The president of the British Cartographic Society has been in the news for her statement that Internet mapping is destroying the historical and geographic legacy of the United Kingdom. Mary Spence of the British Cartographic Society said that online maps are good for driving but that they leave out cultural and physical features that help people understand the geography of a place. The BBC reports that, "Ms. Spence said landmarks such as churches, ancient woodlands and stately homes were in danger of being forgotten because many internet maps fail to include them." My colleague Caitlin Dempsy of GIS Lounge provides a nice rebuttal.

Formed in an era with a climate much different from ours, pluvial lakes covered wide swaths of the planet. Learn all about pluvial lakes and their remnants from this latest article from Amanda Briney.

Hurricane Ike intensified in strength from Tropical Storm Ike to dangerous Category 4 Hurricane Ike with winds of 145 miles per hour in less than 18 hours! As of Thursday, Hurricane Ike remains 550 miles northeast of the Leeward Islands. Current projections have this monster of a hurricane on a path toward the Bahamas by early next week but it still could go anywhere. Hurricane Ike is not currently expected to reach Category 5 status and, in fact, may decrease in intensity to a Category 3 before it returns to a Category 4. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Hanna and Tropical Storm Josephine pose threats to North America in the coming days. For maps and forecasts, check out Weather Underground.

There are three tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean as of Wednesday morning and they're all headed toward North America. Tropical Storm Hannah, Tropical Storm Ike, and Tropical Storm Josephine are the ninth, tenth, and eleventh named storms this season. For details and tracking maps for these storms, visit Weather Underground or the National Hurricane Center. My colleague Rachelle Oblack has a ton of great hurricane information on her Weather at About.com site.