What We’re Reading: How to Fix the Reflecting Pool Mess, Naturally

Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here.

Not easy being green

The saga of the algae-filled Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool continues, with the U.S. National Park Service now planning to drain and repair it after July 4th. But there are natural ways to fix the pool’s pea soup problem, according to a story from The Conversation that Executive Editor Will Doig shared with our team this week. One such solution: Let Daphnia, a type of zooplankton also known as “water fleas,” keep algae under control by eating it.

“The hubbub over the Reflecting Pool holds a mirror up to assumptions about how to solve pressing environmental challenges,” writes scientist Eric Palkovacs. “The idea of just engineering one’s way out of any environmental crisis has limits.”

Will says:

For people who talk a lot about “what the founders would have wanted,” might we suggest remedies that have been keeping ecosystems healthy since the 18th century?

An ounce of prevention

A couple of decades ago, Scotland had a reputation as the “murder capital” of Europe, with the United Nations declaring it the most violent country in the developed world in 2005. As the BBC reports in a story found by Editorial Director Rebecca Worby, violent crime in Scotland has since declined significantly, by 2015, the homicide rate had fallen by 56 percent in Glasgow and 38 percent overall.

How did this happen? In short, the country opted to prioritize prevention and intervention. Scotland’s approach treats violence more like a disease, vaccinating against measles is more effective than treating people who have been infected, than like a crime.

Becca says:

The idea to treat violence as a public health problem came in part from the U.S., with some of the methods coming out of programs in Cincinnati and Chicago. Great example of replicable solutions being adapted to work in a different place.

What else we’re reading

Deaths linked to London air pollution have fallen 40%, study estimates, shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas from the Guardian

‘Kind of miracle solution’: How Paris is harnessing the Seine to replace air-con, shared by RTBC Founder David Byrne from the Guardian

U.S. murder rate approaches a record low, shared by Executive Editor Will Doig from NPR

In other news…

Contributing Editor Michaela Haas took home second place at the L.A. Press Club Awards in the category of health and science solutions journalism. Congratulations, Michaela!

Read Michaela’s story about former Navy SEALS and other veterans who have found a new sense of purpose in ocean conservation.

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