When did the "Big Five" mass extinctions happen, and what were their causes?

How many species do we share our planet with? How many of these species have we found and identified?

10,000 to 50,000 years ago, hundreds of the largest mammals went extinct. It's likely that humans were the key driver of this.

Intense whaling drove many of the world’s whale species close to extinction. But a dramatic decline in whale hunting since then has given them hopes of recovery.

How have rhino populations changed over time? What species are at risk of extinction today?

What do people die from? How do health outcomes and systems vary across the world? Explore data for all countries in our data explorer.

The World Bank has updated the methods it uses to measure incomes and poverty around the world. What does this mean for our understanding of global poverty?

The risk of death from influenza has declined over time, but globally, hundreds of thousands of people still die from the disease each year.

We’ve just published a major redesign of our topic pages. Explore this redesign with our new work on poverty.

Explore data on poverty across the world, and how this is changing over time.

Putting a price on carbon helps us account for the real costs of fossil fuels in the market. Which countries have a carbon tax or trading system?

The Living Planet Index is one of the most common measures used in biodiversity monitoring. But what is it, and where does this data come from?

The Living Planet Index shows an average decline of 69% across studied animal populations globally. But how does this vary by region?

The Living Planet Index is the biodiversity metric that always claims the headlines. It’s often misinterpreted. How should we understand it?

Many countries ship plastic waste overseas. How much of the world’s waste is traded, and how big is its role in the pollution of our oceans?

Hunting and habitat loss drove many large mammals in Europe close to extinction. New data shows us that many of the continent’s mammal populations are flourishing again.

Many more people have democratic rights than in the past. Some of this progress has recently been reversed.

Explore the environmental impacts of hundreds of specific food products.

Explore historical and recent emissions of air pollutants across the world.

It is wrong to think these three statements contradict each other. We need to see that they are all true to see that a better world is possible.

How democratic have countries been across the world? And how big are the differences between them?