We are researching the topic of how librarians can plan for the future in their libraries. In architectural school, the "Environment' and "Environmental Design" were at the root of all my design considerations. Most of us in class thought, "We've got this. We can be agents of change for good. Our values and caring for our planet through intelligent design are going to help everyone."  The "Almost" in the title of the following intensive and exhausting-to-read (for me at least!) article sums up the results of our youthful, optimistic dreams.

This is this a photo of weekend's New York Times Magazine cover, stark white letters on unrelieved black, small enough to make you really look and read. The exclusive Two-Part issue of August 1, 2018 - Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change - is so overarching a topic that it must be considered by all community leaders as they try to plan for services that are foremost on their users' minds and strive to meet just their basic human needs.

The publication clearly and in plain words puts before our eyes for all to see, the feet-of-clay history of what we have done since we were all warned that climate change was real and how it could affect our lives.

Our global climate affects our jobs, our health, immigration intensity, food and water supplies, demand for science-literate citizens, our power supplies and the willingness by our community's institutions to embrace adaptability. We have no exact idea how this issue will devolve but one thing is certain; it will and we must consider our environment in every decision we make when planning our libraries.

The chapter titles of Part One are riveting. As you begin to read Part Two, you'll get the drift of where this is headed.

1. 'This Is the Whole Banana', Spring 1979

2. 'The Whimsies of the Invisible World', Spring 1979

3. 'Between catastrophe and Chaos', July 1979

4. 'A Very Aggressive Defensive Program', Summer 1979-summer 1980

5. 'We Are Flying Blind', October 1980

6. 'Otherwise, They'll Gurgle', November 1980-September 1981

7. 'We're All Going to Be the Victims', March 1982

8. 'The Direction of an Impending catastrophe', 1982

Here is the link to the full on-line publication (with awe inspiring photos).

Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change By Nathaniel Rich Photographs and Videos by George Steinmetz

Educational Attainment in America is an interactive dot-density map designed by these clever folks at the Center for Urban Studies at Texas Christian University showing the US population aged 25 and over by educational attainment.Click on the map anywhere - scroll out or in to focus on y our area of interest.

Bar Chart - America

Data are summarized into five categories organised along the colour spectrum, representing the highest education attained: RED-less than high school; ORANGE-high school or equivalent; YELLOW-some college or associate's degree; GREEN-bachelor's degree; and BLUE-graduate degree.

According to Kyle Walker, Assistant Professor of Geography and Director of the Center for Urban Studies at Texas Christian University. "Data are from  the 2011-2015 American Community Survey Table B15003, distributed by NHGIS. Dot locations are approximate and do not represent the locations of individuals. Also, as the ACS is a survey of the US population, its estimates are subject to a margin of error.

I originally saw this article on line at: BoingBoing

I think it is instructive to compare and contrast the visual representation of the data on the two coasts (I have taken screen shots) compared to the center of the continent. Zoom around this map to find your own areas of interest.

Bar Chart-San Francisco

Section of Map - Mid Continent

Bar Chart - Mid Continent

Bar Chart - New York

According to the OECD-The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the US remains in the middle rankings for Science. (click on the images -they pop up larger)

  You can see for yourself the ranking for Maths: Cred and ScrnGbs: GitHub - walkerke/education_map: Educational Attainment in America  and PISA - PISA

I have no idea why 'Geography ' is resonating with me lately. But when I read items like this, I don't care why, I just delight in how much sense it all makes.‎ 

I love how everything fits together; how world scale events affect change in ways none of us could ever foresee.
This is so cool.  

http://bit.ly/2fqjKsW

ScreenGrabCred: Geographical.co.uk‎/ Mapping. By Chris Fitch.