-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        RE: Fantasy Islands
Date:   Thu, 04 Dec 2008 06:04:10 -0600
From:   Mike Flannigan <[log in to unmask]>
To:     Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum <[log in to unmask]>
References:     <[log in to unmask]>




To give an idea of how futile this appears, I'm pretty sure
Canada has at least 2.5 million lakes
http://www.aquatic.uoguelph.ca/lakes/lakeopt.htm

And by my definition, Canada alone has way more than
10 million islands.  How ironic that a professor in
neighboring Michigan would claim only 1/2 million in
the whole world.  Make me wonder if he is claiming
that number for Michigan alone.


Mike Flannigan


On Tue, 2 Dec 2008, [log in to unmask] wrote:

>Dear Angie Cope:
>       The questions, as asked, are called "imponderables". That means
there
>is no real answer, because the questions ask undefined data to produce
>defined results. No one can give a definite answer, only an estimate. Any
>estimate can be challenged, since the authority used to create the
estimate
>is inherently imprecise.

snip

      The inquiry in 2004 was from the Wall Street Journal and they
eventually quoted: "There are 500,000 to 600,000 islands in existence, says
Chris Mayda, professor of geography and geology at Eastern Michigan."
      No one knows where Mayda got that figure from, but hey, it was
printed and now it's fact.

>       Moving on ...
>       Here are four questions I just got that I still don't know how to
>easily answer:
>(1) Total number of islands in the world
>(2) Total number of islands in the South Pacific
>(3) Volume of water in the South Pacific
>(4) Sea area of the South Pacific
>
>Any ideas?
>
>Angie