2024 C.E.

03 ozone graphic

For the first time, researchers detect significant dip in global atmospheric levels of HCFCs

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Almost 30 years after nations first agreed to phase out these chemicals, which were widely used for air conditioning and refrigeration, scientists say global concentrations peaked in 2021. Since then, the ozone-depleting potential of HCFCs in the atmosphere has fallen by about three-quarters of a percentage point. Though small, that decline comes sooner than expected and represents a significant milestone for the international effort to preserve the ozone layer.

Horses on grassland

Wild horses return to Kazakhstan steppes after two-century absence

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The seven horses, four mares from Berlin and a stallion and two other mares from Prague, were flown to the central Asian country on a Czech air force transport plane. The wild horses, known as Przewalski’s horses, once roamed the vast steppe grasslands of central Asia, where horses are believed to have been first domesticated about 5,500 years ago.

Sick woman

U.K. researchers identify and treat major cause of inflammatory bowel disease

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For the first time, a major trigger in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and related conditions has been identified, and existing drugs can stamp it out, in what scientists call a “massive step” in successfully treating these debilitating chronic conditions. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, in collaboration with University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London (ICL), have uncovered a problem gene enhancer that stimulates action along a specific biological pathway that causes IBD inflammation.

Bison

Portugal welcomes first wild bison in 10,000 years as part of plan to rewild a quarter-million acres

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From Poland to Romania to the U.K., European wood bison are now firmly recognized as one of the best tools for returning what little wilderness Europe has left to as wild a state as possible. In Portugal, the gradual abandonment of the Greater Côa Valley has presented an unprecedented opportunity for rewilding in the small country. The government has already set aside a quarter million acres of land for conservation.

Tetanus vaccination

Global deaths from tetanus have been reduced massively since 1990s

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Tetanus is a bacterial disease that causes paralysis and can lead to death. Globally, it was estimated to kill more than 250,000 people each year in the early 1990s. Most of these deaths were in children. By 2019, annual deaths had fallen to less than 35,000. The rollout of the combined vaccine against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis among children has been crucial in driving this.

School of herring

Sweden to ban bottom fishing in territorial waters

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Bottom trawling, a practice criticized by NGOs for impacting ecosystems, involves dragging heavy nets over the seabed, damaging ecosystems, and releasing carbon into the oceans. Sweden is set to become the second EU country to ban bottom fishing in marine protected areas, going a step further than Greece’s April decision by banning it in all territorial waters.

X-ray image of the intestine

New bowel cancer drug is found to be 100% effective

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An immunotherapy drug could spare bowel cancer patients the need for surgery and chemotherapy after results showed it was effective in 100% of cases. Jemperli from British pharmaceutical company GSK showed “unprecedented results”, the firm said, with no evidence of disease in all patients treated. The data showed all 42 patients in a trial led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in the U.S. had a complete response to treatment, with no evidence of tumors on scans.

Contraceptives

Free contraception initiative helps Finland reduce teenage abortions by 66%

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The number of abortions among women under 20 rose during the 1990s in Finland, leading the Nordic country to make morning-after pills available without prescription from 15 years of age and sexual education compulsory in all schools. As a result, the number of abortions fell 66% to 722 in 2023 from 2,144 in 2000 among all teenagers aged 19 or younger in Finland, while the drop was even steeper at 78% among those under 18 in the same period.

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