The population boom
In this section, we will have a look at the global factors that led us to the current situation we find ourselves in.
The numbers!
At the time of writing, the global population is estimated at north of 8 billion people, see the live counter above. However, we still have vocal people imploring that there is no way that mere humans could impact climate on a planetary scale. Do we really know what a billion of something looks like? Maybe, maybe not, but let's start there. Once we have an initial grasp of how many 8 billion looks like, we can start to understand that scaling effect of any impacts people might have on the planet and its systems.
Holding hands
According to Illuminating Facts, 7 billion people holding hands in a circle would be greater than the orbit of the moon at a circumference of over 4 million miles or nearly 6.5 million kms!
A long hike
If you are a hiker, Berkeley has a great way to understand the scale of a billion - a typical person would need to hike over 15 times around the equator of the earth to reach a billion steps!
1,2,3....
If that does not work for you, the same link as above also has an estimate that it would take over 95 years for a typical person to count to a billion!
A lot of oranges
One last one for fruit fans is from The American Museum of Natural History, which suggests a billion oranges would fill a stadium to the brim!