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The water we encounter in life is moving through the stages of the water cycle. And even though rivers make up a tiny portion of all fresh water, they’re still one of the most visible parts of that cycle, especially for the billions of people who live in cities and towns built alongside them. Of course, rivers don’t just appear out of nowhere. They’re the end result of water’s land-based journey–the product of many compounding inflows collected within a drainage basin....

Your answer will vary depending on how much you earn. Data shows that low and middle-income families pay a much greater share of their income towards state and local taxes than wealthy families. Today’s visualization uses data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) to map the effective tax rates—or taxes paid as a share of family income—across income groups at the state and local level. Crunching the Numbers The data reflects the effect of tax changes enacted through September 10, 2018, using 2015 income levels (the latest year for available, detailed income data)....

Despite accounting for the largest market caps worldwide—with trillion-dollar companies like Apple and contenders including Tencent and Samsung—tech wealth is largely concentrated in just a handful of countries. So what are the biggest companies in each country? We mapped the largest company by market cap across 60 countries in August 2021 using market data from CompaniesMarketCap, TradingView, and MarketScreener. What are the Largest Companies in the World? The world has 60+ stock exchanges, and each one has a top company....

Few consoles penetrate the mainstream deeply enough to have parents referring to a console by its proper name, instead of their children’s “Gameboy” or “Wii”. Even fewer come together as a complete package that ties together the ideologies and technical ideas of their preceding consoles like the Nintendo Switch has. This graphic visualizes the Nintendo Switch sales success story alongside more than 20 years of Nintendo console sales. The History of Nintendo Console Sales Nintendo has a long and storied history in gaming—but since the release of the original Game Boy in 1989, the company has favored a two-pronged approach with its game consoles: having both a portable handheld console and a home console which connects to a TV on the market....

Tokyo hosted the 2020 Summer Olympics from July 24 to August 9, 2021, marking the second time Japan has hosted the Summer Olympics. The country was first given the honor back in 1964 becoming the first Asian nation to host the Olympic Games. Even in this most challenging of climates where the games had to be pushed by a year, nothing stopped the athletes from exceeding their limits and breaking long-held records....

As a result, exhaust systems will continue to be a critical tool in reducing harmful air pollution. The Power of Palladium Today’s infographic comes to us from North American Palladium, and it demonstrates the unique properties of the precious metal, and how it’s used in catalytic converters around the world. In fact, palladium enables car manufacturers to meet stricter emission standards, making it a secret weapon for fighting pollution going forward....

Panama Canal Expansion Facts The Panama Canal expansion began in 2007, and will be finally completed next year. The project, costing $5.25 billion, will have a large effect on international trade. The most important result will be the amount of tonnage travelling through the canal. Yearly tonnage is expected to increase 218% from 275 million tons to 600 million tons. An important boon of the expansion will be to LNG exporting countries, as most LNG carriers will be able to fit through the new canal....

This market selloff—which occurs when investors sell a large volume of securities in a short period of time, leading to a rapid decline in price—has investors concerned. In fact, search interest for the term “selloff” recently reached peak interest of 100. Which stocks were the hardest hit, and how much are their prices down so far this year? The Lackluster Returns of Pandemic Stocks Pandemic stocks and tech-centric companies have suffered the most....

This ratio, now commonly known as the Buffett Indicator, compares the size of the stock market to that of the economy. A high ratio indicates an overvalued market—and as of February 11, 2021, the ratio has reached all-time highs, indicating that the U.S. stock market is currently strongly overvalued. Today’s graphic by Current Market Valuation (CMV) provides an overview of how the Buffett Indicator has changed since 1950. We’ll also explain how the ratio is calculated, and why things might not be as dire as seem....

Forests cover over 30% of the world’s land, but human activity is chipping away at the tree line. At the outset of the 20th century, there was approximately 31 million square miles (50 million square km) of forest around the world. Today, that number has shrunk to less than 25 million square miles (40 million square km). Much of this decline can be attributed to expanding agricultural land use and increasing demand for wood and paper products....

To help us better understand these staggering numbers, a recent study at Mackeeper took the market capitalization of multiple tech giants and compared them with the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of countries. Editor’s note: While these numbers are interesting to compare, it’s worth noting that they represent different things. Market cap is the total value of shares outstanding in a publicly-traded company and gives an indication of total valuation, and GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced by a country in an entire year....

The last total eclipse occurred in the United States in 1979, and businesses are cashing in on the pent-up enthusiasm for this extremely rare celestial event. Here are some high payoffs that “eclipse boom towns” are hoping for: Many of the towns in the path of totality have been aggressively marketing themselves to potential onlookers. One town, Hopkinsville, KY, has branded itself as “Eclipseville” leading up to the occasion. It’s likely to payoff, since it’s been reported that visitors from 19 countries and 46 states are descending upon the small town for the perfect glimpse of the phenomenon....

The significance of this cannot be overstated – every single department of the government is now reporting data to the U.S. Treasury in a common format, and this information is being published online at USASpending.gov. The data puts records of accounts, budgets, grants, and contracts all in one place, and links this information together in way that has never been done before. Everyday citizens, journalists, and data scientists will be able to see how the government spends money with one consolidated view....

These snowflakes are actually ice crystals. They form in our atmosphere, high in the clouds, and transform along their journey to Earth thanks to different factors and forces. We look at how snowflakes are formed, and what atmospheric conditions contribute to the beautiful intricacies we’ve come to know them for. How to Build a Snowflake The designs of snowflakes are actually products of a crystallization process that is controlled by the atmosphere....

Because of its importance, commercial shipping relies on strategic trade routes to move goods efficiently. These waterways are used by thousands of vessels a year—but it’s not always smooth sailing. In fact, there are certain points along these routes that pose a risk to the whole system. Here’s a look at the world’s most vulnerable maritime bottlenecks—also known as choke points—as identified by GIS. What’s a Choke Point? Choke points are strategic, narrow passages that connect two larger areas to one another....

Almost 300 years later, Benjamin Franklin is the face of the U.S. $100 bill, and it is protected by a myriad of security features including secret images, special ink, hidden watermarks, and magnetic signatures, among others. In this visual, we’ve broken down the $100 bill to showcase the anatomy of American currency. The Makeup of American Money There are 6 key features that identify real bills and protect the falsification of American money....

Costing between $4-8 trillion and affecting 65 countries, China’s ambitious One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative is the granddaddy of all megaprojects. By the time of it’s estimated completion in 2049, OBOR will stretch from the edge of East Asia all the way to East Africa and Central Europe, and it will impact a lengthy list of countries that account for 62% of the world’s population and 40% of its economic output....

In response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and EU have imposed heavy sanctions aimed at crippling the Russian economy. However, these bold actions also come with some potentially messy complications: Russia is not only one of the world’s largest exporters of energy products, but it is also Europe’s biggest supplier of these fuels. As of October 2021, Russia supplied 25% of all oil imported by the EU, which is three times more than the second-largest trade partner....

With a wide range of global sustainability challenges and complex risks on the rise, investors are starting to re-evaluate traditional portfolio approaches. The ESG Boom Today, many investors want their money to align with a higher purpose beyond profit. This infographic from iShares unpacks the prolific rise of sustainable investing, and how its trillion-dollar potential is sweeping across the world. What is Sustainable Investing? Sustainable investing considers environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors that create a lasting, positive impact on the world....

Whether it is something as simple as searching for “S&P 500 today” or it’s more of an information-finding mission to discover the “Best Dividend Paying Mutual Fund”, search data provides an interesting lens with which to view the topics investors are focused on. Investor Search Data Today’s infographic comes to us from New York Life Investments, and it shows investor searches for various investment-related keyphrases by month. The data starts in January 2017 and goes until November 2018, giving an almost two-year picture into investor search patterns....