Good News Headlines 6/8/2026
Florida panthers in the Picayune Strand. Photo courtesy David Shindle, Conservancy of Southwest Florida
Everglades Restoration Project Ongoing for 20-Plus Years Sees Huge Rewilding Success
by Andy Corbley, Good News Network
A huge area of the Everglades that was drained in an attempt to convert it to suburbia has been restored to a somewhat native ecosystem after 2 decades of reverse-landscape engineering. Picayune Strand is a big, almost perfect rectangle of south Florida wetland located northwest of Everglades National Park, northeast of Thousand Islands Nat. Wildlife Refuge, and west of Florida Panther Nat. Wildlife Refuge. It was part of an enormous land package bought by the real estate company Gulf American in the 1950s in the attempt to create America’s largest suburban housing development, called Golden Gate Estates.
Sharp Drop In ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Seabird Eggs Hailed As Win For Regulation
by Tom Perkins, The Guardian
Levels of some of the most dangerous Pfas compounds have dramatically fallen in Canadian seabird eggs, which the authors of a new peer-reviewed study say illustrates how regulations are effective. Researchers looked at Pfas levels in the eggs of northern gannets in the St Lawrence Seaway basin over a 55-year period. Pfas levels shot up from the 1960s through the peak of the chemicals’ use in the late 1990s and early aughts, then fell. The fall coincides with several developments – facing regulatory scrutiny, the chemical giant 3M began moving away from Pfas.
15 Australian Companies Switched To A Four‑Day Work Week. It Went Surprisingly Well
by John L. Hopkins, The Conversation
In a 1930 essay, British economist John Maynard Keynes predicted that in 100 years time, technological advances would have displaced so much human labour that people would be working 15-hour weeks – if they worked at all. Today, 96 years later, that vision hasn’t exactly materialised. In Australia, research actually suggests we’re regularly doing more than we’re being paid for – performing an extra 3.6 hours of unpaid work each week on average. The practical reality of a four-day work week first emerged during the energy crisis of the 1970s. But the idea gained momentum again when COVID forced a global rethink of how and where we work.
Vermont Becomes First US State To Ban Paraquat Herbicide Over Parkinson’s Fears
by Carey Gillam, The Guardian
Vermont is the first US state to ban the weedkilling pesticide paraquat, backed by lawmakers who cited concerns about research showing the chemical substantially increases the risk of the incurable brain ailment known as Parkinson’s disease. Phil Scott, the governor, signed the legislation on Tuesday. The new law takes effect on 1 November, though it contains a provision allowing state regulators to issue special permits for paraquat use on fruit-producing tree orchards, berries and other “small fruit” crops up until 31 December 2030. The law also calls for annual data reporting on any use of paraquat in the state, and a state-funded study on recommendations for alternatives.
2026 Sees the Most Right Whale Calves Born in One Season Since 2009
by Andy Corbley, Good News Network
This year’s calving season along the southeast coastline of America has documented the most North Atlantic right whale calves since 2009. Additionally, trends in calf births seem to indicate a normalization of breeding and birthing among the animals that could accelerate population recovery. GNN has lately devoted many column inches to the North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered whales in the world, as well as one of the largest. Decades of diligent conservation seem to have allowed the whales to really turn a corner in the last 36 months, with milestones like record numbers of sightings, strange vagrancies, and an increasing population being celebrated.
