They’re not alone. The Iberian lynx, once down to a few dozen individuals, now roams Spain and Portugal in growing numbers. The scimitar-horned oryx, declared extinct in the wild, has returned to the African Sahel. The mountain chicken frog - yes, that’s a real name - is hopping its way back in Dominica. And the greater one-horned rhino is making a slow but steady return in Nepal and India.

None of these species are out of the woods yet. But their rebound is a reminder that with time, funding and fierce commitment, nature can heal - sometimes faster than we expect.

Big moves to reduce pollution

From sweeping legislation to car-free streets, some cities and states are taking aggressive - and effective - steps to clean up.

In Paris, what started as a fight against traffic has turned into a blueprint for cleaner air. Since 1990, the city has cut car use by about 45 percent, Bloomberg reported. Pollution levels dropped alongside it: Fine particulate matter is down 55 percent, and nitrogen dioxide - a pollutant linked to asthma, heart disease and lung cancer - has fallen by half.

The changes aren’t just in the air. Paris has ripped out 50,000 parking spots, turned the banks of the Seine into car-free promenades, banned most traffic from the Rue de Rivoli and built miles of new bike lanes. Voters recently approved turning 500 more streets over to pedestrians. And if you drive an SUV? Expect to pay triple to park.

Two decades ago, pollution maps glowed red across the city. Now, just a few major roads light up.

In California, the chemical warning labels on coffee cups, parking garages and just about everything in between might actually be working - and encouraging manufacturers to reduce their products’ toxic footprint.

Under Proposition 65, companies have to warn consumers if their products contain certain harmful chemicals. Rather than slap on a scary label - or risk a lawsuit - many manufacturers are quietly reformulating instead.

A recent study found that 78 percent of interviewed businesses had changed their product ingredients to avoid the label. The result? A reduction in the use of chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm in everyday items like furniture, food packaging and personal care products.

Countries are mobilizing

Under President Donald Trump, the United States is withdrawing from the Paris climate accord as well as two global programs it had once deemed critical to reining in fossil fuels and the dealing with the consequences of climate change. Other countries have been stepping up. At COP29 - the latest United Nations climate summit - nearly 200 countries agreed to dramatically scale up financial support for developing nations facing the worst of the climate crisis. The deal calls for at least $300 billion a year by 2035 to help vulnerable countries adapt to rising seas, extreme heat and other growing threats.

At COP16, the U.N. biodiversity conference, in October, negotiators struck a parallel deal to protect nature itself. Countries committed to investing $200 billion annually in preserving ecosystems and preventing species loss - a key step toward delivering on a global goal to protect 30 percent of the planet’s land and water by 2030.

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