Maps of the Week - Maps in Motion

The Nature Conservancy has created a mesmerizing animated map showing where birds, mammals and amphibians will need to migrate to in order to maintain hospitable climates as global warming takes effect.

Migrations in Motion uses data from climate change projections to model potential habitats for 2,954 different species. The animated map visualizes the migratory flow of these species, showing how they would need to move from their current habitats to the projected locations.

This amazing animated flow map layer is based on the equally amazing Earth Wind Map and Chris Helm's adaptation of the Earth Wind Map code. You can learn more about the science behind the Migrations in Motion map on this Nature Conservancy blog post.


The London Underground is the beating heart of London. It is also its venous system, carrying its people, its lifeblood, around the city.

Tube Heartbeat is a map of traffic on the London Underground. It is an animated flow map which shows how traffic at individual stations rises and falls over the course of a single day. As the animation plays the map of the London Underground beats like a living heart as the people of London travel to & from work, and across the city.

Running totals above the map show the total number of arrivals, departures, interchanges and the total number of journeys throughout the day. You can also select individual stations on the map to view a chart of these same totals for an individual Underground station over the course of an average weekday.


GPlates is a 3d animation which shows how the Earth has evolved over millions of years. The map shows the Earth's shifting plate tectonics from 240 million years ago up until the present day.

As the animation plays you can watch how the post-Pangaea Earth formed, as that super-continent drifted apart. The current land mass is shown beneath the shifting tectonic plates. You can therefore observe how the positions of the continents and countries we know today have moved around over the centuries due to the rifts in plate tectonics.

GPlates includes an option to view the same animation on top of a 2d map. It also includes controls which allow you to adjust the speed of the animation playback.