Every fact we've published, sorted by pillar. All double-sourced.
Lead out of gas → measurable drop in crime one generation later (two independent studies agree)
The US finished phasing lead out of gasoline in the 1990s — and economists tracking the generation that grew up lead-free found violent crime fell with it.
31 wolves reintroduced in 1995; willow and aspen recovery documented across northern Yellowstone
In 1995, 31 wolves returned to Yellowstone after a 70-year absence. Elk changed their habits, young willows and aspen stopped being mowed down — and the recovery is measured, not mythical.
The annual increase of 7.9 per cent was bolstered by new additions from solar and wind energy, which accounted for 84 per cent of the growth.
Renewable power just hit a third of the world’s capacity, adding 171 GW in a year.
cumulative capacity Solar photovoltaic panel prices The cost of 66 different technologies over time The long-term energy transition in Europe When will countrie
Solar is now the cheapest electricity in history in many places, with prices down ~90% since 2010.
2.31 billion → 831 million since 1990 (~43% → ~10% of humanity)
In 1990, more than 4 in 10 humans — 2.31 billion people — lived in extreme poverty. Today it's about 831 million, even after COVID's setbacks.
~194,000 Kenyan households (~2%) exited extreme poverty via mobile money
M-Pesa — a mobile-money app — lifted an estimated 194,000 Kenyan households, roughly 2% of the country, out of extreme poverty.
$1 cash → $2.40 of local income; temptation-goods fears unfounded
Every $1 in unconditional cash sent to poor Kenyan households generated $2.40 of local income — and a review of 19 studies finds cash does NOT increase alcohol or tobacco spending.
+17% hours worked a decade later; 32% annualized return
Deworming children in Kenya cost pennies per dose — ten years later, treated men worked 17% more hours each week and the program returned 32% a year.
51% of the global drop in child deaths traced to women's education
Of 8.2 million fewer children dying worldwide between 1970 and 2009, 4.2 million — 51% — were saved by one thing: women getting more education.
65% → 88% adult literacy since 1975, while population doubled
In 1975 only about two-thirds of adults worldwide could read. Today nearly 88% do — even as the world's population doubled from 4 to 8 billion.
−78% US teen birth rate since 1991 (61.8 → 13.9 per 1,000)
US teen births have fallen 78% since 1991 — from 61.8 to 13.9 births per 1,000 teens — one of the biggest public-health wins almost nobody talks about.
On track for full recovery: ~2040 (rest of world), ~2066 (Antarctic)
The ozone hole is shrinking and UN scientists say the ozone layer is on track to fully recover — Antarctic around 2066, the rest of the world closer to 2040.
Six principal air pollutants −79% since 1970, GDP +338%
Since 1970, America's total emissions of the six principal air pollutants dropped 79% — while GDP grew 338%. Growth and clean air were never enemies.
But through domestic and international action to phaseout these substances, the ozone layer is healing and should fully recover by about 2065.
Earth's ozone layer, shielded by global efforts, is on track to heal by 2065.
The group is 100% composed of volunteers and interested parties, and has expanded into a large amount of related projects for saving online and digital history.
Earth's ozone layer shields life from harmful UV rays, vital for health and ecosystems.
But through domestic and international action to phaseout these substances, the ozone layer is healing and should fully recover by about 2065.
Thanks to a global phase-out of ozone-destroying chemicals, the ozone layer should fully heal by about 2065.
The ozone layer filters ~97-99% of incoming UV radiation; the Montreal Protocol is the first treaty ratified by every country on Earth.
A thin shield of ozone high above Earth protects life by filtering harmful sunlight.
Richer economies like the European Union, the US and others will start to limit their use of HFCs within a few years and make a cut of at least 10% from 2019.
In Rwanda, 170+ nations agreed a 'monumental' deal to phase out HFCs — cutting a whole class of warming gases.
As a Party to the Montreal Protocol, Canada reduced its consumption and production of HCFCs by 99.5% by 2020 and will phase them out completely by 2030, except
Canada nearly eliminated HCFCs, slashing use by 99.5% by 2020, with full phaseout by 2030.
~70,300 → ~12,300 warheads since 1986 (−83%)
83%: the share of the world's nuclear warheads that have vanished since the 1986 Cold War peak — from roughly 70,300 down to about 12,300 today, even as headlines warn of a new arms race.
8.12% of the ocean protected — 29M+ km² across 18,200 MPAs (May 2024)
8.12%: share of the global ocean covered by marine protected areas and other conservation measures as of May 2024 — over 29 million square kilometres, up from almost nothing before 2000.
+63 million ha of forest in China since 1990 (World Bank/FAO)
+63 million hectares: China's net forest gain between 1990 and 2020 — an area larger than France — even as tropical forests kept falling elsewhere.
2 of 3 wild polio strains certified eradicated (2015 & 2019)
2 of 3: wild poliovirus strains certified eradicated worldwide — type 2 in 2015, type 3 in 2019 — from a disease that paralyzed some 350,000 children a year in 1988.
≈59–60 million deaths averted by measles vaccines since 2000
~60 million: deaths averted by measles vaccination this century — WHO counts nearly 59 million for 2000–2024; CDC tallies 60.3 million for 2000–2023 — more people than live in Italy.
Global suicide rate −40% (14.9 → 9.0 per 100k, 1990–2021)
−40%: the global age-standardized suicide death rate fell from 14.9 to 9.0 per 100,000 between 1990 and 2021 — one of the biggest public-health wins on record, and almost nobody reported it.
~33 tons of CO₂ captured per great whale, worth ~$2M lifetime (IMF estimate)
A great whale fertilizes the ocean with iron-rich poop, triggering plankton blooms that lock away carbon — IMF researchers estimate each great whale captures ~33 tons of CO₂.
$1,400/kWh (2010) → $108/kWh today (-92%)
Lithium-ion battery packs cost about $1,400/kWh in 2010. BloombergNEF's latest survey puts them at $108/kWh - a ~92% crash that made electric cars genuinely affordable.
-99.8% since 1975 ($128.27/W → ~$0.26/W)
In 1975 a watt of solar panel cost $128.27. Today it costs about 26 cents - a 99.8% price collapse over five decades, making solar the cheapest new electricity in history.
>40% of global electricity was clean in 2024 - first time since the 1940s
In 2024 clean sources generated more than 40% of the world's electricity for the first time since the 1940s - and a record 47% of EU electricity came from renewables.
111.5 mobile subs per 100 people vs 3.5B without safe sanitation
There are 111.5 mobile subscriptions for every 100 people on Earth - more subscriptions than humans - while 3.5 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation.
55% of Israel's domestic water comes from the sea ($0.58 per 1,000 L)
Israel draws 55% of its domestic water from the sea - and at the Sorek plant, 1,000 liters of drinking water cost just 58 cents.
-75% to -90% energy per bulb (LED vs incandescent/standard)
ENERGY STAR-certified bulbs use up to 90% less energy than standard bulbs; DOE says residential LEDs use at least 75% less energy than incandescents - and last 30x longer.
6 billion online (~75% of humanity) - +240 million in 2025 alone
6 billion people - about 75% of the world - are using the internet in 2025, after 240 million came online in a single year.
1st CRISPR medicine ever approved (FDA Dec 2023; EU Feb 2024)
Casgevy made history as the first CRISPR-based medicine ever approved - FDA green light Dec 2023, EU authorization Feb 2024 - a one-time therapy for sickle cell disease.
>63% of pre-whaling abundance recovered by 2012; delisted February 2022
From near-extirpation by 1960s industrial whaling to tens of thousands today: east Australian humpbacks recovered so dramatically that in February 2022 they became the first whale struck off Australia's threatened-species list.
417 → 71,400 nesting pairs (1963–2019)
Just 417 bald eagle nesting pairs remained in the lower 48 states in 1963. After the 1972 DDT ban: an estimated 71,400 nesting pairs — roughly 316,700 individual eagles.
42,698 blue whales killed at South Georgia, 1904–1971 — and the survivors are finally returning
Whalers killed 42,698 blue whales at South Georgia between 1904 and 1971 — then the giants all but vanished from those waters. Thirty years of sightings, photos and underwater sound data now confirm they're back.
1,864 wild pandas (+17% in a decade)
Wild giant pandas grew 17% in a decade to 1,864 — enough for the IUCN to downgrade the species from Endangered to Vulnerable in September 2016.
27 → 607 condors (1987–2025), 392 now wild
California condors fell to 27 individuals by 1987 — every wild bird trapped for captive breeding. As of December 31, 2025: 607 condors exist, 392 of them flying free.
Nepal: 121 → 355 tigers (2009–2022), nearly tripled
Nepal's wild tigers went from 121 in 2009 to 355 by 2022 — nearly tripled — while India's 2022 census counted 3,682, more than double the country's first estimates.
~1,200 → 1.5 million+ beavers in Eurasia
A century ago Eurasian beavers were down to roughly 1,200 animals in scattered refugia. Today the minimum estimate is 1.5 million — and their dams store floodwater and clean water for free.
+28% global green turtle population since the 1970s
Green turtles just swam off the Endangered list: IUCN's 2025 Red List reclassified them as Least Concern after the global population rose ~28% since the 1970s.
~3.5M cases (20 countries) in the mid-1980s → 30 human cases reported globally in 2017
Guinea worm cases plummeted from 3.5 million to just 30 in 2017, eradicated without vaccines or cures.
Cases declined >99.99% from the mid-1980s (~3.5 million) to double-digit annual counts
A parasite once plaguing millions now teeters on eradication—filter-straws, safe water, and dog-proof water sources have slashed cases from
Neonatal deaths (the first 28 days of life) accounted for 2.3 million deaths, representing 47% of all under‑five deaths.
Nearly half of all children under 5 who die do so in their first month of life.
Nonetheless in 2024, an estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday, including 2.3 million newborns, along with 2.1 million older children,
In 2024 an estimated 4.9 million children died before their fifth birthday — down from 12.8 million in 1990.
In 2010, 7.6 million children died before reaching their fifth birthday; by 2024 the figure was under 5 million.
Child deaths fell by more than a third in one generation — from 7.6 million in 2010 to under 5 million today.
Around 6 million children under 15 die per year.
6 million children under 15 die each year, highlighting the urgent need to end preventable deaths.
In June 2025, the World Bank increased its extreme poverty estimates by 125 million people.
World Bank's new $3-a-day poverty line adds 125 million people to extreme poverty estimates
After 1950 global inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient remains more or less constant, and also the number of poor starts to decline in absolute terms.
Global inequality's shape shifts after 1950, with the Gini coefficient holding steady while absolute poverty numbers drop—new data reveals.
The World Bank has forecast that the number of people living in absolute poverty will decline only slowly in the next 15 years, with 800 million having an incom
Despite progress, 800 million still live on less than $1 a day as global poverty declines slowly.
A recent study of 19 developing countries, including Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, concluded that a country's long-term economic growth increases by 3.7 percent f
Each additional year of schooling for girls raises a developing country's long-term economic growth.
~300M deaths in the 20th century → 0 cases since 1977; eradication certified 1980
One disease has been wiped off the face of the Earth by deliberate human effort: smallpox. Last natural case, 1977. Declared dead by the World Health Assembly, 1980. It killed ~300 million people in the 20th century alone.