North America’s Wolf Subspecies
Wolves once roamed from Mexican deserts to Arctic ice, but their North American range has collapsed dramatically.
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Environment maps
Maps depicting environmental degradation across planet.
White Christmas in Sweden: Five Decades of Vanishing Snow
How has Sweden’s white Christmas changed over the past fifty years? This SMHI dataset maps snow presence across the country from 1975 to 2024, showing a geographic divide that’s become more pronounced over time.
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The Most Valuable Soil on Earth
Ever wondered where the world’s richest soils are? This map shows the global distribution of chernozems (a type of black soil). And according to the map, just three countries hold most of these extraordinarily fertile lands.
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When the Sahara Was Green
The Sahara wasn’t always sand and heat. Carl Churchill’s map reconstructs what North Africa looked like 8,000 years ago during the African Humid Period—a time when Lake Chad, Lake Darfur, Lake Ahmet, and The Chotts formed a network of waterways across grasslands. Ancient humans traveled these routes before climate shifts turned the region into desert.
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When Los Angeles Becomes a Bay
Jeffrey Linn mapped what Southern California looks like when 80 meters (260 ft) of seawater flood the LA Basin. Two versions show the transformation from basin to bay.
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When All the Ice Melts — and When the Oceans Disappear
Earth’s seas are rising today, but the long-term future holds both floods and droughts on a planetary scale. See maps I created showing what our world would look like if all ice melted, if alien oceans were added, and when Earth eventually runs dry.
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The Changing Range of the Giant Panda: Then and Now
A map comparing the historic and current range of the giant panda shows how much its world has shrunk.
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Europe’s Hot Summers: Comparing Heat Days Then and Now
Heat waves in Europe are no longer rare events. A new map shows how often summer days over 30ºC now occur compared to the early 1980s.
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New Zealand’s Disappearing Forests—Mapped Through Time
From forest-covered islands to today’s mix of pine plantations, pastures, and native remnants—these three maps help explain how New Zealand’s geography was reshaped by human arrival, fire, and farming.
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How Hurricane Forecasts Got Way Better
Forecasting hurricanes used to feel like watching a storm through frosted glass. Today, we have a much sharper view. This post explores how the “cone of uncertainty” has narrowed – and what that means for safety, science, and storm prep.
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