WSednesday, July 11, was World Population Day. I’m not sure just how we are supposed to mark it, but mark it we must. There are now 7.6-billion (please note the ‘b’ in billion) of us.
That is a staggering figure. In the year 1500 there were about 585-million of us – don’t ask me how the powers that be calculate these things, I have no idea.
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In the first half of the 1800s we hit the first billion, then 2.5-billion a little over a century later in 1950 (some of us can still remember 1950). Add 50 years and by the year 2000 we had hit 6-billion, that’s way more than double. And in just 18 years we’ve added 2.7-billion to reach the current grand total of 7.6-billion.
I’m sorry about all the statistics, but they are the story. If you remember the 1950s, think that if you looked around you and saw just one person, today there would be three, all wanting water, feeding, electricity, housing, and smartphones, of course.
This is particularly so for the world’s growing economies – China is the most populous country with 1.4-billion people and a voracious demand for goods and services.
The vast continent of Africa has just 1.2-billion people, but there is a growing demand here too for basic services (we know about this on the lower South Coast, think water, or the lack of it).
It’s all very depressing, isn’t it, so let’s lighten the tone. There is some really good news about the hole in the Earth’s ozone layer, it is currently the smallest it’s been for 30 years.
Scientists monitoring the situation say that the ozone hole over Antarctica is still 22-million square kilometres, but it is still smaller than last year. They attribute this development over the past three decades to the global ban on zone-depleting chemicals.*
And now a doggie story. A shortlist of dog-friendly pubs in England has been published, one of them being The King’s Arms in the Cotswolds, where dogs can enjoy a bowl of Snuffle Dog Beer while their owner presumably enjoys a bowl of best bitter at the bar.
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At The Three Greyhounds Inn (that’s a good start) in Cheshire the pooch gets to try the Dog’s Dinner menu, again, while the owner partakes in human food and drink. There are others, but these are my favourites.*
I remember when I had to go down to Cape Town on assignment I often stayed at a hotel in Sea Point and their pub was called ‘Doggies’ – it was very dog-friendly, complete with a lamppost in the middle of the bar (set in a sandpit, naturally) and separate facilities for humans. It was very well patronised by the dogs of Sea Point.
By the way, why is it that when someone is dressed up to the nines they are described as looking like a dog’s dinner, but when they look scruffy and untidy they look like a dog’s breakfast?
*The Week: The Best of the British and Foreign Media.
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