AI & Data Viz

How can we use AI as a collaborator for data viz? The folks over at SWD have a nice selection of videos and practical tutorials on how to collaborate with AI in the data viz / data storytelling process: https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/ai-data-storytelling

Jerry's Map

Read more about it here: https://www.jerrysmap.com/the-map

The map is an imaginary city comprised of over 4,000 8 x 10 inch panels. The static image is below and here's an interactive version: https://marcmajcher.github.io/jerrysmap/

Extreme Heat = The Undermeasured Natural Disaster

 

Global Warming = Warmer Troposphere & Colder Stratosphere

We already know that from a) basics physics, b) climate models, and c) observations. Here's the short version: In the troposphere, the energy received at the Earth's surface is dispersed by convection, storms, and wind = weather. In contrast, there is no 'weather' in the stratosphere - there is just no enough air up there to create convection and air pressure differences.

Instead, the temperature of the stratosphere & its vertical gradient is determined by a) UV radiation absorption by ozone = warming and infrared radiation emission from the CO2.

Now it gets interesting:

• More CO2 in the troposphere means more trapping of heat near the surfacce & thus warming.
• More CO2 in the stratosphere does the opposite: it emits more radition into space & thus causes cooling.

Furthermore, this cooling effect of CO2 in the stratosphere increases with altitude from basically zero at the tropopause to more and more as you go higher & higher. Why is that? Well, turns out that the ozone layer is relatively low in the stratosphere & its effect dimishes the higher you go in the stratosphere while at the same time the influence of CO2 gets stronger.

Yes, it gets warmer in the stratosphere due to the presence of ozone. This is not impacted by global warming. Global warming does mean that there is more CO2 in the stratosphere & that overall cools the stratosphere = shifts the vertical gradient to the left.

All that is basic physics!

Not something weird created by climate models!

More here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-026-01951-0

The Reuters Climate Monitor

Pretty cool data viz: The Reuters Climate Monitor

The interactive globe is cool, but the chart below is more interesting & shows just how much the New Normal is above the Old Normal.

The AMOC!

Excellent arcticle & visuals about the AMOC: Shifting currents - After decades of warnings, new data suggest the Atlantic’s vital circulation may withstand climate warming better than feared

Also available as a PDF here.

El Nino: Good Summary!