I googled "satellite maps of August 2010 Pakistan floods". Many relevant hits, here's one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10986220 It depends on exactly what you count (and news reports are usually vague on this issue). But for a simple reconciliation of maps with approximate figures, much of Pakistan appears to be in the Indus valley.
-----Original Message----- From: math-fun-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:math-fun- bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Hans Havermann Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 12:06 PM To: math-fun Subject: Re: [math-fun] That can't be right!
Michael Kleber:
I have no data, but if they were weighting the country by population, not by land area, I would consider the usage reasonable.
I have an August 15 statement by UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon saying: "Nearly one out of ten Pakistanis has been directly or indirectly affected -- possibly 20 million people. One-fifth of the country is ravaged by floods."
Unfortunately that's already four days after the "one-fifth" meme started. But it does suggest that, by population, only 10% of the country was "affected". As to the one-fifth, "ravaged by floods" is not the same thing as "under water". There is a second meme circulating based on the fraction "one-quarter", apparently started with the estimate of flooding having "hit" one-quarter of the country. A couple of news organizations here in Canada have stated that one- quarter of Pakistan is/remains under water!
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