DoomiestGraph – Page 52 – Desdemona Despair

Anti‐Asian hate crime incidents reported to police in select U.S. cities, 2019‐2020. Graphic: CSUSB Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism

March 13, 2021

Anti-Asian hate crimes increased by nearly 150 percent in 2020, mostly in N.Y. and L.A. – “What Trump did is that he weaponized it”

By Kimmy Yam 9 March 2021 (NBC News) – An analysis of police department statistics has revealed that the United States experienced a significant hike in anti-Asian hate crimes last year across major cities. The analysis released by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, this month examined hate […]

Western Monarch butterfly abundance at 149 overwintering sites in California, 2017-2021. These critically low numbers follow two years with fewer than 30,000 butterflies—the previous record lows, indicating that the western monarch butterfly migration is nearing collapse. Sites were visited during both the Thanksgiving and New Year’s Counts during the 2020–2021 count season. Graphic: Xerces Society

March 13, 2021

Western Monarch butterfly population closer to extinction – No Endangered Species Act protection in sight – “In only a few decades, a migration of millions has been reduced to less than two thousand butterflies”

PORTLAND, Oregon, 19 January 2021 – The Xerces Society today announced that only 1,914 monarch butterflies were recorded overwintering on the California coast this year. This critically low number follows two years with fewer than 30,000 butterflies—the previous record lows—indicating that the western monarch butterfly migration is nearing collapse. The final results from the 24th annual Western […]

Total U.S. debt as a percentage of GDP, 1900-2021 and projected to 2051. In CBO’s projections, federal debt held by the public reaches 107 percent of GDP (surpassing its historical high) in 2031 and continues to climb. Federal debt held by the public is projected to equal 202 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2051, and the deficit is projected to equal 13 percent of GDP. Graphic: CBO

March 6, 2021

U.S. debt to break World War 2 record by 2031 – “Even if economic conditions were more favorable than CBO currently projects, debt in 2051 will probably be much higher than it is today”

By Niv Elis 4 March 2021 (The Hill) – The nation’s debt burden is on track to surpass its historic high point in a decade, reaching 107 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2031, according to a new report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (pdf). The debt surpassed 100 percent of GDP last year […]

Workers in decontamination suits spray down the deck around the “Christ the Redeemer” statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Dado Galdieri / The New York Times

March 3, 2021

Brazil’s Covid crisis is a warning to the whole world, scientists say – “The acceleration of the epidemic is leading to the collapse of public and private hospital systems”

By Manuela Andreoni, Ernesto Londoño, and Letícia Casado 3 March 2021 RIO DE JANEIRO (The New York Times) – Covid-19 has already left a trail of death and despair in Brazil, one of the worst in the world. Now, a year into the pandemic, the country is setting another wrenching record. No other nation that […]

Texas power grid load shedding in the early morning of 15 February 2021, 0123-0203. Up to an additional ∼24,000 MW net generation was unavailable due to extreme weather. Loss of generation was 52,277 MW (approximately 48.6 percent) at the highest point. Peak load shed was 20,000 MW. Most of the loss was caused by limited gas availability for gas-fired power plants. Graphic: ERCOT

March 1, 2021

Texas power grid failure during Winter Storm Uri mostly due to limited gas availability for gas-fired power plants

25 February 2021 (ERCOT) – [The following report is excerpted from the ERCOT slide presentation, Review of February 2021 Extreme Cold Weather Event (pdf), presented by ERCOT CEO Bill Magness to the Texas Senate Business and Commerce Committee House Joint Committee on State Affairs and Energy Resources on 25 February 2021. –Des] Overview of Cold […]

Forest degradation in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve core area, 2002-2020. The presence of the Monarch butterfly in the Mexican hibernation forests decreased by 26 percent last December, occupying 2.10 hectares (ha) compared to the 2.83 hectares reported during the same month in 2019. Meanwhile, the core forest area in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (MBBR) where the lepidopteran establishes the main hibernation colonies recorded, between March 2019 and March 2020, 20.26 ha of degradation, four times more than in 2018-2019 when 5 ha were degraded. Graphic: WWF

February 28, 2021

Eastern Monarch butterfly population declined by 26 percent in 2020 – Degradation of temperate forests in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve was four times higher than in 2019

By Wendy Caldwell 25 February 2021 MEXICO CITY (Monarch Joint Venture) – The presence of the Monarch butterfly in the Mexican hibernation forests decreased by 26 percent last December, occupying 2.10 hectares (ha) compared to the 2.83 ha reported during the same month in 2019. Meanwhile, the core forest area in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere […]

Results from the WEF Global Risks Perception Survey 2020. The Global Risks Network chart shows how respondents rank the most concerning risks globally and their drivers. Data: World Economic Forum Global Risks Perception Survey 2020 / The Global Risks Report 2021. Graphic: WEF

February 28, 2021

WEF Global Risks Report 2021: Risk landscape dominated by pandemic and climate change – “Ignoring risks doesn’t make them go away”

By Colleen Zitt 3 February 2021 (Zurich) – As Chief Risk Officer for Zurich North America, I eagerly await the annual release of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Risks Report. This year’s 2021 edition is no exception. Its thoughtful, laser-sharp analysis of short- and long-term global risks — dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change — […]

Life expectancy at birth for eleven OECD nations, 1980–2018. The U.S. is unique among wealthy nations for having a declining life expectancy. Graphic: The Commonwealth Fund

February 28, 2021

2020 report: U.S. citizens pay more for health care than any other OECD nation – But they have decreasing life expectancy, highest suicide rate, most chronic health conditions, and highest obesity rate

By Roosa Tikkanen and Katharine Fields 25 February 2021 (The Commonwealth Fund) – International comparisons of health care systems offer valuable tools to health ministers, policymakers, and academics wishing to evaluate the performance of their country’s system. In this chartbook [ppt, pdf], we use data collected by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) […]

Observed sea-level rise in Rockport, Texas, 1969-2020 and projected to 2050. Rockport has the second-highest annual rise rate (7.1 mm/year in 2020), and the highest projected sea-level rise for 2050 at 0.82 meters (2.69 ft) above mean sea level in 1992. Graphic: VIMS

February 28, 2021

U.S. sea-level report cards: 2020 again trends toward acceleration – Water levels at 26 of 32 stations rose at higher rate than in 2019

By David Malmquist 24 January 2021 (VIMS) – Sea level “report cards” issued annually by researchers at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science add further evidence of an accelerating rate of sea-level rise during 2020 at nearly all tidal stations along the U.S. coastline. The team’s web-based report cards project sea level to […]

U.S. life expectancy at birth by sex, 2000-2020. In the first half of 2020, life expectancy at birth for the total U.S. population was 77.8 years, declining by 1.0 year from 78.8 in 2019 (6). Life expectancy at birth for males was 75.1 years in the first half of 2020, representing a decline of 1.2 years from 76.3 years in 2019. For females, life expectancy declined to 80.5 years, decreasing 0.9 year from 81.4 years in 2019. The difference in life expectancy between the sexes was 5.4 years in the first half of 2020, increasing from 5.1 in 2019. Between 2000 and 2010, the difference in life expectancy between the sexes narrowed from 5.2 years to its lowest level of 4.8 years and then gradually increasing to 5.1 years in 2019. Graphic: NCHS

February 20, 2021

U.S. life expectancy drops by a full year due to COVID-19 and fentanyl overdose deaths – Toll on minority communities is significantly more deadly – “We haven’t seen a decline of this magnitude in decades”

By Sabrina Tavernise and Abby Goodnough 18 February 2021 (The New York Times) – Life expectancy in the United States fell by a full year in the first six months of 2020, the federal government reported on Thursday, the largest drop since World War II and a grim measure of the deadly consequences of the coronavirus […]