While living through some of the worst air pollution ever in Manhattan, NY, this past week, I researched available data to get a sense, beyond what I saw out the window, of just how bad things were. The numbers were sobering, but the maps and graphs were what I found most impactful. The massive extent of the pollution as well as the sharp increases above annual norms were shocking.
Data visualization helps people see, interact with and understand numbers and better grasp the insights they contain. Developing strong data visualization skills is one of the most important things you can do to communicate more effectively. Fortunately, there are a wealth of data visualization learning resources and tools available. I'm listing two below that I've personally found really useful, along with the best site I've found for accessing global air quality visualizations.
- Edward Tufte's classic book, "The Visual Display of Quantitative Information." (c) 2001. This richly illustrated text is a masterpiece on visualization. It outlines a strategic and structured way of approaching visualization, provides principles you can use to create compelling visuals and explores examples of masterly visualizations (and some truly awful ones!). He's highly passionate about data and how it's explained visually and is a great presenter. I attended his one day, in person, workshop early in my transition from Marketing to Ad Tech and consider it pivotal. In my view, it's the very best one day course I've ever attended.
- Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) is a powerful, secure, scalable, and collaborative solutions suite that offers a wide range of tools including machine learning and artificial intelligence tools. I work at Oracle, so recommending OAC is drinking the Kool-Aid, but I really do find it to be an exceptionally robust, intuitive analytical and visualization platform. You can see several outstandng videos of OAC in action here.
- IQAir is a Swiss company that makes air filters and purifiers and maintains a host of active global air quality visualizations you can access here. You can see levels of PM2.5 (fine particles, less than 2.5 microns in diameter, that can penetrate the bloodstream to cause serious health problems) as well as other contaminants. You can also compare pollution levels across many of the world's major cities.
Founder, Grahams Marketing Services LLC | Ex-Oracle, Amazon, Starcom, P&G | Digital & Traditional Marketing | Strategic Business Development | Integrated Marketing | Marketing Measurement
1 年We're having another spell of painfully unhealthy air in NYC. Hopefully, this doesn't last too long. If anyone wants to check out air quality here in real time, here's a link for that: https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/beta/key-topics/airquality/realtime/
Founder, Grahams Marketing Services LLC | Ex-Oracle, Amazon, Starcom, P&G | Digital & Traditional Marketing | Strategic Business Development | Integrated Marketing | Marketing Measurement
1 年Even though NYC air quality is considered “generally good,” pollution still causes damage per the NYC Environmental Health Portal, “Fine particles (PM2.5) are among the most harmful pollutants. Long-term exposure to PM2.5 contributes to an estimated 2,300 excess deaths from lung and heart disease each year in NYC (1 out of every 20 deaths in NYC).”