I had people being a bit critical of GPS when I started using it, but my Garmin proved very handy for getting us out of potential trouble in the mountains on a couple of occasions. You need a decent map.

We now leave navigation to our phones. The result: more of us are getting hopelessly lost | John Harris The blue dot of GPS has cut us off from a basic human skill. It’s no wonder mountain rescuers are being called out so often, asks Guardian columnist John Harris

The problem is not people using their phones to navigate, it's people using maps that can't be downloaded and which don't have decent coverage for areas that are not commercially profitable. Use OSM, plenty of apps now.

Brazil will host this year’s Cop30 climate talks. Can it get ready in time? Belém prepares for an international conference on a far greater scale than anything previously seen in the Amazon

"Ana Claudia Cardoso, a professor of urbanism at the Federal University of Pará, predicted Belém would have less tree cover in the city after Cop than it did before." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Millions of Americans believe they’re safe from wildfires in their cities. New research shows they’re not Many of the suburbs and cities hit hardest in recent years were caught off-guard, and key stakeholders are racing to understand the dynamics that drive these fires

“When you have a high wind blowing a fire, the fire is not on the ground, it is in the air,”

Trump’s ‘climate’ purge deleted a new extreme weather risk tool. We recreated it The Guardian has recreated a searchable climate future risk tool developed by Fema but then deleted

“We changed the name of it, removed mentions of emissions scenarios, tried to not get it any attention,” said a source familiar with the Fema project, who asked not to be named.

It took a while, but at least it finished!

Satellite image captures three tropical cyclones spinning in the South Pacific at once Tropical cyclones Rae, Seru and Alfred are churning as the region’s season reaches its peak

'Satellite image captures three tropical cyclones spinning in the South Pacific at once'

Two-thirds of the Earth’s surface experienced record heat in 2024. See where and by how much – visualised In oceans and on land, from the north to the south pole, records were smashed for the monthly average temperature

Two-thirds of the Earth’s surface experienced record heat in 2024. See where and by how much – visualised

Life expectancy growth stalls across Europe as England sees sharpest decline, say researchers Poor diet, obesity and inactivity blamed on decline with Norway the only country seeing a rise

So much for soon we'll all live to be 150

Europe’s population crisis: see how your country compares – visualised How anti-immigration politics across the EU clashes with demographic reality

"those wanting to shut Europe’s borders must contend with a stark demographic reality: the continent’s native population is expected to fall sharply over the next century in an era of low birth rate"

OpenAI ‘reviewing’ allegations that its AI models were used to make DeepSeek ChatGPT creator warns Chinese startups are ‘constantly’ using its technology to develop competing products

OpenAI deciding whether to try and claim that they stole everything first.

Experts urge caution over use of Chinese AI DeepSeek Oxford professor advises against putting private data on platform in case it could be shared with Chinese state

As if we shouldn't exercise caution putting our datta anywhere else?

Google Maps will rename Gulf of Mexico as Gulf of America in US Tech firm to make change in line with Trump’s executive order, using both names in world outside US and Mexico

Google's "what language are you using?" solution for naming conflicts or differences.

‘Rising star’: Europe made more electricity from solar than coal in 2024 Report reveals solar power generated 11% of Europe’s electricity, surpassing coal at 10%

It's happening, despite the stupid attempts to hold it up.

Meanwhile my OSM data downloads on #bigriver now include buildings categorized by type.

Brazil fires consumed wilderness area larger than Italy in 2024 – report New report says more than 30m hectares burned, 79% more than in 2023, after country saw worst drought on record

Still working with the data, but the fire season this year was terrible across all of Amazonia. I remember the days on the boat journey down the river with the smog from fires.

🌍✨ Travel back in time with this 3D map of the Iberian Peninsula 🇪🇸 🇵🇹, published by the #USSR in 1967! From the #Spanish plains to the coasts of #Portugal and a glimpse of North #Algeria 🇩🇿 this map brings history and geography to life 🗺️

📖 Source: The World Atlas (1967)

#VintageAtlas #RGeek #R

I'm assuming at some point it will go completely to shit, but for the moment I'm hanging on as this place hasn't fully come to life yet

It's taken a bit of work, but my OSM (ish) highway styles for #bigriver are getting there.

Revise the people you are following there, and always keep your feed on Following rather than For You - works for me.

So it's not just space and X that he's filling with junk?

Hope is the last thing you lose, they like to say here. We'll see how the day develops. Good thing it's cold outside.

I know of no other combination of words in Spanish that symbolize both hope and fear than 'en reparto'.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the plan for the punitive property tax, which would apply to non-EU citizens who are not residents of the bloc, as part of a raft of measures aimed at tackling a "grave" housing crisis. Spain is one of many European countries where public anger is mounting over the difficulty of finding affordable housing to buy or rent as property prices soar and new construction lags far behind demand. "The west faces a decisive challenge: to not become a society divided into two classes, the rich landlords and the poor tenants," said Sánchez as he unveiled a set of 12 measures.

Spain proposes 100% tax on property purchases for non-EU buyers www.ft.com/content/8e2e...

Housing speech www.lamoncloa.gob.es/presidente/a...

A government with actual policy ideas, imagine that.

The proposal is *up to* 100%. Canada and Denmark have similar measures.

#housingcrisis #holidayhomes

The risks of ‘space junk’ are clear: what goes up, might well come back down on top of you | Patrick Schröder As commercial space activity ramps up, detritus from launches poses a risk to those of us down on Earth, says Patrick Schröder of Chatham House

'Over the past 60 years of space activities, more than 6,050 space launches have resulted in roughly 56,450 tracked objects in orbit. Only 8% of these objects are active satellites, the rest is junk.'

Not a lot happens in Soria, but when it does the Google car is there to capture it.

Google Maps car snaps vital clue in Spanish missing person case Image of man leaning into boot of a car on a street in northern Spain helps lead police to make two arrests

Google Maps (unintentionally) helping to solve missing person case in Spain?

And here in Spain several people are off work in my partner's workplace because of covid - you can get flu/covid vaccinations for nothing at your local health centre.

We are honoured to announce that Tom Kralidis is the recipient of the
2024 Sol Katz Award presented on 6 December 2024 at #FOSS4G2024 in Belém, Brazil.

You may know Tom through his activities within the #GeoPython community. Tom also plays a critical role in […]

[Original post on fosstodon.org]

From Lima to Belém - The Slow Way An unforgettable experience. In early November I got on a flight from Madrid to Lima still not completely sure that I would be able to do the journey I had planned.

I've been down the big river! #foss4g2024 #SOTMLATAM2024 #gischat www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-l...