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Seven modern-day wonders of the world
December 2002
By David Boyd

And now for something completely different - a year-end article that focuses on progress and opportunity instead of the problems of terrorism, war, disease, recession and environmental degradation. Lost in the year-end teeth-gnashing and hand-wringing about the difficulties of [2002] was a whole bunch of genuinely good news.

I am not suggesting the world's problems are solved. Humans face huge and daunting challenges - not only in distant lands such as Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, but in Canada as well. One billion people lack access to clean water; 1.2 billion live on $1.00 a day; climate change threatens to wreak ecological havoc; 25 per cent of the world's population consume 75 per cent of the resources; and 30,000 children under 5 die daily from preventable causes.

This bad news is no secret. Good news, on the other hand, seems to slip beneath the radar screen. Occasionally, there is a human-interest story about local folks doing good things. But what about the big picture? What about progress in tackling some of the challenges facing humanity?

Here is some eyebrow-raising good news in seven areas in which we are accustomed to being bombarded with doom and gloom. This news is so good, it may strike some people as unbelievable. For the record, all of the following facts come from the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization. These are reliable sources, not Pollyannas.

Democracy
One of the linchpins of a secure future, democracy has made rapid strides in the past decade. Since 1990, more than 100 nations cast aside military dictatorships or one-party rule and chose elected governments. Many of these nations also ratified the world's major human-rights treaties during the '90s.

Population
Although the world's population doubled between 1960 and 2000, the rate of growth is now declining. Thanks to efforts to empower women and encourage family planning, families on every continent are now having fewer children. Globally, the average fertility rate has fallen from six children per woman to 2.8 children per woman in the past 30 years. In industrialized nations, such as Canada, the fertility rate is below replacement levels, meaning that our population would decline unless bolstered by immigration.

Food
Dire predictions of widespread famine have not come true. Despite the addition of three billion humans to the world's population since 1960, fewer people in total are malnourished today than in 1970. Remarkably, global food production has grown at a faster rate than the population.

Literacy
Like democracy, literacy is a cornerstone of a healthy, prosperous society. The literacy rate in the developing world has jumped from 47 per cent to 73 per cent since 1970, meaning that many more people have the tools to improve their standard of living.

Environment
In the late 1980's, scientists discovered conclusive evidence that industrial chemicals were destroying the ozone layer. A ground-breaking international agreement was reached in Montreal in 1987 to address the problem. Since then, global production of ozone-depleting chemicals has dropped more than 80 per cent, and Canadian production of such chemicals is down 95 per cent.

Health
In developing countries, a child born today will live, on average, eight years longer than a child born 30 years ago. Life expectancy in Canada also continues to rise, reaching an average of 81 years for women and 75 years for men.

Poverty
The world's poor are not getting poorer. Between 1975 and 1998, average per capita income in developing countries, adjusted for inflation, doubled. In other words, people in the world's have-not nations have twice the buying power they had 25 years ago.

These seven signs of progress, like the seven human-made wonders of the world, symbolize the extraordinary potential and ingenuity of human beings. Whereas bad news induces depression and cynicism, good news provides us with hope.

From the audacity of building a multicultural society in this vast and forbidding land, to our international peacekeeping missions and Terry Fox's mind-boggling Marathon of Hope, ours is a society defined by optimism and hope.

As Canadians reflect on the year that was and the year that will be, it soothes the soul to know that progress is not a pipe dream but a genuine possibility when people put their hearts and minds into making the world a better place. As Terry Fox said, "I just wish people would realize that anything is possible if you try, dreams are made if people try."

David R. Boyd is senior associate at the University of Victoria's Eco-Research Chair in Environmental Law and Policy, and an adjunct professor in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. This article first appeared in the Globe and Mail, December 2001 and has been amended for re-release in December 2002.

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