Today, on September 18, various events are taking place in many countries around the world on the occasion of World Water Quality Monitoring Day, UNN reports.
Experts estimate that about 50% of the world's population regularly consumes contaminated drinking water. This is due to the fact that about 70% of industrial waste on Earth is discharged into water every year. And this is despite the fact that only about 3% of the water on the planet is fresh, i.e., suitable for drinking.
One of the objectives of today's event is to draw the attention of governments and society to the fact that in many regions of the world, water supply and water treatment facilities are in poor condition or are not available at all. This leads to outbreaks of infectious diseases, which causes a large number of deaths.
Today, flora lovers can join the Bamboo Day, which was launched in Thailand in 2009.
Bamboo is a plant from the grass family. Bamboo grows by about one meter per day. The tensile strength of this plant is higher than that of steel. It is believed that a bamboo grove produces 35% more oxygen than a grove of ordinary trees.
Bamboo is widely used in the textile industry. Today, it is increasingly used in the production of paper, furniture, musical instruments, and even in construction.
Literature lovers are celebrating the International Day of E-book Reading today.
The prototype of an automated reading device was invented in 1949 by an ordinary Spanish teacher, Angela Ruiz Robles. However, it was never put into mass production.
It was only at the end of the twentieth century that a variety of compact devices for reading books in electronic format began to appear on a massive scale.
Today's event is intended to showcase the advantages of e-books over paper books, including greater accessibility. The day is also a reminder that distributing e-books does not require cutting down thousands of hectares of trees to produce paper.
Since 2020, at the initiative of the United Nations, various events have been held on September 18 to mark International Equal Pay Day.
Its main goal is to help bridge the gender pay gap.
Experts estimate that the global wage gap between men and women is around 37%. In 2020, in the European Union, women's gross hourly earnings were on average 13% lower than men's.
Two other events today are related to work and business: the World Corporate Culture Day and the HR Manager's Day.
According to the church calendar, today is the Day of Remembrance of the Martyrs Iryna and Sophia.
The women lived in the third century in the territory of modern Egypt, when Emperor Aurelian intensified the persecution of Christians.
Irina and Sofia were captured, tortured for a long time, and then executed.
Subsequently, by personal order of Emperor Constantine, the relics of the martyrs were transferred to Constantinople.
On September 18, Iryna, Sofia, Yelyzaveta, Athanasii, Hlib, David, Zakhar, and Maksym celebrate their name days.