With the recent Salmonella scare in the US, I've been thinking about how scared people get about the different ways they can die. Information seems like the best way to get over some of those fears (and perhaps create some rational ones). People get so worried about eating a tomato, but then go eat a greasy burger. Luckily for us, the US government tracks death rates for all sorts of things. The table below are US death rates (not worldwide).
The percentage in the chart is percentage of total deaths in the US per year. Clearly the numbers will not add up to the total, as I've only included a few of the causes of death for people in the US.
Discuss
References:
1. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/Vol5no5/mead.htm
2. http://www.weather.gov/os/hazstats.shtml
3. http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/torn/monthlytornstats.html
4. http://www.cdc.gov/MMWR/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5337a2.htm#tab
5. http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/tables/frmdth.htm
6. http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/drown.htm
7. http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/
8. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/basic.htm#ddaids
9. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm
10. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol8no5/01-0290.htm
11. http://hazmat.dot.gov/riskmgmt/riskcompare.htm
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Deaths in America
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2 comments:
it seems only fair that more people should die of alcohol poisoning (generally a self-inflicted disease) than of salmonella (generally unintentional.)
although, alcohol poisoning deaths are usually had by people having much more fun the day before than salmonella, too.
scenario 1: woohoo! party! drink!
scenario 2: hmm...I am doing chores at the house, better make a turkey, lettuce, and tomato sandwich for lunch...
scenario 1 aftermath: 331 deaths
scenario 2 aftermath: 582 deaths
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