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I鈥檓 a geographer who鈥檚 produced听many maps听depicting human effects on the environment 鈥� and听demanded听we create more of them. A question I am increasingly asked is: how do you not feel powerless in the face of such depressing data?

With climate anxiety now affecting young people鈥檚听mental health, and widespread doubt about whether limiting global warming to听1.5鈩�听is possible, it can be tricky to answer. What I鈥檝e found is that we can use a surprisingly commonplace tool to communicate danger and to bring about positive change: the map.

Throughout history, it has generally been society鈥檚 elites who have used maps to exploit, not help, the planet and its people. They鈥檝e used them to听pinpoint oil reserves,听carve up continents听and听justify wars. But maps can also be used to empower and defend those who face seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

Over a century ago, the women鈥檚 suffrage movement developed one of the largest ever听map-based campaigns, spanning decades and continents, as part of its drive to give women the vote. We need to use their principles if we are to persuade leaders not just to deliver but to improve upon the promises made at the recent UN climate conference听COP26.

Suffragists used maps听to celebrate听jurisdictions across the world that had given women the vote 鈥� and to shame those that had not. They reasoned that the action of some policymakers would highlight the inaction of others, betraying the most misogynist politicians and their supporters.

American suffrage maps with the headline 鈥淰otes for Women a Success鈥� showed the US states that had granted women the right to vote. To challenge those with backward views, some versions of the map were also adorned with provocative statements such as 鈥淗ow long will the republic of the United States lag behind the monarchy of Canada?鈥�

In 1930s Europe, where France was still withholding votes for women, suffrage campaigns听published maps听showing the country鈥檚 outdated approach to democracy in contrast to its neighbours such as Belgium, under the banner 鈥淔rench women can鈥檛 vote! French women want to vote!鈥�

Suffrage maps were plastered on walls, hung across streets, paraded on sandwich boards, printed in newspapers and even used to听petition听the US Congress.

Geographer听Christina E. Dando听has pointed out how American suffragists鈥� work was not just focused on creating maps, but changing them. For example, the map below was submitted by the Nevada Women鈥檚 Civic League to the US听judiciary committee, which was resisting granting women the right to vote nationwide. As the catalogue entry for the map听tells us, 鈥渢his petition shows that women were not just lobbying Congress in general, but strategically pressuring committees to act鈥�.

In the US, the听19th amendment听guaranteeing all women the right to vote听was ratified听in August 1920. But the fight for equal access to the ballot box was far from over.

Racist voter suppression policies were enacted in many states against women of colour, who were themselves听creating maps听to campaign against the horrors of lynching. It was only after the听Voting Rights Act听was passed nearly 50 years later, on August 6 1965, that such policies were outlawed. Even today, maps听remain a weapon听in the continuing fight to achieve fair racial representation in some US states.

In the past, creating maps to counter the status quo 鈥� or indeed creating pretty much any map at all 鈥� would have required significant design expertise, a lot of manual effort and the financial means to print and promote it.

Today, these challenges can be overcome more easily. The majority of sites and social media platforms are free, do not conform to national borders, and are out of government reach. That means that images that hold those in power to account can spread more freely. So it鈥檚 time to use maps to challenge the greatest social and political crisis of our time: the destruction of our planet鈥檚 environment.

Take a look at this map of nitrogen dioxide 鈥� a gas released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels 鈥� from a hot July day across Europe in 2019. High levels听can damage听health, create听acid rain听and contribute to the听greenhouse effect. Although the map shows gas moving around, it鈥檚 clearly concentrated in certain areas. There鈥檚 a big cloud caused by shipping in Marseille and spots marking industrial plants around Dusseldorf.

Rather than view this as purely an image of scientific interest, we should see it as a call to action. Living beneath the swirls of nitrogen dioxide are policymakers who can design tougher legislation, such as introducing听low emission zones, to erase the yellow marks from this map.

The battle for women鈥檚 equality is clearly not over, but the idea that at least half the adult population should be legally deprived of a vote is now unconscionable in all but the most extreme jurisdictions. Maps created for women, by women, helped make this so. Now, let鈥檚 unleash the political power of maps to ensure that a failure to act on the environment becomes unconscionable too.

This article first appeared in on 29^th November 2021.

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• Original article in
• Professor James Cheshire鈥檚 academic profile
• 果冻影院 Geography
• 果冻影院 Social & Historical Sciences