National Parks: Crowds & Climate

This is a very cool analysis: what's the best time of the year to visit a given US national park if you want to balance crowds & weather? Sure, there are hardly any crowds in Glacier National Park in January, but you are in the middle of winter. Likewise, J-Tree is pretty empty in July, but can you deal with the heat?

Explore it all here: How to See the Most Popular US National Parks, Without the Crowds

An American Mosaic

Coool interactive web map by the NYT: An American Mosaic

There is an article to go along, but that's behind the NYT paywall.

Svalbard: Fossil Fuels, Geopolitics & Science

Good article here: Feeling a chill

Basically, Svalbard finds itself at the center 21st century geopolitics 'cloaked' as science between the USA, Europe, Russia, China, India. etc.

Have people stopped trusting science? The data tell a surprising story

Have people stopped trusting science? The data tell a surprising story (Nature, 1 July 2026) shows something that I did not expect - see figure below.

• The about 20 percent drop for Republicans beginning around 2018 makes sense: Thanks Donald & Fox News!
• But, what causes the about 10 percent drop for Democrats starting around 2020 & the about 5 percent drop for Independents starting a few years later? Is that just a methods artifact due to COVID?

Urban Plannning & Washington DC

Great scrolly map from the NYT for our history & urban planning nerds: Washington Has Been Carefully Planned for Two Centuries

The 3-30-300 'Rule'

Cool stuff over on Maps Mania: The 3-30-300 Rule for urban trees & interactive mapping tool. Read more about this rule or goal @ https://www.330300rule.com/.

Reality Mapping vs Digital Twins

This Esri article sounds like a lot of marketing word salad, but the animated GIF is cool!