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Data Vis Dispatch
January 23rd, 2024

Data Vis Dispatch, January 23

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

Photo of Vivien Serve
Vivien Serve

Welcome back to the 126th 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 animals, money, and conflicts around the world.

This week we saw all sorts of animal visualizations: AI decoding animal behavior, shrinking bird populations and — maybe a bit macabre — a special animal coming to our tables for big bucks:

Financial Times: How AI is decoding the animal kingdom, January 18
The Washington Post: Bird populations are declining., January 17
The Washington Post: How to raise your ham game with jamón, the champagne of pork products, January 19

After over three months of war between Israel and Hamas, the United Nations has declared the Gaza Strip uninhabitable. We saw charts and maps on lack of aid deliveries, network failures, and Israeli ground operations in Gaza:

Zeit Online: Woran es den Menschen in Gaza fehlt, January 19
The Washington Post: Why Gaza keeps losing communications, January 18
The Wall Street Journal: Israel’s War in Gaza Enters Its Most Perilous Phase Yet, January 16

We also saw updates on Houthi attacks on ships in the Suez Canal and their consequences for international shipping:

The New York Times: How Houthi Attacks Have Upended Global Shipping, January 21
The Wall Street Journal: The Red Sea Conflict Is Scrambling Shipping. Europe Is Bearing the Brunt, January 19

But let’s not forget other warfare and violence. Of the ten countries with the highest homicide rates in the world, five are in the Caribbean; West African coastal countries are concerned about the spread of Islamist insurgents in the Sahel. And while Ukraine has had some successes, economists and officials predict that money and time may be running out:

Bloomberg: In ‘War on Guns,’ Caribbean Allies Ask Which Side the US Is On, January 17
Financial Times: The Islamist insurgents threatening west Africa, January 22
Bloomberg: Ukraine’s Desperate Hour: Victory (of a Sort) Is Still Possible, January 19
The Wall Street Journal: Ukraine’s $30 Billion Problem: How to Keep Fighting Without Foreign Aid, January 22

Money wasn’t only an important topic in this week’s Ukraine-Russia visualizations. We also saw charts on suspended EU payments to Hungary, seven tech companies with huge market values, and eight billionaires:


Átlátszó, Magyar Helsinki Bizottság: Eltékozolt lehetöségek. Befagyasztott uniós források Magyarországnak, January 18
The New York Times: These Seven Tech Stocks Are Driving the Market, January 22
Bloomberg: Who Wants to Be a Trillionaire?, January 22

Good and bad news for the climate. The bad news first:

Bloomberg: Near Record Jump in CO2 Emissions This Year Risks Climate Goal, January 19
De Tijd: Miljoenensubsidies en investeringsdrang leiden tot ongeziene laadpalenspurt, January 20

Next up, visualizations from space and air:


天下雜誌: 中美角力，台灣應戰？低軌衛星爭霸戰, January 18
Bloomberg: China’s Severed Air Links Drain $130 Billion From Global Tourism, January 19

Finally, a detailed account of Europe’s political shift to the right, a murder case in Spain, and routes to ski resorts in France:

Zeit Online: Ein Kontinent driftet nach rechts, January 20
Diario Sur: Sheila Barrero: sin justicia, sin perdón y sin olvido, January 21
Le Figaro: Trouvez la station de ski la plus proche de chez vous en voiture, January 19

What else we found interesting

The Washington Post: Scientists may have the key to treating tinnitus: Retrain the brain, January 19
Inkyfada: Asma et Nabil, 12.505 dinars par mois, “dépenser sans compter”, January 21

Applications are open for…

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Photo of Vivien Serve
Vivien Serve
(she/her) is a working student on Datawrapper’s Communications team. She creates the Data Vis Dispatch to keep data visualization enthusiasts up to date on exciting new projects. When she’s not working, she studies interface design, and when she’s not studying, she’s planning a festival stage or soldering light installations. Vivien lives in Potsdam.

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