UN votes to adopt new world map to reflect Africa's true size

[Decarin]

I'm not, the thing is it has no practical benefit. All the industries that use mercator maps will continue to use them. You will still have to use them in high school geography for anything involving calculations.

The 'Equal Earth' map cannot be used as a substitute, it's only good for hanging in an office or class in order to identify countries and look more proportionate in size.

Tell me you don't know anything about maps without telling me you don't know anything about maps...

Its literally a political map used for politics. Continents, countries, oceans, capitals and major cities. That's literally all it needs to show. Nobody is charting their voyage to Antarctica with it.

 

[Gordon_R]

French reporting seems more balanced and less emotive:

UN backs effort to drop Mercator map and show size of Africa more accurately

The United Nations voted on Saturday for a shift away from the 16th-century Mercator global map towards one more accurately reflecting the true size of countries.

www.rfi.fr

 

[geezer]

Interesting tool to use to compare the size of different countries against each other.

Compare Countries, States, Provinces, and Regions with This Simple Tool

Drag, drop and rotate countries, states, provinces, and regions around the map to compare their relative size. Is Greenland really as big as all of Africa? You may be surprised at what you find! A great tool for educators.

thetruesize.com

For example, RSA vs UK vs USA.

 

[Brian_G]

^^ Wow! The UK is tiny, somehow had no idea

 

[Gordon_R]

One thing I will personally never get used to is the vertical stretching of the Equal Area projection. Anyone who has spent years looking at geostationary weather satellite images of Africa will have a wider stretch ingrained. See this zenithal projection, which mimics a satellite view:

 

[TofuMofu]

People calling a factually correct map woke LMAO...you anti-woke people sure are stupid.

 

[Decarin]

People calling a factually correct map woke LMAO...you anti-woke people sure are stupid.

I'm waiting for the day Trump declares the Earth to be flat, making a globe Earth "woke." We surely aren't far from that.

 

[Brian_G]

I'm waiting for the day Trump declares the Earth to be flat, making a globe Earth "woke." We surely aren't far from that.

 

[vigras rojara]

I'm waiting for the day Trump declares the Earth to be flat, making a globe Earth "woke." We surely aren't far from that.

You can be damn sure that when Aristotle first proposed that the earth wasn't flat, he would have been called whatever the 4th century equivalent of a "woketard" was...

 

[Brian_G]

You can be damn sure that when Aristotle first proposed that the earth wasn't flat, he would have been called whatever the 4th century equivalent of a "woketard" was...

You're sayin' Trump is sort of Aristotle, and is often right??


/runs

 

[vigras rojara]

You're sayin' Trump is sort of Aristotle, and is often right??


/runs

How on "earth" do you get to that?

Trump most likely thinks the earth is flat. Although to be fair, he isn't that much younger than Aristotle.

 

[Brian_G]

How on "earth" do you get to that?

Just a play on words ;- )

Trump most likely thinks the earth is flat. Although to be fair, he isn't that much younger than Aristotle.

 

[Gordon_R]

You're sayin' Trump is sort of Aristotle, and is often right??


/runs

Google suggests that Aristotle had a very different temperament, rather unlike modern politicians:

Aristotle was an intensely curious, analytical, and practical polymath who valued empirical observation, logical structure, and moderation.

 

[ponder]

Its literally a political map used for politics. Continents, countries, oceans, capitals and major cities. That's literally all it needs to show. Nobody is charting their voyage to Antarctica with it.

The mercator maps have been doing that for hundreds of years.

 

[Brian_G]

The mercator maps have been doing that for hundreds of years.

It is nicer to get a better concept of what it looks like though, as "weird" as it is and as hard to adjust to as it may be...

 

[Decarin]

The mercator maps have been doing that for hundreds of years.

Okay buddy. Watch out for dragons and sea monsters near the edges.

 

[Decarin]

"OMG who put politics in my political map??!?"

 

[Brian_G]

The mercator maps have been doing that for hundreds of years.

They'll never get rid of them, not in our lifetimes.. so they'll always be available.

Can't see our schools getting their act together either, too busy with AI teachers now it seems.

 

[ponder]

Okay buddy. Watch out for dragons and sea monsters near the edges.

Short of a globe you'll always have dragons and sea monsters near the edges.

 

[Decarin]

"Oh noes! Not a map of Eurasia accounting for curvature from 2009! Look at those curvy lines of latitude and longitude! What woke-ass nonsense is this!?"