(as seen in Good)

In the past ten years, the human population of the earth has grown by a billion—to a current total of 7 billion (it was a mere 2.7 billion when I was born). For the first time in the history of our planet, more of us now live in cities than outside of urban areas. Cellphone subscriptions have multiplied almost ten-fold, while internet users worldwide have multiplied more than five times during the same period (now 1.96 billion have online access).

In the meantime, the worldwide temperature has risen, 60% more fauna species are considered endangered… and 15-times as many people were killed by natural disasters in 2010 than a decade ago. Don’t say you didn’t know…

Above: a handsome chart (if somewhat skewed to U.S. statistics) by Stephanie Fox, here (or click on the image above for an enlarged view).