Thursday, December 4, 2025
Losing the Climate Info Wars?
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Glaciers in the Andes
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
No More GDP!
- Life satisfaction
- Health
- Life expectancy at birth
- Education
- Crime
- Civic engagement
- Governance
- Income equality
- Gender equality
- Housing
- Infrastructure
- Financial security
- Employment
- Per capita consumption
- Business health
- Natural capital
- Water quality
- Air quality
- Greenhouse-gas emissions
The Cost Of Living
Excellent data set & web map from the Economic Policy Institute: The Family Budget Map. This map shows (by county) the cost-of-living for a 'normal' two-parent, two-child family broken down into housing, food, child care, transportation, health care, taxes, and other necessities.
Even better: the data are accessible as MS Excel!
Friday, November 28, 2025
Our Demographic Future
Thursday, November 20, 2025
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
Landsat Surface Temperature
The Periodic Table Of Data Viz
Sunday, November 16, 2025
We Are Fluffed!
Saturday, November 15, 2025
The Future Of AI
Tuesday, November 11, 2025
Bills Gate's Climate Memo
So, everybody is going crazy over Bill Gate's recent 'memo': A warmer world will hurt this group more than any other
Read the details yourself, but Gates basically presents the classic mitigation vs adaptation strawman argument that goes something like this: "For most people, the greatest problems are poverty and disease, not climate change and therefore we should focus on those, not climate change."
Ok, Bill: let's talk:
- That's just a false dicotomy - we can & should focus on both.
- Climate change is a threat and harm amplifier.
- The greatest impacts of climate change today & in the future will happen in the poorest countries.
- A 2.5 - 3 C warmer world will be radiacally different from our world today.
Friday, November 7, 2025
The Romans Google Maps!
- Summary in Nature
- De Soto, P., Pažout, A.,Brughmans, T. et al. (2025) Itiner-e: a high-resolution dataset of roads of the Roman Empire. Nature Scientific Data. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-06140-z
- https://itiner-e.org/
Thursday, November 6, 2025
Mega Screenshots
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
ToolUniverse
ToolUniverse is a unified ecosystem that transforms any large language model (LLM)—open or closed—into a powerful AI scientist. By standardizing how LLMs identify and call tools, it integrates over 600 scientific resources, including machine learning models, datasets, APIs, and analysis packages.
With its AI-Tool Interaction Protocol, ToolUniverse provides a common interface for seamless communication between LLMs and tools, ensuring compatibility across platforms such as GPT, Claude, Gemini, and open-source models.
More over here: ToolUniverse Documentation
3D model of Sutro Tower in San Francisco
Tuesday, October 21, 2025
The Cartography of generative AI
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Skiing & GHG Emissions
Monday, October 13, 2025
Drowning Cities in 3D
Thursday, October 9, 2025
Sora: When Tik Tok Meets AI
Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Reimaging The University
The Backsliders
Sunday, October 5, 2025
Google Alpha Earth
Google Alpha Earth is a new geospatial AI model that acts as a virtual satellite: it assimilates all kinds of geospatial data & does the processing for you. Then, you just ask & get ready-to-use AI-generated 'maps' of whatever you want. No more working with dozens of raw datasets!
Example: glacier mapping. In thed old days you would have spent considerable time finding useful cloud-free images, do some kind of processing, and then run some kind of index or band-ratio calculations. Now you can just ask: give me the size of the Humboldt Glacier over the last 10 years.
For now the focus seems to be on physical data collected by sensors, but I would assume that human data from will be included in the future.
More here: AlphaEarth Foundations helps map our planet in unprecedented detail
The End of GIS: AI!
The AI Revolution is Coming for GIS: What You Need to Know About Microsoft’s Latest Warning is a pretty dire read...but you probably should add 5-10 years to this timeline. Here are a few take-home messages for me:
- The impact will be most-significant on the entry-level jobs.
- But, field work and basic project management will still be around for a while.
- Coding is still a key skill, but it will be all about AI-assisted coding in the very near future. But, you will need to have a good understanding of coding and how AI 'thinks' in-order to effectively prompt the AI.
- Take an online class in maschine learning for geospatial applications.
- Combine GIS expertise with complementary skills such as urban planning, environmental science, and more.
Thursday, October 2, 2025
PaintMyMap
Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Historical Aerial Photos
Are Rooftop Solar Panels the Solution to America's ...
Saturday, September 27, 2025
Climate Trace
- Track Global Emission of air pollution.
- Pollution Plumes shows how they disperse from point sources.
Nerd Alert: Python, The Documentary!
The future of universities
The future of universities is an excllent special in Nature. The focus is obviously on 'typical' universities and not the 'job mills' that are typical of public higher education in the USA such as state universities or community colleges.
Friday, September 19, 2025
How people are using ChatGPT
How people are using ChatGPT is a quick web article from OpenAI that summarizes the findings from a working paper entitled How People Use ChatGPT. The key figure is below.
The Electrotech Revolution
- Physics: Electrotech makes the energy system more efficient. Electrotech is around three times more efficient than fossil fuel systems, which waste two-thirds of primary energy inputs (380 exajoules) as heat at a cost of $5 trillion every year. Solar and electrification enable us to harness the power of the sun, which gives access to 100 times as much energy as fossil fuels.
- Economics: Electrotech gets cheaper as it scales. Fossil fuel commodities get more expensive as extraction continues, and their prices are elevated by major producers controlling the supply. Electrotech is manufactured and modular, resulting in clear technology learning curves, with costs falling by around 20% every time deployment doubles. Electotech is already capturing two-thirds of global energy investment and is responsible for all the expected growth in energy jobs. Electrotech contributed 10% of global GDP growth in 2023, including 22% in China, 5% in India, 30% in the EU and 7% in the US.
- Geopolitics: Electrotech enhances independence and security. 80% of the world lives in fossil fuel importing countries, with over 50 countries importing more than half their primary energy as fossil fuels. In contrast, 92% of countries have renewables potential over ten times their current demand. Replacing imported fossil fuels using three key levers—EVs, heat pumps and renewables—can cut net fossil fuel imports by 70%, saving $1.3 trillion globally each year. Once electrotech is bought, it lasts for decades, providing insulation from the vagaries of global pricing. When fossil flows stop, the economy stops. When electrotech flows stop, only growth is at risk.
Sunday, September 14, 2025
Charlie Kirk: Climate Denial & More
Saturday, September 13, 2025
The Nature-Positive Movement
- Purpose-led businesses (e.g. Patagonia, etc.) can pursue ambitious goals & lead by example.
- Smaller companies can be agile and influence their local communities.
- Large companies have a) the resources and b) the scale throughout their entire supply that even small improvements can have a large aggregate impact.
Friday, September 12, 2025
The Correct Map
- The Correct World Map
- The “correct” map
- A cool scrolly-type story map: The true size of Africa
- The Equal Earth Projection
Saturday, September 6, 2025
How To Make Animated GIFs
- Assemble the frames as slides in MS PPT.
- Save each frame as an image (use JPG as it creates a white background).
- Upload the JPGs to a free GIF website (e.g. Ezgif).
- Share the animated GIF!
Friday, September 5, 2025
Pickleball vs. Tennis
Saturday, August 30, 2025
The Cooperative National Geologic Map
Friday, August 29, 2025
Projections & Distances
Geodesic or planar: which to use for distance analysis (by Esri) is a nice overview of the issue. Take-home message: use geodesic distances!
Thursday, August 28, 2025
Forms in ArcGIS Online & Beyond!
- Basically you can use Forms within ArcGIS Online / Map Viewer to edit feature layers (digitize new features, input/edit attribute data, etc.).
- And: you can use Forms for field data collection using ArcGIS Field Maps.
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Sketchfab & Cannon Mountain
Monday, August 25, 2025
GIS Certificate @ CCSU
- Beyond the Map: Advanced GIS in Action
- GIS Advanced Certificate course
- GIS Essentials Certificate - Course 1 Fundamentals
Thursday, August 21, 2025
AI For Science
- Try it here: Ai2SciArena
- More Information
- Nature, 10 July 2025
Academia = Rotten!
Sunday, August 17, 2025
Carl Sagan (1995)
“I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time — when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness…”
More @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World
Wednesday, August 13, 2025
I Got a Drone!
Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Fair Point!
Future Climate Projections & The Living Atlas
Blender & Canva
Sounds like Blender & Canva are taking over the 3D & 2D graphic design world - interesting! I'm not surprised to see Blender here, but Canva used to be considered an amateur tool. Read more about it here.
Friday, July 4, 2025
Two Different Story Maps
- The Internet Infrastructure Map is maybe not a 'classic' story map as such, but does tell the story of the expansion of undersea cables & more that represents the infrastructure of the Internet.
- Battles of the American Revolutionary War (by Esri) is a class Esri Story Map = a nice way to curate a lot of information across space & time. But...ultimately...not very compelling.
Sunday, June 29, 2025
Google's AI Hurricane Predictor
Ai & Energy Use
The Retro Weather Channel
Tuesday, May 20, 2025
USA: Counties & Population
Monday, May 19, 2025
Art x Climate
Friday, May 16, 2025
Maps: Projections & Distortions
- Select your projection.
- Select your map center.
- Make things really weird by adding a rotation or two.
- Share as link or PNG.
- Awesome!
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Chart Makers
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
The Climate Justice Instructional Toolkit (CJIT)
StreetWhip
Sunday, May 4, 2025
IRB
- Excellent video here: Do you need an IRB??
- IRB Decision Tree (U. Wisconsin La Crosse)
Saturday, May 3, 2025
Choosing the 'right' AI tool!
Sunday, April 27, 2025
2020 & 2024 Election Results
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Sunday, April 20, 2025
Backcountry Skiing
Thursday, April 17, 2025
Screen Recording with Zoom
Saturday, April 12, 2025
The Earthporn Map
How Fast Is the Earth Spinning Where You Are?
Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
The VOSviewer
Big Data
Thursday, March 20, 2025
Climate Havens vs. Heavy Rain & Flooding
WMO 2024 State of the Global Climate Report
- State of the Global Climate 2024
- State of the Climate 2024 (Esri Story Map)
- Extreme Events 2024 (Web Map)
Saturday, March 15, 2025
Deep Research Tools from OpenAI & Google
Air Tours & UpToWhere
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
The U.S. Climate Vulnerability Index
The MoAT: The Museum of All Things
- https://mayeclair.itch.io/museum-of-all-things (Windows, Mac, OpenXR, etc.)
- https://github.com/m4ym4y/museum-of-all-things (for the nerds)
Wednesday, February 26, 2025
Rail Transit Access vs Population Density
Rail Transit & Population Density compares and ranks 250 cities around the world - the side-by-side map and table comparison is great!
Thursday, February 20, 2025
America's Drunkest and Driest Counties
The Milky Way Map
Thursday, February 13, 2025
NetCDF in ArcGIS Pro
3D Print Your World
- Topography Explorer
- DEM Net Elevation API
- Tiel Exporter
NAIP 2023 Imagery
I always forget about the NAIP Imagery - a great source for free satellite data at pretty decent resolution (30 cm / 60 cm).
More here:
Esri Story Maps: Categorized Map Tours
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Godview AI
Thursday, February 6, 2025
How To Digitize Fast!
Tuesday, February 4, 2025
The Street View Animator
The Street View Animator looks like great fun - more about it over @ Maps Mania.
My only concern is 'permanence' - these types of apps have a tendency to disappear after a while & then all your work disappears as well. This makes it a little risky to committ to it as a teaching tool.
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Saturday, February 1, 2025
GLOBAL GLACIER CASUALTY LIST
The GLOBAL GLACIER CASUALTY LIST is nicely-done Esri Story Map - good luck keeping it updated!
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Poe
Mapping YouTube Videos with AI
Backcountry Ski Routes in the Presidential Range of New Hampshire
Sunday, January 26, 2025
Padlet!
- Video Discussion Board where the students post one relevant video for a topic, for example ozone & global warming.
- Or, do the same with figures.
- There is also a Video Recorder where they could record a brief video of themselves talking into the camera.
Saturday, January 25, 2025
GeoSpy
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Teens & Social Media
Teens, Social Media and Technology 2024 by the Pew Research Center leads with this chart. Not sure what to make of it, but 1) YouTube rules, 2) TikTok & Instagram & Snapchat are important, 3) Twitter is irrelevant, and 4) Facebook is holding steady after dropping like a rock.
An Extremely Detailed Map of the 2024 Election
An Extremely Detailed Map of the 2024 Election by the NYT shows the 2024 election results down to the precint level & the data are available as well!
The Copernicus Interactive Climate Atlas
The Copernicus Interactive Climate Atlas is awesome - have a look! You can display measurements, reanalysis, and model data at all kinds of geographies & time scales. And: download the data in a bunch of formats.
It is just too much...nobody will use it. Expert scientists will access the data directly and the general public will scared off by the complexity. This is really designed for the rare 'regular' person who is interested & competent enough to figure-out the tool.
Suggestion: Make a simplified version or walk-through video.





















