Data Vis Dispatch, March 17: AI, health, and Labubus

This week, we start with charts about health. In Germany, higher education seems to be correlated with higher alcohol consumption. The government of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, had to deal with a different health concern: the city's hygiene. And in the United States, a growing number of autism diagnoses leads to rising therapy payments.

In Iran, pollution has increased since the start of the war, with toxic smoke causing further negative health impacts. Around the world, mining activity close to biodiverse areas has also contributed to the damage. Ultimately, these factors are accelerating climate change, leading to higher temperatures.

Satellite imagery helps track urban changes, such as the environmental impacts of drilling operations in the Canadian subarctic, as well as land changes caused by targeted attacks on farming communities in Sudan. Furthermore, they provide important updates on the situation in the Middle East.

Apart from satellite imagery, maps are another trusty tool for showing the effects of war. With ongoing strikes across the Middle East, desalination plants have been damaged, affecting the water supply to numerous towns dependent on the facilities. Flight traffic has resumed, though it is still far below usual numbers. Concerns remain over the undersea cable network, which could cause massive disruptions to global interconnectivity if severed or damaged.

AI is expected to boost the software market. However, a boom in data centres worldwide sparks concerns about potential water shortages. Jobs are also being impacted, with some roles being considered more vulnerable to change than others.

The results of the first round of the French municipal elections have been visualised using a variety of maps.

Staying on the topic of politics, rural areas in the northwestern Spanish region of Castile and León are becoming more conservative. Meanwhile, an increase in electoral autocracies has been observed internationally.