A talk based on a short book written with Carl Lee
Maps by Benjamin Hennig
Danny Dorling
University of Oxford, School of Geography & Environment
November 8th, 2017
1. 7 New Maps of the world
Danny Dorling
University of Oxford, School of Geography & Environment
November 8th, 2017
A talk based on a short book written with Carl Lee
Maps by Benjamin Hennig
2. This is a map of Europe with area drawn in proportion to population. Each area is shaded by the
proportion of people living there not born in the state the region is in (data for 2014).
3.
4. Because of differential turnout, a narrow majority of Leave voters lived in the South of England and
most were middle class. Areas of high immigration voted to remain (albeit there was a minor
‘change’ effect where areas not used to migration voted leave).
5. Old maps in Geography textbooks used to look like this
one – area not proportional to anything, but compass
directions persevered as straight lines on a flat map.
6. So – let’s look at seven new maps of the world starting with - Map 1: Humankind's migration
This map shows the migration of humanity across the world based on what we currently know
from mitochondrial DNA tracking. The map also shows approximate dates for arrival and dispersal
in key locations. The underlying projection shows the relative population density on Earth today,
resizing the land area based on the number of people living in each space.
7. Map 2: Global connectivity
This map is a picture of the maiden voyage of MSC Oscar, which in 2015 was the world's largest
container ship: it went from Dalian, China to Rotterdam, Netherlands and is shown here in the
context of the most frequent global shipping routes that can be seen in the background shown on
an equal-population projection of the world. The projection shows the relative population
density on Earth, resizing the land area based on the number of people living in each space.
8. Map 3: World's remotest places
This map shows the most remote places on the planet, the spaces where a 'lonely planet' can still
be found. It shows areas larger, the further it takes to get to them via land travel from the nearest
large city. This map and all the others shown in these slides was drawn by Ben Hennig who now
works at the University of Iceland – a place that does not look that remote compared to
Greenland, or the North of Canada or Tibet, but is if viewed from Europe.
9. You can zoom in and in to these maps and they sometimes change shape when
you do so – because areas are affected by areas outside of the mapping box –
here are the most remote places in Europe and then in the UK and Ireland – the
more remote a place the larger it is drawn.
10. Map 4: A modern mappa mundi
This is a 'mappa mundi' of the modern world: in the map every small area is drawn in proportion
to the population that lives there. Oceans are reduced in size to a minimum leaving almost no
space between the continents. It shows today's centre of the human planet to lie in India.
11. Map 5: Global croplands
Feeding a global population of 10 billion is one of the great challenges of the 21st century. This
map is drawn to show where the most productive croplands are by increasing the size of those
areas that are currently used for farming agricultural produce, while omitting those areas that are
less suitable for agriculture or used for other purposes.
12. Map 6: Earth at night
This shows Earth at night on a population density map. Instead of highlighting the geographical
land areas that are shining brightest at night, this map highlights where people live with and
without light. The projection shows the relative population density in the world, resizing the land
area based on the number of people living in each space.
13. Map 7: Global precipitation patterns
This map shows the annual precipitation mapped onto a population distribution map. The
underlying projection shows the relative population density on Earth today, resizing the land area
based on the number of people living in each space.
14. If you are interested in more
http://www.dannydorling.org/books/betterpolitics/
It’s free