Saturday, 28 April 2007

BBC NEWS Earthquake shakes parts of Kent

An earthquake has shaken parts of Kent, damaging buildings and disrupting electricity supplies.

Homes were evacuated, power was cut and one woman needed hospital treatment after parts of Kent were hit by an earthquake.

The tremor - measuring about 4.3 on the Richter scale - struck just after 8.15am on Saturday in an area with a history of some of the worst British quakes.

The emergency services were inundated with calls as the ground shook and buildings were damaged, with cracks and toppling chimneys.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) reassured householders that damage will be covered. The ABI's Nick Starling said: "These sudden, unexpected, and unwanted events are exactly what insurance is designed to cover."

Kent Fire and Rescue Service took more than a 100 emergency calls, ranging from issues concerning structural damage to gas smells. A spokesman said: "We have had calls from people saying their chimneys have fallen down, large cracks in people's houses."

The fire brigade investigated reports of someone trapped under a collapsed building but everyone was accounted for.

Electricity and gas supplies to houses in some parts of Kent were cut off. Scottish and Southern Energy, which supplies gas to the area, was investigating 300 "possible gas escapes" in the system.

EDF Energy, which supplies electricity to people in the Dover and Folkestone area, said several thousand customers lost power, but it was later restored.

Police said there were no reports of serious injuries. But South East Coast Ambulance Service said one woman in her 30s suffering from a minor head injury and neck pain was taken to hospital. It sent five ambulances and three officers to the Folkestone area.

The quake is the largest in Britain since an earthquake in Dudley in 2002. British Geological Survey seismologist Roger Musson said the tremor was around 4.3 on the Richter scale, with an epicentre 7.5 miles off the Dover coast. That meant it could be weakly perceptible as far as London.

Source: BBC NEWS | England | Earthquake shakes parts of Kent

The Nuclear Debate


Should the UK consider a new generation of reactors? Use this guide to explore the issues including waste, cost and energy alternatives.

Source: BBC NEWS | In Depth | nuclear

YouTube - Tesco Attacks!

You have been warned

Australia's epic drought


Australia has warned that it will have to switch off the water supply to the continent's food bowl unless heavy rains break an epic drought - heralding what could be the first climate change-driven disaster to strike a developed nation.

The Murray-Darling basin in south-eastern Australia yields 40 per cent of the country's agricultural produce. But the two rivers that feed the region are so pitifully low that there will soon be only enough water for drinking supplies. Australia is in the grip of its worst drought on record, the victim of changing weather patterns attributed to global warming and a government that is only just starting to wake up to the severity of the position.

Excellent blog on the drought from GEOBYTES ADVANCED EXTENSION

Source: Australia's epic drought: The situation is grim - Independent Online Edition > Australasia


Thursday, 26 April 2007

GEOCASES: Case Study: The Rural-urban Fringe

This article looks at the rural-urban fringe, an important concept in settlement geography. After consideration of general trends and related concepts such as suburbanisation and green belts, there is a detailed examination of part of the south-west sector of London’s rural-urban fringe with a particular focus on land use change in the Epsom Hospital Cluster.

Source: GEOCASES: Case Study: The Rural-urban Fringe

Amazonia - Study Guide

Downloadable PDF file the Amazonia study guide

Link to 4Learning - Secondary - Resources4Learning - Secondary - Resources - Geography - Place and People: Amazonia - Study Guide

Wednesday, 25 April 2007

Geography Directory

GEOGRAPHY DIRECTORY 2007 This downloadable .pdf file is a directory of weblinks and resources to support the Teaching and Learning of Geography. It has been compiled from a variety of resources including amongst others, suggestions / recommendations made by fellow geography teachers on the SLN website.Scroll down on the left hand side to "Department" then you will find the link to the directory.

This is the work of Rob Chambers St Ivo School www.geobytes.org.uk. who has kindly shared this with the SLN community. Well Done Rob

Source: Homepage.index

LONDON 2012

Series of images of the area prior to development.

Link to KS3 Resources - Geography Teaching Today

Globalisation of the Car Industry

Source: Geography:You would be lost without it!: Globalisation of the Car Industry

The One Child Policy

 LINK

How soya is destroying the Amazon rainforest - Google Video

Soya farming is chewing up the Amazon rainforest at unprecedented rates as huge areas are cleared to make way for massive monoculture ... all » plantations. In the Name of Progress, a film produced by Greenpeace, illustrates the devastating effects that the booming soya market is having on the world's largest remaining rainforest.

'Call of Life' Facing the Mass Extinction Trailer

Source: YouTube - 'Call of Life' Facing the Mass Extinction Trailer

An Online Atlas of the Millennium Development Goals

This site has an excellent interactive atlas of the 8 MDG's.

Link to THE WORLD BANK - An Online Atlas of the Millennium Development Goals

Tuesday, 24 April 2007

Climate Change

This is a link to an excellent slideshow.

Link to Vattenfall - Global climate abatement map

Saturday, 21 April 2007

Illegal Roads and Deforestation

Article in the Guardian Despite a crackdown, illicit logging is on the rise in lawless areas of the Amazon. Logging is encouraged by Illegal roads.

LINK

Drought in Australia

Series of images of current drought

Link to Drought in Australia | International news | Guardian Unlimited

Coastal Erosion

Great VIDEO clip from BBC of Coastal Erosion.

Human Footprint from Channel4.com

Simple Footprint Calculator

Link to Human Footprint from Channel4.com

the Millennium Development Goals

Good you tube video on the MDG's

Arctic & Antarctic pictures

Great set of photos here... check out the penguins

Link to Arctic & Antarctic pictures, images & stock photographs by Bryan & Cherry Alexander Photography