ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Hans Rosling - Global health expert; data visionary
In Hans Rosling’s hands, data sings. Global trends in health and economics come to vivid life. And the big picture of global development—with some surprisingly good news—snaps into sharp focus.

Why you should listen

Even the most worldly and well-traveled among us have had their perspectives shifted by Hans Rosling. A professor of global health at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, his work focused on dispelling common myths about the so-called developing world, which (as he pointed out) is no longer worlds away from the West. In fact, most of the Third World is on the same trajectory toward health and prosperity, and many countries are moving twice as fast as the west did.

What set Rosling apart wasn't just his apt observations of broad social and economic trends, but the stunning way he presented them. Guaranteed: You've never seen data presented like this. A presentation that tracks global health and poverty trends should be, in a word: boring. But in Rosling's hands, data sings. Trends come to life. And the big picture — usually hazy at best — snaps into sharp focus.

Rosling's presentations were grounded in solid statistics (often drawn from United Nations and World Bank data), illustrated by the visualization software he developed. The animations transform development statistics into moving bubbles and flowing curves that make global trends clear, intuitive and even playful. During his legendary presentations, Rosling took this one step farther, narrating the animations with a sportscaster's flair.

Rosling developed the breakthrough software behind his visualizations through his nonprofit Gapminder, founded with his son and daughter-in-law. The free software — which can be loaded with any data — was purchased by Google in March 2007. (Rosling met the Google founders at TED.)

Rosling began his wide-ranging career as a physician, spending many years in rural Africa tracking a rare paralytic disease (which he named konzo) and discovering its cause: hunger and badly processed cassava. He co-founded Médecins sans Frontièrs (Doctors without Borders) Sweden, wrote a textbook on global health, and as a professor at the Karolinska Institut in Stockholm initiated key international research collaborations. He's also personally argued with many heads of state, including Fidel Castro.

Hans Rosling passed away in February 2017. He is greatly missed.


More profile about the speaker
Hans Rosling | Speaker | TED.com
TEDWomen 2010

Hans Rosling: The magic washing machine

Hans Rosling eta garbitzaile magikoa

Filmed:
2,973,428 views

Zein zen Industri-Iraultzaren asmakizun nagusiena? Hans Rosling-ek garbitzaile elektrikoa proposatzen du. Gapminder-en grafiko berriekin, Rosling-ek erakusten digu azaleratutako magia, noiz hazkunde ekonomikoa eta elektrizitatea garbiketa-egun aspertu bat irakurketarako adimen-egun bihurtzen diren.
- Global health expert; data visionary
In Hans Rosling’s hands, data sings. Global trends in health and economics come to vivid life. And the big picture of global development—with some surprisingly good news—snaps into sharp focus. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
I was only four years old
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Nik 4 urte besterik ez nituen
00:17
when I saw my mother load a washing machine
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nire ama arropekin garbitzaile bat betetzen ikusi nuenean
00:20
for the very first time in her life.
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lehenengo aldiz.
00:23
That was a great day for my mother.
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Nire amarentzako garrantzi handiko egun bat zen.
00:25
My mother and father had been saving money for years
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Nire gurasoak urte askotan zehar egon ziren aurrezten
00:28
to be able to buy that machine,
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garbitzaile hori erosteko.
00:30
and the first day it was going to be used,
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Eta estreinaldian,
00:32
even Grandma was invited
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nire amona ere gonbidatu zuten
00:34
to see the machine.
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garbitzailea ikustera.
00:36
And Grandma was even more excited.
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Eta nire amona gero eta hunkiberagoa zen.
00:39
Throughout her life
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Bere bizitza osoaren zehar
00:41
she had been heating water with firewood,
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beti ura berotu behar zuen egurrez,
00:43
and she had hand washed laundry
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eta arropa garbitu eskuz
00:45
for seven children.
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zazpi seme-alabentzat.
00:47
And now she was going to watch
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Eta orain zuzenean ikusiko zuen
00:50
electricity do that work.
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elektrizitateak horrelako lana egiten.
00:53
My mother carefully opened the door,
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Nire amak atea arretaz zabaldu zuen,
00:57
and she loaded the laundry
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arropa sartu
00:59
into the machine,
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garbitzailean,
01:01
like this.
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horrela.
01:03
And then, when she closed the door,
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Eta, orduan, atea itxi zuenean,
01:05
Grandma said, "No, no, no, no.
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Nire amonak esan zuen: "Ez, ez, ez, ez, ...
01:07
Let me, let me push the button."
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... utzi niri, utzi botoia sakatzen."
01:11
And Grandma pushed the button,
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Eta berak botoia sakatu zuen.
01:13
and she said, "Oh, fantastic!
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eta zion: "Oh, zoragarria da ...
01:16
I want to see this! Give me a chair!
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... Hau ikusi nahi dut. Emaidazu aulkia ...
01:18
Give me a chair! I want to see it,"
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... Emaidazu aulkia. Ikusi nahi dut."
01:20
and she sat down in front of the machine,
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Eta garbitzailearen aurrean eseri zen,
01:23
and she watched the entire washing program.
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eta garbiketa-prozesu osoa ikusi zuen.
01:27
She was mesmerized.
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Harrituta zegoen.
01:29
To my grandmother,
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Nire amonarentzat,
01:32
the washing machine was a miracle.
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garbitzailea miraria zen.
01:35
Today, in Sweden and other rich countries,
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Gaur egun, Suedian, eta beste herri aberatsetan,
01:38
people are using
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pertsonek erabiltzen dituzte
01:40
so many different machines.
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oso makina desberdinak.
01:42
Look, the homes are full of machines.
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Aizue, etxeak aparagailuz beteta daude.
01:44
I can't even name them all.
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Horiek guztiak nola deitzen diren ere ez dakit.
01:46
And they also, when they want to travel,
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Eta gainera, bidaiatu nahi dutenean,
01:49
they use flying machines
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makina hegalari batzuk erabiltzen dituzte
01:52
that can take them to remote destinations.
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urruneko helbideetara iristeko.
01:54
And yet, in the world, there are so many people
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Nahiz eta jende asko munduan egon,
01:56
who still heat the water on fire,
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zeintzuek ura sutan berotu behar duten,
01:59
and they cook their food on fire.
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eta euren sutan janaria prestatu behar duten.
02:02
Sometimes they don't even have enough food,
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Batzuetan ez daukate janari nahikorik.
02:04
and they live below the poverty line.
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Txirotasunaren atariaren behetik bizi dira.
02:07
There are two billion fellow human beings
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Badaude 2.000 milioi pertsonak
02:10
who live on less than two dollars a day.
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zeintzuk egunero 2 dolarrekin baino gutxiagorekin bizi diren.
02:12
And the richest people over there --
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Eta hemengo aberatsak
02:14
there's one billion people --
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orokorrean, 1.000 milioi pertsonak,
02:16
and they live above what I call the "air line,"
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zeruaren atariaren gainetik bizi dira, horrela diot,
02:20
because they spend more than $80 a day
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egunero 80 dolar baino gehiago gastatzen dutelako
02:23
on their consumption.
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kontsumoan.
02:25
But this is just one, two, three billion people,
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Baina aipatutakoak 1.000, 2.000, 3.000 milioi dira,
02:28
and obviously there are seven billion people in the world,
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eta jakina, munduan 7.000 milioi pertsonak daude,
02:31
so there must be one, two, three, four billion people more
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orduan 1.000, 2.000, 3.000, 4.000 milioi gehiago egongo dira,
02:34
who live in between the poverty and the air line.
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zeintzuk zeruaren eta txirotasunaren atarien artean bizi diren.
02:37
They have electricity,
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Haiek elektrizitatea dute,
02:40
but the question is, how many have washing machines?
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baina galdera da, zenbat dute garbitzailea?
02:43
I've done the scrutiny of market data,
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Merkatuaren datuak aztertu ditut,
02:46
and I've found that, indeed,
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eta aurkitu dut, benetan,
02:48
the washing machine has penetrated below the air line,
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garbitzailea zeruaren ataritik jaitsi egin dela,
02:51
and today there's an additional one billion people out there
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eta gaur egun badaude 1.000 milioi pertsona gehiagok
02:54
who live above the "wash line."
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zeintzuk garbiketaren atariren gainetik bizi diren.
02:57
(Laughter)
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(Algarak)
02:59
And they consume more than $40 per day.
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Eta haiek egunero 40 dolar baino gehiago kontsumitzen dituzte.
03:03
So two billion have access to washing machines.
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Hots, 2.000 milioi pertsona horiek garbitzaileetara sarbidea daukate.
03:06
And the remaining five billion,
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Eta gainerako 5.000 milioi horiek.
03:08
how do they wash?
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nola garbitzen dute arropa?
03:10
Or, to be more precise,
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Edo, zehatzagoa izateko,
03:12
how do most of the women in the world wash?
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nola garbitzen dute arropa munduaren emakume gehienek?
03:15
Because it remains hard work for women to wash.
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Oso lan gogorra delako emakumeentzat.
03:19
They wash like this: by hand.
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Haiek horrela, eskuz, garbitzen dute.
03:22
It's a hard, time-consuming labor,
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Oso lan gogorra eta neketsua da,
03:26
which they have to do for hours every week.
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eta astero ordu dexente igaro behar dituzte.
03:29
And sometimes they also have to bring water from far away
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Eta, batzuetan, ura urrutik ekarri behar dute
03:32
to do the laundry at home,
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etxean garbitzeko.
03:34
or they have to bring the laundry away to a stream far off.
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Edo arropa urrun eraman behar dute, ur-korrenteraino.
03:38
And they want the washing machine.
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Haiek garbitzailea nahi dute.
03:41
They don't want to spend such a large part of their life
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Ez dute euren bizitzen hainbeste denbora galdu nahi
03:44
doing this hard work
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lan gogor hori egiten
03:46
with so relatively low productivity.
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emankor gutxiko lana.
03:48
And there's nothing different in their wish
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Eta euren nahia ez da batere desberdina
03:50
than it was for my grandma.
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nire amonak zeukanetik.
03:52
Look here, two generations ago in Sweden --
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Begira ezazue hemen, orain dela bi belaunaldi Suedian
03:55
picking water from the stream,
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ibaitik ura hartzen zuten,
03:57
heating with firewood and washing like that.
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egurrez berotzen eta eskuz garbitzen.
04:00
They want the washing machine in exactly the same way.
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Aldi berean, haiek garbitzailea nahi dute.
04:03
But when I lecture to environmentally-concerned students,
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Baina ikasle ekologisteei proposatzen diedanean,
04:06
they tell me, "No, everybody in the world cannot have cars and washing machines."
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esaten didate: "Ez, mundu osoak ezin du kotxerik ezta garbitzailerik izan"
04:11
How can we tell this woman
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Nola esango ote diegu emakume horiei
04:13
that she ain't going to have a washing machine?
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inoiz ez dutela garbitzailerik izango?
04:15
And then I ask my students,
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Orduan nire ikasleei galdetzen diet ...
04:17
I've asked them -- over the last two years I've asked,
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Azkenengo 2 urtetan galdera bera egin diet:
04:19
"How many of you doesn't use a car?"
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"Zenbat ez duzue kotxerik erabiltzen?"
04:21
And some of them proudly raise their hand
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Eta batzuek harro eskuak altxatzen dituzte
04:23
and say, "I don't use a car."
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eta diote: "Nik ez dut kotxerik erabiltzen"
04:25
And then I put the really tough question:
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Eta gero galdera zaila egiten diet:
04:27
"How many of you
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"Zenbat
04:29
hand-wash your jeans and your bed sheets?"
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garbitzen duzue eskuz prakak eta izarak?"
04:31
And no one raised their hand.
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Ez du inork eskua altxatzen.
04:34
Even the hardcore in the green movement
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Mugimendu ekologistaren amorratuenek ere
04:37
use washing machines.
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garbitzaileak erabiltzen dituzte.
04:39
(Laughter)
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(Algarak)
04:43
So how come [this is] something that everyone uses
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Beraz, zergatik denok erabiltzen ditugu garbitzaileak
04:45
and they think others will not stop it? What is special with this?
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eta jarraituko dugu egiten? Ba al dago zerbait berezirik?
04:48
I had to do an analysis about the energy used in the world.
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Munduan kontsumitzen den energiari buruz analisia egin behar dut.
04:51
Here we are.
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Bagoaz.
04:53
Look here, you see the seven billion people up there:
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Hemen 7.000 milioi pertsonak ikusten dira:
04:55
the air people, the wash people,
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airearen pertsonak, garbiketarenak,
04:57
the bulb people and the fire people.
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bonbilarenak, suarenak.
05:00
One unit like this
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Hauetako unitate bakoitza
05:02
is an energy unit of fossil fuel --
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fosil-erregairen zati bat da:
05:05
oil, coal or gas.
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petrolioa, ikatza edo gasa.
05:07
That's what most of electricity and the energy in the world is.
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Hau da munduko energia eta elektrizitatea.
05:11
And it's 12 units used in the entire world,
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Mundu osoan 12 zati horiek erabiltzen dira,
05:14
and the richest one billion, they use six of them.
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eta mila milioi aberatsenek horietako 6 erabiltzen dituzte.
05:17
Half of the energy is used by one seventh of the world's population.
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Energiaren erdia mundu polulazioaren zazpirenak erabiltzen du.
05:20
And these ones who have washing machines,
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Eta hauek, garbitzaileak eskuratzen dituztenek,
05:22
but not a house full of other machines,
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baina ez aparagailuz beteriko etxea,
05:24
they use two.
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bi erabiltzen dituzte.
05:26
This group uses three, one each.
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Talde honek hiru erabiltzen ditu, bakoitzak bana.
05:28
And they also have electricity.
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Eta haiek ere elektrizitatea daukate.
05:30
And over there they don't even use one each.
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Eta hemendik bakoitzak bana ere ez du erabiltzen.
05:33
That makes 12 of them.
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Hau guztiak dira 12 zatiak
05:35
But the main concern
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Baina ikasle ekologisten
05:37
for the environmentally-interested students -- and they are right --
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kezka nagusiena, eta arrazoia dute,
05:40
is about the future.
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geroa da.
05:42
What are the trends? If we just prolong the trends,
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Zeintzuk dira joerak? Joerak luzatzen baditugu,
05:45
without any real advanced analysis, to 2050,
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analisi aurreraturik egin gabe 2050. urte arte,
05:48
there are two things that can increase the energy use.
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badaude energiaren erabilera handitu dezaketen bi gauzak.
05:51
First, population growth.
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Lehenengo eta behin, populazioaren hazkundea.
05:53
Second, economic growth.
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Bigarrena, hazkunde ekonomikoa.
05:55
Population growth will mainly occur among the poorest people here
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Hazkunde demografikoa hemengo txiroen artean gertatuko da,
05:58
because they have high child mortality
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umeen heriotza-tasa altua daukatelako
06:00
and they have many children per woman.
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eta emakume bakoitzeko seme-alaba asko dauzkatelako.
06:02
And [with] that you will get two extra,
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Eta horrela bi gehiago izango dugu.
06:04
but that won't change the energy use very much.
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baina horrek ez du hein handi batean energiaren erabilera.
06:06
What will happen is economic growth.
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Baina hazkunde ekonomikoak sortuko du (energiaren erabilera handitzeak).
06:09
The best of here in the emerging economies --
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Handiena hemen, garatu bidean dauden ekonomietan.
06:11
I call them the New East --
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Nik Ekialde Berria deitzen diet.
06:13
they will jump the air line.
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Zeruaren atarira salto egingo dute.
06:15
"Wopp!" they will say.
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"Wop!", diote.
06:17
And they will start to use as much as the Old West are doing already.
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Eta Mendebalde Zaharrak izandako hainbeste energia erabiliko dute.
06:20
And these people, they want the washing machine.
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Eta pertsona horiek garbitzaileak nahi dituzte.
06:23
I told you. They'll go there.
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Benetan esaten dizuet: Haiek hara joango dira.
06:25
And they will double their energy use.
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Eta erabilitako energia-kantitatea bikoiztuko da.
06:27
And we hope that the poor people will get into the electric light.
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Espero dugu txiroenak era argi elektrikoa hasiko direla erabiltzen,
06:30
And they'll get a two-child family without a stop in population growth.
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eta bi seme-alabetako familiak izatea hazkunde demografikoa gelditu gabe.
06:32
But the total energy consumption
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Baina energiaren kontsumo orokorra
06:34
will increase to 22 units.
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22 unitateetan handituko da.
06:36
And these 22 units --
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Eta 22 unitate horietatik
06:39
still the richest people use most of it.
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aberatsenek oraindik gehiengoa erabiliko dute.
06:43
So what needs to be done?
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Beraz, zer egin behar da?
06:45
Because the risk,
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zeren arriskua,
06:47
the high probability of climate change is real.
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aldaketa klimatikoaren aukera handia benetazkoa den.
06:50
It's real.
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Benetazkoa.
06:52
Of course they must be more energy-efficient.
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Jakina, energia aldetik eraginkorragoak izan behar izango dira.
06:55
They must change behavior in some way.
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Euren portaera, nola edo hala, aldatu behar dute.
06:57
They must also start to produce green energy,
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Energia berdea ere hasi behar izango dira ekoizten,
06:59
much more green energy.
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askoz energia berdea ere.
07:01
But until they have the same energy consumption per person,
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Baina pertsona bakoitzeko energia-kontsumo berbera eskuratu arte,
07:04
they shouldn't give advice to others --
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besteei ez liekete ezer esan behar izango
07:06
what to do and what not to do.
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zer egin eta ez.
07:08
(Applause)
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(Txaloak)
07:10
Here we can get more green energy all over.
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Hemen leku guztietan energia berde eskura dezakegu.
07:14
This is what we hope may happen.
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Benetan espero dugu.
07:16
It's a real challenge in the future.
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Gerorako benetazko erronka da.
07:19
But I can assure you that this woman in the favela in Rio,
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Baina ziurta diezazueket Rio-ko favela baten emakumea
07:22
she wants a washing machine.
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garbitzailea nahi duela.
07:24
She's very happy about her minister of energy
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Bera oso pozik dago bere Energia ministrarekin
07:27
that provided electricity to everyone --
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zeinek guztioi energia ematen zien.
07:29
so happy that she even voted for her.
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pozik dago berari botoa emateagatik.
07:32
And she became Dilma Rousseff,
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Bera da Dilma Rousseff,
07:34
the president-elect
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izendatu berriko presidentea
07:36
of one of the biggest democracies in the world --
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munduko demokrazia handinetariko batekoa.
07:38
moving from minister of energy to president.
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Energia ministroa izatetik presidente izatera.
07:41
If you have democracy,
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Demokrazia badago,
07:43
people will vote for washing machines.
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pertsonek garbitzaileen alde botoa emango dute.
07:45
They love them.
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Benetan maite dituzte.
07:49
And what's the magic with them?
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Eta zein da garbitzaileen magia?
07:51
My mother explained the magic with this machine
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Nire amak magia hori azaldu zidan
07:54
the very, very first day.
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lehenengo egunean.
07:56
She said, "Now Hans,
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Esan zidan: "Aizu, Hans,
07:58
we have loaded the laundry.
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sar dezagun arropa,
08:00
The machine will make the work.
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eta garbitzaileak lana egingo du.
08:02
And now we can go to the library."
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Eta gu liburutegira joan gaitezke".
08:04
Because this is the magic:
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Hau da magia hau:
08:06
you load the laundry,
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batek arropa sartu,
08:08
and what do you get out of the machine?
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eta, zer ateratzen da garbitzailetik?
08:10
You get books out of the machines,
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Garbitzailetik liburuak ateratzen dira,
08:13
children's books.
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umeentzako liburuak.
08:15
And mother got time to read for me.
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Eta nire ama niri ipuinak irakurtzeko gai zen.
08:17
She loved this. I got the "ABC's" --
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Benetan maite zuen. "ABC" nuen.
08:19
this is where I started my career as a professor,
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Horrela hasi nintzen nire irakasle-karrera,
08:22
when my mother had time to read for me.
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nire ama ipuinak niri irakurtzeko gai zenean,
08:24
And she also got books for herself.
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Eta berarentzako liburuak ere lortu zituen.
08:26
She managed to study English
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Ingelera ikasteko moldatu egin zuen
08:28
and learn that as a foreign language.
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eta atzerriko hizkuntz bat ikasi zuen.
08:30
And she read so many novels,
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Eta eleberri asko irakurri zituen,
08:32
so many different novels here.
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guztiz eleberri desberdinak.
08:35
And we really, we really loved this machine.
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Guk benetan maite genuen makina hori.
08:39
And what we said, my mother and me,
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Eta nire amak eta biok esan genuena zen:
08:42
"Thank you industrialization.
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"Mila esker, industrializazioa.
08:45
Thank you steel mill.
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Mila esker, altzairu-fabrikak.
08:47
Thank you power station.
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Mila esker, energia-estazioak.
08:49
And thank you chemical processing industry
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Eta mila esker, industria kimikoa
08:52
that gave us time to read books."
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liburuak irakurtzeko denbora emateagatik".
08:54
Thank you very much.
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Mila esker
08:56
(Applause)
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(Txaloak)
Translated by Alvaro Moya
Reviewed by Tania Filgueira

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Hans Rosling - Global health expert; data visionary
In Hans Rosling’s hands, data sings. Global trends in health and economics come to vivid life. And the big picture of global development—with some surprisingly good news—snaps into sharp focus.

Why you should listen

Even the most worldly and well-traveled among us have had their perspectives shifted by Hans Rosling. A professor of global health at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, his work focused on dispelling common myths about the so-called developing world, which (as he pointed out) is no longer worlds away from the West. In fact, most of the Third World is on the same trajectory toward health and prosperity, and many countries are moving twice as fast as the west did.

What set Rosling apart wasn't just his apt observations of broad social and economic trends, but the stunning way he presented them. Guaranteed: You've never seen data presented like this. A presentation that tracks global health and poverty trends should be, in a word: boring. But in Rosling's hands, data sings. Trends come to life. And the big picture — usually hazy at best — snaps into sharp focus.

Rosling's presentations were grounded in solid statistics (often drawn from United Nations and World Bank data), illustrated by the visualization software he developed. The animations transform development statistics into moving bubbles and flowing curves that make global trends clear, intuitive and even playful. During his legendary presentations, Rosling took this one step farther, narrating the animations with a sportscaster's flair.

Rosling developed the breakthrough software behind his visualizations through his nonprofit Gapminder, founded with his son and daughter-in-law. The free software — which can be loaded with any data — was purchased by Google in March 2007. (Rosling met the Google founders at TED.)

Rosling began his wide-ranging career as a physician, spending many years in rural Africa tracking a rare paralytic disease (which he named konzo) and discovering its cause: hunger and badly processed cassava. He co-founded Médecins sans Frontièrs (Doctors without Borders) Sweden, wrote a textbook on global health, and as a professor at the Karolinska Institut in Stockholm initiated key international research collaborations. He's also personally argued with many heads of state, including Fidel Castro.

Hans Rosling passed away in February 2017. He is greatly missed.


More profile about the speaker
Hans Rosling | Speaker | TED.com