Ready-made assignment · Environmental science
Environmental science chart assignment
Six charts from the Energy Information Administration, NOAA and the World Bank on where electricity comes from, carbon emissions, rising summer heat and changing rainfall.
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Chart 1 of 6 · Energy
Where does US electricity come from?
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In 2025 natural gas made 40.8% of US electricity, followed by nuclear (17.7%) and coal (16.6%). Wind made 10.5% and solar 6.7%. Solar counts only utility-scale plants, not rooftop panels, and the 2025 figures are preliminary.
How to read this chart
Each bar is one energy source's share of all the electricity made in the U.S. in a year, so the bars add up to about 100%. The bars start at zero, so a bar twice as long means twice the share. Solar counts only large power plants, not panels on rooftops.
Questions to discuss
- What are the three biggest sources of U.S. electricity?
- Which of these sources release carbon dioxide when they make electricity, and which don't?
- What are the trade-offs (cost, land, waste, steady supply) between nuclear power and wind and solar?
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (Table 7.2a) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025
Open the chart and its numbersChart 2 of 6 · Energy
How much of US electricity comes from coal?
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Coal made 16.6% of US electricity in 2025, down from a peak of 56.9% in 1988 and 48.5% as late as 2007. Natural gas overtook it in 2016. Each point is coal's share of all net generation that year; the 2025 figures are preliminary.
Questions to discuss
- When did coal make the biggest share of U.S. electricity, and what share does it make now?
- Natural gas overtook coal in 2016. Why does that matter for carbon dioxide and air pollution?
- Besides climate, what other environmental harms come from mining and burning coal?
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (Table 7.2a) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025
Open the chart and its numbersChart 3 of 6 · Energy
How much of US electricity comes from wind and solar?
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Wind and solar made 17.2% of US electricity in 2025, up from 2.3% in 2010 and under 1% through 2007. Solar counts only utility-scale plants, not rooftop panels, and the 2025 figures are preliminary.
Questions to discuss
- What share of U.S. electricity did wind and solar make in 2010, and what share in the newest year?
- The wind doesn't always blow and the sun sets every day. How can a power grid keep the lights on with more of them?
- Rooftop solar panels aren't counted here. Would counting them make the line higher or lower?
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review (Table 7.2a) (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025
Open the chart and its numbersChart 4 of 6 · World
How much carbon dioxide does each country emit per person?
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In 2024, people in the United States emitted 13.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide each, in China 9.3 and in India 2.2, against 4.7 worldwide. The highest figure was 82.8 tonnes in Palau, then Qatar (47.3) and Bahrain (23.9). Search 203 countries and territories. The figures count carbon dioxide from burning fuel, industry and other sources, but not from changes in land use such as cutting forests; in a small country, a few power plants, refineries or fuel sales spread over few people can make the figure very high.
How to read this chart
Each bar is the carbon dioxide a country put into the air in a year, divided by its population, in tonnes per person. The dashed line is the world. A country can emit a lot in total but little per person if it has many people, and a tiny country with a refinery or power plant can top the list.
Questions to discuss
- How does carbon dioxide per person in the United States compare with China, India and the world?
- Why might a country with many people emit a lot in total but little per person?
- What is one reason to compare countries on total emissions, and one to compare them per person?
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators: Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions excluding LULUCF per capita (t CO2e/capita) (CC BY 4.0 (credit the World Bank)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2024
Open the chart and its numbersChart 5 of 6 · Climate
Are US summers getting hotter?
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Summer 2026 (June to August) averaged 74.4°F across the contiguous US. The hottest summer since records began in 1895 was 2026, at 74.4°F; 1936, the Dust Bowl summer, averaged 74.0°F. Through 2026, the dashed trend line, the straight line that best fits every summer, rose about 0.14°F a decade over the whole record, and summers had warmed about 0.46°F a decade since 1970.
Questions to discuss
- Which summer was the hottest on record, and how does 1936, the Dust Bowl summer, compare?
- Does the dashed trend line rise faster since 1970 or over the whole record?
- How could hotter summers affect crops, water use and people's health?
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Aug 31, 2026
Open the chart and its numbersChart 6 of 6 · Climate
Which US states are getting wetter or drier?
The interactive chart needs JavaScript. The numbers are on the chart's page.
In the 10 years through 2025, yearly rain and melted snow compared with the 1901–2000 average ranged from 14.7% in Kentucky and 13.7% in Michigan to -12.8% in Arizona; across the contiguous US it changed by 4.5%. Ten years is short for rainfall, so a few very wet or dry years move a state a lot. Hawaii's records start in 1991, so it isn't included.
Questions to discuss
- Which states got wetter and which got drier over the last 10 years than their long-term average?
- Where are the drier states on a map? What problems could less rain cause there?
- Ten years is short for rainfall. Why should scientists be careful before calling this a lasting change?
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Climate at a Glance (Public domain (U.S. government work)) · Data as of Dec 31, 2025
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