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Data Vis Dispatch
August 8th, 2023

Data Vis Dispatch, August 8

The best of last week’s big and small data visualizations

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Rose Mintzer-Sweeney
Lisa Charlotte Muth
Lisa Charlotte Muth

Welcome back to the 105th edition of Data Vis Dispatch! Every week, we’ll be publishing a collection of the best small and large data visualizations we find, especially from news organizations — to celebrate data journalism, data visualization, simple charts, elaborate maps, and their creators.

Recurring topics this week include business, labor, and overheating oceans.

Niger and other countries in the Sahel region were in the spotlight this week:

The Wall Street Journal: How the U.S. Fumbled Niger’s Coup and Gave Russia an Opening, August 4
José Luengo-Cabrera: “West Africa: jihadist activity,” August 3 (Tweet)

The Economist: Fanatics and putschists are creating failed states in west Africa, August 1
The Outlier: “Ghana has become the 29th African country to abolish the death penalty. It has 176 people on death row, but no one has been executed there since 1993. 3 African countries carried out executions last year: Egypt, South Sudan & Somalia,” August 8 (Tweet)

We also saw maps of Russian sanction-dodging and the front line in Ukraine:

Le Monde: La flotte fantôme : enquête sur les nouvelles routes du pétrole russe, August 6
El Mundo: El freno ruso: ‘dientes de dragón’, minas y ataques a inocentes, August 1

High ocean temperatures are killing coral reefs, shrinking sea ice, and endangering costal cities:

The New York Times: What This Year’s ‘Astonishing’ Ocean Heat Means for the Planet, August 3
Financial Times: Missing ice and bleached coral: the sudden warming of the oceans, August 7
The Economist: The rapid loss of Antarctic sea ice brings grim scenarios into view, August 2
SPIEGEL: Meereis um die Antarktis erreicht Negativrekord, August 8
Le Monde: Saint-Malo menacé de submersion, l’histoire ancienne d’un risque contemporain, August 5
South China Morning Post: Is death of Bryde’s whale a wake-up call for Hong Kong? Mammal’s demise prompts urgent appeals for action to protect marine wildlife, curb gawkers, August 5

Meanwhile, on land:

Financial Times: Canada’s emissions from wildfires more than double previous record, August 4
CarbonBrief: Fires could lock vast parts of the Amazon into ‘treeless state’, August 2
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Erst zu heiß, dann zu nass, August 3
USA Today: With summer at its hottest, here’s what to know about the danger of kids left in cars, August 1

And, yes, we know why:

Reuters: The other greenhouse gas, August 5

There are four charts in this section — two about 78 charges across three criminal cases faced by former U.S. president Donald Trump, and two about his excellent chances of winning next year’s Republican nomination and decent shot at retaking the presidency:

The Washington Post: Breaking down the 78 charges Trump faces in his three indictments, August 3
The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Donors Help Fund His Legal Bills, Becoming Windfalls for His Attorneys, August 5
The New York Times: Trump Leads G.O.P. in Iowa, but His Hold Is Less Dominant, August 4
The New York Times: Can the Race Really Be That Close? Yes, Biden and Trump Are Tied., August 1

The Women’s World Cup continues!

USA Today: Players with ties to U.S. soccer feature on nearly every team in the World Cup Round of 16, August 1
The Washington Post: The USWNT looked more like itself vs. Sweden. But soccer can be cruel., August 6

Plus — college sports and the World Darts Championship:

USA Today: Georgia tops USA TODAY Sports AFCA coaches poll: Why history says it likely won’t finish there, August 7
The Washington Post: Here’s how college sports has changed after conference realignment, August 7
The New York Times: Studying the Limits of Human Perfection, Through Darts, August 5

We saw charts on business and labor:

The Wall Street Journal: Breaking Down the Worst Earnings Quarter in Years, August 6
Bloomberg: UK Consumers Needed Energy Relief — a Loophole Lost Them Millions, August 2
The Guardian: Childcare sector in England must not become ‘playground for private equity’, experts say, August 4
The Wall Street Journal: Big Oil’s Talent Crisis: High Salaries Are No Longer Enough, August 6
The Economist: Our Carrie Bradshaw index: Where Americans can afford to live solo, August 4
The Washington Post: 30 years of strikes: See how Hollywood’s massive walkout stacks up, August 3

There was data vis at the movies:

The Wall Street Journal: ‘Barbie’ Joins Ranks of Biggest Moneymaking Movies by a Female Director, August 1
Franceinfo: “Oppenheimer”, “Mission : Impossible”, “Indiana Jones”… Pourquoi les plus gros succès au box-office sont-ils de plus en plus longs ?, August 2

And postcards from Budapest and Singapore:

Atlo: “Our new project ‘Budapest Open Data Atlas’ is out,” August 7 (Tweet)
Straits Times: Singapore in Colour, August 7

Other charts covered everything from gas reserves to Lyme disease:

De Tijd: Europese gasvoorraden op recordniveau, August 3
The Guardian: Voice to parliament polling results tracker: how many people support or oppose the referendum, August 7
AFP: “Newly minted world record-breaker Kristin Harila is done with 8,000-metre mountains and is ready for a “normal life” after achieving her goal of giving women a rare role model in extreme climbing,” August 1 (Tweet)
The Guardian: Tick tick boom: how much is Lyme disease increasing in the US?, August 2

Last but not least, charts with really steep lines:

Max Roser: “Made a new chart on the long-term history of population growth: • For millennia, population growth was very slow. • During the last 200 years, growth has been rapid. • In 50 years, it is expected to reach the peak — the history of population growth will then end,” August 5 (Tweet)
The San Francisco Chronicle: College attendance: How family income impacts who goes to Stanford vs. UCLA and UC Berkeley, August 1
The Washington Post: Riding the oldest and the tallest roller coasters in the world, August 3

What else we found interesting

The Los Angeles Times: One car per green: Why the lights on freeway onramps can’t end traffic jams, August 1
Anton Thomas: “It. Is. COMPLETE!!!! I can’t believe it. After 3 years putting my heart & soul into this map, Wild World is finished. Thank you everyone for the encouragement over the years, this was a beautiful journey and I’m deeply proud of it… a map of nature I’ve dreamt of since childhood,” August 1 (Tweet)
Reuters: Don’t waste food, August 5
The Los Angeles Times: Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle are you? Take our personality quiz, August 4
El País: Sin gritos de ayuda ni chapoteos: guía visual para reconocer que alguien se ahoga, August 4

Applications are open for…

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Rose Mintzer-Sweeney
(she/her, @rosemintzers) is a data vis writer on Datawrapper's communications team. She likes words, numbers, pictures, and all possible combinations of the same. Rose lives in Berlin.
Lisa Charlotte Muth
Lisa Charlotte Muth
(she/her, @lisacmuth, @lisacmuth@vis.social) is Datawrapper’s head of communications. She writes about best practices in data visualization and thinks of new ways to excite you about charts and maps. Lisa lives in Berlin.

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