Talk:3207: Bad Map Projection: Zero Declination

2026-02-14T14:53:19Z

2A03:E600:100:0:0:0:0:10: I wonder what year the largest share of the population lived in a zone of less than 5° of declination

First! Can't believe I'm north! [[User:King Pando|King Pando]] ([[User talk:King Pando|talk]]) 03:34, 14 February 2026 (UTC)
:What do you mean that you're north? [[User:This isn't a good name|This isn't a good name]] ([[User talk:This isn't a good name|talk]]) 03:42, 14 February 2026 (UTC)
:You’re north, I’m fourth :) [[User:Logalex8369|Logalex8369]] ([[User talk:Logalex8369|talk]]) 04:53, 14 February 2026 (UTC)
:: Hi fourth! i'm John [[Special:Contributions/45.178.1.151|45.178.1.151]] 05:31, 14 February 2026 (UTC)
:::Hi John, I'm Dad. --'''''[[User:DollarStoreBa'al|DollarStoreBa'al]][[User Talk:DollarStoreBa'al|Converse]] (BLM) 11:32, 14 February 2026 (UTC)
I can't figure out what the red arrows are. My best guess is that they indicate the direction that the map was distorted in that area. It would be good if somebody would explain. [[User:Jordan Brown|Jordan Brown]] ([[User talk:Jordan Brown|talk]]) 04:07, 14 February 2026 (UTC)
:I think you are right. here's a rough ([https://imgur.com/a/ESLZmYQ map comparison]) [[User:Sameldacamel34|Sameldacamel34]] ([[User talk:Sameldacamel34|talk]]) 05:41, 14 February 2026 (UTC)
: I thought it might be showing where things are drifting on the map with the current drift of the north pole. [[Special:Contributions/2A02:3103:4C:2400:E259:E2C3:5BDD:1111|2A02:3103:4C:2400:E259:E2C3:5BDD:1111]] 10:16, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

Wouldn't such a map actually be quite useful to anyone using only a compass to navigate?
[[Special:Contributions/2A06:C701:46AF:2C00:7577:585:1183:EFBD|2A06:C701:46AF:2C00:7577:585:1183:EFBD]] 07:37, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

I'm confused by the cylindrical projection used for this. I would have expected him to use the geomagnetic dipole for the projection axis, but this would put Ellesmere Island at the top of the map, which is clearly incorrect. Instead he seems to have used the geometric axis for the projection (or maybe the axis between magnetic dip poles, which would be similar in 2025?). This joke would have been better 20 years ago when the dip pole was solidly in Canada. [[User:Quantum7|Quantum7]] ([[User talk:Quantum7|talk]]) 08:35, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

I've honestly seen worse "earnest" attempts at map projections. I might use this in the future just to see if anyone even notices.
[[Special:Contributions/2A00:FBC:F004:3364:B820:80FF:FEA3:938D|2A00:FBC:F004:3364:B820:80FF:FEA3:938D]]

I see the zero line goes more or less through the Rift Valley in East Africa. If the same thing happened a couple of million years ago, it's quite likely every individual in the genus Homo once lived within a couple of degrees of declination.[[Special:Contributions/2A03:E600:100:0:0:0:0:10|2A03:E600:100:0:0:0:0:10]] 14:53, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:3207: Bad Map Projection: Zero Declination