In the time it takes you to read this sentence, the number of respiratory infections in the world will rise by at least 50. If you doubt this, just check out

http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf, the World Clock website and watch the numbers whirl by as the Northern Hemisphere enters the flu season (376,004,924 at this writing).

And this is not the only thing you can spend time watching. How about the US prison population? Or the numbers of barrels of oil being pumped?  Or jet fuel burned?

Or are you more interested in learning how many robberies or murders are reported in the US? Or the number of Nigerian bank scams (419 for $168,304,426 as this article was written)? You can also track the world’s population and causes of death worldwide. You might not believe that war ranked last in the “death by injury” category, a tenth of traffic accidents (1,072,812).

Is it all true? The site lists its sources, including the World Health Organization, CIA Factbook , US Census, StationMaster and NationMaster. But then there’s also Wikipedia and advocate groups like the National Wildlife Federation and Earth Policy.

Regardless, it’s a site that will make you think about the larger picture of our world and our fate and impact on it.