Things aren’t always as bad as the headlines suggest. In fact, on some of the issues people used to worry about the most, things have dramatically improved. Kite & Key reports:

Good news: the world isn’t as bad as the headlines suggest. While the media is constantly feeding us bad news, many problems from just a few decades ago have quietly faded away. Back in the ’90s, there was pervasive anxiety about teen pregnancy. But from 1991 to 2022 teen birthrates fell by 78% – and are now at an all-time low. Another area where we’ve made progress: drunk driving. Since 1982, the fatality rate from alcohol-related accidents has dropped by 55%. And for people under 21, the effect has been even bigger: their fatality rate has declined by 77% . That’s not the only vice that’s on the decline. In 1965, around 43% of American adults were smokers. By 2022, that number had dropped to less than 12%. And speaking of breathing easier – air pollution is also way down. Between 1980 and 2023, carbon monoxide emissions decreased by 76%, sulfur dioxide emissions decreased by 94%, and lead emissions decreased by 99%.

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