The Bafflingly Big
The Bafflingly Big
Large numbers are known to be difficult for human beings to understand. Seeing animated videos of the size of the earth compared to other planets, stars, our galaxy, and the universe are equally baffling. This is a problem for geographers because geographers are expected to work at a range of scales, and even though the universe is outside what is regarded the study of ‘geo’ meaning the earth,’ even large numbers on Earth are difficult enough to fathom. Understanding the implication of there being 1.4 billion people in China is hard to imagine. In China there are more than 65 cities with more than a million inhabitants. In the UK there are two such cities and in the USA there are ten. When China runs its Census which involves a person going from home to home to ensure that everyone is counted, the country employs a casual labour force in excess of a million persons.
Perhaps even more unimaginable is the recently calculated estimate indicating that there are around 3 trillion trees on the Earth, or roughly enough for 422 per person. If each tree were a metre wide, these trees would span around the equator 75 000 times. These trees account for some 400 gigatons of sequestered carbon dioxide. This is the mass of a little fewer than 8 million Titanic ocean liners.
The United Nations has a programme to plant a trillion trees, of which it has already achieved 15 billion. Australia has pledged to plant a billion trees itself by 2050 to meet the its Paris Agreement climate target. It is suggested that the planting of an additional 1.2 trillion trees could sequester sufficient CO2 to wipe out out a decade of carbon dioxide emissions. It is suggested that if each ‘global citizen,’ were to plant 140 trees, then this would amount to a trillion trees.
Understanding the size of populations whether it be of people or trees requires analogy or a parceling up of numbers for them to be digestible. When it is necessary to understand the scale of a problem or of an issue, if we are to make good decisions it is necessary to do this so as to understand the true cost of things. Simply to refer to imponderables as gazillions does nothing for understanding. Mathematics might supply numbers and geography might understand the process of a problem, but an arithmetic of pragmatism is needed if we are ever to understand and to deal with issues at scale.
Simpler Version
Very large numbers are hard for human beings to understand. Have you ever looked at YouTube to see how big the earth is in relation to other planets, the sun, our galaxy, the Milky Way, and in the end compared to the size of the Universe. If you haven’t then I recommend you do this, but beware it might make you feel a little unimportant in the greater scheme of things. Geographers study the earth, but sometimes the scale of things makes the earth very hard to understand, things can be way too large or way too small for us to readily understand.
In China for example there is close to 1.4 billion people. This is 21 times the population of the UK; just over 4 times the population of the USA or 56 times the population of Australia. In China there are more than 65 cities with more than a million inhabitants. In the UK there are two such cities and in the USA there are ten, and in Australia there are five. In the Chinese Army alone there are 2.3 million people. When Shanghai encounters dangerous storms, the city government is able to relocate more than a million residents to higher ground, over night. Such a big country has to do things in a big way.
Another massive number to consider is the recent estimate of their being some 3 trillion trees on the planet. This is enough to wrap around the Earth at the Equator 75 000 times. These trees account for some 400 gigatons of sequestered carbon dioxide. This is the mass of a little fewer than 8 million Titanic ocean liners.
The United Nations has a plan to plant a trillion trees, of which it has already managed 15 billion. Australia has pledged to plant a billion trees itself by 2050. It is suggested that the planting of an additional 1.2 trillion trees could capture sufficient CO2 to wipe out out a whole decade of carbon dioxide emissions. It is suggested that if each ‘global citizen,’ were to plant 140 trees, then this would amount to a trillion trees.
Mathematics is, as you know very important. Whilst maths teaches us how to manage numbers, including large numbers, it doesn’t often tell us what we need to do about what we find out, or what it means for a number of something to be so large, and what might happen if this large number of things might rise or fall. It might tell us how quickly something is growing or shrinking, but not so much about whether this is ok, or what we might need to do about it. Making good decisions about things we count is an important skill. It is about what the numbers mean rather than what the numbers are. Knowing that a gazillion thingamajigs are about to turn up is not helpful unless the know what a gazillion thingamajigs looks like and what the rapid arrival of a million thingamajigs will mean for us. We need to think carefully about what is happening because consequences are important.
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