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Change is not always better. Take climate change, for instance. Let's talk about it.

Spring is upon us. Let's talk.

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Unilever and the United Nations

Note: This #UpChat has concluded, but don't worry! You can check out our recap of the discussion below and here.

It's springtime.


Good weather makes you happy, doesn't it?



Now you can enjoy a walk in the park, toss a Frisbee, and smell the fresh air. It's all possible! Going outside sounds great after the winter some of us went through — who doesn't enjoy when it gets warmer?

I'll tell you who.

If temperatures keep climbing like they are now, in a few years we will all definitely not enjoy it.

Science has proved climate change is happening.

240 scientists all came to one conclusion in the National Climate Assessment: Our world is getting warmer, and fast.


The high-temperature records keep getting beaten. And it doesn't stop there: Hotter weather causes heavy rain, floods, and drought.

Yep. It's happening already. But we have an opportunity to do things differently from now on. We could have cleaner air, produce renewable energy, and preserve forests while growing enough food for the increasing global population. We could even save spring. And we want to talk about it all this Earth Day ... with you.



You're invited.

Unilever and the United Nations have partnered with Upworthy for a Twitter #UpChat on Earth Day, April 22, 2015, from 12-1 p.m. Eastern time to talk climate change, deforestation, and most importantly, ideas. And the fun doesn't stop there, because there's a something of an "after-party" happening from 1-2 p.m. Eastern on Twitter to celebrate Earth Day. Mark your calendar now and get all the deets below!

What exactly is an #UpChat?

An #UpChat is just a casual, open chat about an Upworthy topic on Twitter. This Earth Day, we want to chat about how climate change and deforestation are affecting the lives of everyday people across the world and what steps we can take as a global community to take action. It will be with Upworthy (hi!), the United Nations, Unilever, and thousands of other people who love trees — or just want to know more. Basically, it's going to be really fun and really educational. And what's better than that? (Answer: nothing. #UpChats are the best.)

OK, how do I join the chat?

Well, unfortunately, it already happened. But, fortunately, we've got a recap right here!

Community

How to end hunger, according to the people who face it daily

Here’s what people facing food insecurity want you to know about solving the hunger problem in America

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Even though America is the world’s wealthiest nation, about 1 in 6 of our neighbors turned to food banks and community programs in order to feed themselves and their families last year. Think about it: More than 9 million children faced hunger in 2021 (1 in 8 children).

In order to solve a problem, we must first understand it. Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, released its second annual Elevating Voices: Insights Report and turned to the experts—people experiencing hunger—to find out how this issue can be solved once and for all.

Here are the four most important things people facing hunger want you to know.

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Pets

Family brings home the wrong dog from daycare until their cats saved the day

A quick trip to the vet confirmed the cats' and family's suspicions.

Family accidentally brings wrong dog home but their cats knew

It's not a secret that nearly all golden retrievers are identical. Honestly, magic has to be involved for owners to know which one belongs to them when more than one golden retriever is around. Seriously, how do they all seem have the same face? It's like someone fell asleep on the copy machine when they were being created.

Outside of collars, harnesses and bandanas, immediately identifying the dog that belongs to you has to be a secret skill because at first glance, their personalities are also super similar. That's why it's not surprising when one family dropped off their sweet golden pooch at daycare and to be groomed, they didn't notice the daycare sent out the wrong dog.

See, not even their human parents can tell them apart because when the swapped dog got home, nothing seemed odd to the owners at first. She was freshly groomed so any small differences were quickly brushed off. But this accidental doppelgänger wasn't fooling her feline siblings.

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via Pexels

A teacher lists his class rules.

The world would be a much better place if humans weren’t so … human. We all fall short of perfection. Common sense is, sadly, not too common. And there’s one guy out there who always manages to screw things up when things start getting good.

Call it Murphy’s law. Call it the great “reason we can’t have nice things.” Call it entropy. It feels like a whole lot of pain could be avoided if we all had just a little bit more sense.

But what if there was one rule that we all agreed to follow to make everyone’s life better? What would this magical rule be?

A Reddit user who goes by the name P4insplatter came to this realization and asked the AskReddit subforum, “What simple rule would fix the world if everyone actually followed it?” They received dozens of simple rules that if everyone got behind would make the world drastically better.

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Sandra Maria/Youtube, Official Lives & Music Videos/Youtube

You can't not sing this song.

The music of Queen has a profound visceral effect on everyone. Few pieces of art can cause complete strangers to put aside their differences and come together in song, but by golly, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is one of them. It would be cheesy if it weren’t so absolutely beautiful.

This pertains even to non-English-speaking countries, it appears. Recently, thousands of Harry Styles concertgoers in Warsaw, Poland, began cheering as those iconic beginning piano notes penetrated the air.
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Movie critic Roger Ebert speaking his mind at the Sundance Film Festival.

It’s been ten years since the world lost Roger Ebert to cancer, and his voice is sorely missed. Ebert had a pure love of cinema, and even though he was a film critic in a sweater with a Pulitzer Prize, he wrote and spoke in a way accessible to every man.

He didn’t care if a film was a Hollywood blockbuster or art-house fare; what mattered was whether it deserved his highly-coveted “thumbs up.”

Ebert was an extremely gifted communicator whose interests went far beyond film. In his later years, he often mused about music, politics, and American cultural events with the same eloquence, thoughtfulness and wit.

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@over40slbmom/TikTok

Feeling nostalgic yet?

It seems like so many iterations of unfettered joy from our childhood haven’t made it to the modern age, and playgrounds are no exception.

Gone are the days of metal slides that scorched the derriere in the summertime, seesaws that doubled as human catapults and the notorious merry-go-rounds that separated the weak from the strong. Good old fashioned character building—safety be damned!

As it turns out, a few of these old relics are still standing. And footage of kids playing at one of these bygone parks is filling adults—particularly Gen Xers—with sweet nostalgia.
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A couple shares why they decided to leave the United States.

Although it is difficult to tell if there is a trend of Americans moving out of the country, rough estimates show that around 8 million currently live in other countries—double the 4.1 million living abroad in 1999.

The most popular countries for Americans to move to are Mexico, Canada and the United Kingdom, in that order.

A big reason why some are leaving the U.S. is that an increasing number of employers allow people to work abroad. Others are choosing to leave because of cost of living increases and “golden visa” programs. Golden visas offer the chance to get a foreign residency permit by purchasing a house or making a significant investment or donation.

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