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Since you were born in 1988

Population

The world population has grown by 56%, from 5.13 billion to 8.05 billion1. In more accessible terms, for every 10 people alive when you were born, there are now 15.

For every 10 people alive when you were born, there are now 15.
More population statistics
  • Life expectancy at birth has risen by 10 years, from 63 to 731.
  • The rate of infant mortality (the number of deaths per 1,000 births) has fallen by 61%, from 68 to 271.
  • The median age has increased by 7 years, from 23 to 301. This is the age at which you could split the population evenly, with approximately the same number of people older than the threshold than there are those who are younger.

Atmosphere

Annual carbon emissions have risen by 68%, from 22077 billion tonnes to 37150 billion tonnes9.

More atmosphere statistics
  • The global temperature anomaly (compared to the 1901-2000 average) has risen by 0.49°C, from 0.42°C to 0.91°C3.
  • The hole in the ozone layer has grown by 131%, from 10 million ㎢ to 23.1 million ㎢4.
  • Levels of atmospheric carbon have risen by 19%, from 352ppm to 419ppm2.

Biodiversity

The Living Planet Index has decreased by 53%, from 0.65 to 0.315. The Living Planet Index (LPI) is a measure of the state of the world's biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species from terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats.

More biodiversity statistics
  • The IUCN Red List Index of species survival has decreased by 11%°C, from 0.82 in 1993 (the closest year on record) to 0.736. The index is derived from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; a value of 1.0 equates to all species qualifying as Least Concern (i.e., not expected to become Extinct in the near future), whereas a value of 0 equates to all species having gone Extinct.

Surface

The monthly average sea ice extent has decreased by 16%, from 24.05 million ㎢ to 20.32 million ㎢7.

Society

The T10/B50 ratio of income inequality has fallen from 42x to 35x8. This is the ratio between the average earnings of the top 10% highest earners, and the average income of the bottom 50%.

Sources

  1. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects 2022, Online Edition.
  2. Dr. Pieter Tans, NOAA/GML and Dr. Ralph Keeling, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
  3. NOAA National Centers for Environmental information, Climate at a Glance: Global Time Series, published May 2023, retrieved on June 3, 2023 from https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/climate-at-a-glance/global/time-series.
  4. NASA Ozone Watch.
  5. LPI 2016. Living Planet Index database. 2022. Downloaded on 3 June 2023.
  6. IUCN 2023. The IUCN Red List Index. Version 2022-2.
  7. Fetterer, F., K. Knowles, W. N. Meier, M. Savoie, and A. K. Windnagel. (2017). Sea Ice Index, Version 3 [Data Set]. Boulder, Colorado USA. National Snow and Ice Data Center. https://doi.org/10.7265/N5K072F8. Date Accessed 02-04-2024.
  8. Downloaded from wid.world on 03-03-2024 at 14:51:49. Ratio calculated from source data.
  9. Andrew, R. M. and Peters, G. P. (2023) ‘The Global Carbon Project's fossil CO2 emissions dataset’. Zenodo. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.10177738.