GINKs

An interesting article here from the Guardian about population and the environment... and GINKs (Green Inclinations, No Kids).

Thanks to Alan Parkinson.

Himalayan balsam again....

Looking for some bits and pieces on the Peak District website for Year 10, and I came across this.... So if you're bored of revision over half-term, go and help get rid of one of those invasive species you've been learning about!!

And another one...

Ecosystems/biodiversity article, that is. http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2010/may/23/top-10-new-species-2010

Yr13 - Biodiversity

Two very interesting and useful reports from the Guardian about the importance of biodiversity:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/21/biodiversity-un-report
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/21/un-biodiversity-economic-report

and an editorial here.

Make sure you investigate the links within the articles as well as the articles themselves.

Eyjafjallajokull - Yr13

As well as keeping an eye on the news, and having a look at the websites, etc. that I've posted on Geogtastic, the BGS page about Eyjafjallajokull has been updated, and this blog post is very good. Both of these look at the eruption in a bit more depth than the news is doing...

Also have a look at The Volcanism Blog - loads of good stuff on there about various volcanoes, including Chaiten and Soufriere Hills.

A Menagerie of Monikers...

Do you know your Tigers from your PIGs? Or your BRICs from your NICs? Interesting article from The Economist here which is useful background reading (something you all need to be doing more of!!).

Year 13

After spending our first lesson back reminding ourselves about the structure of the A2 course, analysing the AS results, achieving slightly better marks in the Summer GeoNews Quiz than Year 12 did, we spent Friday's lesson looking at progress with projects.

Remember that you should, by now, have a plan together of what you are doing and when - regardless of whether you are replanning a new investigation, or are about to start writing up your project. We will spend Friday lessons on project work, but we need to make sure that write-ups are finished by mid-November so that we have time to get plenty of practice of exam questions in before your exam in January.

This morning's lesson was an intro to Plate Tectonics - and a reminder that you need to be keeping an eye on the news so that you have an up-to-date knowledge of what's going on in the world, and some "golden nuggets" to incorporate into those essays you'll be writing.

Homework, for when I see you on Tuesday next week (I said Thursday initially - but it's Stop the Clock Day, and Friday is project work) - is to find out about Alfred Wegener... Who was he? When was he around? What did he do/say?

Mt Redoubt

Although the alert level has been reduced, there's ongoing Mt Redoubt activity... And a fantastic panoramic image (view full size):

Earthquake in Indonesia

Just seen on the BBC website that there has been a magnitude 6.5 earthquake in Northern Indonesia... (Pacific Ring of Fire... look at your plate boundaries maps Yr13!) Fortunately no reports of casualties or damage so far.

Strong quake hits North Indonesia

In the footsteps of Shackleton

In 1908, Ernest Shackleton and his team set off to explore the Antarctic "terra incognita"... Towards the end of last year, some of their descendants embarked on an expedition to retrace Shackleton's footsteps.

There is a nice arcticle and video clips from the BBC here and their expedition is the subject of this evening's Timewatch at 8.40pm on BBC2. Will be well worth a watch for Cold Environments!

Yr13 - Tectonics

Those of us who were here on Wednesday reminded ourselves about the structure of the earth and talked about plate tectonics theory.

You then put some nice maps together showing the major tectonic plates and the directions in which they are moving.

For the next time I see you, you need to be finding out about the main types of plate margin:

Destructive (convergent) - oceanic/oceanic, oceanic/continental, continental/continental

Constructive (divergent)

Conservative

For each, you need to be thinking about processes and landforms, you need a named/located example, and you need a diagram.

You might also like to check out the post on Geogtastic about Hunga Ha'apai, the underwater volcano near Tonga that erupted earlier in the week - some spectacular photos about, and also check out the Smithsonian Global Vulcanism and USGS Earthquake Monitoring overlays in Google Earth.

A mystery for you...

What connects Nottingham University's Trent Building with the Isle of Portland in Dorset, and a recent news story?

Image - Flickr user Toxophilite (CC)

Image - Flickr user Sharkbait (CC)

Click here to find out more from the Times Online...

Tourism in Antarctica

Thanks to Anna who has just sent me this link to a news story about the increase in tourism in Antarctica.

You may well have seen the other day that another tourist cruise ship ran aground just off the Antarctic Peninsula. All the passengers were rescued, and it was thought that the ship was unlikely to sink, but it was leaking fuel... The picture below will take you to the BBC coverage of the story.

World Population

Interesting viewing for those of you in Yr12 who are looking at Population at the moment, and for those of you in Yr13 who are revising for GGA2 resits in January...



Thanks to Kenny O'Donnell.

Paradise almost lost?

A very interesting article from the Guardian here about the Maldives and the plan that their new president is making for their future...

Machu Picchu... Year 13

Those of you who were here this morning started the lesson reading an interesting article from the Wall Street Journal about Machu Picchu and why it is "magical"... The photos we looked at, including the one below, were from Flickr, but The Marvel of Machu Picchu is a rather nice slideshow on the Wall Street Journal site and is worth a look too.

Image: Flickr User szeke (CC)

And for the benefit of any Year 12s reading this, a nice Machu Picchu llama!

Image: Flickr User Pacific Yooper (CC)

If you want to have another look at the movie we watched that looked at the impacts of tourism on Machu Picchu and the surrounding area (or just listen to the panpipes again!) you can find it here.

Some possibly useful links (let me know if you find any more):

The UNESCO listing for Machu Picchu

The Machu Picchu Gateway

The Virtual Inca Trail

Article from National Geographic considering the threats to Machu Picchu, including from landslides - also talks about the cable car proposal

Sacred Land Film Project

For more general information about World Heritage, you can have a look at the UNESCO site, where there is an interactive map of the World Heritage Sites (these can also be viewed in Google Earth), a list of the criteria for selection, summary of the nomination process and some useful Frequently Asked Questions.

Don't forget that the questions on the sheet need to be completed for Thursday next week... I hope that those of you at Hagg Farm had a good time - make sure that you see me asap to collect sheets, etc. Also don't forget that those of you at Hagg Farm missed handing in your essay today - I would like that ASAP please! Or else...

Benidorm... Year 13

Tourism in Benidorm (an example of tourism in an MEDC) was the subject of Tuesday's lesson. After reading the Spanish Tourist Board's description of Benidorm and comparing it to our preconceptions, we looked at the location in Google Earth, talked about the climate and microclimate, and watched an interesting video from YouTube. (I can't link to the video because of some of the comments that have been posted but if you do a search for Benidorm - approach with caution - you will be able to find it quite easily, together with a selection of others...)

Image - Flickr User josago (CC)

We then looked a variety of news articles from earlier this year about the suggestion that the ideal ecotourism destination is not, in fact, a remote rural wilderness area, but a busy urban area such as Benidorm! GoSpain, New Scientist, BBC Magazine.

And then some more recent news articles that you weren't too keen on - the prospect of Benidorm as a World Heritage Site! Round Town News, Metro, The Telegraph, Wanderlust.

New battle over Arctic oil plans

This news story from Thursday about the plans for huge expansion of oil and gas drilling in the Arctic will be of interest to both AS and A2 geographers as you will all be looking at Cold Environments later this year.

Well worth a look at the video clip of David Shukman flying over Prudhoe Bay as well...

On the theme of exploitation of Arctic "resources", the controversy over Greenland's whaling continues...

Coasts may be "abandoned to the sea"

That's according to Lord Smith, the new chairman of the Environment Agency, who says that coastal erosion is the most difficult issue that the Agency have to deal with, but that some parts of the coastline are so badly eroded that they are not worth protecting.


The picture shows part of the Holderness Coast (East Yorkshire), but large parts of Norfolk and Suffolk are under threat as well. Read the full article from the BBC here.

"Northern cities beyond revival"

That's according to a "think tank" called Policy Exchange. Apparently, the regeration that is going on in cities such as Bradford (which I have posted about on Geogtastic before) and Liverpool is not working, and there should be a mass migration of poor northerners to southern cities such as London, Cambridge and Oxford...

Doesn't seem to me like the most sensible solution... Have a read of the article from the BBC here and see what you think!