issue700.py

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt 
from matplotlib.colors import Normalize
import numpy as np
import cartopy.crs as ccrs 
import time


NROW = NCOL = 1

nlats, nlons = (241, 480)
lats = np.linspace(90, -90, nlats)
lons = np.linspace(0, 360, nlons)
l1, l2 = np.meshgrid(lons, lats)
data = l1 + l2

cmap = plt.get_cmap('viridis')
norm = Normalize(vmin=0, vmax=data.max())

start_time = time.time()
fig, axes = plt.subplots(NROW, NCOL,
                         subplot_kw=dict(projection=ccrs.Robinson(central_longitude=150)),
                         squeeze=False)
for ax in axes.flat:
    coll = ax.pcolormesh(lons, lats, l1 + l2, transform=ccrs.PlateCarree(),
                  cmap=cmap, norm=norm)
    ax.coastlines()

fig.savefig('pcolormesh_cartopy.png')
print("pcolormesh cartopy: {:.2f} s".format(time.time() - start_time))