WORLDPROCESSOR WEEKLY

Eco Pressure [172]

2011-12-13T12:37:00.001-05:00

Arable land vs. population size: Some areas are particularly endangered and more sensitive to ecological imbalance. Population pressure, the scarcity of arable land, soil quality and climate set strict limits to growth.

Arab League [082]

2011-02-20T00:13:00.002-05:00

Not an Arab World [035]

2011-01-15T22:42:00.000-05:00

Superhighway to the Future [216]

2011-01-08T12:52:00.000-05:00

A 24-lane superhighway packed bumper to bumper would have to circle the globe 1.8 times to accommodate the world’s 440 million cars in 2000. By the year 2030, however, the superhighway to the future would have to circle the globe 4.25 times to accommodate the projected1020 million cars at that date. A hypothethical parking lot to accommodate this car population would cover all of Belgium.

US Patent Holders [284]

2011-01-01T12:41:00.000-05:00

This globe represents half of all patents in the US - those registered to
foreign holders. Countries with more than 1000 patents registered in
the US are indicated by name, with the point size of the representative
text scaled according to the square root of the total number of US
patents held. Japan accounts for roughly one third of foreign-held US
patents, followed by Germany, the UK, and France. Were the number
of domestically held US patents to be indicated according to this logic,
the entire surface of the globe would be covered. As of 2007 over half of all patents registered in the US are foreign owned.

Non-Competitive Elections [227 -2]

2010-12-25T01:40:00.004-05:00

Highlighted areas indicate those countries that are democratic in name only. Dictatorships, communist states, and military states either ban popular elections, disregard their results, or hand pick the candidates. Minimal red tape indicates a flawed democracy, the median amount indicates hybrid regimes, and the most red tape indicates authoritarian regimes. Flawed or corrupt representative democracies often do no better at generating competitive elections.

Infant Mortality [171]

2010-12-18T01:34:00.002-05:00

Infant mortality is a good indicator of a population's well-being. In areas shaded dark red, one out of five children did not live beyond the age of five in the year 2000. In white areas, the mortality is less than 2%. Reducing infant mortality in one of the UN's MDGs (Millennium Development Goals)

Soil Degradation [169]

2010-12-11T22:31:00.000-05:00

Soil degradation is brought on by several factors, mostly predisposition for desertification, acid rain, need for fuelwood and food needs which are beyond the soil's capacity to support. This globe shows only areas where the population’s food needs lead to overexploitation and subsequently to soil degradation.

Labor Migration [166]

2010-12-03T19:00:00.002-05:00

This world is divided into richer and poorer countries. Highlighted countries are considered rich, as the personal income averages more than US $2,500/year. Anybody making less is part of the rest, the poor. Accordingly, there is a migration from poorer to richer countries. Inconsistent definitions of labor migration, and the untrackable nature of illegal migration has resulted in a scarcity of data on the subject. Arrows shown represent flows of at least 50,000 migrants in a given year between 1986 and 2003 as noted by the International Labor Organization.

Ice Age [168]

2010-11-27T19:07:00.000-05:00

Island Nations [167]

2010-11-20T19:04:00.000-05:00

G8 vs. G20

2010-11-14T15:14:00.001-05:00

The G8 states derive their global claim to leadership from their by now shrinking portion of the global economy (approx. 45% in 2009; 65% in 2002) which is represented here as the light part of the northern hemisphere. the G20 countries, which incorporate all G8 members, represent 85% of the world economy (southern hemisphere).. the portion of the world economy each member country controls is shown in a box surrounding each country; black outlines are G8 countries, red outlines are G20 members. red dots indicate membership in either G8 or G20; countries not represented are joined by dotted lines.

Historical Diasporas [165]

2010-11-06T18:54:00.000-04:00

Moody's Sovereign Ratings [163-3]

2010-10-31T18:39:00.000-04:00

Moody's Investor Service as well as Standard and Poor rate not only corporations but sovereigns, i.e. countries, as well. Most institutional investment firms have rules prohibiting them from buying government bonds issued by countries with a low, speculation-grade rating. Only blue-chip (Aaa=light color) and high to medium grade countries (Aa-Baa3=dark) are considered investment grades, all other countries (Ba1 to C) therefore did not even show up on these investors' radar screens in 2005.

Forest Fires [159]

2010-10-25T18:35:00.000-04:00

In spring 1998 uncontrolled forest fires raged in the equatorial regions. Airplanes crashed in Indonesia, Smoke plumes reached across national borders into other countries and even continents. One day the loss of forest the size of Belgium in Brazil was reported. El Nino was generally blamed for the lack of rain.

AIDS Impact on Regions 1997 [152]

2010-10-16T18:31:00.001-04:00

UNAIDS/WHO estimated a 7% decrease in North American cases and an estimated 18% increase in Sub-Saharan Africa in comparison with figures recorded in 1996. Africa already suffers by far the greatest impact of AIDS with 25 - 28 million affected.

Earthquakes and Tectonic Plates [121]

2010-10-09T11:25:00.003-04:00

There are eight major and many minor tectonic plates. These plates move in relation to one another at one of three types of plate boundaries: convergent, or collisional boundaries; divergent boundaries, also called spreading centers; and transform boundaries. Earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain-building, and oceanic trench formation occur along plate boundaries. The lateral movement of the plates is typically at speeds of 50–100 mm annually.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation [178]

2010-10-02T11:10:00.000-04:00

Checkmarks indicate signatories to the treaty. India, Pakistan and Israel did not sign the treaty. North Korea withdrew.

Mobile Teledensity [327 - 4]

2010-09-25T15:50:00.003-04:00

Density of black lines indicate the penetration of mobile phones where more than 10% of the population own one. Sparse lines represent less than 50% ownership, semi-concentrated 50% to 100%, and most dense indicate more phones than inhabitants. Countries with more than double the world's average growth rate (CAGR) of 23% from 2002 - 2007 are encircled with bright dots. There are 4 billion mobile phones, 3 times the number of landlines.

Independence in the 20th Century [122]

2010-09-19T17:33:00.002-04:00

Major Rivers [111]

2010-09-12T19:06:00.001-04:00

Statistical Challenges [11]

2010-09-05T18:55:00.002-04:00

Summer Break

2010-08-02T18:54:00.000-04:00

August 4 to September 4

Japanese Economic Continent [21]

2010-08-01T18:46:00.001-04:00

If landmass equaled wealth and economic might, Japan would occupy this much of the globe for most of the 1990s.
And due to a strong yen the picture looks largely unchanged today.

OZONE Hole [29-2]

2010-07-24T18:42:00.001-04:00

A second permanent ozone hole was detected in the area of the North Pole in 1990, producing radical meteorological changes in parts of the Northern Hemisphere. In 1996, the World Meteorological Organization (UNO) measured the Southern Ozone Hole to be the size of the US and Canada combined. They are expected to increase in size until 2020.

UN Peacekeeping Missions [65]

2010-07-17T18:02:00.000-04:00

Beginning with the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization Mission to the Middle East in 1948, the UN has undertaken more than 56 peacekeeping missions across the world, with varying degrees of success. In 2003 14 missions were current. 2000 peacekeepers lost their lives since 1948.

100 Projection Problems [74]

2010-07-10T14:41:00.000-04:00

Ocean Upwellings [79]

2010-07-04T14:36:00.001-04:00

Areas where colder, nutrient-rich, and biologically productive subsurface waters are brought to the surface. Phytoplankton thrives in these conditions and are at the base of the oceanic food chain. Therefore these are the biologically most productive areas. A combination of winds, currents, the Earth's rotation, shorelines and shallow bottoms induces upward and downward water movements. There are coastal upwellings as well as equatorial upwellings.

Acid Rain [80]

2010-06-27T14:34:00.001-04:00

Acid rain is primarily caused by sulfur and nitrogen compounds that are released by factories, cars, and especially coal power plats. The emission can be carried hundreds of kilometers to effecting ecosystems in other countries. Acid rain has harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure.

Ring of Fire [87]

2010-06-20T14:29:00.001-04:00

Fault Lines and Earthquake Epicenters M>5 (larger than 5 on the Richter-scale).

Japan [93]

2010-06-12T14:24:00.000-04:00

An economic giant, Japan does not command much territory. In fact Japan holds the world record GNP per square mile.

Names [96]

2010-06-06T14:13:00.001-04:00

Political Borders [97]

2010-05-29T14:08:00.001-04:00

US Industrial By-products [102]

2010-05-22T14:03:00.000-04:00

Nuclear Desire [2]

2010-05-15T13:55:00.002-04:00

Not all countries that crave the power and prestige of nuclear weapons have been able to master the technology and the supply of uranium necessary. In addition to the five official members of the nuclear club (incidentally the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council), at least another eight nations actively pursued steps to qualify for membership. Recently some countries have been militarily persuaded to abandon their nuclear plans (Iraq). Others have voluntarily started to destroy their arsenal (Ukraine, Libya, South Africa). In the mid 1990s North Korea struck a billion-dollar deal with the US using its alleged arsenal as a bargaining chip for economic help.

US Patent Holders [284]

2010-05-08T13:26:00.000-04:00

Rocket Launch Sites [256]

2010-05-02T14:02:00.001-04:00

Known locations, both active and inactive, of space rocket launches.

Access To Drinking Water [255]

2010-04-25T14:00:00.001-04:00

In the areas identified, the percentage of the population using improved drinking water sources is over 80%. Access is defined as within 15 minutes walking distance.

Satellite Radio Broadcasting Footprints [252]

2010-04-18T13:54:00.002-04:00

Footprints of radio direct broadcasting satellites (World Space Channels on XM, AmeriStar, AfriStar, AsiaStar).

Birth Rates 1995 - 2000 [251]

2010-04-12T19:48:00.002-04:00

The fertility rate of each country in the 1995 to 2000 period is designated by a visually scaled number indicating the average births per woman during their life span. The higher the birth rate, the higher and visually larger the number.

Freedom of the Press [250-2]

2010-04-04T13:15:00.000-04:00

Freedom of the press across the globe is ranked in 4 tiers of brightness: Most Free, Free, Partly Free and Not Free, with the nations where press is afforded the most freedom of reportage shining brightest, and Not Free countries entirely blacked out. Number indicate the amounts of impediments - the lower the number the better.

Cold War World [239]

2010-03-28T13:13:00.001-04:00

At the height of the Cold War, the world’s major military powers could easily be split into two camps: the Communist Bloc designated with red and the Free World designated with blue.

Human Rights - Human Lights [230]

2010-03-21T13:03:00.002-04:00

Every dot on this globe represents many thousands of people.
Just as humans - human rights are supposed to be universal as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, in some countries they are seen as relative at best or only partially valid within the context of their cultures. (Bangcok Declaration)

Terrorism [225-3]

2010-03-14T12:41:00.001-04:00

Darkened areas indicate presence of terrorist groups. Underlined groups are active in more than one country, underscoring their multinational and transnational character and ambition.

Population Bubble [43]

2010-03-06T13:44:00.001-05:00

The question will not be what, but how to feed a population that will exceed 10 billion. Since 1985, due to agricultural engineering advances, the earth has yielded more food than we can possibly consume - yet geopolitical structures continue to leave millions of people dying of starvation.

Car Producing Countries [214]

2010-03-06T10:07:00.002-05:00

Borders of all car-producing countries are highlighted even if no more than 30 (Mozambique) or 50 (Ethiopia) cars are made. Each dot represents a yearly production volume of 100.000 vehicles.

CO2 Spiral [30]

2010-03-01T19:27:00.001-05:00

Between 1950 and 1986, annual carbon dioxide emissions have tripled. The principal source of these emissions is fossil fuel combustion, but natural gas flaring and cement production also contributes to the rising level. Carbon dioxide is the major cause of the Greenhouse Effect.

Ozone Hole [29-3]

2010-02-21T15:09:00.000-05:00

TV Ownership [1]

2010-02-14T13:06:00.001-05:00

Multiply the number of daily TV deaths by the number of people owning TV sets and subtract that number from the population. Most nations would disappear on a daily basis.

Refugee Currents [19]

2010-02-06T14:59:00.001-05:00

In 1990, UNHCR, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, registered 20 million refugees, a number that increased to 27 million in 1995. While the overall number of refugees has decreased subsequently, the number of internally displaced people has radically increased. The widths of the arrows indicate the relative amounts of refugees (1970-1980).

Refugee (Republic) Network [154]

2010-01-31T14:56:00.000-05:00

Refugees account for 1% of the world population. Most are parked in UN camps without awareness or knowledge of each other’s existence. Connecting these refugee camps would result in this refugee net. A Refugee Republic could be a trans-global, experimental, supra-territorial state for refugees to represent themselves worldwide. Implementing the idea of an open society and the ideals represented by the UN, it could become a model for other nations.

DNA Traces, Refugee Populations, and Migration Routes [232]

2010-01-24T14:47:00.000-05:00

People Power [78]

2010-01-16T12:56:00.002-05:00

The scale of regions reflects the size of population.

“Car” in 80 Languages [215]

2010-01-15T13:12:00.000-05:00

Although it’s a modern invention and a modern word, at least 80 languages have a word for “car”. The Native American tribes of Blackfoot and Hopi have a word for it, and even the car-less Zulu and Ethiopian nations give the four-wheeled wonder a name.

Rain Forest Leftovers [59-6]

2010-01-09T01:33:00.001-05:00

Rain Forest Depletion: green indicates where rain forests still exist - red where it has perished.

Earth in 80 Languages [66]

2010-01-02T01:05:00.001-05:00

The languages are not identified other than by their position (where there are most commonly spoken). The size of the words is proportional to the amount of speakers.

Population Distribution [63]

2009-12-26T01:19:00.000-05:00

The world's 6 billion+ people are by no means spread out equally over the globe's territories — yet continental lines are easily identifiable since people seem to prefer coastal regions for settlements. More than half of the world's population lives on a relatively small territory spreading from northern India to China.

Land Mines [67]

2009-12-19T13:01:00.001-05:00

Red indicates countries where mines are in use; countries identified with the letter "M" are major producers of land mines.

Global Warming and Cooling [158]

2009-12-12T13:35:00.003-05:00

1965 -1995 data: temperature changes over a 30-year period. Areas that experienced a temperature increase of up to 0.5ºC are white. Areas in which the temperature increased 0.6º - 1.0ºC are pink, and temperature increases of 1,1º - 1.5ºC are red. All areas in which the temperature decreased are shown in blue, equally bracketed.

Extended Exclusive Maritime Economic Zones [107]

2009-12-05T12:37:00.002-05:00

According to the proposed, and heavily debated, International Maritime Law, nations may extend their exclusive economic jurisdiction 200 miles (370 km) into the seas. This law would roughly double the amount of the earth's surface available for exclusive economic development. Given that the rest of the oceans is subject to non-exclusive exploitation, only the seas beneath the ice caps would be effectively protected.

Fresh Water [3]

2009-11-29T19:51:00.000-05:00

97.4 % of the world's water is ocean water. 2 % is accounted for by ice caps and glaciers, and about 0.6 % is ground water, which constitutes the entire fresh water reserves on earth. Lake water represents only 7 millionths of the world's water; clouds only 1 millionth, and river water 10% of a millionth.

Ocean Floor [5]

2009-11-22T19:50:00.000-05:00

Eighty-five percent of the earth’s volcanic eruptions occur deep underwater along mid-ocean ridges.

Landlocked Nations [7]

2009-11-15T19:44:00.001-05:00

These countries have one territorial condition in common: no access to the world's oceans. This has a fundamental impact on economics, social behavior, and perspective on the world. Many of the republics of the former Soviet Union are landlocked. Their recent independence has radically increased the number of countries, that suffer this unique condition.

Life Expectancy [8]

2009-11-07T19:37:00.000-05:00

Life expectancy is a core indicator in the UN’s human development index. Japan has the highest life expectancy at 82 years. More than 30 of the countries with the lowest life expectancy are in Sub-Saharan Africa: here life expectancy averages 46 years.

Solar Exposure [321]

2009-11-01T18:57:00.002-05:00

The brighter the area the more sunshine it receive. Bright yellow areas are ideal for Solar Thermal Power (CST) generation.

Enclaves and Special Zones [245-2]

2009-10-25T08:23:00.000-04:00

Special Economic Zones are a type of proto-state. They function as adapters zones to globalism. Ideally they are stripped of cultural, local, national, linguistic, fiduciary, monetary, regulatory, ethnic, and social barriers, idiosyncrasies, identities, and flavors. These Nationettes are run by corporations, governments, authorities, or organizations. At the same time they are incubators for new arrangements, agreements and contracts of social, commercial, and industrial infrastructure in a networked world. A network of SEZs would represent a structurally new, highly fluid state morphology - the antithesis to the nation state concept of the early 19th century.

Foreign Aid [247]

2009-10-18T02:19:00.000-04:00

Thicker lines drawn from captial to capital indicate aidflow in excess of 66 million dollars per year. Thinner lines represent the 20 to 66 million bracket. Smaller amounts have generally been ignored unless they represent a significant portion of the donor country's budget.

Rainfall [233]

2009-10-11T10:10:00.003-04:00

As drawn according to rainfall, a picture of our “waterworld” reveals contours that are subtly influenced by continental masses, but not beholden geography in any way whatsoever. Darkest regions receive on average more than 2000 millimeters of rain annually while white regions receive less than 100 millimeters. Arabian peninsular shown in the center of the perspective.

The World Is All That Is the Case [220]

2009-10-04T02:05:00.001-04:00

The first sentence of Wittgenstein's Tractatus Logico Philosophicus.

Non-Competitive Elections [227]

2009-09-27T01:47:00.000-04:00

Highlighted areas indicate those countries that are democratic in name only. Dictatorships, Communist states, and military states either ban popular elections, disregard their results, or hand-pick the candidates. Floundering or corrupt representative democracies often do no better at generating competitive elections.

Overseas Chinese Network [271]

2009-09-20T09:34:00.001-04:00

Highlighted are countries that have a population of more than 500,000 ethnic Chinese. Outlined countries have more than 60,000 Chinese. The total number of overseas Chinese is estimated to be above 50 million.

Obesity [275]

2009-09-13T09:32:00.000-04:00

Countries where 3% or more of preschool age children are overweight.

“Bad Carma” [211]

2009-09-06T00:49:00.001-04:00

Traveling the roads of countries with a red cross is dangerous. The larger the cross, the higher the chance to continue any given trip in an ambulance and end up in a hospital or graveyard.

Watersheds [234]

2009-08-30T05:44:00.002-04:00

The river systems and drainage basins on every continent have created watersheds of the world’s fresh water. Fueled by precipitation, and directed by continental geography, watersheds constitute the major reservoirs of fresh water and the channels through which water flows to the ocean.

Prison Populations [235]

2009-08-23T00:34:00.002-04:00

The U.S. has recently usurped from Russia the dubious honor of highest rate of incarceration - almost 700. The number of inmates per 100,000 of the national population is represented for each country. 142 is the world average.

Red Tape - Impediments to Business [297]

2009-08-16T23:52:00.000-04:00

One of the biggest roadblocks to economic growth and poverty reduction is excessive business regulation. Among the 155 economies measured in 2005/2006, it is easiest to do business in New Zealand and most difficult in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
On the globe, the top 25 performers in terms of the ease of doing business have no “red tape.” Countries ranked 26 through 50 are marked by one line of red tape, those ranked 51 through 80 have two lines, and those ranked 81 through 145 have three. The bottom 10 countries are covered in red lines – with the exception of Laos, these countries are all in Africa. Countries not measured in the report are marked by a black line.

Deserts [314]

2009-08-09T23:45:00.000-04:00

The world's most arid regions occur along the tropics of cancer and capricorn.
Deserts are areas that receive precipitation of less than 250 mm p.a. The largest desert by this standard is Antarctica. Some deserts climates extend into the ocean. The waters adjacent to the Atacama in Chile are technically deserts.

Coffee Trade and Consumption [320]

2009-08-02T23:35:00.001-04:00

Energy Generation/ Consumption [322]

2009-07-25T22:11:00.000-04:00

87% of the world energy consumption is generated from fossil fuels (gas, coal, oil). The rest is equally divided between nuclear (6%) and hydro energy (7%).
Alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and ocean wave/tidal power account for barely 0.1 %. Only in Spain and Germany do these sources supply up to 1% of the total consumption.
Yellow-green: Nuclear - Black: Fossil - Blue: Hyrdo - Silver line: Alternative.
Breadth of bars indicate regional consumption volume.

Internet Free Zones [328]

2009-07-18T23:10:00.000-04:00

Less than one percent of the population has access to the Internet in these countries.

First Female Parliamentarian [279]

2009-07-11T03:12:00.000-04:00

The red line on this globe traces temporally, country by country, the first election of a female to parliament following the precedent set by Finland in 1907 through to 1946 when the first female parliamentarian in Japan was elected to office.

Mobile Teledensity 2006 [327]

2009-07-04T03:06:00.003-04:00

Mobile phone density is shown in four levels:
Countries where people have less than 10 phones for 100 people are not covered; 10 to 50 phones per inhabitants are lightly crisscrossed; 51 to 99% is the next step and countries with more mobile phones than citizens have the highest density.

Regional Energy Consumption and GDP [331]

2009-06-28T02:50:00.003-04:00

Regional energy consumption (red horizontal bars) is correlated with vertical bar graphs indicating GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ﬁgures. Arrows indicate the rate of increasing consumption. China is currently the world's largest coal consumer and is projected to be the largest energy consumer by 2023.

Car-free Countries [325]

2009-06-21T02:42:00.002-04:00

Many industrialized nations have about half as many cars as citizens. Green overlaid countries have the least number of cars per capita: in these countries up to 11,000 inhabitants would have to share a single motor vehicle.

Nuclear Energy Dependency [162-4]

2009-06-14T02:39:00.000-04:00

Violet parts of a given country represent the proportional dependency on atomic energy. The remainder (yellow) represents the reliance on conventional energy sources.

CO2 Spiral [30]

2009-06-07T19:47:00.003-04:00

Between 1950 and 1986, annual carbon dioxide emissions have tripled. The principal source of
these emissions is fossil fuel combustion, but natural gas ﬂaring and cement production also contributes to the rising level. Carbon dioxide is the major cause of the Greenhouse Effect.

Oil and Coal Reserves [323]

2009-06-01T19:22:00.003-04:00

Black areas show loca tions of proven oil, coal, and gas reserves. The reserve amount is indicated as a red circle for oil and striped boxes for coal. Worldwide coal reserves amount to
three times oil reserves. Coal use is a major concern and factor in global warming scenarios.

Chemical and Energy Companies vs. Country [324]

2009-05-24T19:12:00.000-04:00

Some company’s yearly gross income is larger than the entire GNP of a given country. Fifty-one of the top 100 economies are corporations not countries. 90% of all oil production capacity is owned by states.

Jam 2000: 72x Around the World [217]

2009-05-17T19:07:00.000-04:00

If all the cars in the world were placed end to end they would circle the globe 72 times.

Global Warming - Greenhouse Contributors [293]

2009-05-10T01:35:00.000-04:00

Japanese Empire (Dai-tō-a Kyōeiken) [304]

2009-05-02T14:57:00.001-04:00

The concept of a Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere ( 大東亜共栄圏 Dai-tō-a Kyōeiken) was an Japanese attempt to create a Great East Asia free of Western Colonialism. The concept was also used to justify Japanese military conquests during the Great Asia War or Pacific War (roughly corresponding to WWII and preceding conflicts 1937 to 1945).

Fuel Sources, Consumption, and Prices [177]

2009-04-25T18:13:00.002-04:00

Segments originating at the South Pole (1971) represent changing proportions of fuel sources and usage up until 1996 (North Pole).

Literacy [330]

2009-04-19T17:55:00.000-04:00

Countries with a less than 90% literacy rate are proportionately blacked out. The blacked out area represents the illiterate portion of the population.

Starting a Business [299]

2009-04-12T18:06:00.000-04:00

The Cost and Capital Required to Start a Business.
In many countries the cost of procedures and the minimum capital required to start a business are so high that setting up a firm legally is all but impossible for most entrepreneurs. In Angola, for instance, the cost of starting a business is almost 450 percent of income per capita, and the minimum capital required is close to 500 percent.
On the globe, countries are removed from their actual geographic location and positioned on a grid. Along the black longitude line, countries are arranged according to the cost required to start a business; the cost, as a percentage of income per capita, increases from north to south. Along the red latitude line, countries are arranged according to the capital required to start a business; the capital, as a percentage of income per capita, increases from west to east. (For some very large countries, the exact position on the grid is indicated by a bright dot.) The farther north and west a country appears on the grid, the more affordable it is to start a business.

Night [41]

2009-04-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

The military objectives of the US Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program have created an aesthetic byproduct — a composite photo of the planet, taken during nighttime hours. More than 99% of these representations of actual light sources are indications of human activity on the planet. For example, this image includes more than a million man-made fires, most of them in the Third World, chiefly propagated for agricultural purposes. Population centers are easily identified; however, the amount of light represented here is not necessarily proportional to the population size. Imbalances arise due to unequal electrical consumption. Japanese consume 15 times as much electricity as Chinese per capita, and Americans consume 21/2 times more than Japanese do. This image also illustrates light pollution, a condition only astronomers have complained about so far.

One Taiwan Policy [266]

2009-03-30T21:57:00.003-04:00

Export Impediments [296]

2009-03-23T17:50:00.002-04:00

Every country requires official approval before exporters can ship their products abroad. However, requiring many approvals increases the risk of corruption and delays. While the world average is around 11 signatures required for export, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa require nearly double that number, and some require four times as many. In contrast, OECD countries require an average of only about three signatures. “Signatures required for export” is a sub-indicator of the IFC/World Bank’s “Doing Business” ranking (www.doingbusiness.org). On the globe, each check mark represents five signatures required (check marks are sized to fit the available space).

Carbon Emissions Trading [283]

2009-03-14T02:37:00.001-04:00

Indicated are countries that have signed and ratified the Kyoto Protocol, and are thus eligible for participation in carbon emissions trading. Countries emitting levels of CO2 over 100,000 Gg (gigagrams) are designated by lengths of black bars corresponding to their emission levels. Thick bars indicate twice the amount thin bars do.

3 Hour US Air Force Range [241]

2009-03-08T17:38:00.002-04:00

The vast majority of the earth's territory can be reached by American jets within 3 hours due to a global network of air-bases and aircraft carriers.

South - North and South - South Investment Flows [294]

2009-03-01T13:54:00.006-05:00

Cross-border trade is a key element in private sector development. Trade between emerging market countries, also called South-South trade, more than tripled between 1995 and 2003, rising from $15 billion to $46 billion. Trade from the South to the North also grew substantially, reaching $7 billion in 2003 (World Bank estimates).