A recent NYT article, Antarctica Is Melting Three Times as Fast as a Decade Ago by Kendra Pierre-Louis (6/13/2018), states clearly that Antarctica is melting, well, three times faster than a decade ago, which is a rate of change statement. Rapid melting should cause some concern since: Between 60 and …
Read More »How much are the oceans warming?
A year ago Climate Central posted the article Oceans Are Heating Up with a graph of sea surface temperature anomalies while providing context on issues of ocean warming: 93 percent of the excess heat absorbed by the climate system goes into our oceans, creating major consequences. While more extreme storms and rising …
Read More »What are the symptoms of inequality?
The Guardian article, Trump’s ‘cruel’ measures pushing US inequality to dangerous level – UN warns by Ed Pilkington (6/1/18) lists some symptoms two of which are: Americans now live shorter and sicker lives than citizens of other rich democracies; The US incarceration rate remains the highest in the world; The article lacks …
Read More »Do people in poverty work?
The EPI article, 50 years after the Poor People’s Campaign poverty persists because of a stingy safety net and a dysfunctional labor market by Elise Gould and Jessica Schieder (5/24/2018), answers the question with a graph (reposted here) and this: The bottom bar shows us that, among those working-age individuals who …
Read More »What is the state of the Rio Grande?
The NYT article, In a Warming West – the Rio Grande Is Drying Up by Henry Fountain (5/24/2018) answers the question. Even in a good year, much of the Rio Grande is diverted for irrigation. But it’s only May, and the river is already turning to sand. “The effect of long-term warming …
Read More »How old is Arctic sea ice?
The NYT article In the Arctic, the Old Ice Is Disappearing by Jeremy White and kendra Pierre-Louis (5/14/2018) notes In the Arctic Ocean, some ice stays frozen year-round, lasting for many years before melting. But this winter, the region hit a record low for ice older than five years. In fact, …
Read More »What is the Great Gatsby curve?
The Great Gatsby curve represents the correlation between income inequality and intergenerational income elasticity. In short, the greater the income inequality in a country the greater the relationship between a child’s income and their parent’s income. The Atlantic article, The 9.9 Percent Is the New American Aristocracy: The class divide is already toxic, …
Read More »What are the prospects for new college grads?
EPI has an answer with its report Class of 2018 College edition by Elise Gould, Zane Mokhiber, & Julia Wolfe (3/10/18). The report has 16 key findings and 10 graphs (the graphs and associated data are available). For example, Women make up about half of 21- to 24-year-olds, but well over half (57.3 percent) …
Read More »What is the CEO to worker pay gap?
U.S. Publicly held companies now have to report CEO and median worker salaries (this was part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010) and Bloomberg has an article, Alphabet CEO Page Makes a Tiny FractionCompared to Its Median Employee by Alicia Ritcey and Jenn Zhao (5/15/18), with an interactive graph …
Read More »What is an explanation for the racial disparities in student loan debt?
Fenaba R. Addo has an explanation in the article Parents’ Wealth Helps Explain Racial Disparities in Student Loan Debt at the Federal Reserve bank of St Louis. An analysis of data from a youth survey found that 58 percent of black young adults reported that their parents contributed an average of $4,200 …
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