Watching the World
◼ During 2000, an estimated 8.3 million new cases of tuberculosis (TB) developed worldwide, and nearly two million TB victims died—almost all of them in low-income countries.—MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA.
◼ “Ten million young people are currently living with HIV, and over half of the 4.9 million people newly infected worldwide each year are between the ages of 15 and 24.”—UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND.
◼ Satellite tracking recorded round-the-world journeys by wandering albatrosses. The fastest one circumnavigated the globe in just 46 days.—SCIENCE MAGAZINE, U.S.A.
◼ “Every hour of every day, the world spends more than $100 million on soldiers, weapons, and ammunition.”—VITAL SIGNS 2005, WORLDWATCH INSTITUTE.
Increasing Violence Against Clergymen?
“Being a priest is one of the most dangerous professions in [Britain],” reported London’s Daily Telegraph in 2005. A 2001 government survey revealed that almost three quarters of clergymen interviewed had suffered abuse or assault in the preceding two years. Since 1996 at least seven clergymen have been murdered. One urban area, Merseyside, has had “an average of an assault, robbery or arson attack carried out in one of its 1,400 places of worship every day.”
Extraordinary Biological Diversity
Despite rain forest destruction, “the island of Borneo retains an extraordinary amount of biological diversity in its interior,” states The New York Times. According to the World Wildlife Fund, between 1994 and 2004, biologists discovered 361 new species of plants and animals on the island, which is shared by Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The finds included 260 newly discovered insects, 50 plants, 30 fish, 7 frogs, 6 lizards, 5 crabs, 2 snakes, and a toad. The rain forests of the interior, however, could be threatened by increasing deforestation, driven by demand for tropical hardwood and for rubber and palm oil.
Superstition on the Rise
“Even in a time characterized by technology and science, superstition has not lost its persuasiveness,” reports the German opinion poll institute Allensbach. A long-term study has shown that “irrational belief in good or bad omens persists in the population and is, in fact, more popular today than it was a quarter of a century ago.” In the 1970’s, 22 percent considered shooting stars significant to their lives. Now 40 percent do. Today only 1 adult in 3 rejects all forms of superstition. Another study among 1,000 German university students revealed that a third of them trust in lucky charms carried in cars or on key rings.
Antarctic Glaciers Retreating
“In the last 50 years, 87 percent of the 244 glaciers on the Antarctic peninsula have retreated,” and faster than experts previously thought, reports the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarin. The first comprehensive analysis of glaciers in the area also found that air temperatures have risen by more than 4.5 degrees Fahrenheit [2.5 degrees Celsius] during the last 50 years. The widespread retreat was largely caused by climate change, notes David Vaughan of the British Antarctic Survey. “Are humans responsible?” he asks. “We can’t say for sure, but we are one step closer to answering this important question.”