Hey citizens of the world,

It’s been a tough few months for Planet Earth. We’ve watched the brutal reality of climate change play out across the globe, in some cases at the furthest extremes, and it's genuinely frightening.

However, there’s another side to that story that hasn’t made headlines.

Renewable energy is scaling exponentially, and getting more efficient and cost-effective every year. Groundbreaking legislation in multiple countries is giving our oceans, forests and biodiversity unprecedented protection. On any given day, tens of millions of people are rolling up their sleeves to work on solutions to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.

You're allowed to be heartbroken and hopeful. Hope, not as a naive belief in a rosy future, but as a commitment to search for possibilities. Our job at Future Crunch is to make that search a little easier. Here goes…

What’s your Information Diet?

The information we consume has a profound impact on our mental health. Humans are evolutionarily wired to commit three times as many negative experiences to memory as positive ones. In our hyper-connected world of 24 hour news cycles, it’s difficult to tell the difference between a threat that’s near us, and one that might be thousands of kilometres away, on a different continent.

If doomsday scrolling is wearing you out, maybe it’s time to ditch the clickbait and change your narrative nosh to one that nourishes you. Here are Dr Ehssan Sakhaee and Lilian Kikuvi to tell you more:

Good news you probably didn’t hear about

The IEA has a new report showing that renewables are on track to meet all the growth in global electricity demand over the next two years. This would represent a key milestone in the fight against climate change–once all new demand is met, renewables will start eating into fossil fuels' share of the power mix.

Australia’s big banks have turned their backs on the country’s largest coal miner, refusing to refinance a billion-dollar debt in a major rebuff that will force Whitehaven Coal to source loans offshore, potentially speeding up the demise of the sector.

Hannah Ritchie on why China, the world's biggest user of coal, represents our greatest hope for the climate. Once growth in renewables outstrips overall growth in energy demand, coal should move from a starring role in the electricity mix to understudy.  

Small-scale small scale restoration efforts across Africa have contributed to the greening of around 400,000 km² , an area the size of Zimbabwe. Researchers zoomed in on 434 sustainable land management initiatives operating across 628 sites and found that greening efforts in drier areas performed especially well. 

A global wave of drone reforestation projects is emerging. Companies in the United States, Australia, Canada, India, Spain and the UK are ironing out kinks to plant seeds en masse. Key areas of innovation include linking drones into swarms, customising drop methods and times, and creating soil and nutrient-filled capsules to surround dropped seeds. 

Something cool in 90 seconds

Welcome to our cyberpunk future, where many hands create light work. Engineers in Tokyo recently created a wearable–and exchangeable– exoskeleton that gives users the ability to use up to six arms. If you’re constantly juggling kids, work, groceries and household chores … how many more arms would you like?

Still searching for ways to look busy?

1. LISTEN to Steven Pinker talk about data-backed optimism,. and why he thinks the world is getting better. Blue Sky Podcast

2. READ this great piece by one of our heroes, Rebecca Solnit, on why we can’t afford to be “climate doomers”

3. QUOTE this, the next time you feel overwhelmed by the news:

The world is a lot to process right now. But now, more than ever, it’s crucial to resist the despair. Narratives of doom don’t tell us the full picture, and lead to inaction.

And even if the doomers turn out to be right and it all goes down in flames, who do you want to hang out with at the “end of the world party?” Those who said “I told you so” or the people who gave it their all? We know who we’d choose…

Until next month, take care,

Tane, Sarah and the rest of the team