There's also lots of distortion due to the equirectangular projection. When you are at +/- 90 degrees, 1 pixel is being stretched across the entire width. It wo

There's also lots of distortion due to the equirectangular projection. When you are at +/- 90 degrees, 1 pixel is being stretched across the entire width. It would look more natural if it was mapped on a sphere. Or if the 2D image dropped off width by cosine of latitude.