Where it warmed the most in the world

Earth got its hottest year on record in 2023. Based on data from Berkeley Earth, John Muyskens and Niko Kommenda, for The Washington Post, focused on the geographic areas that experienced the biggest jumps.

The Post has mapped the regions that saw the largest temperature anomalies in 2023 — places that have warmed so fast that the climate is already testing the limits of human infrastructure and the ability of the natural world to cope.

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Snow drought

A warming climate has meant less snow in the northern hemisphere, which is a problem when agriculture depends on melting snow to grow crops. Bloomberg reports on the current snow drought situation.

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Mapping where trees will grow

As the climate changes, the places that different types of trees will grow also shifts. Harry Stevens, for The Washington Post, provides the searchable maps to show the changes, based on data from the Davey Tree Expert Company.

Maybe the most interesting part is that there’s a “check my work” section at the end, which points you to the code to make the maps.

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Melting ice, global effects

Ice is melting at the poles, which makes it seem like a localized problem. However, as NPR shows and describes in a visual series, the large amounts of fresh water melting into the ocean mixes in with currents and changes temperatures, chemistry, and water levels globally.

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History of heat records in major U.S. cities

Matt Daniels and Russell Goldenberg for The Pudding are tracking heat records in 400 cities in the United States. Choose a city, see if yesterday was a record, and find out how it measures up against past records over time.

I wonder if this is one of those times it might’ve been better to make a series of graphics instead of adhering to a single form and transitioning between views. I got a little lost in the noise initially.

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Global warming bike path

It amazes me how many places in the world Ed Hawkins’ Warming Stripes appears. My favorite has still gotta be the shower tiles.

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All-time temperature records broken in 2021

Using data from NOAA, Krishna Karra and Tim Wallace for The New York Times mapped all-time temperature records set in 2021. Red indicates an all-time high, and blue indicates an all-time low. Circle size represents the degree difference from the previous record.

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Shifting currents and melting ice in the Antarctic

Based on data from autonomous sensors floating in the oceans, researchers are able to model the flows and characteristics of ocean currents in more detail than ever before. For The New York Times, Henry Fountain and Jeremy White show how the shifts have unwelled centuries-old water deep in the ocean, which releases carbon into the air.

The scrollytelling format of this piece works well to show sensor estimates over time. You get a sense of the currents without needing to see animated lines.

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Mapping the weather disasters of 2021

Zach Levitt and Bonnie Berkowitz for The Washington Post mapped and animated the natural and weather disasters from 2021. Differing from the 2019 version by Tim Meko, they framed it by month, which let them start with floods in January, through the storms in March, April, and May, to fires in July, up to the tornadoes in December.

It was a rough year for many, only compounded by that virus.

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Climate change postcards from every country

The effects of climate change can be seen around the world, in the present. The New York Times uses a mix of maps, charts, videos, illustrations, and photographs to imagine postcards sent from every country in the world to show what’s happening.

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