Maps of a future Earth
About Jeffrey
Projects that unite data, art, history, and humor
Jeffrey Linn is a Speculative Cartographer. He draws upon the past to create maps of the future.
In addition to the work you see here, he has constructed worlds for AAA game studios, and lectured on concepts and techniques of world building at the USC School of Dramatic Arts.
His work has been featured in the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Grist, and the Huffington Post. It has been praised by Ursula K. Le Guin, and verified by Snopes.
"Frightening, fascinating, and funny...I wish these maps could be posters in schools."
Ursula K Le Guin
About the maps
I use real-world data
to create the sea rise maps
Both the terrain and sea levels were modeled using publicly available raster elevation data.
The sea levels I chose to model are based on statistics from the International Panel on Climate Change. These levels are the very end point of sea rise, meaning–its not going to happen in our lifetimes. Even so, millions of people are at risk of seas rising a fraction of the amount I portray. Millions of people are at risk of starvation from droughts and crop failures that will occur soon–long before the seas rise to the point shown in these maps. The dangers the world faces are real and happening now. I create these maps out of a sense of fascination with what the world will be long after I’m gone, and to share my fascination, along with a dose of cheesy humor.
"Jeffrey Linn blends the mentality of an artist with the mind of a scientist"
Creating the maps
Raw elevation data is generally sourced from the USGS National Map for US locations. I use streets and existing water bodies from Open Street Map.
Using QGIS, an open-source GIS application, I model the sea rise level, bathymetry, and topography from the elevation data. Streets and existing water are both rendered from the OSM data.
For the hillshade, I use a method laid out by Daniel Huffman in his blog SomethingAboutMaps. I loooove this technique–it creates readable terrain, with crisp ridgelines and soft valley bottoms. For larger regions I integrate Tom Patterson’s cross-blended hypsometric tinting technique, which is an elegant way to portray elevation and ecology simultaneously.
"More crazy conspiracy theories from the climate change cult"
Rando commenter
