Tag Archives: charts and graphs

How hot was July 2023?

I did a full summary of July on Briefed by Data and here is a  highlights from the post.

First, Figure 1 represents the July historical temperature anomaly. It was certainly a record-setting year for July, on the order of 0.75 °F above the previous record anomaly. It should be noted that ENSO status will not be formally determined for some months. How does this compare to all months?

July’s anomaly was not even a top 10 for a month (see Figure 2 in the post) but it was a warmest month on record, but this is an artifact of July being the warmest month of the year in general. Read more here which includes links to the data.

What is the male vs female grip strength difference?

Grip strength is one of the factors measured in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Grip strength, which is formally tested by gripping a dynamometer, is also a proxy measurement for upper body and total strength. The median summed (right plus left hand) female grip strength is 64% of the median summed male grip strength. Measures of central tendency do not tell the whole story, and we can see from the distribution that relatively few females exceed the male median. In fact, just 17 of the 2,515 females, or less than 0.1%, have a summed grip strength greater than the median summed grip strength of males. Read more about this on my substack Briefed by Data,
Female vs Male Grip Strength, where I include links to the data and two other graphs.

See Briefed by Data for other articles.

How hot was June 2023?

From NOAA’s June 2023 Global Climate Report:

June 2023 set a record as the warmest June for the globe in NOAA’s 174-year record. The June global surface temperature was 1.05°C (1.89°F) above the 20th-century average of 15.5°C (59.9°F). This marked the first time a June temperature exceeded 1°C above the long-term average.

By definition we don’t officially know if June 2023 was an El Niño month (hence the black bar in the graph) but it was emerging and likely will be one. More about June 2023 on my Briefed by Data site.

How much does seasonal solar generation vary?

This is from my Briefed by Data post Seasonal Solar Electricity Generation. It looks like the difference between the maximum month and minimum months of solar electricity generation are growing. In fact, it is fairly consistent in terms of a percentage drop.

In Figure 2, we can see that the annual seasonal drop has averaged 56%, but it’s possible that this number is inflated because 2011 and 2012 had higher values. Since 2018, the drop has been extremely stable, staying between 50% and 55% of the previous level.

There is another graph and a reference to the data. Click the article link or visit the main page of Briefed  by Data. Also on twitter @BriefedByData.

How much propane are we exporting?

From the eia article Monthly U.S. propane exports in March 2023 reached a record high by Josh Eiermann (6/6/2023)

U.S. propane exports reached a record 1.7 million barrels per day (b/d) in March 2023, the highest level since we began collecting this data in 1973. Propane is consumed globally for space heating and is used as a petrochemical feedstock.

The graph shows a noticeable increase to Asia. Why?

U.S. propane exports to Asia have increased rapidly in recent years, driven in part by the region’s increasing demand for propylene, a chemical that can be produced from propane. Propylene is used to manufacture polypropylene, a versatile plastic with many uses, including in car interiors, packaging, and personal protective equipment.

There is one other graph and links to data.

How’s your air?

If you would like to know if you should breathe the air go to the Fire and Smoke Map. You see an image like the one here. Find you location on the map. Click the dot to get a pop up window with extra information including an interactive time series chart of air quality for the last week. About the site:

The AirNow Fire and Smoke Map provides information that you can use to help protect your health from wildfire smoke. Use this map to see:

– Current particle pollution air quality information for your location;
– Fire locations and smoke plumes;
– Smoke Forecast Outlooks, where available; and,
– Recommendations for actions to take to protect yourself from smoke. These recommendations were developed by EPA scientists who are experts in air quality and health.

The Map is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Forest Service (USFS)-led Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

For an interacative map of fires and smoke movement see firesmoke.ca.

What is the outlook for the class of 2023?

EPI gives an overview of the economic state of the class of 2023 in their Class of 2023 post by Elise Gould, Katherine deCourcy and Jori Kandra (5/24/2023). Two findings:

Workers of all ages have experienced stronger-than-usual wage growth in the pandemic business cycle (February 2020 to March 2023)—even after accounting for high inflation—but young workers were not left behind like they have been in previous business cycles.

Entry-level high school graduates (ages 17–20) saw real wage growth three times as fast as entry-level college graduates (ages 21–24) in the pandemic business cycle.

The figure here is one of four with data available in the article. The interesting thing here is the Hispanic pay which is about $0.85 more than White and Black pay. What explains this? Could there be a regional effect?

Check out my other site Briefed by Data.

 

What are the trends in lithium-ion batteries?

From the iea Global EV Outlook 2023 Trends in batteries:

Automotive lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery demand increased by about 65% to 550 GWh in 2022, from about 330 GWh in 2021, primarily as a result of growth in electric passenger car sales, with new registrations increasing by 55% in 2022 relative to 2021.

There are 9 interactive graphs in this article with lots of information. I chose to show the one on supply and demand of lithium.

The increase in battery demand drives the demand for critical materials. In 2022, lithium demand exceeded supply (as in 2021) despite the 180% increase in production since 2017. In 2022, about 60% of lithium, 30% of cobalt and 10% of nickel demand was for EV batteries. Just five years earlier, in 2017, these shares were around 15%, 10% and 2%, respectively. As has already been seen for lithium, mining and processing of these critical minerals will need to increase rapidly to support the energy transition, not only for EVs but more broadly to keep up with the pace of demand for clean energy technologies.

Some of the charts have the data available for download.