DSC 106 Final Project
Writeup
What we have done so far?
So far, we have built the main structure of our interactive scrollytelling visualization about how average warming can become daily heat risk. Our prototype starts with a national average temperature trend, then moves into a U.S. map to show how warming changes across states from 2020 to 2070. We also added a transition section that explains why annual averages can hide the daily experience of extreme heat. After that, our story compares average warming with additional days with a temperature 35°C or higher, then uses an animated map to show how extreme hot days increase over time under the high-emissions scenario. We have also created an exploration section where users can change the year and emissions scenario, and they can select a state to see a more local summary and monthly hot days chart.
The most challenging part of our project to design and why?
We think the most challenging part of our project is to decide if we want to narrow down the scope of our story to focus only on the summer season. Since extreme heat is most directly felt during the summer season, this change could make our story more concise and focused, and it could also make our visualizations more straightforward and easier to understand. But we do need to inspect our data more closely to make sure we have enough data points to support a compelling story if we only focus on the summer season. We might also need to decide on if we want to take away the low and medium emission scenarios to make the story more concise and focused. Also, we are still thinking about where and how to add more meaningful animations throughout our project.
What we built in the final version
In the final version of our project, we developed the prototype into a complete interactive story about how average warming becomes daily heat risk. The experience starts with a personalized entry point, where users choose a state and estimate its 2100 annual average temperature. Their estimate is compared with CMIP6 emission scenario projections, which helps connect abstract climate data to the user's own expectation. After that, the story moves from state-level warming to national patterns and shows why average temperature is only the starting point. We translate average warming into extra very hot summer days, defined as days with daily highs above 35°C, so the warming trend becomes easier to understand as countable calendar days. We also show that extra very hot days do not increase evenly across states, which explains why average warming and daily heat exposure tell different parts of the story. Then we introduce heat exposure by combining extra very hot days with projected population. In the exposure map, color shows very hot days and bubble size shows the exposure proxy. We also added repeated sun icons to compare national exposure in 2020 and 2100, making a large exposure number easier to grasp. Finally, we added an impact section with source-linked cards about older adults, vulnerable workers, humidity, sleep, learning, cooling costs, and emergency room visits. Overall, the final version turns one abstract number into a clear story: degrees become hot days, hot days become exposure, and exposure becomes daily-life impact.