This is a map of frequent trade routes during the colonial times. The major European powers of Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands all had colonies in other parts of the world. Each country established trade routes from their colonies in order to attain the natural resources found in the territories. Some of those resources included food, spices, slaves, and precious materials (i.e. gold, diamonds, skins). All of the mother countries have a complex pattern of trade routes surrounding the globe because they were all competing for the most amount of power by controlling the most amount of land. I found this map in the article by Clark Ford titled "Modern World History From the Age of Discovery to the Present". I found this map extremely interesting because I have always been very interested in world history and how our modern world has been formed. This map shows the first signs of the globalization that would completely connect societies and economies in a few hundred years.
This map displays the number of major earthquakes since 1900 until 2009 and their fatal effects on the human population. Each dot represents the earthquake, the color of the dot represents the magnitude, and the size of the dot represents the total number of deaths the earthquake caused. I found this map on Kevin Berardinelli's blog titled "A Visualization Of Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1900". This map has significance for me because I have lived in California my whole life and I have dealt with earthquakes, which I thought were major. Looking at this map I realize how fortunate my part of the world has been in avoiding many of the more catastrophic earthquakes. It is also interesting to note that earthquakes of similar size have many less fatalities in the wealthier parts of the world than the poorer parts suffer. It is a visual proof how deaths can be prevented from earthquakes by better buildings and more resources.
This map represents the political districts of California. I am a political science major and this holds a lot of significance for state and national politics. There are 53 districts in California, giving the state a significant amount of seats in the House of Representatives. In 2012, 33 of those districts were Democrat and 20 districts were Republican. However in the new elections these numbers are possibly going to change. The article by Mark Gersh titled "Redistricting Journal: California poised to be nation's hottest House battlefield" has many interesting insights on the political situation in California and the map is a good visual aid in order to support his statement.
Ford, Clark. "Modern World History From the Age of Discovery to the Present." World Food Issues: Past and Present. (2012): n. page. Web. 2 Oct. 2012. <http://www.public.iastate.edu/~cfford/342WorldHistoryModern.html>.
Berardinelli, Kevin. "A Visualization Of Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1900." (2010): n. page. Web. 2 Oct. 2012. <http://kevinberardinelli.com/2010/01/13/a-visualization-of-deadliest-earthquakes-since-1900/>.
Gersh, Mark. "Redistricting Journal: California poised to be nation's hottest House battlefield." CBS Interactive Inc. (2011): n. page. Web. 2 Oct. 2012. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20071155-503544.html>.
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