By President Donald Trump’s return to the White House was marked by a flurry of executive orders, from pardons for those involved in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol to withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization and the Paris Climate Accords. But some of his toughest — and most controversial — policies relate to migration and, upon taking office, Trump declared a national emergency on the US border with Mexico and unveiled plans to ramp up the forced removal of immigrants. Before his second time in office began, The Washington Post published an analysis of how a mass crackdown could unfold and who was most at risk of deportation. This edition of our Top 10 in Data Journalism, which considered stories between January 13 and 27, also highlights an investigation by Datatista into water contamination by “forever chemicals” in Spain; an analysis by Al Jazeera of the scale of the destruction in Gaza; a piece by The Wall Street Journal on the risks of nuclear war; and a guide to the Year of the Snake from the South China Morning Post.
Deportations and the Second Trump Administration
Screenshot: The Washington Post
As he was sworn in on January 20, Donald Trump quickly put into practice one of his many campaign promises: a plan for the mass round-up and forced removal of millions of immigrants. But before Trump even returned to the White House, The Washington Post analyzed how the project could unfold, considering which groups would be the priorities for deportation by the country’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Among those most at risk, they reported, are immigrants with criminal records or with some form of temporary or provisional legal protection, and millions of newcomers who arrived during the record border influx under former President Joe Biden. The team at the Post pulled data from ICE, Congressional reports, the Migration Policy Institute, and the Department of Homeland Security, charting removals and countries of origin, and breaking down how many migrants living in the US could feature in different categories. They also interviewed officials from ICE and other relevant agencies “to fill in gaps in the data and contextualize the numbers.”
Forever Chemicals in Spanish Water
Dots on the map represent Spanish municipalities where the amount of PFAS “forever” chemicals in tap water is at or above the legal limit (green dot) and measurements that are at 60% of their allowable limit. Screenshot, Datatista
PFAS are a family of synthetic chemicals known as “forever chemicals” because they do not degrade easily and accumulate in the environment. In this investigation, Datatista shows how these chemicals are widely detected in drinking water supply networks in Spain. Reporters analyzed data from the National Drinking Water Information System (SINAC) to map areas where the levels of PFAS breach safe limits to draw “the first X-ray of the situation of PFAS in tap water.” The report also found that an estimated 4.4 million people live in areas dubbed “critical,” where the contamination is at 60% of the legal limit. The data comes from the Forever Lobbying Project — formed by 46 journalists from 16 countries, in addition to 18 international academics and lawyers — which, for more than a year, scoured over 14,000 documents to investigate an orchestrated lobbying and disinformation campaign by the PFAS industry intending to dilute a European Union proposal to ban these types of products.
What’s Left of Post-War Gaza?
Image: Screenshot, Al Jazeera
After 15 months of conflict with Israel whose attacks brought unprecedented devastation to the Gaza Strip, a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect earlier in January. Three phases are planned, including a temporary ceasefire, the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the return of displaced Palestinians. An estimated 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced since the conflict began, but to what will they return as they start to make their way back home? Al Jazeera looked at the numbers to reflect on what is left of Gaza’s infrastructure, including schools, homes, hospitals, and roads. According to the report, researchers estimate that at least 60% of all buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed — with the number rising to 92% of residential homes.
The Growth of Fast Fires
Image: Screenshot, Reuters
The wildfires that have been raging in California since the beginning of the year have alarmed many because of the speed at which they have spread and devastated vast areas. According to this Reuters report, while an average wildfire can burn up to 895 acres of land in a day, the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles spread 16 times faster than that. This report details how “fast fires” such as the blazes in California usually erupt near towns and cities and are responsible for most of the structural damage caused by wildfires. However, location alone does not determine how fast a fire will grow, as a “wildfire needs not only the initial spark, but also the right fuel and weather.” Reporters used data to chart the structural damage caused by “fast fires,” and used fire status reports to show how the recent events in California compare to the top 20 fastest-growing fires across the continental US.
Turning Davos into a Fortress
During the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, up to 5,000 Swiss Army soldiers and police are stationed inside the town. Image: Screenshot, Tagesanzeiger
The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is an annual get-together of global politicians, business leaders, and civil society trailblazers, who meet to discuss the world’s most pressing issues. In this visual explainer, the Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger shows how the Swiss Army and police transform the small mountain town into a fortress to host the event. Maps detail the routes taken by most of 3,000 high-profile guests, and the security measures taken to keep them safe. There is a 46-kilometer (28-mile) no-fly zone around the town and security checkpoints at both ends of the mountain pass. Reporters also detail the locations of checkpoints and security zones in key venues and places where the most important guests are staying. According to the report, security for the event costs a total of 30 to 40 million Swiss francs (US$33-44 million), most of which is paid for by the Swiss public sector.
The New Era of Nuclear Threats
Image: Screenshot, The Wall Street Journal
Since the end of the Cold War, “as arsenals expand, alliances shift and treaties dissolve,” the world has never been closer to the risk of nuclear war, according to an analysis by The Wall Street Journal. In this piece, the newspaper shows how international treaties intended to limit the possession and development of nuclear weapons are collapsing, and how some nuclear powers are adding to their arsenals. It presents a timeline of the total number of warheads at three distinct points in history, focusing on the 16 countries that have “worked seriously” on developing a nuclear weapons program; charts of estimated US and Russian warhead stockpiles and estimated Chinese nuclear forces; a world map showing countries’ positions in relation to other nuclear programs; and interesting projections on the longest range of nuclear missiles belonging to the US, Russia, China, and North Korea.
How Toxic Waste from the US Ends Up in Mexico
Image: Screenshot, the Guardian
A joint investigation by the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab has revealed how toxic waste from the US ends up in a neighborhood in Mexico, where it creates a “toxic cocktail” of pollution. According to the report, US steel mills send electric arc furnace dust, which is made from recycling discarded scrap metal, to a facility in the Monterrey area of northern Mexico that operates 24 hours a day. At the reporters’ request, a researcher collected soil and dust samples from homes near the plant and found very high levels of toxic substances. One school, for example, had lead wipe levels 1,760 times higher than the US health risk limit, while one home had 14 times more cadmium than the limit — both are carcinogens. The report shows the path taken by toxic waste from the US and includes a map of the 18 locations tested that lie within a 2.5 kilometer (1.5 mile) radius of the plant, showing the concentrations of toxic substances that, according to local news coverage, have been making the population sick.
Drought in the Amazon
Image: Screenshot, InfoAmazonia
According to InfoAmazonia, more than half of the municipalities in the Brazilian Amazon suffered from drought throughout 2024. According to the data analyzed by the National Center for Monitoring and Alerting of Natural Disasters (Cemaden), 459 (59.5%) of the 772 municipalities in the region suffered from climate change last year. To produce the report, the team also sailed the Solimões River in the state of Amazonas and visited riverside communities impacted by the lack of water. They present graphs showing the variation in each month of the year, with September — the height of summer in the region — standing out, with 98.3% of cities experiencing some degree of drought. They also show, month by month, the situation in the city of Tarauacá in the state of Acre, the only state with a record of “exceptional drought” — the most severe classification. The report also presents data that assesses the commitment of parliamentarians to the environment and shows that, of the cities facing severe, extreme, or exceptional drought, 89% had elected mayors with a very poor rating for environmental causes.
Road to Electric Cars
Image: Screenshot, Financial Times
By 2030, the UK government wants 80% of new cars to be electric. In this special, the Financial Times presents the imaginary town of Greenwell — where everything has been designed to make EV use easier — to show how this ideal vision is a far cry from the experience of current electric vehicle owners, and what changes are needed to accelerate the transition. The report allows readers to select from four main reasons that are putting drivers off buying an EV and provides solutions to each of these obstacles based on analysts’ views: upfront cost, range and charging, charging costs, and the idea of reducing the number of cars in general. For example, according to the report, an electric vehicle is, on average, 25% more expensive than an internal combustion engine vehicle, but 99% of all car journeys in England are under 100 miles, which would pose no problem for an EV’s range before it needs to be recharged.
Year of the Snake
Image: Screenshot, South China Morning Post
On January 29, a new year began, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. The South China Morning Post has published a guide with everything you need to know about the forthcoming Year of the Snake, according to the Chinese zodiac — where one of 12 animals is assigned to a person’s year of birth. The report explains that, in China, snakes are associated with harvest, procreation, spirituality, and good fortune, as well as cunning, evil, threat, and terror. In addition, each year, an animal is paired with one of the five elements: gold/metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, so the pairing between a given animal and elemental only repeats every 60 years (2025 is a wood snake year). The SCMP also brings predictions for the 12 signs of the zodiac, an explanation of the purpose or meaning attributed to each of the 16 days of the festival, and a list of celebrities born in previous Years of the Snake, such as Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and US pop singer Taylor Swift.
Bonus: State of the Data Viz Industry
Image: Screenshot, Data Visualization Society
The Data Visualization Society has released the results of its 2024 State of the Data Viz Industry Survey. The goal is to help its community understand the state of the field, the people who create it, the challenges they face, what can help practitioners, and where the discipline is headed. The report summarizes responses from 763 people from 58 countries, who collectively speak more than 50 languages in addition to English, and includes a wealth of charts: data visualization prominence by role type and industry; respondents’ years of data visualization experience over time; the hours they spend on data and visualization tasks; and even the use of artificial intelligence in the field. You can check out the detailed results here.
