Today is an Earth Day like no other: After more than a year of lockdown, we’ve seen what happens to the planet when all of its humans are suddenly hiding inside. Emissions plummeted (at least temporarily), wildlife returned to cities (though not all species enjoyed the newfound freedom), and we learned what nature does when the planet is just a little quieter. We’ve had a glimpse of a better world—now it’s just a matter of realizing it.
To that end, we’re celebrating this year with five surprising solutions to environmental problems around the world. In the video below, yours truly joined WIRED creative engagement producer Paul Sarconi to talk about how electronic eggs can help protect sea turtles and how solar panels might save California’s water. We explore a burgeoning technology that sucks carbon right out of the atmosphere, and we tell the tale of how priceless seeds escaped Syria’s civil war by being frozen and brought back to life through gene banking. And because current events are so hot right now, we talk about President Joe Biden’s plan to enlist Americans in a Civilian Climate Corps and get them to work transforming the landscape.
After a year of pandemic life, how’s that for some good news?
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