100X Research

Making sense of the world, one chart at a time

The American Southwest Is Running Out of Water

Across the Southwest, the biggest aquifers have been falling for decades, some by nearly half since 1980. Cloud seeding is one long-shot bet on slowing the drop.

By 100X Research · 3 charts · figures illustrative

The Southwest’s aquifers are dropping

Groundwater in storage, indexed to 100 in 1980 (illustrative)

19801990200020102023

Central Valley (CA)

Southern High Plains (TX)

Central Arizona

Rio Grande (NM)

Space

How Starlink Filled the Sky in Six Years

Filling low orbit

Active Starlink satellites in orbit

2019202120232025

~7,000

Industry

We Build Far More Drones Than Anything Else

Where the world’s drones go

Share of drones built worldwide, by category

Roads

The Incredible Shrinking Small Car

The car got heavier

Average curb weight of a new U.S. vehicle, pounds

19851995200520152024

4,360

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