How to make maps easy to understand

Maine Governor LePage proved how dumb we are when it comes to understanding maps.

LePage warns the thing the ebola epidemic in West Africa teaches us is our need to look at Maine’s recent immigrants. He means immigrants from Somalia. LePage says we need to make certain they are here legally.

Really. That is the lesson LePage takes away from the ebola epidemic in West Africa.

Never mind ebola doesn’t discriminate asylum seekers from naturalized citizens.

Never mind in this country so far ebola has infected caregivers.

The terrible ebola epidemic has been in West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Medecins Sans Frontiers reported almost 3,000 ebola deaths in these West African countries.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more recently reported nearly 5,000 ebola deaths and 9,000 cases of ebola in West Africa.

The U.N. World Health Organization reported new ebola cases in West Africa will reach 10,000 per week. Or 10 times current reported new cases.

LePage thinks what we need to do is look at recent immigrants. He means immigrants from Somalia, which is in East Africa.

Let’s assume LePage isn’t pandering to xenophobic nativist views. People with them do exist in Maine.

Let’s assume LePage isn’t making a very thinly veiled racist issue out of West Africa’s ebola epidemic. Maine people are too polite to talk about it, but racism does exist in the state.

Let’s say the take away from Maine Governor LePage’s ebola lesson is he cannot read maps.

Africa is a continent. Not a county, not a country, a continent.

Africa is 4,000 miles across, from West Africa where the ebola epidemic is centered to East Africa where Somalia is located and where there is no ebola epidemic.

The ebola epidemic in West Africa is happening 4,000 miles from East Africa, and Somalia.

Maps are hard. Maine Governor LePage reminds us of this when he links West Africa with Somalia.

As Yellahoose, which means as a digital map maker, which means as a consultant working on data visualizations, including spatial visualizations, I know maps are hard.

Those of us making maps need to show care and vigilance in making maps easy to look at, read and understand.

Someone like LePage can warp true and correct information to pander to racism and xenophobia.

You have to hope, as I do, there are people, among LePage’s followers too, who will look at a map and see Somalia is not in West Africa.

You have to hope, and I do hope, when you make maps people will look at them and come to the truth about a thing based on the true and correct data. That includes spatial data. That means maps.

That’s how to make maps easy to understand.