Welcome to the ninth edition of The Crunch!
This week’s newsletter is being filed from Austin, Texas, where I’m at SXSW EDU speaking about accessibility in data visualisation, so it’s more US-focused than usual.
We have an excellent and extremely comprehensive visualisation of the upcoming solar eclipse, a look at how outdoor advertising targets the poorer areas of England and Wales, new figures on greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, and a feature that uses schools of fish to show how a small fraction of voters in Texas decide who runs the state.
But first, landmark new data on the gender pay gap …
Australia has for the first time released data reflecting the gender pay gap at nearly 5,000 companies – every private company with 100 employees or more.
Andy Ball and I have built an interactive data explorer in which you can see every one of those employers, and exactly where they sit relative to everyone else.
Some of the country’s biggest and most recognisable employers have revealed gender pay gaps of 30-40% in favour of male employees.
You can see and search the data here.
Four charts from the past fortnight
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1. A fraction of Texans will vote in Tuesday’s primary, and they will decide who runs the state
It’s primary time in the US (more on that below) which means people get to vote for their preferred Democratic or Republican presidential candidate to contest the next election. And some states, such as Texas, are also holding votes to decide the candidates that will contest state elections. The Texas Tribune has produced this feature which shows how geographic polarisation and gerrymandering contribute to uncompetitive races in state politics. Visualised with schools of fish!
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2. The latest greenhouse gas emissions data shows a small decrease year-on-year, but that is only part of the story
The latest quarterly release of greenhouse gas data for Australia shows a 0.5% decrease year-on-year. Electricity emissions are decreasing due to an increasing amount of renewable energy becoming available, however transport emissions have increased. In Guardian Australia’s frequently updated emissions tracker, you can see historic and projected future emissions, how Australia compares with other countries and how much greenhouse gas the country exports.
You can also see how much longer Australia has left to get to zero emissions and play its part in living up to the goals of the landmark 2015 Paris agreement.
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3. Four in five billboard ads in England and Wales are in poorer areas
More than four in five outdoor billboard advertisements are in the poorest half of England and Wales, leading experts to warn that the discrepancy risks deepening health inequalities.
While billboards may be seen by many simply as eyesores, campaigners argue they negatively affect people’s lives in intersecting ways, by pushing unhealthy products such as fast food and alcohol, encouraging environmentally harmful consumption and lowering mental wellbeing.
You can read more and see more charts here.
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4. The most comprehensive visualisation of eclipse-watching locations you’ll ever see
This is an early contender for my favourite data visualisation piece of the year. Denise Lu (who also produced this epic piece about the band Pavement) has made a stunningly detailed series of maps and graphics about the upcoming solar eclipse, and where might be best to watch it in Mexico, the United States and Canada.
Spotlight on … democracy!
Super Tuesday happened this week, which means there are lots of charts and maps tracking the results of presidential primary voting. The NYT has a typically comprehensive results tracker here, and the Guardian has the results of key votes here.
I really like the Associated Press’ approach to mapping results, using a design that combines a circle-cartogram layout with regular geography, which is an approach that can be beneficial when there are a large number of votes in small, densely populated areas (also an issue in Australian politics).
The Economist has used survey data to build this fascinating interactive that generates profiles of British voters, and which demographic features are associated with different voting outcomes. Also it has a ternary plot 😍
There are so many elections happening in 2024! My colleagues have compiled a handy list of all of them. It is a lot.
Off the charts
I’m sure we can all agree data visualisation is best experienced as a small jpeg file embedded in a fortnightly email newsletter. However, possibly the next best way to experience it would be if it were professionally printed at a huge scale and displayed in a gallery alongside beautiful and thought-provoking photographs.
I really like seeing data and information design used in a hands-on way in the real world, and these works by Federica Fragapane, an information designer based in Italy, are spectacular. The series of graphics were produced as part of an exhibition by photographer Luca Locatelli called The Circle, which covers aspects of the circular economy, including energy production and recycling. You can read more about the exhibition here.
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