The planet did not change size yesterday.
The map was simply asked to stop flattering Greenland.
The United Nations has endorsed wider use of the Equal Earth map projection, which represents the relative size of continents much more accurately than the Mercator map many of us grew up staring at in classrooms.
The difference is not subtle.
On a Mercator map, Greenland appears roughly comparable in size to Africa.
Africa is actually about fourteen times larger.
Mercator was designed in 1569 for sailors, and for navigation it remains exceedingly useful. It was never especially good at answering the simpler question of how large things actually are.
After 457 years, geography has requested a slightly more accurate portrait.
#TheModernRaconteur #DailyBrief #Cartography