AI & UHI

We all know the connection between AI, energy use, and global warming. But there is another angle: local heating, in-essence a version of the well-understood UHI. More here:

• AI Data Centers Release Heat, Posing New Problems for Cities
• Sailor et al. (2026): Data Center Waste Heat as an Emerging Urban Thermal Hazard: First Field Measurements of Neighborhood-Scale Air Temperature Impacts 

The Map Animator

This is awesome: https://mapanimator.baldinger.se/

Draw your route or drop in a GPX file, add signs and a camera move, and download it as an MP4 video, up to 4K, ready for your editor.

How To Sound Smart When Talking About Charts

How To Sound Smart When Talking About Charts is a fun little compilation of quotes with comments and context.

El Nino Impacts

Very cool interactive visual from The Climate Brink: https://dashboard.theclimatebrink.com/#impacts

The Satellites of Earth, Mars, and the Moon

We always forget: there are a bunch of satellites orbiting Mars and the Moon. Perigee brings it all together!

Relief

Relief is simple & cool: just the topography as you zoom & pan around the world. Share as link or export as image & video. One gripe: the color ramp is not that great - something more 'natural' for elevtion would be better I think.

Data, GIS, and Society Online Course

This looks interesting: The Data, GIS, and Society Online Course.

• The YouTube playlist
• The Course itself as a series of Esri Story Maps linked from an ArcGIS Experience