In our talk we will discuss in some detail different examples from the ongoing ANR-funded research project Spherographia in order to reveal several important research issues behind the apparently simple, one could also say overly simplistic, visualizations that virtual globes have to offer today. Although many of these virtual globes allow for new exciting ways of information visualization and environmental storytelling, they still continue to share central characteristics with traditional mapmaking. In our talk, we thus would like to emphasize some crucial aspects of material and visual culture in mapmaking that seem to persist over time, such as for instance the art of copy-and-paste, collage and patchwork effects, and the invisibilization of blanks on the maps. Indeed, addressing in particular the traditional question on the so-called “blanks” on maps also in the digital age – and this is one central working hypothesis of the research project Spherographia – still holds important heuristic value as it allows for studying the socio-political stakes involved in the production of global environmental knowledge. Finally, these important questions lead to the fundamental insight that information gaps and spatial injustice remain in particular today closely connected.