Data Visualization

Blog of the Data Visualization & Communication Course at OSB-AUB

This is my favorite part about analytics: Taking boring flat data and bringing it to life through visualization” John Tukey

The impact of CO2 emission on Global Warming

The impact of CO2 emission on Global Warming

Antarctica has been suffering for years due to the high CO2 emission levels around the globe.

I have brought an expert that would be able to shed light on the matter based on personal experience and what he and his family have been witnessing for the past decades.

Please help me in welcoming Frosty the Penguin!

Frosty was born and raised in Antarctica by a family of scientists.

His grandfather was among the first penguins to witness the melting of glaciers and the family kept records of changes that have occurred throughout the years in Antarctica.

While growing up, his surroundings were changing rapidly due to higher temperatures.

The sled that he used to play at with his penguin friends has turned into water; friends from other species have already left, or even died at sea.

Today Carbon Dioxide levels are rising rapidly from 400mg/L in 2019, to 409mg/L in 2020 to reach 420mg/L in 2021 due to the burning of fossil fuels, industrial processes, and tropical forest destruction.

As a result, Glaciers are rapidly melting and Frosty is facing the danger of migration or even death.

CO2 emission in 1980 started increasing drastically in countries like China going from 1.5 gigatons of CO2 to a record high of 11 gigatons in 2017!

Also, countries like Indonesia have witnessed a consistent increase in emissions while we see that Germany in gypsy blue has seen a drop in their emissions despite being the number 1 producer in Europe; they must be doing something right.

Based on his recent study in 2018, countries like USA, Canada, Russia, Australia and China are among the highest emitting countries of CO2 compared to the European Continent (excluding Russia), the African continent and South America.

For Frosty, this means that the sea ice extent which represents the area of ocean where at least 15 percent of the surface is frozen has been shrinking especially in recent years due to our negligence.

However, it is still not too late to help Frosty have his home back!!

To decrease the level of CO2 emissions, many solutions are available such as:

  • Substituting car trips with bike rides or any form of public transportation.
  • Apply Emission Regulations on automobiles
  • Plant trees
  • Switch to Clean Energy

All of these solutions are easily implemented through deploying bicycles for rent off the streets, Carpooling or using Hybrid/Electric Cars as well as renewable energy.

The cheapest and considered to be one of the most efficient ways of reducing CO2 emission is planting trees to absorb and store the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

We can see these reforms being applied mostly in the European continent, Eastern and Western, which lead to the decrease in the level of CO2 from 1990 till 2018 as per the World Map visualization.

We urge countries to follow the steps of Europe and ameliorate their CO2 emissions by planting trees, adopting renewable energy and encouraging people to use lower emitting means of transportation

Problem with CO2 Emissions in the Arab World

Problem with CO2 Emissions in the Arab World

 

Meet Ahmad 

Ahmad is a young and healthy adult who likes to engage in various sports. However, he suffers from severe cases of asthma and regularly takes prescribed medications along with his inhaler. Like many people his age, Ahmad is very ambitious about his future and hopes one day that he can become a world star athlete.

Unfortunately, Ahmad is living in Qatar which is known to have a very harsh environment that is filled with air pollution and CO2 emissions that can risk his healthcare and well being.

Let’s Examine what Ahmad is up against!

The following Visual  is a Bar Chart displaying  the average CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita) in Arab countries

Observations

Ahmad was simply shocked!!

Although Ahmad knew that Qatar had very high levels of air pollution, he was not excepting it to be the highest among all other Arab countries. Ahmad had to act fast and think about ways to convince his parents to finance his journey to a cleaner country with low levels of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the previous graph was not entirely convincing for his father since he wanted to have a more visual understanding of the countries.

A better Visual? 

The following Visual  is the same visual presented before but projected on the map of the Arab World

Before Deciding

Although it seemed Obvious for Ahmad to travel to any of the countries that had low levels of C02 emissions, Ahmad’s Father wanted his son to have a good future prospect. The father demanded to know which of these countries had low levels of unemployment. After a lot of hard work, Ahmad was able to come up with a great visual that explains exactly what his father wants.

Now That’s Clearer

The following Visual is a Stacked Bar chart displaying the average CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita) and % of unemployment in Arab countries

Problem Solution

Potential Solutions Solution Validation Recommendation
For Better Future: Convince Ahmad’s father to finance his travel to Saudi Arabia it has less CO2 levels (12.62) with slightly higher unemployment rate (5.58%) Try Exploring other Non-Arab Countries that meet Ahmad’s requirement
For Better Health: Convince Ahmad’s father to finance his travel to Lebanon it has significantly less CO2 levels (2.96) but a higher unemployment rate (8.63%) If to stay in Qatar for guaranteed employment, Ahmad should drastically change his lifestyle and become more health cautious

 

Conclusion

Ahmad has choices There is no “perfect” solution for Ahmad’s Situation but he has a few options to explore. The problem in our Arab World is that we are (in most cases) required to sacrifice important aspects of our lives to improve other aspects. This dilemma is affecting so many people across the Arab World, especially during these hard times.