week 1

The map above displays the percentage of adults that are obese in the United States. It is located at http://wechangelivesdaily.com/referral-income/referrals/2011-obesity-map. The obesity map is interesting because it is hard to determine whether or not their is a correlation between the location of the different states and the occurrence of obesity. For example, the southern states have the highest percentage of obese adults. However, the northern states also have a high percentage of obese adults, only slightly less then the southern states. It seems as though there is no correlation between location and obesity rates. I also think it is distressing to learn that only one state has a moderately low level of obese adults.



This map is located at  http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/?p=1766. The map above displays the global distribution of public debt and the rates of economic activity. I was surprised to learn that the United States did not have the highest amount of debt. I think it is interesting that not all of the countries in Europe have similar rates of public debt considering that the majority of the countries in Europe are well established and interconnected. I also assumed developing countries like Mexico and countries in South America and Africa would have high rates of public debt because I assumed they would rely on larger countries for funding. Another interesting feature of this map is the skewed size of each country. The United States clearly has one of the highest public debts which is reflected to the disproportionate size of the country. I think it is helpful in revealing the disproportions throughout the world.



The map is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_unemployment_rate . This map describes the global rate of unemployment. I do not think there is anything significantly interesting about this map other then the unemployment rates in South Africa are sporadically dispersed. I would expect unemployment rates in North Africa to be more unevenly distributed then South Africa. I also think that it is strange that Africa is the only place where they do not have data regarding unemployment rates. Although we are currently struggling with unemployment in California it is interesting to see how as a whole country, we are doing much better then other nations and actually appear to have lower rates of unemployment.