Ow, my brain
As part of her subscription to The Economist, Erika recieved this little square-bound almanacky thing that i browsed through when she was in town. I had one of those moments where something that's not really news suddenly gets you in the gut. China has a population of about 1,290,000,000 people. The US has a population of about 260,000,000 people. That means that if something were to happen in China that killed one billion people, China would then still be more populous than the United States.
comment by nova:
Y'know, I know that you read those numbers to me already, but actually seeing them in print really drives home the point. Striking out the billions place and then seeing the resulting number is a very effective visual. Scary.
Wonder how you'd kill one billion people?
Since you ask... by Sebbo:
I think the most plausable scenarios that wouldn't necessarily wipe out most of the US as well would be a disease epidemic or a meteor strike