Hans Rosling Uses Ikea Props to Explain World of 7 Billion People

According to United Nations demographers, the world’s population likely topped 7 billion on Monday, and we’ll now steam forward, hitting 9.3 billion by 2050. 7 billion is a newsworthy milestone, to be sure. But what does this number really mean? To put things in perspective, we’re featuring a recent TED Talk by Hans Rosling, a professor of global health who presents data in imaginative ways. His presentations can get wildly digital. (Just watch 200 Countries & 200 Years in 4 Minutes). But not so in this case. The props are simple goods bought at IKEA, and they do more than an adequate job explaining the past, present and future of global population growth.