Excess fertilizer use: which countries cause environmental damage by overapplying fertilizers?Nutrients are essential for crop growth. But when they're overapplied they become a pollutant.By Hannah Ritchie — September 07, 2021
To protect the world’s wildlife, we must improve crop yields — especially across AfricaHabitat loss is the biggest threat to the world's animals. Without improvements in crop yields, thousands of species could see much of their habitat lost to farmland.By Hannah Ritchie — September 02, 2021
Depression is complicated — this is how our understanding of the condition has evolved over timeOur understanding of depression has evolved over time, with wider screening for depression, new questionnaires, and better statistical tools.By Saloni Dattani — September 01, 2021
Smallholders produce one-third of the world’s food, less than half of what many headlines claimMost of the world's farmers are smallholders. They are also often the poorest. How much of the world's food do they produce?By Hannah Ritchie — August 06, 2021
How much of the world’s food production is dependent on pollinators?Many of the world's pollinator insects are in decline. What does this mean for global food production?By Hannah Ritchie — August 02, 2021
Child mortality: an everyday tragedy of enormous scale that we can make progress againstWe live in a world in which ten children die every minute.By Max Roser — July 21, 2021
Smoking: How large of a global problem is it? And how can we make progress against it?Every year, around eight million people die prematurely as a result of smoking. But there are things we can do to prevent this.By Max Roser — July 14, 2021
Three billion people cannot afford a healthy dietA healthy, nutritious diet is much more expensive than a calorie sufficient one. As a result, three billion people cannot afford a healthy diet.By Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado — July 12, 2021
Energy poverty and indoor air pollution: a problem as old as humanity that we can end within our lifetimeAbout three billion people in the world do not have access to modern energy sources for cooking. Millions die from indoor air pollution every year.By Max Roser — July 05, 2021
The world is making progress on clean water and sanitation, but is far behind its target to ensure universal access by 2030All countries pledged to provide safe water and sanitation for everyone by 2030. How far are we from reaching these targets?By Hannah Ritchie — July 01, 2021
Which countries have mandatory childhood vaccination policies?How do policies on childhood vaccinations vary across the world?By Tatjana Marks and Samantha Vanderslott — June 11, 2021
Emissions from food alone could use up all of our budget for 1.5°C or 2°C – but we have a range of opportunities to avoid thisIf we want to meet our global climate targets we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food. What options do we have?By Hannah Ritchie — June 10, 2021
Why do we need to know about progress if we are concerned about the world's largest problems?Why have we made it our mission to publish “research and data to make progress against the world’s largest problems”?By Max Roser — June 07, 2021
The price of batteries has declined by 97% in the last three decadesTo transition towards low-carbon energy systems, we need low-cost energy storage. Battery costs have been falling quickly.By Hannah Ritchie — June 04, 2021
The argument for a carbon priceWe are paying a price for fossil fuels, but that price is not paid by those who burn the fossil fuels — we need to change that.By Max Roser — June 01, 2021
How the Living Planet project helps us understand changes in the world’s wildlifeBeneath the popular index, the Living Planet database helps us understand where and what animals are deeply threatened, and what animals are thriving.By Hannah Ritchie — May 17, 2021
What is economic growth? And why is it so important?The goods and services that we all need are not just there; they need to be produced. Growth means that their quality and quantity increase.By Max Roser — May 13, 2021
The Our World in Data COVID-19 vaccination dataset has been published in the academic journal, Nature Human BehaviourOur free, open-access dataset tracking global COVID-19 vaccinations has been published in Nature Human Behaviour.By Hannah Ritchie — May 10, 2021
Where does the plastic in our oceans come from?Which countries and rivers emit the most plastic to the ocean? What does this mean for solutions to tackle plastic pollution?By Hannah Ritchie — May 01, 2021
Wild mammals have declined by 85% since the rise of humans, but there is a possible future where they flourishWild mammal biomass has declined by 85% since the rise of humans. But we can turn things around by reducing the amount of land we use for agriculture.By Hannah Ritchie — April 20, 2021
What are the carbon opportunity costs of our food?What are the carbon opportunity costs of our diet? How much carbon could we store by regrowing forests and wild habitats on existing farmland?By Hannah Ritchie — March 19, 2021