“Earth”, hosted by nullschool.net, has to be the most mesmerising animated global weather Website ever created. Although not billed as a credible weather service, it nonetheless draws rock-solid data from NOAA's global satellite forecast system and NASA's OSCAR global current database to generate stunning visualisations of current weather patterns and trends – making it an incredible additional resource for those wanting to better understand the weather or plan for their next adventure. 

If there's one common denominator that binds humanity together, it has to be the weather. It affects all of us, from Tokyo to Tamboerskloof, and we can't stop talking about it. But our fascination with the weather goes much deeper than it just being a polite topic of conversation. For many, from farmers stressing about their crops, to adventurers planning exotic trips, understanding what Mother Nature has in store is a matter of survival. That said, when it comes to following global weather trends, I doubt you'll find a better resource than “Earth” – an animated, online global weather map developed by software engineer Cameron Beccario back in 2014.

How Beccario went about creating “Earth” is ingenious. Taking open source, supercomputer-crunched data derived from NOAA's global satellite forecast system and NASA's OSCAR global current database. He first taught himself how to build an online global map, then worked out how to accurately populate all the data on to it, using coloured moving vectors so mere mortals like you and I can comprehend it all.

The end result is a wonder to behold. Just admiring the many animated overlays, watching how all the global weather systems mix and intertwine with each other is a fun activity in itself. On a more practical front, you can track wind speeds from sea level right up to the stratosphere, as well as monitor ocean currents and temperatures. Tracking global cloud cover and measuring stuff like exact relative humidity levels from anywhere on the planet is a simple mouse click away. And, for those concerned about global warming, you can track concentration levels of atmospheric nasties such as carbon dioxide as well.

You can also switch between various map projections, zoom in and out, and drag maps around with your mouse from pole to pole to get a better view. And, wherever you click on the map, a small box opens showing the GPS co-ordinates and data values you selected for.

Wind and ocean wave height data gets updated every three hours, temperatures are updated daily, and ocean currents get refreshed every five days.

Working your way through the various menu options is pretty intuitive, and doesn't take long to master. Just click the “Earth” logo on the map's bottom left corner and a menu box appears – once there, you can either play around like I did to work everything out, or simply watch this great YouTube tutorial How To Use The Earth Wind Map” and get up to speed fast. – (c) 2017 NavWorld