When I started working in journalism, these hot and sweltering days of midsummer were considered a dead end in journalism. No social media. There is no “view”. There is no Donald Trump. A long time ago, Joe Biden was not even in the Senate, and he did not have his surprising white hat.
The swamps of Washington are almost closed. Oh see! They have to rest again. The city and state officials wisely chose a place outside the office. I blame the air conditioner for giving us a 365-day news cycle.
But those days are a good time to become a rookie reporter, because the stars in the industry are on vacation, and the barriers to news are much lower than during the busy period of the year.
For example, my first front page story in a big city newspaper was about a dog who found the owner’s lost wallet and took it home. I may be happier than the master.
Free time in summer, even at night, is spent in, on, or near the water-swimming, water skiing or thinking. Everyone did this.
So, this weekend I was surprised to see the research and discussion conducted by smart guys at Gallup shake up my old assumptions about summer activities.
Thanks to the Lloyd’s Register of Shipping Foundation, they reported the results of interviews with more than 150,000 people in 147 countries and regions from their archives there.
They found-don’t run near the swimming pool, just listen to this-they found that the vast majority of the world’s population over 15 can’t swim. Without help, they would sink. Like a stone.
Therefore, Sunday is World Drowning Prevention Day and is committed to reducing the third leading cause of death from accidental injuries.
Swimming skills or lack of it is not a trivial matter. About 7.8 billion people currently live on this blue sphere that revolves around the sun at a speed of 8 miles per second. Ever since the Biden crowd started throwing trillions of figures almost every day in January, billions seem to be lunch money.
But then you will realize that on the surface of this 71% water-covered planet, nearly half (45%) of these billions of people cannot survive or move successfully. This is a place where nearly half of the population on earth cannot go.
Now, if you believe the World Health Organization (many of us have not done so in the past year), then water and the inability to operate in it will kill approximately 236,000 people worldwide every year.
Swimming is not really a complicated activity, especially when you are thinking about sinking. Puppies, even cats, can quickly figure it out. Therefore, the term “dog paddle”. The fear of swimming may be a bigger obstacle to overcome.
But here are some numbers from Gallup: 55% of people say they cannot swim without help, most of them are women. Only 32% of women claim to have this ability. Most men can swim (57%).
This male advantage is common in almost all regions. Imbalances in Central Asia (79% for men and 31% for women), Latin America (71/33), South Asia (48/22), Southern Africa (56/26), Eastern Europe (84/58) and Southern Europe (86/70) ).
The balance in North America is very close (89% males, 78% females), just like Northern and Western Europe (89/85). The island nations of Australia and New Zealand are also very close (90/85).
However, the bad news for men is that they are more than twice as likely to drown as women, which may be related to their increased exposure to water through occupations such as fishing and maritime work. In addition, they tend to swim alone and drink alcohol on the beach or boating.
You may be watching an accomplished swimmer in the Olympics. Then, there are these accomplished female swimmers:
Swimming ability also seems to be related to income. The higher the income, the smaller the gender gap and the stronger the swimming ability. In low-income areas, seven out of ten adults (72%) cannot swim.
wait! As long as you are here, a small point: We think the earth is big because we only know this. To be honest, most of us who are not billionaires rarely go into space.
In our solar system, the earth seems to have the most water of all the rocky planets. But on the scale of the Milky Way, the Earth is just a small blue dot floating between Venus and Mars. However, just beyond Mars is Jupiter, a huge gas giant planet five times as far away from the sun as we are.
Jupiter is so huge, even bigger than the conceit of some politicians. Jupiter can contain all other planets in our solar system, twice. In other words, Jupiter can hold 1,300 Earths—about 25,000 miles and 8,000 miles through.
However-are you still treading water? -More than 1,000 Jupiters can be contained in the sun.
But you must do this at night.
