The Problem Atlas
25 problems worth understanding
Each entry: the honest scale, root causes, who suffers, a misconception corrected, evidence-rated interventions, and concrete ways to help.
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πβ Improving
Extreme Poverty
Roughly 800 million people live on less than $3.00 a day
πΎ Poverty
π¦β Improving
Malaria
Roughly 600,000 deaths a year β most of them children under five
π©Ί Health
πΆβ Improving
Child Mortality
Roughly 5 million children under five die each year β most from preventable causes
π©Ί Health
πβ Mixed
Hunger & Malnutrition
Roughly 700 million people are undernourished; undernutrition underlies nearly half of child deaths
πΎ Poverty
π§β Improving
Unsafe Water & Sanitation
Roughly 2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water
π©Ί Health
πβ Mixed
Education Gaps
Roughly 250 million children and youth are out of school; most in-school children in poor countries can't read a simple story by age 10
π« Society
πβ Worsening
Loneliness & Mental Health
Roughly 1 in 4 adults worldwide report feeling very or fairly lonely; depression and anxiety are leading causes of disability
π« Society
π β Mixed
Homelessness
Rough global estimates: ~150 million people homeless; over 1.5 billion in inadequate housing
π« Society
ποΈβ Worsening
Refugees & Displacement
Roughly 120 million people are forcibly displaced β the most ever recorded
π« Society
π‘οΈβ Mixed
Climate Change
The planet is roughly 1.3Β°C warmer than pre-industrial times; emissions must fall steeply this decade
π± Environment
π¨β Mixed
Air Pollution
Roughly 7β8 million premature deaths a year β more than malaria, HIV and traffic accidents combined
π± Environment
βοΈβ Improving
Gender Inequality
Roughly 12 million girls are married as children each year; over 230 million girls and women alive today were cut
π« Society
πβ Worsening
Factory Farming
Roughly 80+ billion land animals are slaughtered yearly β most raised in intensive confinement
πΎ Animals
ποΈβ Improving
Preventable Blindness
Roughly 1 billion people have vision impairment that could be prevented or corrected
π©Ί Health
π¦ β Mixed
Pandemic Preparedness
COVID-19 caused roughly 20β28 million excess deaths; the next pandemic is a matter of when
π©Ί Health
π«β Mixed
Tuberculosis
Roughly 1.25 million deaths a year β the world's deadliest infectious disease
π©Ί Health
π§ͺβ Improving
Lead Poisoning
Roughly 1 in 3 children worldwide has blood lead levels high enough to harm their development
π± Environment
π€°β Improving
Maternal Mortality
Roughly 260,000β290,000 women die each year from pregnancy and childbirth β almost all preventably
π©Ί Health
πβ Mixed
Road Traffic Deaths
Roughly 1.2 million deaths a year β the leading killer of people aged 5 to 29
π« Society
π¬β Improving
Tobacco
Roughly 8 million deaths a year β the world's leading preventable cause of death
π©Ί Health
ποΈβ Improving
HIV / AIDS
Roughly 630,000 deaths a year, and about 40 million people living with HIV
π©Ί Health
πͺ±β Improving
Neglected Tropical Diseases
Over 1 billion people are affected by diseases most people have never heard of
π©Ί Health
πΆβ Improving
Digital Exclusion
Roughly 2.6 billion people β a third of humanity β remain offline
π« Society
ποΈβ Mixed
Corruption
Bribery alone is estimated at roughly $1 trillion a year; corruption drains several percent of global GDP
π« Society
πβ Worsening
Ocean Health
Roughly 8β11 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean each year; over a third of fish stocks are overfished
π± Environment
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