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How does the U.S. use its land?

The Bloomberg article Here’s How America Uses Its Land by Dave Merrill and Lauren Leatherby (7/31/2018). The article arrives at the graph copied here and it is worth scrolling through the article to see the graphs along the way with associated facts. More than one-third of U.S. land is used for pasture—by far the …

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What are the recent Mauna Loa CO2 measurements?

The  NOAA article Another Climate Milestone on Mauna Loa (6/7/18) provides an overview of CO2 measurement at the Mauna Loa site.  In particular, Carbon dioxide levels measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory averaged more than 410 parts per million in April and May, the highest monthly averages ever …

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What are the prospects for high school grads?

The EPI article Class of 2018 High school edition by Elise Gould, Zane Mokhiber, & Julia Wolfe (6/14/18) provides a thorough review.  Figure I from the report, copied here, shows 2000 and 2018 wages for high school grads not enrolled in further schooling by race and gender. In 2018, young workers with a high …

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What is the poverty rate in OECD countries?

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) defines poverty as an income below half the median household income. The chart here was created using the most recent year of data from the OECD poverty rate page .  The U.S. leads the pack with a rate of 17.8%, with Israel right …

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What is the story of suicides in the U.S.?

The article in the Conversation, Why is suicide on the rise in the US – but falling in most of Europe? by Steven Stack (6/28/18), tries to get at the story. The first chart (copied here), clearly shows that the suicide rate rose from 199-2015 overall and considerably more for the 45-54 age …

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How hot has it been this week?

The Washington Post article, Red-hot planet: All-time heat records have been set all over the world during the past week by Jason Samenow (7/5/18), provides a nice overview of the record setting heat during this past week (map posted here copied from the article).  In North America: Montreal recorded its highest temperature in recorded …

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