Data Vis Dispatch, October 15

This week marked more than one year of war in Gaza. Several visualizations looked for individual stories in the violence and destruction:

Meanwhile in recent weeks, Israel has invaded southern Lebanon and bombed even the center of Beirut:

And we can't yet expect to have seen the last round of air attacks between Iran and Israel — not to mention Russia and Ukraine:

On the other side of the world, Hurricane Milton became this year's strongest recorded storm before making landfall in Florida on Wednesday:

Less than two weeks had passed since the devastating Hurricane Helene, though different regions were hit hardest:

Central Europe has also experienced severe rain and flooding this fall:

A palate cleanser in the form of Nobel Prizes — and their barely-there progress on gender parity:

But now it's on to the U.S. elections. The polls are bafflingly close:

Polarization has seen large swathes of the country abandoned by one or the other major party, and a political culture divided even over lunch menus:

Though at least some subgroups of voters are actually growing less polarized:

With a large proportion of expected mail ballots, the election's outcome may take a few days to determine — and with widespread conspiracy theories, it could take even longer to be accepted:

The Folha de S.Paulo was on a roll this week with charts of Brazil's municipal elections:

Plus a preview of the next stop on the 2024 election train:

In issues that affect elections — national economic trends, youth unemployment, and the cost of living:

In issues that hopefully do not affect elections — longer field goals and tennis injuries:

Several charts this week looked at the global trend of declining birth rates — at least some of which is due to declining teen pregnancy:

Finally, home solar panels, Singaporean playgrounds, and "mystery drones":