Worldmapper Cartograms Revisualize the World
by Jason Sahler
Whereas standard maps offer an approachable means of visualizing the world, Worldmapper’s striking cartograms work the other way, de-stabilizing the earth as we know it while focusing upon some of the planet’s most vital topics. From population density to oil consumption and CO2 levels, these radically redefined maps incorporate data and figures to create a shifting series of unfamiliar landscapes that form excellent visual metaphors of their content.
The proportion of people that will start living in urban areas between 2002 and 2015
By making their maps malleable, Worldmapper trades cut-and-dried boundaries and delineations for a radically altered series of worldscapes that leave an immediate impression. Take a look at the map above and you can see our production of CO2 in 2000 - notice the bloated beasts of the industrial world are busting at the seams as they spew carbon into the atmosphere.
Data can be easy to manipulate, so the folks at Worldmapper are very upfront in providing the sources for their information and are open to opinions on how to better represent it. According to their website:
Via WorldChanging
Total Population
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These are a great idea.
I love that first one showing America - so greedy for oil and bloated from over consumption it looks like it\\\\\\\’s about to burst! Very apt!
But, jocularity aside, these are quite scary. Urbanization looks to be a major problem for the future, which will lead to greater consumption of our scant resources. And poor old India looking fat and fit to explode and spew people everywhere because of over-population…
Yes, scary reminders of just what a precarious position the human race finds itself in today.
Steve N. Lee
author of eco-blog http://www.lionsledbysheep.com
and suspense thriller \\\\\\\’What if…?\\\\\\\’