This might just be the greatest single representation of what modern civilization has achieved. Not the Moon landing, not the Manhattan Project, not the UN. But this simple demonstration.
Look at that coordination. Look at those numbers. All those goods. All those people. All those ships. All those ports. All those nations. All that trading and cooperation. The ability to move ungodly amounts of freight across thousands of miles of Ocean in days without even blinking an eye. Doing in a few hours what our ancient, and not-so-ancient, ancestors couldn't accomplish in ten thousand years. A level of greatness so incredible our predecessors would be floored at what we have achieved as a species. We have surpassed even the achievements of many of the so-called Gods our forefathers once worshipped.
Our civilization has evolved into such a tremendously huge and complicated system that we have relegated each individual human into what would be the equivalent of an ant. And, much like an ant, no single human has any clue what they are doing, why they are doing it, or how their actions contribute to the greater whole. Not the workers, not the students, not the officials, not even the President. All just microscopic pieces of a 100,000 year old puzzle that is so complex it boggles the imagination. A puzzle that only gets larger, greater, and even more complex by the hour. In fact it's pace is accelerating as our technology improves at an overgrowing pace.
Modern society exists on a level truly beyond human comprehension. We can put the numbers on paper. We can pretend we understand the gravity of the situation we are talking about. But we don't truly understand. We can't fit even a small fraction of all the complexities in our heads.
And that's just the shipping. Imagine all the others webs that lie on top of this one. Cities. Roads and highways. Trucking. Electricity lines. Plumbing. Infrastructure. Air-travel. Internet and elecronic communications lines. Satellites. Manufacturing and processing plants. Etc...
Complexity stacked on complexity stacked on complexity. The culmination of thousands of years of hard work and determination by hundreds of generations of humans. Giants, standing on giants, standing on giants till we stood so tall we could reach out and literally touch the heavens. Civilization is a piece of art every human has contributed to. A piece of art so beautiful it would bring every man, woman, and child to tears if they could truly grasp just a fraction of a single percent of it. But, alas, even that it far to great for any human to possibly understand.

Thanks for this. It helps me understand how the SGR project is a white elephant.

and people wonder how KQ will ever make money if no one is even flying over africa

all those planes are "up in the air".

and people wonder how KQ will ever make money if no one is even flying over africa

Love the integration of maps with data. I can clearly see the effects of the damn somali pirates....

note the heavy traffic between Japan, china and India..hiyo area.

If you live next to an airport, your ears get used to the noise and you dont notice it. The visitors are the guys who hear and complain

why did you not use this to locate plane and path of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370?!!!!