1. Women's right to vote. In 1893, no countries gave women the right to vote. In 2017, 193 out of 194 countries gave men and women equal rights to vote.
2. Science: In the year 1665, 119 scholarly articles were published per year. In 2016, 2,550,000 scholarly articles are published every year. Most of the increase has taken place in the past 50 years.
3. Literacy. In 1800, 10% of the world was literate. In 2016, 86% of the world has basic reading and writing skills.
4. Democracy. In 1816, 1% of the world lived under a democracy. In 2015, 56% of the world lives in a democracy.
5. Immunization. In 1980, 22% of infants got at least one vaccination. In 2016, that number is up to 88%.
6. Water. In 1980 only 58% of the world received water from protected sources. In 2015, 88% of people were drinking clean water.
7. Mobile phones. In 1980 only .00003% of people had cell phones. Today 65% of the world has cellphones.
8. Internet. In 1980, 0% of the world had internet service. In 2017, 48% of the world has internet service.
9. Girls in school. In 1970, only 65% of girls received a primary school education. In 2015, 90% of girls were enrolled in primary school.>
10. Electricity coverage. In 1991, 72% of the world had some access to electricity. That number increased to 85% by 2014.
11. Child cancer survival. In 1975, the 5-year survival of those diagnosed before age 20 was 58%. In 2010, 80% survival rate was reached.
12. Harvest. The cereal yield increased from 1.4 in 1961, to 4, in 2014. (thousand kg per hectare).
It's easy to look at the world and think we're going in the wrong direction. Science and technology have made the world smaller, and made education more accessible to everyone with a smart phone or internet access. Life is easier for so many, and life is longer for everyone. We've got to look at the good in the world, and realize that much has changed for the better, and will continue to do so.
No comments:
Post a Comment