Before seemingly frozen in debt debacles and recessions, what we recognize today as Europe consisted of little more than ice, snow and emptiness.

Who would have thought that Thomas Edison’s successful light bulb would lead to increased worker fatigue, aid in the disruption and destruction of ecosystems and become a primary source of radiating energy waste? As the map above clearly shows, light pollution is most severe in urban areas–though its effects, damaging to nocturnal wildlife and the earth’s atmosphere, can be felt throughout the world.

While life expectancy in Africa has in fact increased within the past decade thanks to better HIV/AIDS treatment, the continent still has a long way to go. Currently, average life expectancy in Africa is nearly 54 years; in the United States, it’s almost 80.