PINOY Observer

𝗦𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗠 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗢 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗟𝗔⛈️ Intense (matinding) hanggang sa Torrential (buhos na ulan) ang nararanasan ngayon sa iba't ibang bahagi ng Metro Manila at mga karatig na lugar dahil sa thunderstorm na kaakibat ng #habagat. ⚠️ Bagamat kadalasang nagtatagal lamang ng 1-2 oras ang mga thunderstorm, ang matinding buhos ng ulan ay maaaring magpabaha sa mga lugar na madalas nakakaranas nito. Ingat po!

𝗧𝗥𝗨𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗭𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗣𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗣𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦🇵🇭

Though we may appear tiny on the world map, the Philippines is far from being a small country. To put things in perspective, here’s a simplified visualization showing how our 300,000+ km² archipelago compares to some well-known countries based on their true sizes.

Many of the maps we often encounter, in textbooks, websites, and classrooms, use the Mercator projection, a popular but highly distorted type of map.

The Mercator projection preserves shape and direction, which is useful for navigation, while dramatically enlarging landmasses near the poles, making those near the equator relatively small. As a result, countries like the Philippines can appear deceptively small, while regions such as Greenland seem far larger than they actually are.

The Philippines has a total land area of over 300,000 square kilometers, making it larger than the United Kingdom (around 243,000 km²) and many other European countries. Meanwhile, Greenland, which often appears to rival the size of Africa on a Mercator map, is around 2.1 million km², only about seven times bigger than the Philippines, not dozens of times as it may look.

Though maps give us a glimpse of reality, they can also distort our understanding of the world. That’s why it’s important to always consider the context, such as the type of map projection used, to better interpret the information we see and gain a more accurate view.

At Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas, falling water levels have revealed dinosaur tracks — the latest discovery as bodies of water around the world dry up amid a drought.

“They’re spectacular,” one paleontologist said. “You can see the toenails.”
https://nyti.ms/3PKf5mb