Talk:3207: Bad Map Projection: Zero Declination

First! Can't believe I'm north! King Pando (talk) 03:34, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

What do you mean that you're north? This isn't a good name (talk) 03:42, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

You’re north, I’m fourth :) Logalex8369 (talk) 04:53, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

Hi fourth! i'm John 45.178.1.151 05:31, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

Hi John, I'm Dad. --DollarStoreBa'al^Converse (BLM) 11:32, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

Hi Dad, I’m hungry. Logalex8369 (talk) 18:07, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

Hi Hungry, I'm Sister! K9Dragon23, or RainWingSquares (talk) (talk) 22:19, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

I can't figure out what the red arrows are. My best guess is that they indicate the direction that the map was distorted in that area. It would be good if somebody would explain. Jordan Brown (talk) 04:07, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

I think you are right. here's a rough (map comparison) Sameldacamel34 (talk) 05:41, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

I thought it might be showing where things are drifting on the map with the current drift of the north pole. 2A02:3103:4C:2400:E259:E2C3:5BDD:1111 10:16, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

Wouldn't such a map actually be quite useful to anyone using only a compass to navigate? 2A06:C701:46AF:2C00:7577:585:1183:EFBD 07:37, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

Not much. High-end compasses can be calibrated to compensate for declination. At least, this map would avoid having to recalibrate when changing area. Shirluban 147.161.153.84 14:35, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

Also, navigation using only a compass and a map typically involves angles with landmarks. That's why usual maps use the Mercator projection: it preserves angles. Since this map doesn't [citation needed], it might be problematic. Shirluban 147.161.153.84 16:58, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

I'm confused by the cylindrical projection used for this. I would have expected him to use the geomagnetic dipole for the projection axis, but this would put Ellesmere Island at the top of the map, which is clearly incorrect. Instead he seems to have used the geometric axis for the projection (or maybe the axis between magnetic dip poles, which would be similar in 2025?). This joke would have been better 20 years ago when the dip pole was solidly in Canada. Quantum7 (talk) 08:35, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

I've honestly seen worse "earnest" attempts at map projections. I might use this in the future just to see if anyone even notices. 2A00:FBC:F004:3364:B820:80FF:FEA3:938D

I see the zero line goes more or less through the Rift Valley in East Africa. If the same thing happened a couple of million years ago, it's quite likely every individual in the genus Homo once lived within a couple of degrees of declination.2A03:E600:100:0:0:0:0:10 14:53, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

I made a map for the title text. Source code. The answer is 2000. Not sure what the etiquette is for adding it to the explanation. Ahogue (talk) 21:08, 14 February 2026 (UTC)

This is great. I am not sure about the etiquette either, but please go forward and add :-) --176.199.210.83 09:49, 16 February 2026 (UTC)

I would really love to see an animation that morphs back and forth between Mercator and this comic. I say Mercator because I suspect it's what the comic map is based on, the goal is to use whichever well-known projection is closest to the xkcd map. If I had any know-how in this field I might try to make that animation myself, but I'd have a really insane learning curve to do it and it's not worth it. --NeatNit (talk) 11:47, 16 February 2026 (UTC)