Comparative Risk Quotes
The risk of sharks and pigs to man is each very small. A few cases of wild hogs—there are millions of them in the world—attacking humans (particularly children) occur annually throughout the world. But the deaths from pigs are usually from diseases that the pigs carry that the person who eats the pig acquires. Shark attacks get a great deal of publicity, like terrorist attacks. Problems with pigs, snakes and other animals less so. So most people have a misperception of the relative risk.
The fear of a nuclear accident is not based on the statistics or probability of death or injury. When a person chokes, it is only that person who may die. IF there is a nuclear power plant meltdown, millions of people can be injured or killed. It is the possible scale of the problem which makes most citizens fearful.
