Tag: Surprising facts

Good News Highlight

Today’s post is a highlight of Good News from my super fact blog, which I call Superfactful. I am listing eight posts, seven of which are what I call super facts. A super fact is a fact that is important, not trivia, and that is known to be true and yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many. The super facts included with this post are what you can call Good News. Surprising news, perhaps shocking news, but still good news.

Peace Is Boring News

The first and my most recent post is not a super fact but my musings on the fact that good news tends to be boring news and therefore forgotten.

To visit the Peace is Boring News page click here

Black and white photo showing a young girl crossing the street as an armed soldier is hunkered down behind her. There is big wall with text written on it saying, “Dangerous Wall keep Clear.”
West Belfast, Northern Ireland,UK; February, 1994; Girl running with plate of chips past wall where two IRA Volunteers were killed by British soldiers Shutterstock Asset id: 1951602385, Editorial credit: RORY NUGENT.com

Emissions of ozone-depleting gases have fallen by 99 Percent

Super fact 41 : Largely thanks to the Montreal Protocol in 1987 the emissions of ozone-depleting gases have fallen by more than 99%, 99.7% to be exact, according to Our World in Data. This has resulted in halting the expansion of the ozone holes and the reduction in emissions of  ozone-depleting gases is saving millions of lives every year.

To visit the page for Emissions of ozone-depleting gases have fallen by 99 Percent click here.

Gases visualized in the diagram are CFCs, Halons, HCFCs, Carbon Tetrachloride, Methyl Bromide, Methyl Chloroform. The diagram shows a peak around the end of 1980’s.
The phase out of six ozone depleting gases. Data source UN Environment Program (2023).

Natural Disasters Kill Less People Now Than 100 Years Ago

Super fact 35: Natural disasters kill a lot less people now compared to 100 years ago. That is despite a larger population and despite the fact that climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of many types of natural disasters.

The explanation for this is that we have become much better at warning people, preventing deaths and rescue people.

To visit the page for Natural Disasters, Kill Less People Now Than 100 Years Ago click here

The graph shows 300 to 400 thousand annual deaths at the beginning of the 20th century, then 971 thousand annual deaths in the 1930’s, then it continuously gets lower until the annual deaths in the 2010 to 2016 period is 72 thousand deaths per year.
This graph from the Gap Minder article shows the annual deaths from natural disasters in ten-year intervals starting with 1930. The trend is down.

EV Cars Indeed Emit Less Carbon Pollution

Super fact 29: EV Cars emit less pollution than Internal Combustion Engine, even considering manufacturing, disposal and EV Cars being charged by dirty grids.

To visit the page for EV Cars Indeed Emit Less Carbon Pollution click here

The histogram graph shows that if you consider construction of facilities, manufacturing of vehicle and battery, production of fuel, vehicle operation as well as disposal the total average greenhouse gas emissions from EV cars is 52% less.
Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions comparison of average gasoline car and 300-mile range EV.

Smallpox Killed 300 million People in the Last Century Before Eradication

Superfact 24: Smallpox killed 300 million people in the 20th century. However, there have been no naturally occurring cases of smallpox since 1977, and the world was declared free of smallpox on May 8, 1980, by the 33rd World Health Assembly.

To visit the page for Smallpox Killed 300 million People in the Last Century Before Eradication click here

The picture is a world map showing countries in different colors. The colors indicated when smallpox was eradicated in that country. Dark blue indicates that it was before 1900 and that is Sweden and Norway. Light beige indicates it was eradicated in the 1940’s, which is true for the United States. Dark brown indicates that it was eradicated in the 1970’s and that represents, for example, India, Brazil and many African countries.
This world map shows when smallpox was eradicated from different countries. The source is Our World in Data , originally Fenner et al. at CDC.

We are living in relatively peaceful times

Superfact 9 : Despite all the wars going on, the world was filled with a lot more war and violence in the past. Despite the grim news reports we are living in relatively peaceful times.

To visit the page for We are living in relatively peaceful times click here

The graph is in histogram format with the biggest bins 1946 to 1952, then a couple of more upticks with smaller bins in more recent times.
Death rate from wars since 1946. The uptick in 2022 is largely due to the Ethiopian Tigray war with 162,000–600,000 killed and the invasion of Ukraine,  which US and BBC estimates at more than 200,000 deaths (but estimates from most other sources are less).

US Violent Crime Nearly Cut in Half Since 1990

Superfact 8 : Despite all the news reports about rampant crime, the US violent crime rate has fallen to half of what it was in the early 1990’s.

To visit the page for US Violent Crime Nearly Cut in Half Since 1990 click here

The first graph shows that violent crime per 100,000 people (FBI) has gone from 747.1 in 1990 to 380.7 in 2022. The next three graphs show the same trends.
The four graphs show that both violent crime and property crime have declined since 1990. Visit the post to see the Pew Research article it is taken from.

Poverty and child mortality has been sharply reduced worldwide

Superfact 7 :  Extreme poverty as well as child mortality has been sharply reduced the world over. The countries that are the worst-off today are still better off than the countries that were doing the best at the beginning of the 19th century. Over the last 50 years extreme poverty and child mortality has continued to decline sharply.

To visit the page for Poverty and child mortality has been sharply reduced worldwide click here

The graph shows share living in extreme poverty in brown and share not living in extreme poverty in purple. The graph begins in 1820 at ends in 2018.
This graph from Our World In Data shows a steep decline in extreme poverty over time. Click on the picture to visit the original article.

If you have not subscribed to my super fact blog you are certainly welcome to.

5 Super Facts

With this blog post I wanted to bring attention to my other blog. The goal of this fairly new blog is to generate a list of what I call super facts, which are important facts, not trivia, known to be true and yet are either disputed by large segments of the public or highly surprising or misunderstood by many. Because these facts are fundamental and true and yet there is so much confusion and dispute surrounding them, I consider these facts to be very special. That’s why I call them super facts.

In a sense the blog is a myth busting blog. A myth busting blog that focuses on important information. I call this blog “Superfactful”. I am trying to get more subscribers and visitors to my new blog. This post is essentially a shoutout to my Superfactful blog. I am featuring five selected super facts. To read more about the super facts click on the images or links below.

I can add that about half the posts on “Superfactful” are not super facts but just fun facts or reviews of non-fiction books.

Super Fact #4 : The Speed of Light in Vacuum Is a Universal Constant

The speed of light in vacuum is a universal constant. The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers regardless of their speed and the direction in which they are going. It is always c = 299,792,458 meters per second. If you try to catch up to a light beam and try to travel close to the speed of the light beam, you will not be able to catch up. The speed of the light beam will still be c = 299,792,458 meters per second compared to you no matter how fast you go. This is possible because time and space don’t behave like we expect.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #4
The picture shows two people Alan and Amy. Alan is on the ground. Amy is flying by Alan in a rocket speeding left. Both Alan and Amy are pointing lasers to the left.
In this picture Amy is traveling past Alan in a rocket. Both have a laser. Both measure the speed of both laser beams to be c = 299,792,458 meters per second.

Super Fact #7 : Poverty and child mortality have been sharply reduced worldwide

Extreme poverty as well as child mortality has been sharply reduced the world over. The countries that are the worst-off today are still better off than the countries that were doing the best at the beginning of the 19th century. Over the last 20 years extreme poverty and child mortality have continued to decline sharply.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #7
The graph shows share living in extreme poverty in brown and share not living in extreme poverty in purple. The graph begins in 1820 at ends in 2018.
This graph from Our World In Data shows a steep decline in extreme poverty over time. Click on the picture to visit the original article.

Super Fact #25 : Global Warming is Happening and is Caused by us

Global warming or if you call it Climate Change or Climate Disruption is happening, and it is happening very fast, and we also know that it is caused by us primarily as a result of our burning of fossil fuels. There is a long-standing scientific consensus on these two facts because the evidence is conclusive. Check the evidence in the post.

In other words, politicians dispute this, political think tanks dispute this, many amongst the public dispute this, but scientists extremely rarely dispute this because the evidence is too strong.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #25
Hockey stick curve going back 1,000 years. The recent uptick in global temperature is very sharp and very sudden | Global Warming is Happening and is Caused by us.
The so-called hockey stick curve depicting the last 1,000 years. The blue line is the first hockey stick curve ever created (by Michael Mann). He used proxy measurements such as tree rings, green-dots 30-year average, red temperature measurements. Wikimedia commons <<https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en>&gt;. This graph is taken from this page.

Super Fact #28 : That Earth is round was well known long before Columbus

That Earth is round, or spherical (or closely spherical) had been known for at least a couple of thousand years by the time Columbus set sail. Columbus did not set sail to prove that earth was round, and he knew it was round.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #28
The earth globe showing the side with the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean covers most of this side.
Columbus did not use Eratosthenes calculations from 1,800 years earlier and therefore thought that the earth was much smaller than it really was. He did not know about the Pacific Ocean. Earth Pacific Ocean view Stock Illustration ID: 1617553012 by Matis75.

Super Fact #35 : Natural Disasters Kill Less People Now Than 100 Years Ago

Natural disasters kill a lot less people now compared to 100 years ago. That is despite a larger population and despite the fact that climate change has increased the frequency and intensity of many types of natural disasters.

Click here or the picture below to visit Super Fact #35
The graph shows 300 to 400 thousand annual deaths at the beginning of the 20th century, then 971 thousand annual deaths in the 1930’s, then it continuously gets lower until the annual deaths in the 2010 to 2016 period is 72 thousand deaths per year | Natural Disasters Kill Less People Now Than 100 Years Ago
This graph from the Gap Minder article shows the annual deaths from natural disasters in ten-year intervals starting with 1930. The trend is down.

To see the list of Super Facts Click Here

New Blog Launch

Today I finally got around to launching my new blog. I call it super facts and the website name is https://superfactful.com.

I added five posts, which are pretty much exactly the five super-fact related posts I posted here on my Leonberger blog previously. So, you may recognize them. In the continuation it will be stuff you haven’t seen before. However, now I need to find out if my blog works. Do I get notifications about comments and likes? Can you subscribe? Can you navigate it? All opinions and bug reports are welcome. I invite you all to check it out and if you subscribe, I would be very happy. I can add that it is easy to toggle between the two blogs, just look at the right-hand sidebar.

Image showing a disintegrating brain
Smash your old beliefs with new surprising facts, super facts. Expand your mind and teach me some unexpected truths. Shutterstock ID: 1685660680 by MattL_Images