2022: signs of hope in hard times - 26th December 2022

While planet Earth suffers the destructive effects of climate change, this year scientists have been attempting to find solutions. In countries affected by severe dry weather, crops such as Ethiopia's 'enset' banana offer a promise of hope. In Europe, farmers have high hopes for seaweed, a sustainable crop currently exported from Asia, but also with huge potential as a food source.

To protect the planet, 2022 welcomed a UN treaty to limit plastic waste, to be finalised in 2024. Meanwhile, entrepreneur and founder of the multinational clothing company Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, donated his business to the environment. His intention was to help save the planet and protect communities at risk.

There have been some positive surprises from the ancient, natural world too. An extraordinary 180 million year old fossil was discovered during routine work at a site in England and astonished specialists confirmed it was a sea dragon. Across the Atlantic in Canada, a perfect, frozen baby mammoth was also dug up, from 30,000 years ago.

This year, scientists have moved closer to reintroducing extinct species of animals. The doglike Tasmanian tiger is soon to return, thanks to genetic engineering. And on a related issue, it seems likely that we'll have digital twins of humans by the end of the decade.

2022 has been an incredible year in the medical world. Scientists have given hope to people suffering from the genetic illness haemophilia B, which affects the blood's ability to clot when injured. Biomedical teams have now developed a drug therapy to overcome the problem which causes the condition.

As well as that, researchers have now worked out the crucial connection between air pollution and lung cancer. Understanding that pollution acts as an alarm, waking up sleeping cells in the body which are harmful, will dramatically influence lung cancer treatment in the future.

Some significant events took place this year, such as Pope Francis' visit to Canada. On the trip, the Pope apologised to indigenous people for the former treatment of children in church schools, where they were forced to abandon their languages and cultural practices. This approach went on for several decades, until the end of the 1990s.

In a similar attempt to correct a past wrong, the image of the poet and activist Maya Angelou was placed on the US 25 cent coin, marking a first for a black woman.

The year also saw attempts to make changes in lifestyle. Many students deleted TikTok from their phones to concentrate on their studies and the 'lying flat' or 'tang ping' movement, which aims for a better work-life balance, also gained strength among younger workers in China.

Finally, in Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum of 2022, millionaires joined together in an unusual protest. They were demanding greater taxation from their governments in order to reduce the huge inequality between rich and poor people.