Map Monday: The Biomes of a Tilted Earth by Lowtuff

What if the North Pole was in Africa and Antarctica straddled the equator? That is the concept of "The Biomes of a Titled Earth" by Lowtuff:

A lot of the maps on this series are political, but not this one that was posted last week on Reddit's Imaginary Maps. It highlights the different biomes the Earth would have if the continents were titled on their side. In many ways it reminds me of SimEarth, a game I wasted many hours on in my youth. A part of me feels this easily could have been a scenario that a player could experiment with during the game.

Granted the map is not without its issues. For example, Greenland should be more of an archipelago if it was missing its ice sheet. Nevertheless, it is still a cool thought experiment. I know some might want to speculate about human civilization in a world like this, but personally I doubt humanity as we know it would evolve on such a planet. That is the problem with geological what ifs: you could easily wipe out of all humanity with them.

Honorable mentions this week goes out to "Origins of the States of the ASB" by Ben "False Dmitri" Carnehl. If you want more mappy goodness, check out Brillant Maps' article on an earlier proposal of the partition of India and Pakistan.

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Matt Mitrovich is the founder and editor of Alternate History Weekly Update, a blogger on Amazing Stories and a Sidewise Awards for Alternate History judge. When not writing he works as an attorney, enjoys life with his beautiful wife Alana and prepares for the day when travel between parallel universes becomes a reality. You can follow him on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Learn how you can support his alternate history projects on Patreon.