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From scientific discoveries to activist wins, here are the latest news stories showcasing the people taking on climate change and nature loss.

🍚 Experimenting with sustainable rice

Flooded rice paddies are a breeding ground for methane-producing bacteria. But by harnessing a traditional crossbreeding technique, researchers have now created a new variant of rice that results in drastically lower emissions. Not only does this new strain reduce the greenhouse gas by as much as 70%, but it produces yields that are double the global average.

 💉 Vaccinating cows for the climate

Another major methane emitter is cow flatulence, with each cow releasing 200 pounds of the gas per year – but a vaccine for their potent planet-warming farts is in the works. Researchers hope to create a single-dose vaccine that will reduce cows’ methane emissions by 30%. Other solid solutions to this gaseous problem include feeding cows seaweed supplements, but this will first need to resolve concerns about how the impacts will trickle down to humans, as one of its active ingredients is a carcinogen. 

🌧️ Natural solutions to combat flooding

Rising sea levels put billions of people at risk of losing their homes to flooding, with people who live in informal settlements most at risk. Green spaces are invaluable at absorbing excess water, but are in short supply in concrete cities where any hints of nature have been paved over. Luckily, urban planners around the world are turning their attention to nature-based infrastructure – from green roofs to porous pavements to artificial wetlands – to build cities’ resilience to flooding.

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