Here’s today’s good climate and environment news!

🐸 Combating the 'boiling frog' effect

For many people, news about climate change has become background noise – an example of the so-called boiling frog effect. But a new study shows we can wake people up from their indifference by presenting information about the climate in terms of binary visuals.

Researchers collated people’s responses to two different graphs: one portraying a town’s temperatures rising over time, and one where the town’s lake either did or didn’t freeze. People who saw the latter graph – which was just as accurate – believed climate change was causing more abrupt changes, underlining its urgency.

The study highlights how scientists and climate communicators can be more effective by showing changes as a stark yes-or-no binary, rather than relying on people to maintain awareness to ongoing, slow-moving trends.

☕️ The perks of regenerative coffee production

A new report underscores the potential benefits of switching to regenerative techniques in global coffee production. As well as increasing the incomes of over 3 million smallholder farmers by an average of 62%, it could cut emissions by 3.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

🏭 Harnessing contaminated lands for clean energy

Abandoned brownfield sites marred by industry and full of contaminated materials could be a great home for solar farms, renewable energy proponents in Michigan argue. 24,000 of these sites exist in the state, and could produce a vast amount of solar power without taking over farmland or forests. Old coal plants could also be ideal sites since they’re already connected to the grid, slashing the time it takes to get up and running.