Graph on Newspaper – The Economist – September 2^nd, 2017; Volume 424; Number 9056; Page 19-20

Short summary

The article talks about:

• how the climate on earth is changing and leading to more natural disasters such as storms, floods, extreme temperatures, droughts and forest fires
• the models used to predict weather may need to be changed. Most are based on the assumption that the recent past is a good guide to the future. This assumption appears to fail now that we’re in the midst of the global warming. The article suggests that extrapolations from tail events have been too conservative. This is an important issue for civil engineers who are at risk at under-designing bridges, roads, dams and buildings.
• The article raises questions about predicting the weather behavior in the future.
• The article mention that in the moment there are more questions raised about how to predict the weather in the future than possible answers.

Reproduction

The Economist – Frequency modulation

‘The likelihood of floods is changing with the climate’

2nd post Stat w Prob – Pic

Description of the graph in the article

The graph #2 describes:

• the number of global record-breaking precipitation events, compared to the 15-year moving average
• the chart shows that the earth experienced many more record-breaking rain storms between 1990 and 2010 than each year. It did during 1950 – 1990
• the article uses the graph to illustrate that climate warming is leading to an increase in the number of storms.

Link to the original article

https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21727922-both-future-and-past-may-be-more-extreme-was-thought-likelihood-floods

Statistics are a way of viewing and understanding data that provides information and insight as to how one event relates to another. In the nursing profession, the use of statistics directly affects patient care and advocacy efforts to advance the profession.

Nursing practice is increasingly based on empirical evidence that demonstrates the most effective protocols for patient care. Clinicians must have a basic understanding of statistics to be able to read, understand, and interpret the relevant literature. Armed with statistics, clinicians can determine if commonly used methods or protocols should be revised based on the relevant research. For instance, a hospital may change its policy to replace an IV line every 24 hours if a study shows that replacing the IV line every 20 hours reduces the risk of infection by 20 percent.

Systematically collecting, analyzing, interpreting, disseminating, and using health data is essential for understanding the health status of a population, for assessing progress, and for planning effective prevention programs.

Within public health, statistics and probability are seen as powerful ways to understand the relationship of geography to such issues as health outcomes, disease transmission, and access to health care.

Today’s nurses also need a working knowledge of nursing statistics for the profession to evolve and improve. That’s why students enrolled in nursing degree programs at Citytech must take a course in statistics. As the amount of clinical research published each year grows, nurses are expected to incorporate evidence-based practices in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, physicians’ offices, and other settings.