Within the past day or so, the number of merit sources increased from 84 to 120, and the number of smerits per 30 days is 23,045
 

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=merit;stats=sources

Is that about 3,000 per month increase in smerits that are possible to be distributed per 30 days?  I cannot find the old number, but wasn't the old 30 day smerit amount around 20k per 30 days?

We cannot see which merit sources were added or what changes were made to the previously designated 84 merit sources, but we might see whether the most recent addition of smerits (and merit sources - around 36 new members serving as merit sources) make any difference to the amount of smerits that get spent on a monthly basis.