Editing 2489: Bad Map Projection: The Greenland Special

{{comic
| number    = 2489
| date      = July 14, 2021
| title     = Bad Map Projection: The Greenland Special
| image     = bad_map_projection_the_greenland_special.png
| titletext = The projection for those who think the Mercator projection gives people a distorted idea of how big Greenland is, but a very accurate idea of how big it SHOULD be.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Created by a AFRICA SIZED NOT AFRICA SIZED ISLAND. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

Map projections are different methods of representing the curved surface of the Earth on a two-dimensional map. Because the Earth is not flat,{{Citation needed}} any method of representing it will unavoidably contain some inaccuracies, but some projections are more noticeably inaccurate than others. Typically a projection can represent only distances, areas ''or'' angles correctly, or at best imperfectly compromise two of these. The map choice should reflect the purpose you need to put it to, as it will necessarily distort (perhaps by twisting, skewing and/or resizing) those aspects it was not designed to show intact. 

One such projection is the {{w|Mercator projection}}, which is designed so that all north-south lines of longitude are parallel to each other and all {{w|Rhumb line}}s are consistent, which is most important in the time of map-based navigation. In reality, these imaginary lines eventually meet at the poles and this also expands the apparent distance between lines of latitude at the more extreme latitudes. This means that Mercator maps will show geographic features with larger areas and distances than they should if they are near the poles, compared to those more equatorial. It is not possible to accurately compare the sizes of features across the globe using this projection, although the distortions do not significantly affect more local maps (other than ''very'' close to the poles, historically not an issue) or comparisons along or between similar latitudes away from the equator.

Greenland is a large island in the Arctic ocean and one of the nearest pieces of land to the north pole. The Mercator projection shows it to be significantly larger than it really is, compared to equator-straddling features such as Africa. It is therefore one of the most obvious inaccuracies of Mercator's map, if used (e.g.) in the classroom to teach physical geography (which perhaps would best use a representation that was consistent to area) rather than navigation.

This comic's projection has retained this singular inaccuracy as a deliberate feature, though avoiding all other such inaccuracies of the Mercator projection by using a different projection elsewhere that is designed explicitly to avoid them. For example, a traditional Mercator map would show other polar areas such as Antarctica, southern South America, or even New Zealand as larger, but this map does not.

The title text suggests that this map was created by people who believe Greenland should be larger. Whether these people believe it should be physically increased in size in some manner or should simply receive a greater share of the attention is unclear. One method for increasing its size would be to increase the coverage of its ice cap, which is currently decreasing in size due to increases in temperature. However, increasing Greenland's ice coverage to the size it appears on a Mercator map would involve covering the entire island and surrounding ocean with ice, which would be very problematic for Greenland's population.

==Transcript==
:[Supertitle:]
:Bad Map Projection #299:
:[Bolded title:]
:The Greenland Special
:[Subtitle:]
:Equal-area map preserves size everywhere except Greenland, which uses the Mercator projection.
:[A drawn world map, probably of the Tobler Hyperelliptical type, except for Greenland which is of a typical Mercator (non-)skew and sized at almost the size of Africa, to almost entirely fill the space between Canada and Iceland, extending up well beyond the nominal location of the North Pole and its southern tip comparable to that of Spain/the central states of the US.]
{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Bad Map Projections]]