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Before yesterdayMain stream

Resource use matters, but material footprints are a poor way to measure it

20 October 2025 at 00:00
Adding up the weight of very different materials doesn’t tell us about their scarcity, environmental, or socioeconomic impacts.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/material-footprint-limitations"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/920609d4-e819-4a82-d01a-821ca39f4a00/w=1024"/></a>

Foreign aid from the United States saved millions of lives each year

29 September 2025 at 00:00
For decades, these aid programs received bipartisan support and made a difference. Cutting them will cost lives.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/us-foreign-aid-saved-millions"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/6b1dbe69-36c2-4089-8865-00bfba0e7200/w=1024"/></a>

How Wolbachia bacteria could help us tackle some of the world’s most neglected tropical diseases

22 September 2025 at 00:00
A common bacterium can dramatically reduce the spread of dengue fever and other tropical diseases.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/wolbachia-neglected-tropical-diseases"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/b73cc19b-5461-4c8f-99dd-5ff063cbd900/w=1024"/></a>

Bans on highly toxic pesticides could be an effective way to save lives from suicide

1 September 2025 at 00:00
Pesticide poisoning is a common method of suicide in many low- to middle-income countries. Banning highly toxic pesticides and substituting them with less fatal ones can save lives.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/pesticide-bans-suicide-prevention"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/d8cbf8af-42ff-4bb4-7704-444383efb400/w=1024"/></a>

The world left its fight against tuberculosis unfinished — how can we complete the job?

If we get it right, the world could save more than 1.2 million lives every year.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/ending-tuberculosis-save-millions" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/8168303b-e636-4850-ffdc-90eeca931600/w=1350"/></a>

The end of tuberculosis that wasn’t

In the 1980s, many thought tuberculosis was on the path to elimination. In reality, more were dying from the disease than ever.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/the-end-of-tuberculosis-that-wasnt" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/b5aa8c82-2fc4-4e0a-cdf1-82d5aa6f9800/w=1350"/></a>

Two billion people don’t have safe drinking water: what does this really mean for them?

23 June 2025 at 04:00
For billions, it can mean hours spent collecting water. For almost a million, it means dying from disease.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/what-no-safe-water-means" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/59c8ad10-ac08-4179-3186-1b2bac060c00/w=1350"/></a>

Once a leading killer, tuberculosis is now rare in rich countries — here’s how it happened

As much as one quarter of deaths in Europe and the United States were once from tuberculosis.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/tuberculosis-history-decline" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/21b69f06-f8eb-4618-a3ed-401b8af6d300/w=1350"/></a>

Where in the world are babies at the lowest risk of dying?

12 May 2025 at 04:00
It’s difficult to compare countries because they don’t always measure infant mortality in the same way.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/where-are-babies-at-lowest-risk-of-dying" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/39d23685-afc7-46b8-2018-8813c041c100/w=1350"/></a>

Children in rich countries are much less likely to die than a few decades ago, but we rarely hear about this progress

5 May 2025 at 04:00
In most rich countries, child mortality has more than halved in the last thirty years; we know we can go further.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality-rich-countries-decline" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/0f13d2cd-7f47-4f84-22a3-b1014dd1e500/w=1350"/></a>

How much foreign aid is spent domestically rather than overseas?

In many countries, a significant share of aid is spent domestically on hosting refugees, offering student scholarships, and administrative costs.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/foreign-aid-domestic-overseas" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/78a7ce1c-2086-4716-c5dc-30f130bbee00/w=1350"/></a>

For many of us, it doesn’t cost much to improve someone’s life, and we can do much more of it

10 March 2025 at 10:00
Most countries spend less than 1% of their national income on foreign aid; even small increases could make a big difference.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/foreign-aid-donations-increase" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/486658e7-cc1e-4bed-f5a7-4c66b7ced500/w=1350"/></a>

“Cool” years are now hotter than the “warm” years of the past: tracking global temperatures through El Niño and La Niña

The world is warming despite natural fluctuations from the El Niño cycle.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/global-temperatures-el-nino-la-nina" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/40c0d7fb-f503-45b1-8eda-8cc001f4dd00/w=1350"/></a>

In many countries, people breathe the cleanest air in centuries. What can the rest of the world learn from this?

17 February 2025 at 04:00
Air pollution tends to get worse before it gets better, but how can we accelerate this transition?<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/cleanest-air-lessons" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/2634177d-6b60-4df5-3152-c38263399f00/w=1350"/></a>

If we can make maternal deaths as rare as in the healthiest countries, we can save 275,000 mothers each year

3 February 2025 at 04:00
Maternal mortality was much more common in the past. It is much lower today, but global inequalities are still large.<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/maternal-deaths-save-mothers" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/1a2ccaa1-7f25-4250-6151-acd5affb0400/w=1350"/></a>

How much in subsidies do fossil fuels receive?

27 January 2025 at 04:00
Estimates range from less than $1 trillion to $7 trillion. Where do these numbers come from?<br><br><a href="https://ourworldindata.org/how-much-subsidies-fossil-fuels" target="_blank"><img src="https://ourworldindata.org/cdn-cgi/imagedelivery/qLq-8BTgXU8yG0N6HnOy8g/58092c37-e5b8-42af-8d79-60234c162400/w=1350"/></a>
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