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With each new temperature record that tumbles the UK, climate skeptics have a standard stock phrase: ‘it was this hot in 1976’. Of course it wasn’t, and crucially the planet overall was not as hot then as it is now. Parts of the UK media have had their part to play in fueling skepticism about...
over a year ago

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More from James Cheshire

COVID inquiry heard Boris Johnson ‘struggled’ with graphs – if you do too, here are some tips

James Cheshire, UCL and Rob Davidson, UCL In March 2020, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, presented to the nation a graph showing “the shape of an epidemic”. The red line depicting the number of predicted COVID cases rose to a steep peak before falling again. Vallance explained that delaying and reducing the...

a year ago 110 votes
The era of the megalopolis: how the world’s cities are merging

James Cheshire, UCL and Michael Batty, UCL On November 15 2022, a baby girl named Vinice Mabansag, born at Dr Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila, Philippines, became – symbolically – the eight billionth person in the world. Of those 8 billion people, 60% live in a town or city. By the end of the...

over a year ago 80 votes
The long history of using maps to hold water companies to account

James Cheshire, UCL Southern Water was handed a record fine of £90 million in July 2021 after pleading guilty to illegally discharging sewage along the rivers and coastline of Kent, Hampshire and Sussex. More than a year later, the headlines have not improved for Britain’s embattled water companies who have recently discharged more sewage close...

over a year ago 76 votes
The Scarred Landscape of the Climate Crisis

I’ve been obsessively checking satellite imagery to witness the UK turn from green to yellow, thanks to the period of extreme heat and lack of rain Europe has been enduring. The parched landscape is unlike anything I’ve seen before and a cloud free day today (10th August) has revealed the true extent of the drought....

over a year ago 101 votes

More in cartography

Random Italy Maps

I will finish off my series of posts from my recent trip to Italy with a few random maps I saw in my travels. Hopefully these are interesting beyond my personal whims. I will start with this raised relief map of the Valpolicella wine region hanging on the wall of the Tenuta Santa Maria winery.  Here is a close up to better see the nice three dimensional detail. The winery is located at the red dot. Nearby the winery in Fumane (upper left of the above map) we had a fantastic meal at the Enoteca Valpolicella, part of a group of slow food Premiate Trattorie Italiane. "21 establishments that share the same values, starting from the desire to communicate and promote the territory they belong to through the culture of good food made of ancient traditions and family warmth." Their web site has this map so you can travel your way through the country eating some of the best regional food in each area. The sommelier could even point out the window to where the wine came from! While the above map could be described as "nothing special" I like the antique like look of the terrain and appreciate when anyone takes the time to make a map that doesn't come from Google. Speaking of nothing special here is a hand drawn map hanging in the Pesce Rosso (red fish) gallery in the town of Bassano del Grappa. It basically says see our other location across the river but does a nice job illustrating Bassano's famous Andrea Palladio designed bridge. Another shop in Bassano sells amber jewelry and features this hand drawn map of the Amber Trail hanging on its wall. This was a trade route used to bring amber from the Baltic countries to the Mediterranean via Venice. The trail has a trans-national greenway running through Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.  That concludes the "random maps I took photos of" series.

51 minutes ago 1 votes
Taming the Frontier, Part 2

The drive up to Michigan was something I did for myself, and I visited a number of historical and cultural sites along the way. But I took the trip to drive a kid home for the summer and now I had a passenger for the rest of the ride. So I front-loaded most of the […] The post Taming the Frontier, Part 2 appeared first on Twelve Mile Circle - An Appreciation of Unusual Places.

6 days ago 6 votes
Belt & Road vs TACO
6 days ago 6 votes