Can't beat quality of life in Scandinavia, says world ranking (3 Viewers)

[HelterSkelter]

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jvZ5lm24hvzcs2JR4z4nEg4KtwRg

PARIS (AFP) — Nordic countries take the greatest care of their environment and their people, according to a ranking published on Thursday by the publication Reader's Digest.

Finland comes top of the 141-nation list, followed by Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and then Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Australia.

At the bottom of the list is Ethiopia, preceded by Niger, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso and Chad.

The United States comes in 23rd, China 84th and India 104th.

The ranking combines environmental factors, such as air and water quality, respect for biodiversity and greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as social factors, such as gross domestic product, access to education, unemployment rate and life expectancy.

The statistical basis is the UN's Human Development Index and the Environmental Sustainability Index drawn up by Yale and Columbia universities and the World Economic Forum.

European countries -- again, led by Scandinavia -- also top the Reader's Digest assessment of 72 cities for their quality of life. The criteria for this include public transport, parks, air quality, rubbish recycling and the price of electricity.

The winner is Stockholm, followed by Oslo, Munich and Paris.

Asia's mega-cities fare the worst. At the bottom is Beijing, preceded by Shanghai, Mumbai, Guangzhou and Bangkok.


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I wana work in Finland

 

Buy on AliExpress.com

[Boudz]

Where can I find the complete list?

 

[HelterSkelter]

No idea.I just found this article.This page has some other lists too.

http://www.internationalliving.com/issues/2007/2007_article.html

Most polluted cities on earth

1.Linfen, China (thick coal dust in the air)
2.Haina, Dominican Republic (lead contamination because of lead battery recycling)
3.Ranipet, India (leather tanning wastes contaminate groundwater)
4.Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan (radioactive mining waste)
5.La Oroya, Peru (toxic emissions of lead from the metal processing plant)
6.Dzerzinsk, Russia (site of former major chemical weapons manufacturing)
7.Norilsk, Russia (home to the world's largest heavy metals smelting complex)
8.Rudnaya Pristan, Russia (serious lead contamination)
9.Chernobyl, Ukraine (site of a nuclear meltdown 20 years ago)
10.Kabwe, Zambia (lead contamination)

No Pakistani city.How dissapointing:depressed

 

[JCK]

Nothing unexpected here

 

[HelterSkelter]

Is there anyone from Finland here?

 

[chester]

Top 5

1. Finland

2. Iceland

3. Norway

4. Sweden

5. Austria

Bottom 5

137. Chad

138. Burkina Faso

139. Sierra Leone

140. Niger

141. Ethiopia

Air Quality
Rates concentration of several pollutants in urban areas

1. Moldova

8. Finland

63. United States

126. Ethiopia

141. Guatemala

The World's Greenest, Most Livable Cities
Using different data, we analyzed 72 major international cities and ranked them in terms of being green and livable. The sources included The Millennium Cities Database for Sustainable Transport (2001) by Jeff Kenworthy and Felix Laube of Australia's Murdoch University, the World Bank's Development Economic Research Group Estimates, and our own reporting on local environmental laws, energy prices, garbage production and disposal, and parkland.

5 Best

1. Stockholm

2. Oslo

3. Munich

4. Paris

5. Frankfurt

5 Worst

68. Bangkok

69. Guangzhou

70. Mumbai

71. Shanghai

72. Beijing

How U.S. Cities Rate

15. New York

22. Washington, D.C.

23. Chicago

26. San Francisco

36. Atlanta

43. Denver

46. Houston

55. San Diego

57. Los Angeles

60. Phoenix

Water Quality
Rates pollutant levels as well as other factors that affect water purity

1. Norway

2. Finland

22. United States

127. Ethiopia

141. Morocco

Greenhouse Gases
Rates carbon emissions per capita and by GDP

1. Chad

18. Ethiopia

75. Finland

107. United States

141. Turkmenistan

Energy Efficiency
Rates conservation efforts and use of renewables such as hydropower

1. D.R. Congo

17. Ethiopia

66. Finland

106. United States

141. Trinidad & Tobago

Environmental Health
Rates childhood mortality, disease; deaths from intestinal infections

1. Austria

8. Finland

125. Ethiopia

16. United States

141. Turkmenistan

http://www.rd.com/content/greenest-locations-on-the-globe/3/

 

[Sadomin]

1. Stockholm

2. Oslo

3. Munich

4. Paris

5. Frankfurt

 

[Marko]

Where is Serbia...

 

[Seven]

I'd be very cautious to use the term "quality of life". Scandinavia and especially Finland have very high suicide numbers. Obviously not everyone thinks life in Scandinavia is that grand. I'd say being happy is pretty much what adds quality to your life.

In the end it's simply wrong to define a subjective opinion with objective parameters.

 

[Dinsdale]

You're right, it's very hard to select parameters which can define "quality of life".

 

[Seven]

I for one am much happier in a mediterranean climate, I could never settle in Finland.

 

[JCK]

I'd be very cautious to use the term "quality of life". Scandinavia and especially Finland have very high suicide numbers. Obviously not everyone thinks life in Scandinavia is that grand. I'd say being happy is pretty much what adds quality to your life.

In the end it's simply wrong to define a subjective opinion with objective parameters.

One way to look at the suicide rate is that in Scandinavian countries ALL suicides are reported as suicides but in other places in Europe it is not the case because we all know that the church does not approve of suicides.

Another factor comes in mind is the quality of life provided that makes some people's lives so simple that they have no challenges to live for.

 

[Seven]

One way to look at the suicide rate is that in Scandinavian countries ALL suicides are reported as suicides but in other places in Europe it is not the case because we all know that the church does not approve of suicides.

Another factor comes in mind is the quality of life provided that makes some people's lives so simple that they have no challenges to live for.

That might have been true in the Interbellum. I'm pretty sure every suicide in Belgium is reported as such as quite obviously this is a task for the police force.

I agree with your second argument, but again I question the term "quality of life". Wouldn't you want a challenge in your life? Don't you think challenges are necessary to make life worthwhile? There's quite the obvious contradiction between the so called Scandinavian quality of life and the high suicide rates. The two can't co-exist. Qualcosa non quadra.

 

[JCK]

That might have been true in the Interbellum. I'm pretty sure every suicide in Belgium is reported as such as quite obviously this is a task for the police force.

I agree with your second argument, but again I question the term "quality of life". Wouldn't you want a challenge in your life? Don't you think challenges are necessary to make life worthwhile? There's quite the obvious contradiction between the so called Scandinavian quality of life and the high suicide rates. The two can't co-exist. Qualcosa non quadra.

I do want challenges in life, actually this is what makes me breathe but if you notice I said that challenges in life are absent for some people.

Hey in the end, among European countries I lived in Belgium, Germany and Sweden and quite honestly the quality of life is way much higher up here.

 

[Seven]

I do want challenges in life, actually this is what makes me breathe but if you notice I said that challenges in life are absent for some people.

Hey in the end, among European countries I lived in Belgium, Germany and Sweden and quite honestly the quality of life is way much higher up here.

It is for you. I'm actually not questioning all the objective parameters used in this article. I'm questioning whether you can deduct from those parameters the conclusion that the quality of life in Scandinavia is higher. I don't think you can measure that in any way.

Hell, even an enquete asking people whether or not they are happy would be a better fit for the term.

 

[Sadomin]

With the risk of going off-topic, what is this talk about Belgium possibly splitting up into two nations? Anything serious or just media blowing things out of proportion?

 

[Marc]

I want to move away from Croatia. Life here sucks. But then again, maybe it is not up to country, maybe it is up to me.

 

[HelterSkelter]

One way to look at the suicide rate is that in Scandinavian countries ALL suicides are reported as suicides but in other places in Europe it is not the case because we all know that the church does not approve of suicides.

Another factor comes in mind is the quality of life provided that makes some people's lives so simple that they have no challenges to live for.

Isnt the church influential in Scandinavian nations?

 

[Adzke]

Isnt the church influential in Scandinavian nations?

No.

 

[ßöмßäяðîëя]

USA - NUMBER 23?

We are the DEVIL!