Why does the Mercator projection distort area more as you move away from the equator?

Why does the Mercator projection distort area more as you move away from the equator?

• A. It maintains accurate area but distorts distance.
• B. It preserves shape and direction but enlarges areas near the poles.
• C. It compresses high-latitude regions.
• D. It distorts only near the equator.

Answer: (B)

Mercator maps preserve shapes locally and keep directions true, so they must stretch distances more and more as you move away from the equator. The amount of stretching (the scale factor) grows with latitude, roughly as 1 divided by the cosine of latitude. At the equator this factor is about 1, but toward the poles it becomes much larger. Since area scales with the square of that linear stretch, areas near the poles end up appearing far larger than their true size. That combination of preserving shape while increasing stretch toward higher latitudes explains why area distortion climbs with distance from the equator. For example, at higher latitudes the map can magnify areas many times, even though local shapes look correct.

Mercator maps preserve shapes locally and keep directions true, so they must stretch distances more and more as you move away from the equator. The amount of stretching (the scale factor) grows with latitude, roughly as 1 divided by the cosine of latitude. At the equator this factor is about 1, but toward the poles it becomes much larger. Since area scales with the square of that linear stretch, areas near the poles end up appearing far larger than their true size. That combination of preserving shape while increasing stretch toward higher latitudes explains why area distortion climbs with distance from the equator. For example, at higher latitudes the map can magnify areas many times, even though local shapes look correct.