Demand for the energy source really started to soar during the Industrial Revolution, and it continues to power some of the world’s largest economies today. However, as the clean energy revolution heats up, will coal continue to be a viable option? Today’s data visualization from Carbon Brief maps the changing number of global coal power plants operating between 2000 and 2018. The interactive timeline pulls from the Global Coal Plant Tracker’s latest data and features around 10,000 retired, operating, and planned coal units, totaling close to 3,000 gigawatts (GW) of capacity across 95 countries....

As unemployment rates hit all-time highs and businesses scrambled to stay afloat, new data shows that current dollar GDP plummeted from nearly $21.6 trillion down to $19.5 trillion between Q1’2020 and Q2’2020 (seasonally adjusted at annual rates). While all states experienced a decline, the effects were not distributed equally across the nation. This visualization takes a look at the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, uncovering the biggest declines across states, and which industries were most affected by COVID-19 related closures and uncertainty....

Yet, despite an overall increase globally, not all regions have aged at the same rate. For instance, Europe’s median age has grown by 14 years, while Africa’s has only increased by 1 year. Today’s animated map uses data from the UN Population Index to highlight the changes in median age over the last 70 years, and to visualize the differences between each region. We also explain why some regions skew older than others....

Today’s visualization from HowMuch.net highlights the countries in which tourists spend the most money. Locations have been resized based on spending amounts, which come from the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Oh, The Places Tourists Will Go Across the different regions, Europe’s combined tourist spending dominates at $570 billion. Easy access to closely-located countries, both via rail networks and a shared currency, may be a reason why almost 710 million visitors toured the region in 2018....

This look at trending searches for every U.S. state is a window into the topics people were truly curious about in 2021. From political tensions to meme stocks, and from Elon Musk to a devastating tornado, we saw a wide range of trending searches throughout the year. In the above animated video, Reddit user u/V1Analytics pulls together the top trending search terms from Google’s 2021 Year in Search summary (for the period before mid-November 2021) and Google’s Daily Search Trends page (from mid-November to December 20th) to illustrate the daily trends for each state....

You may have seen diamond hands, rockets, and r/wallstreetbets rallying cries in the past few weeks—but what does it all mean? In this graphic we explain the events that led to an explosive rise in GameStop’s share price, along with the Reddit revolution fueling it. Gamestop’s stock has been on a wild roller coaster ride, rising by roughly 640% from the start of last week to its peak. After Robinhood and other brokers initializing trading restrictions due to the heightened market activity, the stock has since fallen more than 80% to $90 per share....

The Decline of Coal in Three Charts How coal went from hero to zero in just five short years. The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. There was a time in the not so distant past that coal was the unquestioned all-star of the energy mix. Just over a decade ago, coal-fired power generated more than 50% of U.S. electricity. Coal is cheap and found almost everywhere, but it’s also extremely easy to scale with....

on But fast forward to the end of last week, and SVB was shuttered by regulators after a panic-induced bank run. So, how exactly did this happen? We dig in below. Road to a Bank Run SVB and its customers generally thrived during the low interest rate era, but as rates rose, SVB found itself more exposed to risk than a typical bank. Even so, at the end of 2022, the bank’s balance sheet showed no cause for alarm....

Measuring market data using fiat currencies can be misleading – even though an asset may rise in dollars, it may be because of declining currency value rather than true economic process. With central banks devaluing currency at record rates, gold’s steady purchasing power makes it an ideal alternative pricing mechanism. on Did you know that nearly one-fifth of all the gold ever mined is held by central banks? Besides investors and jewelry consumers, central banks are a major source of gold demand....

The Highest and Lowest Places on Earth Today’s infographic shows the highest and lowest places on Earth, including both man-made and natural points. The Bingham Canyon Mine, which we discuss in our copper porphyry infographic, is the deepest open pit mine in the world at 3,182 ft. The deepest underground gold mines are 4x as deep: Mpongeng and TauTona Mines, both located in South Africa, are about 12,800ft deep into the Earth’s crust....

The Look and Feel of Canadian Venture Market Bottoms From 1981 to 2014 Special thanks to Dajin Resources for sponsoring. Also, information on market bottoms compiled by Ron Loewen. In December 2014, the deteriorating market for metals and a suddenly floundering oil price pulled the resource-heavy TSX Venture Index to an all-time low. Big board indices such as the S&P 500 are still reaching new highs each week, yet this is the second longest bear market since 1932 for gold stocks according to Barron’s Gold Mining Index (BGMI)....

The fifth biggest retail bank, U.S. Bancorp, is nothing to sneeze at, either. It’s got 3,151 banking offices and employs 65,000 people. However, it still pales in comparison with the Big Four, holding only a mere $271 billion in deposits. Today’s visualization looks at consolidation in the banking industry over the course of two decades. Between 1990 and 2010, eventually 37 banks would become JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup....

The tech giant will acquire the famed gaming company Activision Blizzard, for $69 billion. This makes them one of the biggest video game development market players (a fact that has not escaped the notice of the FTC). Such multi-billion gaming company acquisitions are quickly becoming a norm. Some of the largest takeovers have occurred in the past three to five years. A Brief History of the Major Gaming Company Acquisitions Until January 2022, Tencent’s $8....

The world is infinitely complex and burgeoning with all kinds of information. As a result, it seems counterintuitive that things can be reduced to a basic bubble chart or a graph – and to be fair, most things can’t. When the opportunity does arise, however, the results can be very compelling and thought-provoking. A distilled story can help create insight around a subject that wasn’t possible when looking at it with more nuance and complexity....

Major advancements in medicine have led to a significant increase in average life expectancy, with vaccines being hailed as one of the most successful interventions to date. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that vaccines have prevented 10 million deaths between 2010 and 2015 alone. But while some were created and distributed in just over four months, others have taken over 40 years to develop. Then again, previous pandemics have petered out without any vaccine at all....

Billions of people around the world grew up during the age of social media, and mankind is slowly marching toward a future where nearly everyone will be a digital native. For the one-third of humanity that now uses a smartphone, messaging and status updates are often more natural than having a live conversation. In a world where social interactions are peppered with emojis and funneled through a front-facing camera, the platforms we use become more than mere service providers; they are the connective tissue of our society....

In spite of these dangers, methane abatement receives a fraction of all climate financing. Based on an analysis from the Climate Policy Initiative, $110 billion in funding is needed annually, or about tenfold the amount spent today. This infographic sponsored by Carbon Streaming Corporation looks at the benefits of mitigating methane emissions across key sectors. The Benefits of Reducing Methane Emissions The risk of methane emissions is substantial: it has contributed to nearly half of net global warming....

Today’s timeline from KickResume is an inventive and entertaining look at Einstein’s life and achievements. Younger Life Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879, in the German city of Ulm. From an early age, Einstein was fascinated by mathematics, science, and music. While he would eventually go on to reveal the inner workings of the universe, Einstein struggled as a student, failed exams, and had dust-ups with authority figures....

It’s no surprise then that over the last year, only one U.S. newspaper of the top 25 most popular in the country saw positive growth in their daily print circulations. Based on data from Press Gazette, this visual stacks up the amount of daily newspapers different U.S. publications dole out and how that’s changed year-over-year. Extra, Extra – Read All About It The most widely circulated physical newspaper is the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) by a long shot—sending out almost 700,000 copies a day....

This is one of the biggest questions facing the U.S. automotive industry. On one hand, Tesla has a very strong brand and loyal customer base (similar to Apple). The company also has a headstart in EV production and spends more on R&D per car than its competitors. On the other hand, legacy automakers such as Volkswagen are eager to overtake Tesla. As the incumbents, they have decades more experience in building cars and are investing billions of dollars to catch up....