NASA GISS land–ocean temperature anomalies by latitude band, 1880–2025

A demonstration of how the tufte-viz skill shifts the design. Same data, two treatments.

Pre — typical default chart

Global Temperature Anomalies by Latitude Band -3°C-2°C-1°C+0°C+1°C+2°C+3°C18801900192019401960198020002020 Year Anomaly (°C) Arctic (64°–90°N)High N (44°–64°N)Mid N (24°–44°N)Trop N (0°–24°N)Trop S (24°S–0°)Mid S (44°–24°S)High S (64°–44°S)Antarctic (90°–64°S)
Eight rainbow lines on a shared grid with a side legend. The polar-amplification story is buried in color overlap.

Post — Tufte-styled small multiples

Anomaly by latitude band, 1880–2025 — band in black, global average in gray; 2025 value at right. All panels share y-scale −3°C to +3.5°C; black tick at the left of each panel marks that band's own data extent. Arctic (64°–90°N) +3.01° High N (44°–64°N) +1.99° Mid N (24°–44°N) +1.52° Trop N (0°–24°N) +0.86° Trop S (24°S–0°) +0.83° Mid S (44°–24°S) +0.96° High S (64°–44°S) +0.56° Antarctic (90°–64°S) +1.59° 18801920196020002025
Each band gets its own panel, ordered north → south, on a shared y-scale that contains all observed values. The global average sits behind every panel in light gray. A black tick at the left marks each band's own data extent. The 2025 value is annotated at the right end. Scanning down the stack: warming intensifies dramatically toward the Arctic; Antarctic shows wide historical variability around a smaller trend.
What the skill changed