Two Maps -- One Election Map and One Energy Consumption Map

Both of these maps are very interesting. The top map shows Energy Consumption across the United States before the turn of the century using circles, which makes the map easier to read. It seems weird looking at the map that LA and WY are the biggest energy consumers. The second map is an intriguing map I found online regarding the 1996 presidential elections. Its a weird map that shows proportionality and chloroplethic tendencies on how the state voted for either the Democrat or Republican presidential candidate.

This image I found at this website: http://www.censusmapper.com/CM_Help/choroplethmaps.htm shows the percentage of population in poverty across the United States. It seems to show that the greatest area of poverty is in the Southern and Southeastern portion of the nation. You can also note that there are some "holes" where major cities are located in the South. One could ask if being in a rural area has anything to do with being in poverty.

Federal Land Ownership

I found this basemap online while searching for different maps. This map, while a bit outdated, shows how much land that the federal governement owned in the late 1990s. On the map, we see that the West has more land under federal ownership than the Midwest or the East. This map will make one wonder why the Government owns so much land in the West... while very little east of the Rockies.

This image shows the current drought situation in the state of Virginia by county. I chose this image not only because it shows the drought in our home state, but it also shows the information countywide. Therefore, you can see exactly which county has the most extreme drought and needs the rain the most -- and which county does not. Its an intriguing map that is updated weekly by the US Drought Monitor, which is an offshoot of NOAA.

This image was found at: http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/DM_state.htm?VA,SE