Commentary on map projections continues in the wake of the UN resolution about replacing the Mercator projection with Equal Earth. There were two pieces in the Guardian last week. This one is less about projections but about why they matter, not just in terms of diminishing Africa, but also in terms of exaggerating Greenland: would Trump have been so obsessed with it if it if it wasn’t 14 times too big on the Mercator? This piece interviews the three creators of the Equal Earth projection—it’s understandably been a busy time for them!—and provides a bit more background to those just tuning in.

My impression is that the last main redoubt of Mercator is in web maps, where the projection is not a problem unless you zoom out too much. I’ve spotted a couple of new tools to address that: see Ben Joffe’s interactive map, and MapTiler’s demo. Both deal with distortion at the map’s edges by allowing you to drag the map so that any degree of longitude can be at the centre, and transitioning to Mercator as you zoom in.

Previously: The UN Is Voting on Whether to Phase Out the Mercator Projection; The United Nations, Mercator and Equal Earth: A Follow-Up.