Wild Maps for Curious Minds 100 New Ways to See the Natural World

The natural world has never been wilder—with 100 fiercely fun, curiously captivating, and amazingly adventurous maps

Which nations have launched animals into space? Where are the world’s cat people? How many humans live in high-risk zones for natural disasters? How far do you have to travel to hug all fifteen of the world’s oldest trees? Where in the world do snakes live—or better yet, where can you avoid them?! Find the thought-provoking answers to these questions and many more in Wild Maps for Curious Minds. This infographic atlas of nature’s most impressive wonders and eye-popping oddities is bursting with discovery (Where’s the most remote place on Earth?), whimsical insight (Which animals have launched into space?), and startling revelations (How much forest have we destroyed?) that will change the way you see the natural world—and that celebrate our planet and the plants and animals with whom we share it.

Mike Higgins is a freelance editor and writer with over 20 years’ experience editing features, magazines, and supplements for UK national news media, publishers, and brands like The Independent, The Telegraph, The Guardian, and Lonely Planet.

Illustrator Manuel Bortoletti is an award-winning freelance graphic designer focused on editorial design, infographic illustration, and art direction. He lives in Venice.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: ANCIENT HISTORY
1 Empire of the woolly mammoth
2 The spread of man and the extinction of large mammals
3 North America’s super-volcanoes
4 When the English Channel was a mighty river
5 The rise and fall of Europe’s forests 
6 Where bears and wolves once ruled
7 The fall of the hunter-gatherer
8 The rise of the farmer

Chapter 2: THE GEOGRAPHY LESSON
9 These spheres represent all the water and air on Earth
10 I can’t see the sea from here
11 Which countries lie directly east and west of the Americas?
12 What Antarctica looks like beneath the ice
13 The nations with no sea view
14 All the rivers in the world
15 The surprisingly few countries named after animals
16 The island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island
17 How deep is the Earth?
18 The hemisphere of water
19 The hemisphere of land
20 All the lakes in the world
21 How the natural world flies its flag
22 Here there be dragons…

Chapter 3: EARTH’S RICH BOUNTY
23 Who is rich in water?
24 How wind could power the world
25 The hotspots in Earth’s crust that could power humanity
26 The sunny places that could help fuel the world
27 Where do we get our sparklers?
28 Who are the gold diggers?
29 China grows 23 million tons of garlic a year – three times more than the rest of the world
30 Who is behind the great avocado boom?
31 Who eats their greens?
32 Who eats the most fruit?
33 The milk drinkers  
34 Where do all the turkeys live?
 
Chapter 4: OUT AND ABOUT
35 If every human who ever lived crowded into one place  
36 Distribution of the Great Apes  
37 Where cattle, sheep, or pigs outnumber people   
38 Here’s where to see a giant panda outside China  
39 Which Americans go on wildlife-watching adventures?
40 All the private gardens in the UK   
41 Follow your nose: the longest walk in a straight line  
42 Britain’s national parks cover an area 15 times larger than London   
43 Where Americans get their wilderness  
44 Where to live if you hate snakes   
45 How Americans die in their national parks   
46 The secret rivers of London  
47 Not every giraffe looks alike
48 How fast are you spinning?   

Chapter 5: EXTREME NATURE
49 The oldest living trees in the world    
50 Warning! Dangerous animals at work  
51 Watch your step – these creatures are the tiniest of their kind   
52 How far are you from an earthquake zone?   
53 Where are people most at risk from natural disasters?   
54 Where to see a solar eclipse in the next decade   
55 Ocean deep, mountain high
56 The highs and lows of Europe
57 The largest iceberg ever recorded was bigger than Corsica and Mallorca   

Chapter 6: THE WEATHER REPORT
58 Which is the wettest half of the year in North America?   
59 It’s raining, but is it pouring?    
60 The wettest places in Europe   
61 Where it might snow on Christmas Day across North America  
62 Dreaming of a White Christmas   

Chapter 7: ALL AT SEA
63 Imagine all the oceans as a single body of water   
64 Where the oceans get their water   
65 Who has kept dolphins in captivity?   
66 Captain Ahab’s fatal pursuit of Moby Dick, the Great White Whale   
67 Point Nemo – the most remote place on Earth   
68 The tiny creek that connects the Atlantic and Pacific   
69 The lighthouses of Britain   

Chapter 8: USING AND ABUSING NATURE
70 Where rhinos have been poached   
71 Who eats the most meat?    
72 Where American whaling ships hunted in the 19th century   
73 Who has been killing whales since the ban?   
74 We are losing less forest than before   
75 The Chernobyl disaster created a nature reserve six times the size of New York City  
76 Who are the world’s cat people?   
77 Who let the dogs out?   
78 All the land in the UK that has been built on  
79 Where do America’s hunters live?
  
Chapter 9: THE PLANET IN PERIL
80 How much forest have we destroyed?  
81 Just a few of the hundreds of species that have become extinct in the 21st century   
82 The disappearing Aral Sea   
83 Not everyone believes in the climate crisis   
84 A rapidly warming world   
85 North America’s summers are getting longer
86 … and its winters are getting much shorter
87 Europe’s summers are getting longer
88 … and its winters are getting much shorter
89 Who is at risk from rising seas?   
90 How much of Britain and Ireland might be under water by 2050   

Chapter 10: THE FINAL FRONTIER
91 The 70 trees that have been to the Moon   
92 Guinea pigs in space!   
93 The Mars volcano Olympus Mons is as big as Arizona  
94 Jupiter’s Great Red Spot could swallow the Earth   
95 How big is Pluto?  
96 Australia boldly goes   
97 The rise of the Luna girls   
98 Welcome to Planet Rock   
99 The brightest star in our night sky is a lot bigger than the Sun   
100 All the forests on Earth would cover the entire surface of the Moon (and then some)  
 
Credits