27 October 2023
At school we realized geography on flat maps the use of the Mercator projection. Google Maps makes use of a model referred to as Internet Mercator.
The Mercator projection that transforms our three-dimensional Earth into 2-dimensions used to be invented in 1569 to be used in navigation, which is why Google makes use of it. Sadly it completely distorts the scale of land nearer to the poles. It makes Greenland glance giant, perhaps larger than Africa. New Zealand is regularly cropped off this map.
The animation at best alternates between the Mercator projection and each and every nation’s precise relative measurement. Hi, Northern Hemisphere, you aren’t as giant as you suppose you might be!
If we right kind for measurement, as within the Gall-Peters projection, we reduce to rubble shapes and navigation.
Each and every flat map has distortions. This 6-minute video explains why. There is not any proper resolution.
Creating a flat map of the Earth is like seeking to lower an orange peel to make it lay flat at the desk. Excellent success!
p.s. Right here’s a screenshot from the thetruesize.com mapping instrument that Johnny Harris mentions on the finish of the video. Its preliminary display demonstrates that the contiguous U.S. + China + India can simply are compatible into Africa with room to spare. Check out it at thetruesize.com
(credit are within the captions; click on at the hyperlinks to peer the originals)