In my work as a librarian I came across this amazing site, which is thought provoking and alternately heartbreaking or amusing, though much too much more the former.
The way it works is a bit like a semi inflated balloon in ones hands. If you compress one part of the balloon another part of the balloon must get larger. If you squeeze several parts, other parts get larger or smaller respective to the amount of the pressure exerted on them. And, many of us know from experience, if one puts too much pressure on any one area, the whole thing simply explodes (but that is a metaphor that deserves consideration in greater depth later).
However, in the brightly colored maps on the site, country sizes balloon or deflate depending upon whatever statistic is being measured, whether that be the amount of a resources consumed by countries respectively or “the proportion of all people living on US$10 purchasing power parity or less a day worldwide,” as the map at the top of this post shows. Worldmapper has a detailed page for each concept being considered and also printable pdf page, which sometimes provides even more information. If you take even a little time to look at the map above, you can begin to see why I included “break your heart” in the title of this post.
But there are many maps which are even more stark in the information they convey.
Here is one one on deaths from drought…
…and deaths from malaria…
Are you beginning to get the picture.
Well, I thought it might be an interesting and mutually edifying exercise if we together mined these maps (there are 366 of them) and used them to spark discussion. Very usefully, each map is numbered and has a link which can be incorporated in a comment when one is making a point.
Here is an example (which admittedly is supplemented by the image below which cannot be done in the comments field of this blog):
“Map 58 shows which country seems to be the largest importer of toys…and map 57 shows where they are all coming from!”
Of course, you would not have to make a comparison. You could comment on a single map that got you thinking or weeping or walking, and why it did so.
Worldmapper (which has gotten a lot of press) very conveniently gives you several options in which the maps are categorized.
And if discussions arise around a country or topic, I will add them to the tag cloud of this post and hopefully attract more participants.
Finally, this site assumes basic geographical knowledge to appreciate it fully, but I think it would be a great teaching tool for subjects of all sorts, geographic and scientific and social, just to name a few, as were the Earth Lights sites here and here, which tell us a great deal about geography, privilege, and freedom. Not convinced? Just take a gander at North and South Korea.
Well, I cannot exactly say “happy traveling,” but I do hope it may be profitable, thoughtful traveling.
P.S. This site and mapping technology was created at the University of Sheffield in England, so it should be reliable.
What a powerful tool for visual learners. I’ve got to show this to Jake! But first I need a good cry. Some of these maps are distressing!
Yes, these maps dramatically illustrate statistics which I have heard in the past such as how much of the world’s resources Americans consume vis a vis the rest of the world and such, etc. Those statistics were dramatic enough and yet these visuals certainly punch home the disparities or equalities, whatever they may be.
Of course, assuming the algorithm is correct that are used to generate the statistics the images are only as good as the data fed in, but one assumes that an English uni would do due diligence. Also, by necessity, these images are generated from data several years old. I would be curious to have a sneak at what the maps will look like in five years given our current economic crisis. Now, that might not be only sad, but scary too.
You know, I was wondering the same thing-What the maps will look like down the road. My thought is we’ll see less drastic inflation and deflation for the US in reference to other countries. I’m quite sure we’ll be the superpower we once were. At the same time our economic situation often benefits other nations, which may complicate things. It would be fun to hear an economists response!
Heidi, you might be intersted in this article we read at the last reading group:
http://www.fareedzakaria.com/articles/newsweek/051208.html
It is a chapter out of Fareed Zakaria’s book the The PostAmerican World. Despite the title, he does feel America will still be important in the world still, if the country can leverage some of its strengths such as education and also welcome the gains and input that people from around the world are bringing to America. At least that is the sense that I got from the article.
You and Jake should come to one of those meetings some time. Great discussion.
Thanks! I look forward to reading this!