At least 800,000 people across the U.S. live near hundreds of sites that store large amounts of ammonium nitrate, which investigators are blaming as the source of last month’s deadly blast at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas. Reuters found 317 schools and 20 hospitals located within a mile of U.S. ammonium nitrate storage sites.

Would you like infographics like this on your website, blog or other social media? Contact us and visit our Reuters Agency blog for insights and discussions on the changing media industry.

Baby formula made by foreign brands is in great demand in China after the 2008 scandal when six infants died. The incident, which involved melamine-tainted milk powder, soured China’s infant formula market for local firms. Since then, whole milk powder imports have jumped almost 800% and foreign brands now account for about half of total sales. Today’s graphic shows the top players in China’s $12.5 billion infant formula sector.

Would you like infographics like this on your website, blog or other social media? Contact us and visit our Reuters Agency blog for insights and discussions on the changing media industry.

As China’s arable land shrinks, more hectares are devoted to corn, rice and wheat. Today we have a double dose of graphics showing China’s rice, wheat and soybean production and imports and China’s arable land area, sown area, and yield by grain type.

(more…)

A 2-mile (3-km) wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble. Today’s graphic shows the areas in the US that experience the most tornadoes as well as the 10 deadliest tornadoes. You can follow all the coverage over at the Reuters live blog and here is more information on how you can help the Oklahoma tornado victims.

Would you like infographics like this on your website, blog or other social media? Contact us and visit our Reuters Agency blog for insights and discussions on the changing media industry.

Despite having strong economic growth, Indonesia falls behind its neighbors in the healthcare sector. Today’s graphic shows where Indonesia ranks in terms  hospital bed capacity and the size of the healthcare workforce.

Would you like infographics like this on your website, blog or other social media? Contact us and visit our Reuters Agency blog for insights and discussions on the changing media industry.

Global life expectancy has increased from 64 years in 1990 to 70 years in 2011, the World Health Organization said at the release of its annual world health statistics reoprt. Below is a chart showing the change in life expectancy for 190 countries over the last 20 years.

Would you like infographics like this on your website, blog or other social media? Contact us and visit our Reuters Agency blog for insights and discussions on the changing media industry.

Nokia has recently launched new products in the lower and mid-tier range to protect its position in emerging markets, but its success in the high-margin smartphone market will be crucial to its long-term survival. The Lumia 925 is the latest Nokia high-end smartphone that uses Microsoft’s Windows Phone software. Today’s graphic compares it to other major smartphones on the market.

Would you like infographics like this on your website, blog or other social media? Contact us and visit our Reuters Agency blog for insights and discussions on the changing media industry.

The specter of competing regional trade deals and a rapidly deteriorating trade balance is pushing the Brazilian government to open up the most closed major economy of the Western Hemisphere. Today’s graphic shows trade balance and trade as percentage of GDP for BRIC, Mexico and U.S.

Would you like infographics like this on your website, blog or other social media? Contact us and visit our Reuters Agency blog for insights and discussions on the changing media industry.

Boeing announced that it has sped up the manufacturing process of its 787 Dreamliner. Today’s graphic looks at how the growing backlogs of Boeing and Airbus compare and how long it can take for some planes to be delivered.

Click to enlarge

Would you like infographics like this on your website, blog or other social media? Contact us and visit our Reuters Agency blog for insights and discussions on the changing media industry.

Shell announced on Wednesday that it will develop the Stones deepwater oil field in Gulf of Mexico. The field will be the world’s deepest offshore oil and gas production project. Today’s graphic looks at offshore oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.