The Migratory Patterns of Birds

Journey North is a citizen science platform which is monitoring and protecting migratory animal species. Tens of thousands of volunteers across the United States use the platform to report sightings of a number of different migratory animal and bird species. The project has been running for over 25 years and it has accumulated an important and invaluable database tracking the migratory patterns of a number of species. The platform is also used to record the dates when a number of plant species come into bloom.

Each of the animal, bird and plant species tracked on Journey North has its own interactive map. These maps allow you to view the citizen science reported sightings by date and by location. Each map also includes an animation option which allows you to view the sightings animated by month. This animation provides an overview of the migration patterns of each species. For example if you press 'play' on the Barn Swallow map you can observe how the reported sightings of the bird become more northerly from January to July as the swallows migrate north for the summer.


You can learn more about the migratory nature of a number of different American species of birds on National Geographic's Where Do They Go?. For this interactive feature National Geographic has created a series of beautiful maps to visualize the amazing migrations of different bird species in the Western Hemisphere.

Where Do They Go? starts with an impressive animated satellite map showing the fall migration of a Broad-Winged Hawk. This map animates the route of the birds' migration on top of a moving cloud cover satellite map showing some of the strong winds the birds encounter as they travel around the Gulf of Mexico.

As you scroll through Where Do They Go? a map of North, Central and South America is used to visualize the flight paths of different bird species, the major centers of human population and the seasonal changes in vegetation cover across the whole Western Hemisphere. These maps not only help to explain why the birds undertake these migrations but also beautifully visualize the huge distances that they travel.

The Most Popular French Names

In 2017 the most popular girl's name in France was Emma. The most popular name for boys was Gabriel. You can discover the most popular names in every region in France on a new interactive map from Le Monde.

Le Monde's What Are the Most Popular Names Since 1946 map allows you to see the most popular boy's and girl's name for every year since 1946 in every region of France. It provides an interesting insight into how the fashion in names has changed over time. In 1946 the most popular name for girls was Marie and the most popular name for boys was Jean.


The Zato Novo Baby Name Interactive Map can show you how popular your name is in every state of the USA. It can even show you how the popularity of your name has changed throughout the last 100 years.

Enter your name into the map and you can view an animated choropleth view showing the popularity of that name in each state for every year since the name's first occurrence in the US census. If you hover over a state you can view the number of people with the name for the currently displayed year and the percentage of people with that name in the state. Beneath the map is a total, showing the number of people with the name (for each year) across the whole of the country.

The American government's Social Security Administration has a tool that allows you to view the top 100 baby names for any state and for any year of birth (back to 1960). The SSA's Popular Names by State website also allows you to select any year to see the top 5 most popular male and female names given to babies in every state in the selected year.

A Literal Map of the World

Planet Dirt is an interactive map of the world in which the names of countries have been translated to provide their literal meanings. If you've ever wondered what the name of a country actually means then you can use this map to find out.

Many countries around the world have wonderful literal meanings. For example Mali means 'Hippopotamus', Antigua and Barbuda means 'Ancient and Bearded' and Bhutan means 'Land of the Thunder Dragon'. My favorite has to be the wonderfully surreal meaning of Palau, which is 'Indirect Replies'.

The data for the map comes from this Wikipedia List of Country-Name Etymologies. So if you have any problems with the translated names on the map then I suggest you take it up with Wikipedia and not me! Although I do have to admit that the translation of Earth to 'Planet Dirt' is all mine. The map was created using Mapbox Studio. If you wish to create a similar map yourself then the Customize label text for a single label in the Mapbox Studio documentation is a good place to start.

Toponyms

Natural Features
Many countries around the world take their name from geographical or topographical features. These include Bahrain (Two Seas), Montserrat (Serrated Mountain), Chad (Lake), Croatia (Mountain People), Netherlands (Lowlands), Iceland (Land of Ice), Haiti (Mountainous Land) and Montenegro (Black Mountain).

Religion
We all like to believe that we are God's chosen people. For many countries this goes as far as believing you live in God's chosen country. Among the countries which have some kind of religious related name are Madagascar (Holy Land), Morocco (Land of God), Sri Lanka (Holy Island) Azerbaijan (Protected by Holy Fire), Djibouti (Land of the Moon God) and Uganda (Brothers & Sisters of God).

People
Around the world many countries are named after the people who live there (or who once lived there). In Europe we have England (Land of the Angles), France (Land of the Franks), Belgium (Land of the Belgae) and Switzerland (Land of the Swiss). In Africa we have Mauritania (Land of the Moors), Libya (Land of the Libu) and Senegal (Land of the Zenega). Elsewhere we have India (Land of Indus) and Russia (Land of the Rus).

Animals
Animals are also a common source for country names. Of these we have Spain (Island of Rabbits), Nepal (Those Who Domesticate Cattle), Somalia (Cattle Herders), Cameroon (Shrimp), Guadeloupe (Valley of the Wolf), Sierra Leone (Lion Mountain) and Mali (hippopotamus)

How the UK Turned to Green Energy

Last month the UK went 18 days, six hours and 10 minutes without using any of its coal power plants. This is the longest period of time that the country's electricity grid has operated without coal power since 1882. The new record is a result of an incredible transformation of energy supply in the UK. In just one decade the country has reduced its reliance on fossil fuels so that it now gets over half of its power from renewable sources.

Carbon Brief has mapped out how the UK has overhauled its energy sector in just ten years. In How the UK Transformed its Electricity Supply in a Decade Carbon Brief has published a story map which visualizes the year-by-year evolution of renewable energy. In 2008 the British government passed a Climate Change Act that requires the country to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. Since 2008 the country has reduced its reliance on gas power by over 25% and almost completely eradicated its use of coal-fired power. According to Carbon Brief it now "gets more than half of its electricity from low-carbon sources".

As you progress through Climate Brief's story map you can see the percentage of power generated by different types of fuel for every year from 2008 to 2018 (keep an eye on the coal to see how it almost completely disappears). The map also shows the locations and sizes of the UK's power plants, colored by type. The text accompanying the map provides information on the government and civil action that has had an impact on the UK's power sources, helping to explain how the UK's impressive transformation has been achieved.

This week the UK government announced new legislation to cut UK carbon emissions to zero by 2050. Despite all the UK's efforts in moving towards renewable energy it still has a long way to go to reach a target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

A Random Stroll on Street View

If you've always wanted to be a flâneur but don't like the thought of leaving home then you might like the Street View Random Walker. This new application allows you to take a random walk around Japan using Google Maps Street View.

Once you open the Street View Random Walker you are dropped at a random location in Street View. You can then just sit back and watch as the application takes you on a random stroll around the streets of Japan using the Google Maps Street View API. The starting point for your random Street View stroll isn't entirely random. Every time I've used the Street View Random Walker my walk has started somewhere in Japan and most often somewhere in Tokyo.

After the application starts at a random location (within Japan) it will move forward down the street until it arrives at a road junction. When the Random Walker reaches a junction it takes a random turn from the available options. The application does this by getting the number of links available -

map.getStreetView().getLinks();

- and then choosing at random a direction between these links. The links are shown by the arrows on the Street View panorama. These arrows show the available directions which you can move in Street View. By calling the number of links available the application can determine how many directions it can move and it can then choose randomly between them.


If taking a random virtual walk on Google Maps Street View sounds like too much hard work then you could try Map Crunch instead. Press 'Go' on Map Crunch and you can view a random Street View image from Google's Street View coverage around the globe.

The Street View which you are shown could be from anywhere in the world where Google has captured Street View imagery. Map Crunch also allows you to select to view only random Street View images from your choice of continent or country. If the random element of Map Crunch doesn't appeal then you might prefer the Map Crunch Gallery, which shows only every selected View of the Day.

Mapping Export Related Jobs

In the light of Donald Trump's recent trade tariffs CNBC has taken a close look at where jobs are most dependent on exports. Other countries are likely to respond to Trump's trade war by applying retaliatory tariffs on goods and services made by American companies. This could have a big impact on the jobs and economies of locations across the United States, especially those that are most reliant on the export market.

CNBC's Where American Jobs are Most Dependent on Exports interactive map uses scaled markers to show the number of export-supported jobs in each county in the United States. The larger a county's marker then the more jobs are dependent on exports. The colors of the markers show the share of local GDP that is related to exports. If you hover over a marker on the map then you can view the exact number of local jobs and the percentage of GDP reliant on exports in that county.

The map points to some of the counties which are most reliant on the export market. These include LA County, New York County, Harris County in Houston and Cook County in Chicago.


Last month Axios released an interactive map to show how Trump's trade tariffs might effect workers in the USA. Axios' map, called Trump's Trade War, visualizes the concentration of tariff-affected industries in each county compared to the national average. The darker the color of a county on Axios' map then the higher the concentration of affected industries. The map actually uses two different colors to show the concentration of industries. Pink is used to show where more people voted for Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Green is used to show the counties which voted for Clinton.

Also See

How China’s proposed tariffs could affect U.S. workers and industries - this interactive map was released by the Brookings Institute to show the counties with the highest share of workers in industries affected by China's 2018 retaliatory tariffs on 128 American products.

Firing Back at Trump in the Trade War - the NYT (also after China's 2018 tariffs) placed a map showing where China's tariffs most affect American voters side-by-side with a map of where voters backed Trump in the Presidential election

Mapping the Battle of Normandy

Soldiers, sailors and airmen from Canada played a crucial role in the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Over 5,000 Canadian soldiers gave their lives during the Battle of Normandy and there were over 18,700 Canadian casualties during the campaign.

Project '44 is an interactive map which visualizes the Allied advance and the Canadian contribution to the D-Day landings and subsequent land campaign. The map provides an animated chronology of the positions of all the German and Allied units through June, July and August. On the map the German units are colored grey, the U.S. divisions are a khaki green, British units are brown and the Canadian units are shown in red.

From the map you can explore and learn more about each of the units of the First Canadian Army. If you a Canadian unit on the map you can actually read that unit's war diary for the 87 days of the Battle of Normandy. As you progress through the days of the campaign you can therefore not only observe the advance of the unit on the map but also read the unit's account of the action, including details about the soldiers who were wounded or killed during each day's fighting.

Over the coming weeks users will also also be able to add photos and stories to the maps.

Also See

D-Day military maps - a look at some of the original maps used during the D-Day campaign
D Day Journeys - a story map following the journeys of four Americans who took part in the D Day landings

The Hill's of Zurich

Zurich's Hills is a beautifully designed guided tour around some of the minor elevations surrounding the Zürichsee. The map was made by Raluca Nicola using the ArcGIS API for JavaScript and open-sourced contour line and map data.

I love everything about this map. In essence it is fairly simple. The map just uses contour lines, a digital elevation model and waterbody data (and only two colors) to create a 3D visualization of the hills around Zurich. The map sidebar provides a guided tour and further information about some of the featured hills. As you scroll through the tour the map interactions are indicated with small map symbols and by underlined text. Click on the underlined hill names and the map rotates, pans and zooms to focus on the selected location.


The 3D oblique views available on the map means that this map would actually be really useful on a  walk around Zurich. While admiring the views you could use the map to identify the names of the hills and peaks which surround you.

A Game of Thrones Distance Calculator

The Game of Thrones Distance Calculator can tell you the distance between any two points in Westeros. This allows you to work out how far all the different characters in George R. R. Martin's classic epic have traveled throughout the various episodes and seasons.

The map was created by Mark Alicz based on clues gleamed from George R. R. Martin's novels. Jon Snow's closest friend, Samwell Tarly, tells us in 'A Storm of Swords' that the Wall is "a hundred leagues long." Martin himself tells us that 'a league is three miles'. Therefore the Wall is three hundred miles long. Mark Alicz can therefore use the length of the wall to calculate all the distances between different points on a map of Westeros.

If you click twice on the Game of Thrones Distance Calculator an information window will open revealing the distance between the two points. So, for example, the well trodden journey between Winterfell and King's Landing is 1645.29 miles as the dragon flies.

According to Google Maps this walking route from Paris to Moscow is 1,718 miles (so slightly longer than the journey between Winterfell and King's Landing). Google says this walk would take 563 hours. So if you walked 10 hours a day it would take you 56 days to complete the journey. When Robert Baratheon, the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, arrives in Winterfell his wife, Cerci, complains "We’ve been riding for months now, my love. Surely the dead can wait". Obviously the king traveled with a large, slow moving caravan and presumably spent many leisurely hours dining along the way. I can well believe it would take the king and his caravan a few months to travel 1,645 miles along the Kingsroad (BTW the journey on from Winterfell to Castle Black at the Wall is 2,199 miles long - so the Kingsroad itself is at least 3,800 miles long).

Of course the Game of Thrones Distance Calculator relies on the accuracy of the Westeros map. We have no way of knowing how accurate the map is. We might also do well to heed the words of George R. R. Martin when he said,

"I have deliberately tried to be vague about such things, so I don't have obsessive fans with rulers measuring distances on the map and telling me Ned couldn't get from X to Y in the time I say he did.

However, if you really must know, you can figure out the distances for yourself. The Wall is a hundred leagues long. A league is three miles. Go from there.

But if you turn up any mistakes in travel times by using that measure, let it be your secret".

Where Has Trump Been?

Can you guess which state Donald Trump has visited more than any other during his term of office? No, it isn't Florida. According to a new interactive map from Factba.se the President has visited the state of Maryland more than any other state.

Factba.se has set itself the task of compiling a complete record of everything said by Donald Trump in interviews, speeches and on Twitter. As part of that mission it has also created an interactive map which tracks where Donald Trump goes and how often he spends at different locations. Donald Trump's Public Schedule Calendar Map includes a number of different map views which allow you to see which states and which countries Donald Trump has visited the most.

In the Days By State view you can click on individual states to view the President's full schedule of visits to that state. For example if you click on Maryland you will discover that Donald Trump has visited the state 231 times. Nearly every single one of those visits was to get to an airport - and most of those airport visits were to fly to Florida. So if you thought that Donald Trump had visited Florida more than any other state you were almost right.

Trump has visited Florida 109 times - and most of those visits were in order to play golf. But Trump doesn't only play golf in Florida. The map actually has a handy golf view so we can view all the visits that Trump has made to golf clubs around the whole country. Select 'Golf' from the drop-down menu and you can see all Trump's visits to golf clubs while President. Among the golf outings shown on this view are 71 visits to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster. 58 visits to the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach and 56 visits to the Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls. Add in the other 14 days recorded playing golf elsewhere and the President has spent 199 of his 871 days as president playing golf.

So nearly a quarter of Trump's presidency has been spent on the golf course. The other 75% of his time has been spent on Twitter (I think).