Population Growth and Climate Change Explained by Hans Rosling

Sometimes complex things can be explained simply.

 

Hans Rosling, a Swedish medical doctor, academic, and statistician became famous for just that.  

 

He died last week.  Sadly, that is what prompted me to review some of his videos, and to share this.

 

Rosling called himself an "edutainer."  He had a knack for explaining difficult concepts (like global inequality, climate change, disease, and poverty)  using a sense of humor and a strange collection of props (including, maps, storage boxes, and colored stones) to tell the story of our world. 

  

For example, in an interview with the Guardian, Rosling beckons:  "Let me show you the world," as he used stacks of Lego-like bricks to demonstrate the dynamics of population growth, child mortality, and carbon dioxide emissions.

 

 

The Guardian via YouTube.

  

"The challenge for the world is to get everyone out of extreme poverty and get the richest people to use less fossil fuels so that everyone can share their energy levels," he said.

 

His messages were often more positive than most would think, demonstrating that life is getting better for more people, if we only bothered to look at the numbers.

 

 

Here are links to two other Rosling posts worth a look.

• How Data Can Solve the World's Most Challenging Problems. 
• The Health and Wealth of Nations.