Data Vis Dispatch, August 26: Africa map, nations' energy, and more

Welcome back to the 207th edition of Data Vis Dispatch! Every week, we’ll be publishing a collection of the best small and large data visualizations we find, especially from news organizations — to celebrate data journalism, data visualization, simple charts, elaborate maps, and their creators.

Recurring topics this week include a campaign questioning the Mercator map, nations' energy supply and demand, and more.

A campaign backed by the African Union has been making the cartographic rounds, aiming to abolish the popular Mercator projection in favor of alternatives that better represent the continent's true size:

NPR: <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/08/21/nx-s1-5508358/mercator-map-africa"><strong>African Union backs campaign to replace Mercator map that distorts Africa's size</strong></a>, August 21 — NPR: **African Union backs campaign to replace Mercator map that distorts Africa's size**, August 21

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/world/africa/africa-map-mercator.html"><strong>Africa Is Big, and It Wants the World’s Maps to Show It</strong></a>, August 19 — The New York Times: **Africa Is Big, and It Wants the World’s Maps to Show It**, August 19

Diario Sur: <a href="https://www.diariosur.es/sociedad/africa-discriminada-mapas-20250824165653-ntrc.html"><strong>¿Está África discriminada (también) en los mapas?</strong></a><strong> </strong>[<em>Is Africa discriminated against (also) on maps?</em>], August 24 <span class="badge">Visual demonstration</span> — Diario Sur: **¿Está África discriminada (también) en los mapas?** [*Is Africa discriminated against (also) on maps?*], August 24 Visual demonstration

Solar energy can play a vital role in energy supply and demand:

Bloomberg: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2025-bottlenecks-blackouts-grid-stability-solar-wind/?srnd=phx-graphics-v2"><strong>The Fix for Solar Power Blackouts Is Already Here</strong></a>, August 21 — Bloomberg: **The Fix for Solar Power Blackouts Is Already Here**, August 21

Zeit Online: <a href="https://www.zeit.de/digital/2025-08/sicherheit-solaranlagen-wechselrichter-angriff-hacker"><strong>Ein Superblackout? Eine reale Gefahr in Deutschland</strong></a>, August 25 — Zeit Online: **Ein Superblackout? Eine reale Gefahr in Deutschland**, August 25

Meanwhile the summers get hotter and longer:

The New York Times:<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/world/canada/canada-heat-map-tracker.html"><strong>Tracking Heat Across Canada</strong></a>, August 26 — The New York Times: **Tracking Heat Across Canada**, August 26

The Washington Post:<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2025/longer-summer-hot-temperatures-map"><strong>See how much longer summer is in your town</strong></a>, August 24 — The Washington Post: **See how much longer summer is in your town**, August 24

We saw charts dealing with the U.S. political situation both directly and indirectly:

The New York Times:<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/22/us/politics/trump-emergency-immigration-tariffs-crime.html"><strong>How Trump Used 10 Emergency Declarations to Justify Hundreds of Actions</strong></a>, August 22 — The New York Times: **How Trump Used 10 Emergency Declarations to Justify Hundreds of Actions**, August 22

The New York Times:<strong> </strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/21/us/trump-deportations-summer-data-immigration-arrests.html"><strong>Deportations Reach New High After Summer Surge in Immigration Arrests</strong></a>, August 21 — The New York Times: **Deportations Reach New High After Summer Surge in Immigration Arrests**, August 21

CBC News: <a href="https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/features/2025/canada-international-trade/"><strong>How Canada’s imports and exports have changed since Trump</strong></a>, August 19 — CBC News: **How Canada’s imports and exports have changed since Trump**, August 19

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/23/health/prescription-drugs-manufacturing-tariffs.html"><strong>Where Your Medicines Are Made</strong></a>, August 23 — The New York Times: **Where Your Medicines Are Made**, August 23

And on the ongoing brutality for civilians in Gaza and Ukraine:

The Washington Post: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2025/gaza-hunger-starvation-children-body/"><strong>Gazans are starving. Here’s what lack of food does to the human body</strong></a>, August 22 — The Washington Post: **Gazans are starving. Here’s what lack of food does to the human body**, August 22

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/19/world/europe/ukraine-russia-frontline-maps.html"><strong>How Ukraine’s Frontline Has Moved</strong></a>, August 19 — The New York Times: **How Ukraine’s Frontline Has Moved**, August 19

We'll end on a lighter note with national parks and commuter rail:

The European Correspondent: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DNp-pHvO2L7/"><strong>Nature Counts</strong></a>, August 23 — The European Correspondent: **Nature Counts**, August 23

Bloomberg: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-njtransit-major-delays/"><strong>NJ Transit Is NYC’s Least Reliable Commuter Rail — By a Long Shot</strong></a>, August 19 — Bloomberg: **NJ Transit Is NYC’s Least Reliable Commuter Rail — By a Long Shot**, August 19

Jer Thorp: "[…] In 2009 I made this series, called 360/365, which each visualize a year of people and orgs featured in NYT stories," August 20 (Bluesky, Portfolio)

What else we found interesting

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/08/19/opinion/vaccines-autism-evidence.html"><strong>The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism</strong></a>, August 19 — The New York Times: **The Playbook Used to ‘Prove’ Vaccines Cause Autism**, August 19

Radio France Internationale: <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/en/international-news/20250820-antarctic-climate-shifts-threaten-catastrophic-impacts-globally"><strong>Antarctic climate shifts threaten 'catastrophic' impacts globally</strong></a>, August 20 — Radio France Internationale: **Antarctic climate shifts threaten 'catastrophic' impacts globally**, August 20

Reuters: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/AVIATION-SAFETY/lgpdaagabvo/"><strong>Surviving the unsurvivable</strong></a>, August 21 — Reuters: **Surviving the unsurvivable**, August 21

Applications are open for…

A senior data reporter at RADAR

Help us make this dispatch better! We’d love to hear which newsletters, blogs, or social media accounts we need to follow to learn about interesting projects, especially from less-covered parts of the world (Asia, South America, Africa). Write us at hello@datawrapper.de or leave a comment below. Want the Dispatch in your inbox every Tuesday? Sign up for our Blog Update newsletter!

Data Vis Dispatch, August 26: Africa map, nations' energy, and more

What else we found interesting

Newsletter

Related Posts

All Blog Categories

What else we found interesting

Newsletter

Related Posts

Data Vis Dispatch, October 28: Cats, deals, and uncertainty

Data Vis Dispatch, October 21: Jewelry heist, bird migration, and the music industry

Data Vis Dispatch, October 14: Addiction, animals, and canopies

All Blog Categories