Fun Facts

First of 2016!

The wealth of richest 1% of humanity is equal to the other 99%. Progress!
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-35339475

Millionaires control 41% of world's wealth, and are expected to take even more in the years ahead.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/06/15/millionaires-control-41-of-worlds-wealth.html

By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans. These “plastic soups” are growing at a rate of 10x every decade since the 1950s. It is expected to continue growing as our population increases.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/20/by-2050-there-will-be-more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-worlds-oceans-study-says/?hpid=hp_no-name_morning-mix-story-g-duplicate%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

The above stat has been disputed. Read more here: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35562253

I like this comment from Reddit:

"40 years ago a headline might have read, "With current consumption and disposal rates of plastic, the world will have 5 massive plastic oceanic gyres the combined size of India, Europe and Mexico." Would that have been outragious clickbait? It's now a reality."

https://www.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/41sne0/plastic_to_outweigh_fish_in_oceans_by_2050_study/

However, this is most likely true:

Sometime in the last few years, we reached a point where there are, by weight, more ships in the ocean than fish.
https://what-if.xkcd.com/33/

63% of Americans can't afford a $500 car repair or a $1,000 emergency room visit.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/63-of-americans-cant-afford-500-car-repair-or-1000-emergency-room-visit-300200097.html

Global unemployment numbers will hit almost 200 million in 2016.
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/global-unemployment-numbers-hit-almost-200-million-2016-1538904

More people now die from air pollution than malaria and HIV combined.
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/16/winter-smog-hits-worlds-cities-air-pollution-soars

Half the world's population (nearly 5 billion) will be short-sighted (myopic) by 2050.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160217113308.htm?utm_source=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link

If slavery were a country it would have the population of Canada, but it would be the third-largest emitter of CO2 after China and the United States.
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/01/20/463600820/todays-slaves-often-work-for-enterprises-that-destroy-the-environment?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

European Queens waged more wars that European Kings. From 1480 to 1913 there was a 27 percent increase in wars when a queen was in power, as compared to the reign of a king.
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/01/european-queens-waged-more-wars-than-kings.html

Gov. Rick Snyder has appointed more than a dozen "emergency managers" to replace democratically elected leaders in Michigan, most of them in majority black cities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/23/us/anger-in-michigan-over-appointing-emergency-managers.html

There are more shopping malls than high schools in the United States; 93 percent of teenage girls say that shopping is their favorite pastime.
http://www.treehugger.com/cleaning-organizing/10-crazy-facts-about-stuff-make-you-stop-mindless-shopping.html

Lesbians have a 9% wage premium over heterosexual women, whereas gay men face an earnings penalty of 11% compared with straight men.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-35558515

66 million hungry school-age children across the globe could be fed for six years for the same amount of money Americans will spend on Valentine’s Day this year.
http://www.treehugger.com/economics/valentines-day-numbers-are-you-sitting-down.html

The average American watches 5 hours of TV per day.
http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/average-american-watches-5-hours-tv-day-article-1.1711954

In Southeast Florida, the sea could rise three feet by 2060.
http://prospect.org/article/sinking-feeling-politics-sea-level-rise-and-miamis-building-boom

By the end of last year, the contributions of just 158 families and the companies they own (a staggering $176 million) made up about half the total funding in the 2016 presidential race.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/01/democratic-socialism-government-bernie-sanders-primary-president/

The state of Wyoming has only two escalators.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/3z9vd3/what_is_the_most_bullshit_sounding_true_fact_that/

Rice does not need to grow in water, but since it can survive it, it is done to control weeds and other pests creating higher yields.
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/3zgrwr/til_rice_does_not_need_to_grow_in_water_but_since/

Colorado offered free birth control — and teen abortions fell by 42 percent.
http://www.vox.com/2014/7/7/5877505/colorado-contraceptives-teen-pregnancy-birth-control?s_src=NWLC&s_subsrc=fb_20150206_birth-control

Life expectancy for Syrians (average) 2010: 79.5 years. 2014: 55.7 years.
https://twitter.com/ianbremmer/status/689834125734367232

Only seven women are allowed to wear white when meeting the Pope.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-35380666

Across Europe, more people are dying than being born.
http://qz.com/596459/across-europe-more-people-are-dying-than-being-born/

Between 2002 and 2012, college textbook prices rose 82% while overall consumer prices rose 28%.
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/441j0l/til_between_2002_and_2012_college_textbook_prices/

Americans are more likely to die younger than people in other developed nations.
http://boingboing.net/2016/02/09/americans-die-younger-than-oth.html