this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2023
138 points (96.0% liked)

World News

32317 readers
765 users here now

News from around the world!

Rules:

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Japan has told its citizens living in China to keep a low profile, including talking quietly in public, after Beijing blasted Tokyo for releasing treated radioactive water from a wrecked nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I assume it’s to help people visualize volume/distance/size/etc. If an article said “50,000 gallons”, it would be much more precise, but also harder to relate to. When an article says “500 Olympic-sized pools”, it’s significantly easier to picture in my mind.

It’s also worth remembering that this is a newspaper intended for the casual edification of the general public, not a scientific document.