Beccario built the visualization as a learning experience inspired by hint.fm wind map and D3.js visualization library. site 
"earth" is a personal project I've used to learn javascript and browser programming, and is based on the earlier Tokyo Wind Map project. Feedback and contributions are welcome! ...especially those that clarify accepted best practices. github
Map data is provided by Natural Earth but must be converted to TopoJSON format. We make use of a couple different map scales: a simplified, larger scale for animation and a more detailed, smaller scale for static display. site
See Chaos in the Jetstream for discussion of climate system mayhem.