World Clock displays stats in real time

Here’s something fun for data wonks.

This amazing “World Clock” shows in real time the world’s population, number of births and deaths (and from what), how much oil is produced and how many tons of CO2 emitted, hectares of forest lost, species extincted and more. Of course the numbers cannot be precise but they are based on data from WHO, UN, US Census and other sources.

It’s amazing to see things in perspective. For example, since I started writing this about five minutes ago there have been 600 cars and 1,800 bicycles produced. One species has gone extinct and 200 hectares of forest have been lost. About 256,000 barrels of oil have been produced and about 247,000 tons of CO2 have been emitted. Two people have died from war, 11 by suicide and 15 by traffic accidents. The biggest killer by far is cardiovascular disease. Still, world population has grown by 1,100 people (1900 births, 800 deaths).

I love knowing the truth about things, even when I don’t like the facts. But I feel blessed to have access to so much information, so much art and science and spiritual ideas. It’s literally awesome the knowledge we have at our fingertips.

Still, I can only watch for a short time. Then I have to stop the clock and get off. It’s a dizzy ride.