Earth.Org · Long-form series
Too Hot To Live
A series asking where mean annual temperatures could pass the 29°C level that people have historically avoided living above. The Mexico piece finds that most of the southern coastline could pass it by 2070, affecting around 16 million people.
- Published
- Earth.Org, 28 October 2020 (Mexico)
- My role
- Data Journalism Team Lead (2020 to 2022)
- Tools
- Python, R and Adobe Illustrator
What it shows
A series asking where mean annual temperatures could pass the 29°C level that people have historically avoided living above. The Mexico piece finds that most of the southern coastline could pass it by 2070, affecting around 16 million people.
What I did
Data Journalism Team Lead at Earth.Org (January 2020 to January 2022), leading a volunteer data team of between 5 and 15 people. For each piece I conceptualised it, did the research and directed the number crunching and the final design. A graphic designer handled final production. Mapping by Simon Papai.
Data and methods
Projections from the PNAS paper "Future of the human niche" (Xu, Chi et al., 2020), which maps where mean annual temperatures could exceed 29°C. The Mexico piece adds humidity, rural population and agriculture context for the affected states.
Full sources are listed in the original article.
Tools
Python, R and Adobe Illustrator.
Who I worked with
Earth.Org's data team was made up of volunteer contributors from around the world, between 5 and 15 people at a time. Mapping by Simon Papai.
Limits
Mean annual temperature is only one way to define habitability. The piece itself notes that humidity, fitness, and access to air conditioning change what a given temperature means in practice.