10 Ways the World Got Better In 2022

“Over the past year, the headlines have been dominated by alarming events. But 2022 was also a year of milestones toward a better future, scientific breakthroughs, and stories of hope. Here’s a look at 10 stories of human progress from the last 12 months.

1. We found out that civilization reached peak agricultural land

The latest data released in 2022 suggest that while land use for crops is still increasing, total agricultural land use appears to have peaked in the year 2000, and is now in decline. Peak agricultural land use has been driven in large part by changing the way we feed the animals we eat, shifting from grazing livestock to feeding them crops we’ve grown. The change has helped reduce the amount of land that must be converted from wilderness to pasture, which has, in turn, reduced the pressure on wildlife habitat.

2. We deployed a malaria vaccine for the first time

This year, for the first time, the World Health Organization recommended the use of a malaria vaccine: the RTS,S/AS01 Mosquirix shot, which the WHO said should be deployed to protect children living in regions with moderate to high transmission. By April 2022, more than 1 million children in Africa had received the world’s first malaria vaccine. The WHO estimates that the shot could save the lives of roughly 40,000 to 80,000 such children annually.

3. The James Webb telescope brought the universe into focus

Through the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope had a successful launch, essentially flawless deployment and calibration, and began returning its first images. Webb brings into focus the way galaxies looked just a few hundred million years after the formation of the universe.

The first images from Webb, released in July of 2022, captured the imagination of the world, instilling a sense of both wonder at the magnitude and beauty of space, and also our small and seemingly insignificant place within the greater universe.

4. Wild mammals rebounded in Europe

Across Europe, many wild animals are making a comeback, returning to the region’s oceans, forests, and rivers. A reduction in habitat loss and conservation, along with reintroduction programs, offer hope for a future where many native species to the region can once again flourish. At least 19 species had an average relative change in abundance greater than 100%, while at the top end of improvements, European bison and Eurasian beaver populations grew by an astonishing 16,626% and 16,705%, respectively.

5. Farmers in the Philippines harvested the first large-scale genetically engineered “golden” rice crop

One of the best stories of progress this year unfolded quietly in 17 rice fields in the Philippines this October. For the first time in world history, farmers in the Philippines harvested golden rice on a large scale. Golden rice is a powerful tool in the fight against vitamin A deficiency, a condition that claims the eyesight and lives of hundreds of thousands of children annually.

6. Guinea worm disease reached near-eradication levels

This astonishing decline in infection rates was driven not by a new vaccine or breakthrough technology, but through community education programs, effective isolation of infected persons from water sources, expanding access to improved and treated water sources, and basic water filtration. Thanks to these largely low-tech mitigations there is now hope that it may be possible, perhaps within the next few years, to declare the disease truly eradicated.

7. India developed its first cervical cancer vaccine

The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, announced the development of India’s first domestically developed and manufactured cervical cancer vaccine—but it’s the price that is the true breakthrough. The newly-developed vaccine will provide broad protection against the human papilloma virus (HPV), types 16 and 18, which are responsible for at least 70% of cervical cancers, as well as types 6 and 11.

8. Lab-grown meat got the green light from the U.S. FDA

The technology, while still in its infancy, could help transform how we grow and consume meat, providing a sustainable alternative to the modern factory farm. If developers can effectively scale and market lab-grown meat effectively, it could help to offset the high inefficiency losses in using living animals to turn energy into delicious protein, reducing resource consumption and credulity.

9. The SARS-COV-2 vaccine saved millions of lives

In light of the hardships experienced by billions of people globally, you would be forgiven for overlooking the silver lining that was the rapid research, development, manufacturing, and deployment of the four primary COVID-19 vaccines. A study published in June in The Lancet concluded that SARS-COV2 vaccination had already prevented between 14-20 million COVID-19 related deaths across 185 countries globally.

10. CRISPR for cancer had a major breakthrough

This year has been replete with news of advancement in medical and agricultural applications for the genetic engineering tool CRISPR. Among the most powerful stories about CRISPR was its breakthrough effect in the treatment of a 13-year-old girl suffering from aggressive leukemia that was unresponsive to conventional treatment. The teenager had her immune cells genetically altered via CRISPR to seek out and destroy cancer; she now has no detectable cancer within her body”

Read the full article on Time

✨Takeaway: It can be overwhelming to turn on the news and see negative headlines constantly. So, it’s nice to take a moment and reflect on the positive stories that occurred this year!

✨Reflection: What’s your favorite positive story from 2022? Can be personal or global news.

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