The CDC data brief, Mortality Patterns Between Five States with Highest Death Rates and Five States with Lowest Death Rates: United States, 2017 by Jiaquan Xu, M.D. (9/5/2019), provides the graph here of death rates by age (pay attention to the log scale on the x-axis). The five states with …
Read More »Can a simulation help us understand the value of vaccinations?
This animated video by Robert Rhode demonstrates the idea of herd immunity. In short, if enough people in a population are vaccinated then that can protect those that can’t get vaccinated due to say age or illness. This can be used in a probability or QL course.
Read More »Which country is most responsible for atmospheric CO2?
The our world in data post, Who has contributed most to global CO2 emissions? by Hannah Ritchie (10/1/2019) provides this chart of cumulative CO2 emissions from 1751 to 2017 by region and country. Since 1751 the world has emitted over 1.5 trillion tonnes of CO2.1 To reach our climate goal of limiting average temperature rise to …
Read More »What is the distribution of people by age and race?
The Pew article, The most common age among whites in U.S. is 58, more than double that of racial and ethnic minorities by katherine Schaeffer (7/30/19) provides this graph of the distribution of age by race. Whites had a median age of 44, meaning that if you lined up all …
Read More »How much energy will we use in the future?
The EIA article EIA projects nearly 50% increase in world energy usage by 2050, led by growth in Asia by ARi Kahan (9/24/2019) provides regional energy consumption projections by decade through 2050. The report includes six other graphs including sources of energy. With the rapid growth of electricity generation, renewables—including …
Read More »How is the white working class share of the population changing?
The St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank post The White Working Class: National Trends, Then and Now by Bill Emmons, Ana Kent, and Lowell Ricketts (9/24/2019) looks at the share of the U.S. population for Non-Hispanic White and Hispanic or Minority Race (< 4 year degree) and Non-Hispanic White and Hispanic …
Read More »Does NOAA have resources for teachers?
NOAA provides numerous resources for teachers including data sources, classroom materials, citizen scientists opportunities, and free posters (like the one copied here). A starting point to find these resources is the post Teachers: Get ready for the new school year with NOAA (8/5/19).
Read More »How closely linked are CO2 and Global Temperature?
The Climate.gov article, If carbon dioxide hits a new high every year, why ins’t every year hotter than the last by Rebecca Lindsey (9/9/19), provides a primer on the carbon dioxide and global temperature link, along with the role of the oceans. Thanks to the high heat capacity of water …
Read More »What is in the Income and Poverty 2018 report?
The U.S. Census Bureau report Income and Poverty in the United States: 2018 by Jessica Semega, Melissa Kollar, John Creamer, and Abinash Mohanty (9/10/19) is now available. A few highlights can be found in the post Pay is Up. Poverty is Down. How Women are Making Strides by Jessica Semega …
Read More »Is the sun causing climate change?
The NASA post, What is the Sun’s Role in Climate Change (9/6/19) make it clear that the sun isn’t to blame for climate change. For more than 40 years, satellites have observed the Sun’s energy output, which has gone up or down by only .01 percent during that period. Since …
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