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A projection that is better at showing the comparative difference in length between going through the Suez canal vs going around. The mercator makes Africa loo
by reliablereason 3y ago
A projection that is better at showing the comparative difference in length between going through the Suez canal vs going around.
The mercator makes Africa look comparatively small on the y-axis which is a problem if you are trying to visualise the size of Africa and the time it takes to go around the continent.
If i visually compare the distance on the mercator and an equal area projection is looks to make the trip about 20% shorter on mercator (compared to the apparent visual distance going through Suez). Non of the projections will be 100% accurate but the mercator is less accurate for this specific case.
- labcomputer 3y ago> The mercator makes Africa look comparatively small on the y-axis which is a problem if you are trying to visualise the size of Africa and the time it takes to go around the continent. LOL. The Suez canal is at ~30°N, while Cape Town is ~35°S. If anything the Mercator projection is exaggerating the visual distance of going around.
- trgn 3y agoHating on Mercator is just pavlovian concern trolling at this point (it's the first thing people learn in their GIS classes, whatever). People are so obsessed with conservation of area, it's cringey, Freud would have something to say about that. Maps should always neatly establish a frame of reference. Unless you need to actually take out a ruler and measure a thingie of of it, projections don't matter all that much. The mercator map is an excellent world map: land masses nicely proportioned, straight reference lines that don't clutter, north is up thank god, no weird bulges, just rectangular, you know, like a page in a book or a website. It's just a really good world map. The haters are wrong 90% of the time.