我们的地图都是错的：图片显示最常用的墨卡托地图是多么的脱离实际 [美国媒体]

Our maps are all WRONG Graphic shows just how out of touch the commonly used Mercator map really is

我们的地图都是错的：图片显示最常用的墨卡托地图是多么的脱离实际

It has long been known that many of the most popular maps of the globe are wrong.

很多最流行的世界地图都是错的，这一点早已为人所知。

However, a new graphicshows exactly how wrong the commonly used Mercator map is.

然而，最近出现了一张图解，它显示了最常用的墨卡托地图究竟错到什么地步。

It reveals the huge imbalances in country sizes, with the popular 'globe' map showing North America and Russia are both larger than Africa, when in reality Africa is three times bigger than North America and significantly larger than Russia too.

它揭示了最常用的“世界”地图上各国面积不平衡，北美和俄罗斯都比非洲大，而实际上非洲面积是北美的三倍，而且也比俄罗斯大得多。

These strange distortions have been laid bare by a climate data scientist at theMet Office who has created a two dimensional representation of what the world really looks like.

英国气象局的一位气象数据科学家揭穿了这些奇怪的失真之处，他创造了一种二位表现方法，来展示世界真正的样子。



The map that shows that many countries - including Russia,Canada and Greenland - are not nearly as big as we think.

这幅地图显示，很多国家，包括俄罗斯、加拿大和格陵兰岛，都没有我们想象的那么大。



Brazil is more than five times larger than Alaska, yet Alaska is larger than Brazil on the map.

巴西比阿拉斯加的五倍还要大，然而地图上阿拉斯加的面积却超过巴西。



But the diversity gradually faded away with one model, invented by Gerardus Mercator in 1596, which surpassed the others.

但是随着格拉尔杜斯墨卡托在1596年发明的一种模型，这种模型比其他各种各样的模型更优越，所以它们逐渐淡出人们的视野。



'There was then some manual tweaking of countries that are closer to the poles', wrote Mr Kaye on Reddit.

“然后对靠近北极的国家进行了一些手动优化，”Kaye先生在reddit上写道。

'This demonstrates you can't fit shapes on a sphere back together again once you put them on the flat.'

“这表明，一旦你把球上的形状投影到平面上，那么投影的形状就无法与球上的形状吻合了。”

Mercator (5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish cartographer famous for creating a world map based on a projection which showed sailing courses of as straight lines.

墨卡托（1512年3月5日-1594年12月2日）是一位佛兰德绘图家，他以发明了投影为基础的世界地图而得名，这种地图以直线显示航向。

Unlike other geography scholars from around the same time as him, he did not travel much.

不像他同一时代的其他地理学者，他没有多少旅行经验。

Instead his knowledge of geography came from his library of over one thousand books and maps.

相反，他的地理知识来自于他的图书馆，拥有超过一千本书籍和地图。

In the 1580s he began publishing his atlas, which he named after the giant holding the world on his shoulders in Greek mythology.

在1580年代，他开始出版他的地图集，并以希腊神话中扛起世界的巨人为之命名。

In the Mercator projection, North America looks at least as big, if not slightly larger, than Africa.

在墨卡托投影地图中，北美看起来跟非洲一样大，甚至大了一点点。

And Greenland also looks of comparable size.

而且格陵兰岛的面积看起来也与之相当。

But in reality Africa is larger than both.

但实际上非洲比以上二者都大。

WHO WAS GERARDUS MERCATOR?

格拉尔杜斯墨卡托是谁？

Gerardus Mercator (5 March 1512 – 2 December 1594) was a Flemish cartographer famous for creating a world map based on a projection which showed sailing courses of as straight lines.

格拉尔杜斯墨卡托（1512年3月5日-1594年12月2日）是一位佛兰德绘图家，他以发明投影为基础的世界地图而得名，这种地图以直线显示航向。



In fact, you can fit north America into Africa and still have space for India, Argentina, Tunisia and some left over.

实际上你可以把北美洲塞进非洲，而剩下的面积依然可以容纳印度、阿根廷、突尼斯，甚至还有富余。

Greenland, meanwhile, is 1/14th the size of the continent as can be seen in Gall-Peters equal projection, which provides the correct proportion of land mass to the continents.

而格陵兰岛，只有这片大陆（非洲）的1/14，在高尔-毕德思的等面积投影中也可以看出，这种方法给出的大陆陆地面积比例是正确的。

The map suggests that Scandinavian countries are larger than India, whereas in reality India is three times the size of all Scandinavian countries put together.

这幅地图表明，斯堪的纳维亚各国的总面积要超过印度，而实际上印度的面积是所有斯堪的纳维亚国家总面积的三倍。

As well, as this, it seems the fact that our maps typically put north at the top is a mere convention but has been accepted as correct in most of the world.

同样的，我们的地图基本上都是上北下南，而这一事实只不过是习惯使然，但是被大多数国家所接受，认为是正确的做法。

Al K.
It's too bad someone couldn't invent a spherical representation of the earth.....

没有人发明一个球形来表现地球，真是糟糕……

Trot,
They have, it's called a globe. Check it out sometime.

有啊，那玩意叫地球仪。有时间就研究一下。

Al K.
Trot...Wooosshh ! Wooosshh ! - That was Irony and Satire flying over your head...

Trot，哇哦！哇哦！讽刺在你头顶飞舞……



MartinD738
Apparently we need to be told cartographers lies about their creations on a weekly basis.

很显然，需要有人来告诉我们，那些制图家每个星期都在他们的创造中撒谎。

David Lo Pan
Must by a conspiracy by those Antarcticans

肯定是南极洲居民搞的阴谋。

Sir Edward Cornman
They used to lie about size of landmasses on maps now the 'experts' lie about climate change. Same dance just a different tune.

他们曾经在陆地面积上撒谎，现在“专家们”又在气候变化上撒谎。异曲同工罢了。

LivingItUp
Not really news but is about time map representations were accurate.

其实不是新闻，但是时候让地图表达准确了。

Stuart G
This story again? It's déjà vu all over again.

又是这件事？早就看过啦。

Puddin Head
Saw this on the TV show The West Wing in 1990s...

在90年代的电视节目《白宫西厢》里看过这件事……



JobsNotMobs
British Isles soooooo tiny.

英伦岛国真渺小。

Titania__
The smaller the bottle, the more precious the scent.

瓶子越小，香水就越珍贵。

yve
But I do wish our men had the slow Southern accent in a deep voice...Awight Babes gets a bit monotonous...:(

但我确实希望我们的人有低沉而舒缓的南方口音……现在的口音有点单调……

Titania__
Technically, Antarctica is not a country.

技术上来说，南极洲不是个国家。

Warm Felon
This has been known by everybody and there mother for years and you reminded us about this exclusive a couple of weeks ago.

每个人很早以前都知道这件事了，而且你几个星期之前也告诉过我们。

yve
So where is the Flat Earth map, and does it show what's underneath...and don't say it's a Giant Turtle.

那么平面的地图在哪里？它有没有展示下面的情况？别告诉我下面是一只巨大的乌龟。

neverkardashian
It's turtles all the way down.

最下面就是一只乌龟。



Are You Kidding
So, basically, the whole of the Northern Hemisphere

所以，基本上整个北半球的陆地面积都变大了。

Mark
No, the distortion is symmetrical on each side of the Equator and increase with latitude. There are just fewer land masses far from the Equator in the Southern Hemisphere so the distortion is less evident except for Antarctica.

不，赤道两侧的扭曲是对称的，并且随着纬度的增加而增加。南半球离赤道很远的陆地数量较少，因此除了南极洲外，这种扭曲就不那么明显了。

Bilinga
What's all that space between the US and Canada then?

那么美国和加拿大之前的空间有多大呢？

R. Silher
Argentina, Australia, Chile, and New Zealand also suffer from this "shrinkage". Must be the water in those high latitudes are just too cold.

阿根廷、澳大利亚、智利和新西兰也受到这种“缩水”的影响。可能是因为那些高纬度地区的水太冷了。

Richard Forster
You should try one of those new fangled globe thingies. Everything is the right size!!!

你应该试试那种新的带有凸起的地球仪。上面所有东西的尺寸都很准确！！

Mybigtoe
All the migrants think there's more room in England than there really is

所有移民都认为英国有更多的空间，然后发现竟然真的有！



FlatEarthTruth
Too bad you've been indoctrinated into believing that.

可惜你被灌输了这种想法。

Benny_Hill
Why isn't this on all the other major news outlets?! This is breaking news!

为什么其他大型新闻机构没有报道这件事？！这明明是个大新闻！

FlatEarthTruth
Faking news more like.

更像是个假新闻。

Gorgeous Feet
seems wrong. I'm sure the United States is a lot larger than that.

好像是错的。我肯定美国要比图例大得多。

Pete Extra
Only the waistline...

只是腰围大……

swaneer
Everyone knows this, obviously even Mercator back in the 1500s knew this. Were the scientists figuring this out while on the clock?

每个人都知道，很显然甚至15世纪的墨卡托也知道。科学家们不是在钟表上就指出这件事了吗？



Avanice
Lucky Canada

那是加拿大的幸运。

Science sense
Has no one ever owned or even seen a globe??? Why would they be suprised at what is instantly obvious?

难道没有一个人见过地球仪吗？为什么这种显而易见的事情会让他们感到奇怪呢？

Lord God Almighty
The world really is flat then?

那么我们的世界果然是平的咯？

TheFlatEarthFraud
Well this actually shows it's not as the distortion is due to trying to represent a sphere on a two dimensional plane.

好吧，这实际上表明，这种扭曲并不是因为试图在二维平面上表现球体所产生的。

FlatEarthTruth
One day you sheeple will wake up to reality.

总有一天你们这些羔羊会对现实醒悟的。

eagle1997
Noticed you forget to mention the Turtle and Elephants.

我注意到，你忘了说乌龟和大象了。

Giveblood
On a globe Russia still looks a lot bigger than shown here.

在地球仪上，俄罗斯看起来依然比这里展示的要大得多。



J0hn Smith78
How is this even an article? We were taught this is school 30 years ago.

这都能水一篇？我们30年前就在学校里学过。

gerald carbonneau
I never realized until now just how tiny Alaska really is.

我从来没有意识到阿拉斯加其实很小，直到现在我才明白。