the genomes of every race to move medical biases away from European descended people and instead make medical testing accurate for everyone. Scientists have also been looking at a method of biotechnology that involved “snipping” DNA, but it is still relatively unexplored.

“These events will help people become more aware of the good climate news around the world which will help combat climate doomism,” said Camille O’Brien (11). Above are only a few of the good events from the year 2023. Endangered animals are being conserved, medical diseases combatted, areas of the ocean explored, new pictures of space revealed, and even more occurred in 2023. In the year 2024, we are hoping for more advancement in these areas of science along with discoveries in other fields for the new year!