The Human Imprint

China’s urban population now bigger than rural population

In China the number of urban residents reached 690.79 million at the end of 2011, accounting for 51.27% of China’s nearly 1.35 billion population.

Source: Marketwatch

The costliest natural disasters since 1980

This map from The Economist highlights the leading natural disasters over the last 30 years. Follow the link to read the report.

FAO Food Price Index ends year with sharp decline

Food prices fell in December 2011 with the FAO Food Price Index dropping 2.4 percent, or five points from November, FAO has said. At its new level of 211 points, the Index was 11.3 percent (27 points) below its peak in February 2011. The decline was driven by sharp falls in international prices of cereals, sugar and oils due to bumper 2011 crops coupled with slowing demand and a stronger US dollar. Most commodities were affected. However, although prices dropped steadily in the second half of 2011, the Index averaged 228 points in 2011 — the highest average since FAO started measuring international food prices in 1990. The previous high was in 2008 at 200 points.

Source: FAO Media Centre

India could be declared polio-free next month

Check out this article in Nature.

Extreme weather in Alaska

Check out the videos on the BBC News website.

The resilience of African rainforests

Check out this BBC News article.

Which countries match the GDP, population and exports of Chinese provinces?

Follow the link to The Economist for the fully functioning map.

Which countries match the GDP and population of India's states and territories?

This fascinating map is available on The Economist

Which countries match the GDP and population of America's states?

This interactive map from The Economist makes fascinating reading

 

Whooping cough cases increase

Cases of whooping cough reported to the Health Protection Agency (HPA) in England and Wales have more than doubled from 421 cases in 2010 to 1040 in 2011. Increases in levels of whooping cough are seen every three to four years and figures in 2011 are in line with cases reported in the last peak year of 2008.

Source: HPA