OK, so the guy who made this says he finds the “theory of global warming highly debatable,” but this thing is pretty cool: The World Clock. It lets you see a number of (likely somewhat flawed) stats about what’s going on in the world during the current year, month, week, day, or time period you’re on the site. CO2 emissions have crept into the six-figures, 132 cars and 330 computers have been produced, 50 people have gotten cancer and 33 have died from it, 69 hectares of forest have been lost, and the planet’s temperature has crept steadily upward. It’s fascinating, but watching it too long makes me dizzy (all the spinning numbers) and nauseous (the horror of it all!).
There are a few uplifting facts: three times as many bikes as cars were produced, and no species have gone extinct in the last few minutes, though 46 will go extinct today, apparently.
The stats are culled from the World Health Organization, the U.S. Census Bureau, the CIA Factbook, and some other sources. It’s basically one guy’s pet project that uses Poodwaddle, this customizable homepage-maker thingy.
One does have to wonder about his rising earth temperature data though. “I have included stats according to the minimum expected temperature rise, 0.1 deg/yr. It is estimated that the earth will rise in temp by 1.1 to 6.4 degrees Celsius between 1990 and 2100,” writes Peter Russell, the guy who made the counter. Actually, if you go to his homepage, the dude is sorta wack overall. But the counter’s still mesmerizing.
