A Brief History Of Global Rare Earth Supply

While I was working on the opinion piece, Time To Face The Thorium, for Boston University News Service, I figured that it would be interesting to have an interactive graphic displaying some background information for readers to better understand what I’m opining about. Someone in class had just mentioned Prezi, so this turned out to be the first Prezi I made. Not an ideal tool for what I wanted, but it’s powerful enough.

This Prezi takes you to California, China and India through the 1950s to 2010, the year when the world suddenly realized that rare earth production is monopolized by China, due to decades of out-competing other countries in prices. But I think China has paid a significant price to gain this industry advantage: massive environmental pollution and years of not selling the rare earths at even production costs. You can read my opinion piece on the matter at Boston University News Service here.

Click on forward and backward arrows to view slides. The Prezi may take a while to load, but it will be worth the wait! 

View the original on BU News Service here.