Frontierofficial/Flickr It's easy to think the world is ending when natural disasters are pummeling vulnerable islands and politicians are threatening nuclear destruction.

But take a step back and you'll find a more encouraging picture of where the human race is headed — at least from a public health and quality of life perspective.

Across the board, in matters of mortality, hunger, disease, and more, life is getting better for billions of people.

Here is a sampling of that global progress.