Got graphs?

Here’s Gapminder, a Swedish project that is now partnered with Google in the development of “Trendalyzer” software. They take tons of data in numerous categories for countries all over the world, and you can see how the different relationships change over time in a colorful, animated way. Play around with it and you might notice some interesting (and possibly concerning) trends. Here are just some suggestions:

• X: Time; Y: Annual freshwater withdrawals % of internal resources (Take a look at some of the outliers. How do they continue to cope with such high levels of water use? If it’s not internal, where is it coming from?)
• X: Total income GDP; Y: Primary energy consumption (Look at how far ahead the United States is, and how quickly China has risen. Others are on the rise too, and economic development is a good thing. So, how can we cope with high demand in a sustainable, responsible way?)
• X: Primary energy consumption Y: Oil consumption/production/proved reserves (Notice an issue with how much oil is required in America compared with levels of domestic production and oil reserves. Try the same three factors with coal and watch China’s dot.)