Antartica’s Largest Iceberg Will Soon Be Non-Existent

On its course to the equator, this massive iceberg breaking off of Antartica’s Ross Shelf is nearing destruction.

Source: https://www.livescience.com/62759-largest-antarctic-iceberg-b15-is-melting.html

The iceberg, called B-15, has been drifting away from Antartica for around 20 years, covering more than 6,600 miles. The iceberg has gradually fractured into multiple smaller sections, and the section pictured is called B-15Z.

Source: https://www.livescience.com/62759-largest-antarctic-iceberg-b15-is-melting.html

This map tracks the course of B-15Z over time, and the iceberg is now passing the South Georgian Islands. The iceberg is nearing the equator, and the warmer tropical waters will quickly melt away the gargantuan ice mass,

For more information and photos:

• A picture showing the four split sections of iceberg B-15 taking different courses
• https://www.livescience.com/62759-largest-antarctic-iceberg-b15-is-melting.html

 

Average Daily PM 2.5 By County in 2011

Particulate Matter (PM) are small particles that contain microscopic solids and liquid droplets that are suspended in the air which can be inhaled and cause health effects. PM range in size, but particles less than 10 mm present the greatest threat. Some particles are emitted directly from a source such as, smokestacks, fires, construction sites, etc. and others are a result of complex atmospheric reactions [1].

Check out this map that shows the average daily PM 2.5 by county in 2011. From the graph we see a three distinct darkly shaded clusters indicating a high amount of daily exposure. The first cluster includes counties in Nevada and Utah. The second cluster includes counties within Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska. The third and most prominent includes counties within various southern states such as, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and North and South Carolina. In contrast, we can see states such as Oregon, Texas, California and Arizona are shaded yellow indicating a lower daily average.

By Julia Watson

 

Health Threat Zones Shown Through Maps

The Eco Health Alliance in New York looked at viruses harbored by mammals and how they meet humans. They looked at various viruses and species of mammals and determined the ranges of species and the infections they carry which they used to map the worlds “danger zones”. Check out the article here.

   

By Julia Watson

nj.mapplerx.com/map/urisahealth

Take a look at this interesting map we made on Mappler in collaboration with Planning Communities! The map is full of GIS layers that you can toggle to show various information such as crime, food, recreation, transit, and URISA health data in DC. The picture below shows URISA data marking sidewalks, intersections, homeless locations, and garbage. Visit the map to view all the data ! nj.mapplerx.com/map/urisahealth

City Population- IIED

This really interesting map on International Institute for Environment and Development’s website, iied.org, shows populations of cities with more then 500,000 people from 1800 to the predicted 2030. The visual that this map gives shows how big our world really is. With a little more than 7 billion people right now, by 2030 that amount will surely grow. Makes you think about what the health, environment, food and water situation will look like when the predicted population for 2030 will be more then 8 billion. I think that if we can increase education efforts on population rise and conservation efforts, we can help to lessen that number or at least be more prepared.

Below is a screenshot from iied.org of cities in 1800 that had more than 500,000 people. London and Beijing had more than a million and Guangzhou and Paris are between 500,000 and a million people.

Looking at 2015, you can see that 1,029 cities had populations larger than 500,000. Take a look at their site and see what the projection is for the year 2030! Thanks IIED for the cool map!

 

all information for this post from iied.org. contact vertices@gis.com. click here for the site.

NRDC- Renewable Energy for America

I found this really interesting map on Natural Resources Defense Council’s website that shows existing and planned renewable energy sources across the United States. I think it is super important to look into and input renewable energy sources, and that the US should continue to be open in incorporating lasting energy efficient sources of power. I feel like many other nations are ahead of us in making the switch from non-renewable to renewable sources, so lets continue to step up! Take a look at the map and see what green energy sources are in your state or soon will be. The map shows wind, solar, advanced biofuel, biodigesters, geothermal, and low-impact hydroelectric facilitates that are currently in the US and planned to be built or operated soon. Check out the site to see the energy map for the US or take a closer look at each state on www.nrdc.org/energy/renewables/energymap.asp.

This map shows all the existing renewable sources in the US.

Posted by Intern Eva Gerrits. Click here to see the site. Contact gis@vertices.com

Earth Day Community Map!

Our Vertices team created an Earth Day map so everyone and anyone can share what they think makes this planet beautiful! All you have to do is go outside and snap a picture of what you think makes this planet awesome and upload it on the site.

Today on Earth Day, log onto earthdaymap.com from your phone or computer as a guest or create an account. Input your location, choose the category that best represents your photo, upload the picture (example: tree, flower, animal, insect, sunset, etc.), then add a short comment about your data. The time and date will be automatically added in by our mapping program Mappler!

Let’s see how many data points around the US and even the world we can map. So go outside and share your view of this amazing planet!

CoolClimate Carbon Footprint Calculator

I think that it is incredibly important to be aware of your carbon footprint and have an idea of how much energy and resources you are using. I am a student at Rutgers and in my Energy and Society class one of our assignments was to calculate our household carbon footprint and see what we can change to lower our carbon count. One of the sites that I used was put together by The University of California at Berkeley, and can be found on coolclimate.berkeley.edu/carboncalculator. All you have to do is fill in some information in the five categories- Intro, Travel, Housing, Food and Shopping. Once all the sections have been filled out based on your personal energy usage and everyday choices, you’ll see what your total footprint is which is calculated on how much tons of carbon you use per year.

 

What I liked most about this site is at the end, it gives you options as to what you can do to lower your footprint. The site gives you things you can do at no cost and options for donations to offset your emissions. Check out the site and see what you can do to have a smaller carbon footprint .

 

Posted by Eva Gerrits, Intern. Click here to see the site. contact at gis@vertices.com

Melting Glacier

Sheridan Glacier

This icy glacier, located right outside Cordova, Alaska, is a beautiful spot that has been a popular location to visit while in the area. There are hiking trails, nearby skiing areas, and walkable glacier areas with ice caves. This breathtaking place of nature unfortunately is seeing some changes in size which could be related to shifts in temperature. On http://www.mappler.net/sheridan/ you can see the changes from an aerial view.

This photo was taken on April 26, 2003

 

As you can see, there are quite noticeable changes between the top photo and the bottom photo. The ice is being separated further and further apart and looks like the result of temperature change.

 

This photo was taken on August 12, 2013

Visit the site, and check up on how this glacier is doing!

Posted by Eva Gerrits, Intern. Click here to see the site. Contact at gis@vertices.com