Environmental indices may appear objective, but the choices made in developing them are shaped by different worldviews that influence the results sharply.
Climate performance can not be judged on the basis of any one environmental index. A fairer assessment would require that the developers of the index examine their design choices and state them transparently. Photo credit: Chris Leboutillier/Unsplash
Environmental indices may appear objective, but the choices made in developing them are shaped by different worldviews that influence the results sharply.
Until the mid-sixteenth century, navigation on the high seas was complicated by the then-maps not aligning with compass bearings, making it necessary for sailors to perform constant course correction.
In 1569, Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator introduced a transformative map projection that enabled sailors to plot a single heading and hold it for an entire voyage. However, the map was imbued with the curious feature of dramatically inflating northern landmasses, making Europe and North America appear much larger relative to Africa and South America.
