This article is brought to you by Datawrapper, a data visualization tool for creating charts, maps, and tables. Learn more.

All Blog Categories
Data Vis Dispatch
7 min
July 15th, 2025

Data Vis Dispatch, July 15: "Big Beautiful Bill," extreme weather, and other challenges

The best of last week’s big and small data visualizations
Portrait of Jonathan Dahle
Jonathan Dahle
Portrait of Veronika Halamková
Veronika Halamková

Welcome back to the 201st 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.

Last week we mentioned that Dispatch fans could look forward to a few cool new features in the coming weeks, and the first one is already here! Check out the table of contents for an overview of topics in this week's post — or click your favorite section to jump there directly.

Recurring topics this week include the Big Beautiful Bill, extreme weather, and other challenges.

Since we were busy last week celebrating the 200th Dispatch and spilling the tea on what goes into making one, this will be a rare double edition where we look at great data vis created in the past two weeks.

That's why our first topic is the Big Beautiful Bill, a controversial package of laws signed by U.S. President Trump on July 4, and its consequences:

The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/07/03/opinion/domestic-policy-bill-in-charts.html?partner=slack&amp;smid=sl-share"><strong>How Bad Is This Bill? The Answer in 10 Charts</strong></a>, July 3
The New York Times: How Bad Is This Bill? The Answer in 10 Charts, July 3
The Economist: <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/07/01/ten-charts-to-explain-trumps-big-beautiful-bill?link_source=ta_bluesky_link&amp;taid=686706d46b59ab0001f290ce&amp;utm_campaign=trueanthem&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=bluesky"><strong>Ten charts to explain Trump’s big, beautiful bill</strong></a>, July 1
The Economist: Ten charts to explain Trump’s big, beautiful bill, July 1

While Harvard University is looking at major budget cuts, people in the U.S. are facing a number of other challenges, including wealth inequality, measles, and massive landfills:

The Wall Street Journal: <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/harvard-trump-funding-budget-cuts-1dc5bf2f?mod=e2twg"><strong>Harvard Is Staring at a Billion-Dollar Budget Shortfall From Clash With Trump</strong></a>, July 2
The Wall Street Journal: Harvard Is Staring at a Billion-Dollar Budget Shortfall From Clash With Trump, July 2
Shri Khalpada: "How the side the on the left keeps convincing the side on the right that they need more space is beyond me," July 10 (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/shrikhalpada.dev/post/3ltml3ifxlk2u"><strong>Bluesky</strong></a>, <a href="https://perthirtysix.com/tool/american-wealth-inequality"><strong>Blog</strong></a>)
Shri Khalpada: "How the side the on the left keeps convincing the side on the right that they need more space is beyond me," July 10 (Bluesky, Blog)
The New York Times: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/well/us-measles-record-outbreaks.html"><strong>Measles Cases Hit Highest Total Since U.S. Eliminated the Disease</strong></a>, July 9
The New York Times: Measles Cases Hit Highest Total Since U.S. Eliminated the Disease, July 9
Bloomberg: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-america-hot-garbage-problem-toxic-landfills/"><strong>America’s Hot Garbage Problem</strong></a>, July 1
Bloomberg: America’s Hot Garbage Problem, July 1

It wouldn't be a summer edition without a mention of extreme weather. This time, we have a map and two charts, looking at high temperatures in Europe and in rural vs. urban areas:

Die Zeit: <a href="https://www.zeit.de/wissen/2025-07/hitze-europa-hoechsttemperaturen-vergleich-daten?freebie=0136142c"><strong>Hier ist die Hitze am extremsten</strong></a> [<em>Here's where the heat is most extreme</em>], July 2
Die Zeit: Hier ist die Hitze am extremsten [Here's where the heat is most extreme], July 2
Reuters: <a href="https://www.reuters.com/graphics/CLIMATE-CHANGE/URBAN-HEAT/byvrejywdpe/"><strong>The floor is lava</strong></a>, July 1
Reuters: The floor is lava, July 1
Diario Sur: <a href="https://www.surinenglish.com/spain/summer-heat-increasingly-affected-climate-change-20250710163257-nt.html"><strong>Summer heat is increasingly affected by climate change</strong></a>, July 10
Diario Sur: Summer heat is increasingly affected by climate change, July 10

On the upside, global investments in energy transition keep going up:

Canary Media: <a href="https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/clean-energy/global-investment-fossil-fuels-2025"><strong>The world is investing more in clean energy than fossil fuels</strong></a>, July 11
Canary Media: The world is investing more in clean energy than fossil fuels, July 11

Other notable visualizations of the week covered animals in children's stories, chances of seeing the Northern Lights, pop culture, and more.

The Pudding: <a href="https://pudding.cool/2025/07/kids-books/"><strong>Bears Will Be Boys</strong></a>, July 7
The Pudding: Bears Will Be Boys, July 7
maps.com: <a href="https://www.maps.com/using-maps-pinpoint-aurora/"><strong>Using Maps to Pinpoint an Aurora</strong></a>, July 7
maps.com: Using Maps to Pinpoint an Aurora, July 7
La Nacion: <a href="https://www.lanacion.com.ar/sociedad/la-hora-pico-ya-no-existe-los-numeros-que-muestran-porque-la-panamericana-se-convirtio-en-un-nid07072025/"><strong>La hora pico ya no existe</strong></a><strong> </strong>[<em>Rush hour no longer exists</em>], July 7
La Nacion: La hora pico ya no existe [Rush hour no longer exists], July 7
NBC News: <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/men-do-housework-women-still-do-more-rcna216748"><strong>U.S. men are contributing to household work more than ever</strong></a>, July 3
NBC News: U.S. men are contributing to household work more than ever, July 3
Diario Sur: <a href="https://www.diariosur.es/culturas/agenda-musical-malaga-mujeres-20250711004227-nt.html"><strong>La agenda musical de Málaga: ¿dónde están las mujeres?</strong></a><strong> </strong>[<em>Malaga's music agenda: where are the women?</em>], July 13
Diario Sur: La agenda musical de Málaga: ¿dónde están las mujeres? [Malaga's music agenda: where are the women?], July 13
Der Spiegel: <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/kultur/tv/sandra-maischberger-markus-lanz-und-caren-miosga-talkshows-in-der-datenanalyse-a-b7e46530-d826-4424-95c5-6c2f220595b1"><strong>Talkshow-König Karl, Berlins Balzac und der ewige TV-Schattenkanzlerkandidat</strong></a><strong> </strong>[<em>Talk show king Karl, Berlin's Balzac and the eternal TV shadow chancellor candidate</em>], July 12
Der Spiegel: Talkshow-König Karl, Berlins Balzac und der ewige TV-Schattenkanzlerkandidat [Talk show king Karl, Berlin's Balzac and the eternal TV shadow chancellor candidate], July 12
Der Spiegel: <a href="https://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/soziales/lebensqualitaet-in-diesen-metropolen-lebt-es-sich-am-besten-a-49ee5bc6-0be3-4f29-b00c-8db3ae1727be"><strong>In diesen Metropolen lebt es sich am besten</strong></a> [<em>These cities are the best places to live</em>], July 7
Der Spiegel: In diesen Metropolen lebt es sich am besten [These cities are the best places to live], July 7
The Economist: <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/graphic-detail/2025/07/09/russias-summer-ukraine-offensive-looks-like-its-deadliest-so-far"><strong>Russia’s summer Ukraine offensive looks like its deadliest yet</strong></a>, July 9
The Economist: Russia’s summer Ukraine offensive looks like its deadliest yet, July 9
La Nacion: <a href="https://www.lanacion.com.ar/politica/las-cinco-vueltas-al-mundo-de-javier-milei-nid12072025/"><strong>Destinos favoritos y comitiva</strong></a><strong> </strong>[<em>Favorite destinations and entourage</em>], July 12
La Nacion: Destinos favoritos y comitiva [Favorite destinations and entourage], July 12
WeVis: <a href="https://wevis.info/senate13th/"><strong>They work for (you) ‘WHO’?</strong></a>, July 7
WeVis: They work for (you) ‘WHO’?, July 7

What else we found interesting

Chartography: <a href="https://www.chartography.net/p/completely-new-perspectivesmore-eloquent"><strong>Completely New Perspectives—More Eloquent and Richer than All Others</strong></a>, July 1
Chartography: Completely New Perspectives—More Eloquent and Richer than All Others, July 1

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!

Portrait of Jonathan Dahle

Jonathan Dahle (he/him) is a working student on Datawrapper’s communications team. When he’s not supporting his colleagues, you can find him exploring Berlin, enjoying the outdoors, or creating audiovisual and 3D art. Besides working at Datawrapper, Jonathan is a design student and freelance photographer.

Portrait of Veronika Halamková

Veronika Halamková (she/her, @v_halamkova) is a data vis writer in the Communications team. She lives in Czechia and creates and writes beautiful data visualizations. Before Datawrapper, she worked in the data team at Tortoise Media.

Newsletter

Sign up to our newsletters to get notified about everything new on our blog.

Related Posts

Data Vis Dispatch, July 8: 200th edition — behind the scenes, Q&A, and new features

Data Vis Dispatch, July 8: 200th edition — behind the scenes, Q&A, and new features
July 8th, 2025 by Jonathan Dahle
Data Vis Dispatch, July 1: Tanker traffic, N.Y.C. elections, and the race for renewables

Data Vis Dispatch, July 1: Tanker traffic, N.Y.C. elections, and the race for renewables
July 1st, 2025 by Jonathan Dahle
Data Vis Dispatch, June 24: U.S. bombs Iran, energy reports, and rising temperatures

Data Vis Dispatch, June 24: U.S. bombs Iran, energy reports, and rising temperatures
June 24th, 2025 by Jonathan Dahle

All Blog Categories

Climate visColor book updatesColor in data visCovid visData Vis Book ClubData Vis DispatchData vis do’s & don’tsDatawrapper NewsFix my chartHow to deal with dataMap StoriesMapsOpinionsTeam news and hiringUncategorizedUnder the hoodUnwrappedUser storiesWeekly Charts
View a chronological list of our articles Learn more about our newsletters