In the next hour, all this destruction will happen

It can be difficult to wrap our heads around the sheer enormity of damage and destruction we are doing to our planet on a daily basis.

So let me narrow it down to just an hour. A mere 60 minutes in the life of human activity on planet Earth in the year 2021.

It makes for very uncomfortable reading.

It is important to focus on positive action that can be taken to reduce the effects of the climate crisis, cut pollution of our seas and move forwards into a greener age.

But to do this, there has to be appreciation of the scale of the task at hand.

Sometimes you just want to find a peaceful corner of the countryside, relax and pretend that you’re not clinging on to a big rock, hurtling through space, with intense activity and environmental destruction going on all around you.

Eco anxiety is a very real thing, and as I have already reported, the climate crisis has become the world’s biggest mental health problem.

If we are to make a positive difference, however, we have to face up the facts. And here they are…

In the next HOUR across the world:

• 6,360 people will die.
• 1,080 of them will die of starvation.
• 600 of the deaths will be children.
• 15,480 babies will be born.
• 6,780 of them will be born into poverty.

• 103,000 trees will be cut down.
• 1,140 of these trees will be just for toilet paper.
• Only 42,000 trees will be planted.
• 6,000 acres of rainforests will be cut down.
• 6 different species of animals, plants and birds will become extinct because of tropical forest loss.

• The world will use 576 million plastic bags.
• More than 60 million of these plastic bags will go in the trash.
• 330,000 new pieces of plastic will litter our oceans.
• That’s 60 garbage trucks of plastic.
• We will throw away 180 million face masks, most of them laced with plastic.
• 219,397 tonnes of garbage will be produced globally.
• 5,670 tonnes of food will be thrown away in the United States alone.

• 1,392 airplanes will take off around the world.
• 3,345,420 barrels of oil will be used.
• 158,400 lightning strikes will hit the Earth
• 300 earthquakes will occur.

The Big Picture

All this takes place in just ONE HOUR, remember. The world moves at a frightening pace, so those statistics that do not favour the natural world are particularly distressing to process, personally speaking.

Let’s put them into context alongside other things happening on Planet Earth. These, too, will happen in the NEXT HOUR statistically:

• Amazon chief Jeff Bezos’ net worth will increase by $8.56m.
• The world will spend US$219 million on its military.
• US$188 million will be donated to charity.

• 10.8 billion Google searches will be performed.
• 7 billion Facebook Likes will be made.
• 3.2 billion WhatsApp messages will be sent.
• 21 million Tweets will be Tweeted.
• 33,840 new websites will be created.
• 1.3 million people will search for porn.
• 90 million people will have an orgasm.

• The universe will expand by 53,280km
• 108,000 stars will explode
• 17.3 million new stars will be created

Makes you think, doesn't it?

Sources:

Our World In Data, Indexmundi, EIB, OmniCalculator, Education Database, Internet Live Stats, Best Techie, WWF, Faunalytics, Live-Counter, AnimalClock, The World Counts.