I decided to look at CO2 emissions per person vs income. The growth for all countries was exponential with CO2 emissions increasing as income increased. This surprised me at first as most would think of countries such as India and China to have higher CO2 emissions, with the world’s largest populations and a rapid growth of energy production and consumption. However, countries with higher incomes, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, all showed much higher CO2 emissions per person. This data reminded me of Rosling’s ideas of the significance of preconceived notions of developing countries and how they give us a skewed view of our world.
Another combination I found interesting was cell phones vs income in India, China, and the United States from 1995 to 2018. The x axis displays the GDP per capita while the y axis displays the total number of cell phones. The graph shows that as all countries grew economically, they also grew in terms of technological advancement and communication, and vice versa.
What I found surprising was the fact that too many countries in the drop down menu had limited or no data at all. Countries such as Ethiopia, El Salvador, and Yemen were all excluded from the data. This could be because only small percentages of these countries and regions have access to the internet or a mobile phone. As Blumenstock mentions in his article, a vast majority of developing nations are excluded due to the fact that in order to provide data, individuals must have cell phones.