Visualizing Climate Change

 

Call it global warming, climate change, greenhouse gas effects or just plain wacky weather – no matter what you name it, explaining these concepts is challenging. Now the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media has searched internationally and collected an array of interactive graphics and links that provide some fascinating ways to visualize climate-related changes such as water depletion, rising seas, monumental flooding and worldwide CO2 emissions. “It’s never been easy to report on climate change or many other environmental topics, for that matter,” writes Deborah Potter for the Forum. “The issues are not only complicated, they’re often invisible.” She cites a five-part series in the Las Vegas Sun reporting on water use in the region, including online video and an interactive map showing locations using the most residential water searchable by address. The impact of recent floods in Pakistan is brought home by the BBC in its interactive graphic, “How Big Really?” By plugging in a zip code, the user can see how large the flooded area was overlaid on the place he lives. Plugging in a Chicago zip code, for example, shows the flood would have stretched from Canada to Arkansas.

 

Making the Complicated Clear:
Interactive Graphics Make Data Visual
By Deborah Potter | February 16, 2011

Bringing data to life online need not require technically-savvy Web designers. With some easy-to-use free tools, journalists can build interactive graphics for use online, making the complex easier to grasp. Get examples and sources to “do it yourself.”

It’s never been easy to report on climate change or many other environmental topics, for that matter. The issues are not only complicated, they’re often invisible. But journalists have to make them understandable to a general audience. When words and pictures just aren’t enough, consider what graphics can do to make complexity clear especially online.

Simple graphics like maps, charts, and timelines make data visual so it’s easy to digest. That’s true in every medium but online graphics have several advantages. Because online graphics can be interactive, they give users an opportunity to explore the data, not just look at it. Online graphics can also convey much more data than graphics in print or on the air, so users can delve more deeply into a topic.

Take the Las Vegas Sun’s reporting on water use in the region, a five-part newspaper series that includes online video, background, and links to additional resources. One additional feature is an interactive map showing what parts of the valley used the most residential water. Users can search the entire database to see water use for a specific address and compare their own use with their neighbors.