Lab 1: Interesting Maps

For this weeks lab I selected three maps I found interesting and added my own thoughts and comments.

Source: http://images.vizworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/LaphamMap081609.png

This map, taken from vizworld.com, shows the spread of diseases around the world dating back to the 1500's. I found this map particularly interesting as it shows specific examples along with dates and where the disease spread too and from. Smallpox is shown by the blue, leprosy by the red and malaria in yellow. Mapping in this way is extremely useful as it could contribute to disease control in the future.

Source: http://bioval.jrc.ec.europa.eu/products/gam/download/accessibility.png

This map, taken from the EuropeanCommission, shows the travel time to major cities around the world. This map is very unique, and shows a vast amount of information. The time travel ranges from 0 hours to 10 days. Its interesting to see that in highly populated areas such as Europe, the travel time is very low – whereas in rural areas the travel time is significantly higher.

Source: http://ibgeog2009.wikispaces.com/Economic_Interactions

This map taken from IB Geography shows the Gross Domestic Product per capita around the world. But this map has a twist – its a cartogram so space is distorted in order to convey the information. Its interesting to see that North America, Western Europe, Japan and South Korea have the largest GDP per capita - while Africa, India and China have a relatively low GDP.