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Adventures In...
North Arrow Necessity Can a map still be considered a map if it doesn’t have a north arrow? Yes. A north arrow is an...
a year ago
113
a year ago
Can a map still be considered a map if it doesn’t have a north arrow? Yes. A north arrow is an optional map accompaniment and you should think critically about your map to determine for yourself if it needs a north arrow or not. For what it’s worth, often a map should not have a...
Maps Mania
How Big is it Really?
2 months ago
Maps Mania
The Invasion of America
5 months ago
Maps Mania
How Climate Change is Destroying Crops
6 months ago
Maps Mania
A Time Machine for Maps
2 months ago
Maps Mania
How Deep was That Earthquake?
5 months ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Inland Northwest, Day 1 (Staging) Was there a name for that largely empty space beyond Washington’s Cascades Range and into the Idaho...
11 months ago
104
11 months ago
Was there a name for that largely empty space beyond Washington’s Cascades Range and into the Idaho Panhandle? A little research suggested the Inland Northwest, or perhaps a now lesser-used designation, the Inland Empire (not to be confused with a similarly named area of...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 11 (What’s Brewing?) Twelve Mile Circle readers don’t really care about my brewery visits. I get it. You won’t offend me...
over a year ago
88
over a year ago
Twelve Mile Circle readers don’t really care about my brewery visits. I get it. You won’t offend me if you skip this article or scroll through the pictures without reading anything. I really do this more for myself to create a record of my visits that extend beyond the simplicity...
somethingaboutmaps
An Educational Experiment (Edit: sign-ups are now closed. I received over 150 responses for 4 available slots, which has been...
over a year ago
119
over a year ago
(Edit: sign-ups are now closed. I received over 150 responses for 4 available slots, which has been great but overwhelming. I may offer this again in the future if it goes well, so make sure to follow me on Twitter and subscribe to the blog, to be notified of when this happens.)...
Map of the Week
Los Angeles Wildfire Extent The extent of the forest fires in and around Los Angeles is horrific and may become even worse in...
7 months ago
45
7 months ago
The extent of the forest fires in and around Los Angeles is horrific and may become even worse in the next few days. The New York Times has some very detailed maps showing the extent of destruction. Here is a close up of Altadena from the Hurst Fire. via New York Times -...
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Kaohsiung MRT Diagram, Taiwan, 2025 Submitted by Emerson, who says: This is Kaohsiung MRT’s new system map, following the Red Line...
a week ago
15
a week ago
Submitted by Emerson, who says: This is Kaohsiung MRT’s new system map, following the Red Line extension to Gangshan and the completion of the LRT loop. So far, Kaohsiung has not been featured on this site, so I would love to see your opinions on their map! Transit Maps says: I...
Maps Mania
Automatically Mapping YouTube Videos
7 months ago
Map of the Week
30 Day Map Challenge-One Final Note In writing yesterday’s post I forgot about this awesome music video about the 30 Day Map Challenge....
9 months ago
39
9 months ago
In writing yesterday’s post I forgot about this awesome music video about the 30 Day Map Challenge. The lyrics are French with English subtitles and it’s fun to hear how musical words like choropleth and story map can sound in French. “Some people sell houses, chickens, bidets, I...
Maps Mania
Millions Flee War, Floods, and Persecution
7 months ago
Transit Maps
Project: My UTA Rail and BRT Design Exploration I teased this in yesterday’s review of the new official UTA diagram, so here’s my exploration of a...
over a year ago
99
over a year ago
I teased this in yesterday’s review of the new official UTA diagram, so here’s my exploration of a few design ideas for an alternative version. As always with this type of project, I look for ways to approach the design problems for the diagram that are intentionally different to...
Map of the Week
The Invasion of Ukraine Ukraine was invaded by Russia three years ago. Since the new president of the United States is in...
6 months ago
52
6 months ago
Ukraine was invaded by Russia three years ago. Since the new president of the United States is in full surrender to Putin mode and wants to blame Ukraine for starting the war, I am posting this map, from February 27, 2022. It is to remind anyone that needs reminding of who...
Maps Mania
The Marine Migration Map
4 months ago
Maps Mania
State of the Global Climate 2024
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Before New York
6 months ago
Maps Mania
Prosecuting Crimes Against Humanity
2 months ago
GeoCurrents
A Major Win for the Left in Canada’s 2025 Election – But Not in Alberta or Saskatchewan The Conservative Party was widely expected to win Canada’s April 28 federal election. As recently as...
3 months ago
50
3 months ago
The Conservative Party was widely expected to win Canada’s April 28 federal election. As recently as January 2025, the party was polling well ahead of the governing Liberals (see the graph posted below). But after U.S. President Donald Trump began calling Canada the “fifty-first...
Maps Mania
The Flight of the Barn Swallow
7 months ago
Maps Mania
Where Mamdani Beat Cuomo
2 months ago
Map of the Week
Ice Flows in Greenland The Atlas of the Invisible was published a few years ago. The maps show trends in the earth’s...
9 months ago
36
9 months ago
The Atlas of the Invisible was published a few years ago. The maps show trends in the earth’s climate and demographics that are largely hidden to the naked eye. I never got a chance to review it but was recently struck by this visualization. A detailed description of the...
Adventures In...
How to make map textures for ArcGIS and stuff Here’s how you can take an image, turn it into a repeating texture, and apply it to the whole world....
a week ago
14
a week ago
Here’s how you can take an image, turn it into a repeating texture, and apply it to the whole world. We’ll make a cement-sourced gritty texture and then a water-sourced wave texture. We’ll use the Vector Tile Style Editor to make these textures global layers for ArcGIS, ready to...
Maps Mania
800K Galaxies - 1 Map
2 months ago
Adventures In...
Hack some bokeh into your ArcGIS Online map You know how you can crank up the sense of drama and studio photography professionalism by switching...
5 months ago
58
5 months ago
You know how you can crank up the sense of drama and studio photography professionalism by switching over to portrait mode on your phone’s camera? It just looks…cool. The subject is in focus and the peripheral background content is blurry. It’s actually how our eyes and brains...
Maps Mania
Growing a World Wide Web
2 weeks ago
Transit Maps
Submission – Official Map: Madrid Cercanías Rail Network, December 2024 Submitted by Juan, who says: I send the new version of the Renfe-Madrid Cercanías network. It seems...
8 months ago
99
8 months ago
Submitted by Juan, who says: I send the new version of the Renfe-Madrid Cercanías network. It seems to me that it has improved quite a lot the previous version. This previous version had crossroads, angles, etc. I would like to know your opinion about this new map. Transit Maps...
Maps Mania
Make Your Own Scrambled Maps
5 months ago
Maps Mania
Pixel the Planet!
a month ago
Maps Mania
The Map to Your Heart
4 weeks ago
Maps Mania
GeoGuesser - Hosted by an AI
a week ago
Twelve Mile Circle –...
Ontario, Day 4 (Penetanguishene and Beyond) I had absolutely no idea how to pronounce Penetanguishene, and I still don’t. Typing it isn’t any...
2 months ago
29
2 months ago
I had absolutely no idea how to pronounce Penetanguishene, and I still don’t. Typing it isn’t any easier. I had to cut-and-paste the name to make sure I got it right. Nonetheless, that’s where we pointed the car on our fourth day in Ontario, about an hour northeast of...
Maps Mania
Insurers Retreating From Climate-Risk Zones
2 months ago
Maps Mania
How to Learn the Countries of the World
5 months ago
Adventures In...
Thoughts on the Cartographer’s Role in an AI Future A few moments ago I was asked by a student about the “development of cartography over the next 10...
a year ago
111
a year ago
A few moments ago I was asked by a student about the “development of cartography over the next 10 years.” Here’s my somewhat off-the-cuff response, though my thoughts have been steeping in this for the past year or so. In the next 10 years artificial intelligence, and probably...
GeoCurrents
Canada’s Population Is Clustered Near the Southern Border, Yet Is Nonetheless Distanced from the... Although it is often claimed that 90 percent of the people of Canada live within 100 miles of the...
3 months ago
59
3 months ago
Although it is often claimed that 90 percent of the people of Canada live within 100 miles of the U.S. border, this assertion is of dubious validity. Reputable sources put the figure closer to 80 percent. Statistics Canada more convincingly claims that 66 percent of Canadians...
Maps Mania
There's Something About Islands
7 months ago
Maps Mania
The Russian Sabotage Map
5 months ago
Transit Maps
Official Map: Newark International Airport Regional Rail Connections, 2023 Every so often, I come across a transit map that is just so unfit for purpose that all I can do is...
over a year ago
145
over a year ago
Every so often, I come across a transit map that is just so unfit for purpose that all I can do is scratch my head and ponder, “Just why?” This is one of those maps. Produced by (or on behalf of) Newark International Airport, it purports to show regional rail services that you...
GeoCurrents
The Controversial Expansion of Gray Wolves in the United States As discussed in the previous post, the gray wolf has made a remarkable but controversial recovery in...
a month ago
26
a month ago
As discussed in the previous post, the gray wolf has made a remarkable but controversial recovery in Europe. The same is true in the United States. In the mid twentieth century, wolves were found only in Alaska, far northeastern Minnesota, and the western half of Michigan’s Upper...
Maps Mania
The Walk Management System
4 months ago
Maps Mania
Belt & Road vs TACO
3 months ago
Map of the Week
Terrain Representations from the Atlas of Design In last week’s post I reviewed Volume 7 of the Atlas of Design. As an occasional cartographer I have...
10 months ago
42
10 months ago
In last week’s post I reviewed Volume 7 of the Atlas of Design. As an occasional cartographer I have been interested in how topography is represented in maps for a long time. This atlas volume provides many contrasting examples. From the “cartographic realism” of Tom Patterson’s...
Twelve Mile Circle –...
England, Day 3 (Dorchester) We began to explore a little further afield, still within Dorset, as we began to settle in to our...
a year ago
113
a year ago
We began to explore a little further afield, still within Dorset, as we began to settle in to our home for the week. That took us a little further west and a few miles inland from the English Channel. It included a lot of open countryside and then a sizeable settlement....
James Cheshire
Anxiety and Mapping the Climate Crisis Many of the maps I have created in recent years address the climate crisis and I’ve been asked a...
over a year ago
85
over a year ago
Many of the maps I have created in recent years address the climate crisis and I’ve been asked a number of times about if I feel powerless in the face of the data I’m showing. I reflect on this here with Kit Rackley. Our chat also in part inspired this article in The...
Maps Mania
Ghost Signs: Phantoms of the Past
a month ago
Musings on Maps
Perilous Waters The voyage to the Titanic promoted cartographic fantasies of discovery and exploration, but only in...
over a year ago
93
over a year ago
The voyage to the Titanic promoted cartographic fantasies of discovery and exploration, but only in international waters. The maps of legal oversight Stockton Rush avoided demand to be recognized as a creation of globalism, as much as a luxury diversion of the super-rich. ...
Maps Mania
The Future of Street View Has Arrived
3 months ago