If you’re on the beach, this map shows you what’s across the ocean

http://knowmore.washingtonpost.com/2014/05/22/if-youre-on-the-beach-this-map-shows-you-whats-across-the-ocean/

by fur0n • 12 years ago

34 26 12 years ago

knowmore.washingtonpost.com

nemasu• 12 years ago

Wow, so Chile has a spot where you can go around the globe and end up back in Chile...that is cool.

baddox4• 12 years ago

For one definition of "around the globe," yes.

ipince2• 12 years ago

Meaning Chile is the only country in the world that completely "owns" a latitude. Cool..

ximeng• 12 years ago

Denmark at the top as well.

This is a nice visualisation too (linked from that page).

https://www.jasondavies.com/maps/voronoi/airports/

baddox4• 12 years ago

That's not Denmark (Greenland) at the top. Greenland has been removed from the map for some reason.

baddox4• 12 years ago

If you don't count small islands like South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK), this seems to be the case in reality. However, it wouldn't necessarily follow from this map, since this map only shows North America.

taejo• 12 years ago

Another commenter claims Denmark (Greenland) also owns a latitude.

justmytwospence2• 12 years ago

somebody doesn't know squat about map projections...

ipince2• 12 years ago

care to explain?

jagger27• 12 years ago

The above poster is mistaking the "rule" that only the Mercator projection allows for straight lines to represent the meridians and parallels of the map. While this is true for both longitude and latitude on Mercator, only longitudes are allowed to be straight on pseudocylindrical projections (like the one shown in the OP). Since the map in the OP only draws along horizontal lines it's fine to use that type of projection.

Cylindrical (Mercator): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mercator_projection_SW.jp...

Pseudocylindrical (Wagner): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wagner_VI_projection_SW.j...

eob3• 12 years ago

This really shows just how "landlocked" [1] the People's Republic of China is by the chain of islands bordering it -- they have less ocean-facing coastline than Morocco, Portugal, and even Mauritania. Next time you read about the PRC (a) trying to assert naval power in the South China Sea, or (b) maintaining claims to Taiwan despite having never controlled it, think of this map and the near complete absence of the PRC on it. Access to the Pacific Ocean is critical to their strategic growth.

edit: [1] see grandchild comment

gggggggg• 12 years ago

this seems wrong to me. If you look at a map, China has a fair amount of coastline.

Do I have this wrong?

eob3• 12 years ago

The PRC is almost completely surrounded at sea by other island nations which form a near complete "archipelago landlock" that doesn't exist (as far as I know) anywhere else in the world.

So while it is true that China has lots of coastline, it can't project that coastline out into the Pacific Ocean because it is blocked. News reporting about China's actions often misses this important motivator.

jpatokal• 12 years ago

"Landlocked" is stretching it. It's >800 miles from Kagoshima to Taipei, >300mi from Kaohsiung to Laoag, and ~680mi from Laoag to Hainan. Add in the Tsushima Straits and the bit between Hainan and Vietnam, and that's over 2000 mi of ocean that you'd need to blockade to block China from the Pacific.

eob3• 12 years ago

Perhaps, if we're arguing word choice, but the broader point is that no megapower wants to play Red Rover for easy access to an ocean if war broke out. Until we develop space-based weapons platforms and/or hypersonic missiles, naval power will remain the key means of projecting power and buffering coastline vulnerability.

As long as naval power remains so important, unquestionable access to nearby bodies of water will be primary objects of power projection.

pcl• 12 years ago

I think that the choice of projection works against China here, since it has more southerly exposed coastline. Also, much of its exposure isn't due-east. I bet a projection with less polar distortion and some sort of tangent-based algorithm would paint a more accurate picture.

But all that said, there definitely are a lot of islands between China and the Pacific.

eurleif• 12 years ago

It would be cooler if it took the shape of the beach into account, and showed what would be across the ocean if you were oriented along the tangent line.

tmhedberg• 12 years ago

That would be difficult, since coastlines are essentially fractal.

mmanfrin• 12 years ago

Relevant Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox

baddox4• 12 years ago

Of course, in practice such an app would not attempt inspect the coastline on a molecular level. It would just use vector data from some map source, and I suspect that would work quite well in practice.

Calcite• 12 years ago

This makes it much easier to relate climate for overseas countries. Ocean currents and other effects excluded, the weather in Japan can be similar to California. Another example, Cuba is directly aligned with Western Sahara.

prawn• 12 years ago

Suggests a project for someone to make a little play app which lets you stand on a beach, aim your phone and discover the next landmass in a given direction.

Or likewise, "looking" down through the Earth. What's on the opposite site of where I'm standing right now (including detailing the oceans and seas).

swimfar• 12 years ago

Here are two sites which show you the opposite points (antipodes) of the earth of a given location. One is interactive, the other takes an address.

http://www.freemaptools.com/tunnel-to-other-side-of-the-eart...

http://www.antipodr.com/

There do seem to be some phone apps available as well.

orik• 12 years ago

What about Hawaii?

Kiro• 12 years ago

I was expecting some kind of augmented reality app I could use on the beach to see what's beyond the horizon.

If you’re on the beach, this map shows you what’s across the ocean

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