Interactive site on disasters. PLAY stop the disaster
Thursday, 24 May 2007
Sunday, 20 May 2007
AIRPORT WATCH
Link to Airport Watch
AirportWatch is an umbrella organisation, formed in 2000. AirportWatch campaigns for a demand management approach to aviation. Demand for air travel could be dampened down by government removing the considerable tax breaks the aviation industry receives. AirportWatch believes that government policies to expand aviation can and should be resisted.
Optimum Population Trust
A radical form of “offsetting” carbon dioxide emissions to prevent climate change is proposed today – having fewer children.
Each new UK citizen less means a lifetime carbon dioxide saving of nearly 750 tonnes, a climate impact equivalent to 620 return flights between London and New York*, the Optimum Population Trust says in a new report.
Based on a “social cost” of carbon dioxide of $85 a tonne**, the report estimates the climate cost of each new Briton over their lifetime at roughly £30,000. The lifetime emission costs of the extra 10 million people projected for the UK by 2074 would therefore be over £300 billion.
Link to Optimum Population Trust
Friday, 18 May 2007
Thursday, 17 May 2007
British Airport Authority: 2006
There are detailed statistics for 2006, you need to click on the link of your choice. These links will all launch PDF's in new windows on the following topics.1. Busiest Month and Day 2. Origin and Destination 3. Top Airlines 4. Top Airports 5. Top Routes
Wednesday, 16 May 2007
Glacial Retreat
Link to EO Newsroom: New Images - Glacial Retreat
In North America, the most visited glacier is the Athabasca Glacier, one of six glaciers that spill down the Canadian Rockies from the Columbia Icefield in western Canada. Visitors who return to the glacier a few years after their first visit will notice the change wrought by warming temperatures. In the past 125 years, the Athabasca Glacier has lost half of its volume and receded more than 1.5 kilometers (0.93 miles), leaving hills of rock in its place. Its retreat is visible in this photo, where the glacier’s front edge looms several meters behind the tombstone-like marker that indicates the edge of the ice in 1992.
Tuesday, 15 May 2007
Destination UK
Immigration has contributed half of Britain's population growth in 10 years, according to new research.
Link to BBC NEWS | In Depth | Destination UK
Sunday, 13 May 2007
Saturday, 12 May 2007
Organisers to give Olympic clouds a silver lining
Three defensive perimeters, dozens of cannon, hundreds of rockets and - on standby at a nearby airport - a fleet of five planes laden with thousands of silver-iodine pellets. No, it is not a new frontline in the war on terror. This is the cloudbusting arsenal that is being put at the disposal of Beijing's weathermen as they fight to ensure blue skies for the 2008 Olympics.
Chinese metereologists are preparing one of mankind's greatest ever assaults on the heavens next August, which the organisers belatedly acknowledge as the month when the capital gets almost half its annual rainfall.
Source: Organisers to give Olympic clouds a silver lining | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited
Good related article on USA TODAY. (Thanks Val)
Thursday, 10 May 2007
Tuesday, 8 May 2007
End Water Poverty
Link to End Water Poverty
There is a global crisis in water and sanitation. Billions of people live in the kind of squalor and disease that was eradicated long ago in the rich world.
Without sanitation and water there can be no sustainable development in health, education and livelihoods, locking people into a cycle of poverty and disease.
This crisis is one of inequality and poverty. If it is not tackled decisively, it will prevent and undermine progress made in reducing poverty, in achieving universal primary education, and improving people's basic health.
ALSO
http://www.wateraid.org/
Britain starts eating the planet on Sunday 15 April
Latest figures reveal Britain’s rising global interdependence as the nation goes into ecological debt on 15 AprilResearch from nef (the new economics foundation) reveals that on Sunday 15 April this year, the UK in effect stops relying on its own natural resources to support itself and starts to ‘live off’ the rest of the world.
At current UK levels of consumption our ‘ecological debt day’ – the day we begin living beyond our environmental means – falls only a third of the way through the year and has crept ever earlier over the last four decades. These latest findings build on a report, released by nef last year which exposed, for the first time, the sharp rise in how the UK depends on the rest of world, and how the burden of the Britain’s high-consuming lifestyle is exported internationally.
Source: Britain starts eating the planet on Sunday 15 April
Monday, 7 May 2007
The Sea Shore
A site to help interpret and understand the seashore and its organisms
Salt Marshes A marsh is somewhere damp with vegetation on it. A salt marsh is a muddy seashore with plants on it.
Sand Dunes and Shingle Communities Sand dunes are accumulations of sand stabilised by vegetation.
Link to The Sea Shore
China warns of population growth
China's top family planning body has warned of a "population rebound" as couples flout one child policy rules.
The widening wealth gap could lead to a rise in birth rates, Zhang Weiqing, from the National Population and Family Planning Commission, told state media.
Link to BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | China warns of population growth
Sunday, 6 May 2007
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Google Maps
Many thanks to Noel Jenkins who enabled me to do this. The link is to his site, and the instructions can be found at "Embedding Google My Maps"
Click on the map and investigate
Friday, 4 May 2007
Thursday, 3 May 2007
Bryophytes et al
Bryophytes Link to BBS > Home
Lichens LINK
Rotifers LINK
Tardigrades (water bears) LINK
Nematodes (round worms) LINK
Mites and Springtails LINK
Antarctic Bestiary Terrestrial Animals Living on the ground of the Antarctic Peninsula presents some extreme challenges to organisms, including:
- Highly variable, extreme temperatures, from -30°F to 50°F air temperature, with summer surface temperatures of rocks and moss reaching 70°F.
- Extremely high winds.
- A very short growing season (period when temperatures allow plant growth).
- Wide swings in pH, from 3 (very acidic) to 12 (very basic), partly caused by...
- Immersion in penguin guano (waste) from nesting Adélie penguin colonies in the summer.
- Immersion in both freshwater (from melting glaciers and snow and rain) and saltwater (from waves splashing on the land).
- Dehydration from exposure to very dry air in the winter.
- Exposure to intense UV rays. The protective ozone layer is naturally thinner here, and there is a hole in it (probably caused by human pollution) that opens up in the winter.
- Lack of oxygen, due to being encased in ice for long periods, as well as being immersed in penguin guano filled with oxygen-using microbes.
Antarctic Treaty meeting moves to protect frozen continent from non-native species
Important new measures to protect Antarctica * the world's last great wilderness * from invasive non-native species have been agreed at a meeting of Antarctic experts in Edinburgh.
Scientists and policy makers at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, which finished at Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Friday 23 June, agreed new measures that will reduce the risk of non-native species being introduced into both marine and terrestrial ecosystems in Antarctica.
To protect the marine environment, the meeting adopted new practical guidelines for ballast water exchange by ships operating in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica. Under the new guidelines drawn up by the UK, vessels will need to exchange any ballast water before arriving in Antarctic waters, and plan for and keep records of all ballast water operations.
According to Dr John Shears of British Antarctic Survey, "In the past, Antarctica was isolated with a very harsh and cold environment, which made it very difficult for non-native species to establish. However, more and more people are travelling to the continent, most of them on ships. Evidence from other parts of the world has shown that there is a direct link between numbers of people visiting a remote area and the numbers of non-native species that survive. Once established, they can be very difficult to eradicate. Prevention is better than cure."
Concerned that a rapidly changing and warming climate on the Antarctic Peninsula could increase the risk of non-native species establishing themselves on the continent itself, the meeting also backed a series of recommendations made by New Zealand. These include development of a code of conduct for land-based activities - a set of minimum standards that all visitors, including tourists and scientists, would have to follow. Scientists called for more research into the issue. Dr Shears said that scientists need to identify which areas of Antarctica are most vulnerable and better understand the potential implications of climate change on the spread of non-native species.
Dr Shears says, "Antarctica's remoteness and isolation offer science a unique opportunity to understand our world. Part of Antarctica's value as a natural laboratory lies in the fact that its communities of animals and plants consist of only a few species living in simple relationships. This makes the Antarctic a perfect place to study how ecosystems work. The inadvertent introduction of non-native species into Antarctica could put this in jeopardy, and has the potential to change the continent's biodiversity forever."
Power station harnesses Sun's rays
There is a scene in one of the Austin Powers films where Dr Evil unleashes a giant "tractor beam" of energy at Earth in order to extract a massive payment.
Well, the memory of it kept me chuckling as I toured the extraordinary scene of the new solar thermal power plant outside Seville in southern Spain.
Link to BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Power station harnesses Sun's rays
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
Southern Ocean Water
Schematic depth-latitude diagram showing the major circulation and water masses of the Southern Ocean. The following water masses are highlighted: (1) Antarctic Bottom Water flowing along the abyssal ocean, (2) Circumpolar Deep Water upwelling into the Antarctic Divergence Zone, (3) Antarctic Intermediate Water in the temperature range 4-6°C, and (4) Subantarctic Mode Water in the upper ocean north of the Subantarctic Front (SAF).
Antarctic Ocean
The Antarctic Ocean, sometimes called the Southern Ocean, is the watery belt surrounding Antarctica. It includes the great polar embayments of the Weddell Sea and Ross Sea, and the deep circumpolar belt of ocean between 50 and 60°S and the southern fringes of the warmer oceans to the north. Its northern boundary is often taken as 30°S (see illustration). The Antarctic is a cold ocean, covered by sea ice during the winter from Antarctica's coast northward to approximately 60°S.
Source: Antarctic Ocean: Definition and Much More from Answers.com
NASA study links El Nino and southern ocean changes
NASA researchers have found strong relationships between El Nino episodes and changes in climate and sea ice cover around Antarctica. Identifying these relationships is important because it provides new insights into the changing characteristics of the Antarctic region and their role in Earth's climate system.
Source: Spaceflight Now | Breaking News | NASA study links El Nino and southern ocean changes
Rothera Research Station
Antarctica Cruises
Cruise Norway LINK
Bestcruises LINK
Antartica
The No.1 source for Antarcticles"(tm), is an award winning website, recognised as a (if not the) leading independent news and information resource on Antarctica and other polar related topics.
Antarctica Background Information Links
Background information The Antarctic Ice Sheet Source: Antarctic
Wikipedia LINK
Cool Antartica LINK
Enviro facts info page LINK
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Galapagos Islands 'facing crisis'
Ecuador's President Rafael Correa has declared the Galapagos Islands, home to dozens of endangered species, at risk and a national priority for action. he islands, Ecuador's top tourist draw, were suffering an environmental and social crisis, he said.
Rampant tourism leaves Galapagos in big trouble
The cradle of evolution: Under siege and under threat
Conservationists join Ecuador President’s call to save Galapagos
Galapagos 'face species threat'
Galapagos tours
IGTOA is a nonprofit association of travel companies, conservation organizations, and other groups that are dedicated to the complete and lasting protection of the Galapagos
Galapagos Conservation Trust
LINK: GCTLongline fishing threatens Galapagos
Adopt a Booby ???
LINK
Link to BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Galapagos Islands 'facing crisis'
Antartica Fisheries Management
The Southern Ocean surrounds the continent of Antarctica and is clearly delimited by the Antarctic Convergence (or Polar Front), which is formed where cold Antarctic waters meet warmer waters to the north. The Antarctic Convergence acts as an effective biological barrier, and the Southern Ocean is therefore substantially a closed ecosystem.
Source: General Introduction
International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators
AATO is a member organization founded in 1991 to advocate, promote and practice safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic.
Link to International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators
Tourism threat to Earth's last great wilderness
UK moves to help thwart accidents and pollution from rise in Antarctic cruises.Britain is to warn a summit on the Antarctic that soaring numbers of tourists flocking there on cruise ships could have serious environmental implications for the world's last great wilderness.
Delegates at the annual Antarctic treaty meeting this week will call for tougher safety regulations. Experts say a fuel spill from a stricken vessel close to shore could cause significant pollution that would endanger the region's wildlife and take years to clean up.
Link to Tourism threat to Earth's last great wilderness | Conservation | Guardian Unlimited Environment
Monday, 30 April 2007
Ecological Global Footprints
What's a global footprint?
The Earth has a limited number of resources and we're using them up more quickly than they can be replaced - if they can be replaced at all.At school you use resources when you eat food and drink water. The school uses energy to make the lights and computers work and to keep the rooms warm. The clothes you wear and the building itself are made from nature's resources.We all use these resources in different amounts. The amount we use is called our Ecological Footprint - that is the impact that we have on planet Earth.
The Schools' Global Footprint has a Global Footprint Calculator to help you to work out the quantity of resources that you and your school use, compared with what is available in the world. You can see if this is sustainable for the future and you'll get suggestions on how to reduce your impact on the planet.
Source: Resources for learners
Sunday, 29 April 2007
Tourist trap The Observer
There's a new threat to the Arctic: champagne tourism. Tens of thousands of visitors want to see the amazing ice floes and majestic wild life but can a landscape, already threatened by climate change, really cope? Read the whole article here
Source: Tourist trap | Travel | The Observer
Dubai Megaprojects - The World Islands - Archipelego - Dubai Projects
The World is arguably the most innovative and exciting real estate development on the planet. It consists of 300 man made islands, strategically placed to represent the world map, 4km off the coast of Dubai. The World represents 300 opportunities for developers to deliver 300 concepts and will be a one-of-a-kind master-planned island city hosting a community of homes, apartments, resorts, restaurants and retail in a marine.
How long has the project been in planning?
The project was announced in September 2003, following two years of extensive planning, research development and design. Construction commenced shortly after.
For whom is The World intended?
The World is a leisure, residential and tourist development that has attracted local and international interest. Potential buyers include individuals looking to purchase islands for their private use as well as investors and leading international hotel groups. Only selected buyers who have met the necessary criteria as stipulated by Nakheel will have the chance to purchase their own island. They must possess the ability to purchase, develop and maintain an island, as these islands cannot be resold. The World represents a variety of commercial opportunities for developers.
Video tour and slideshow
Link to Dubai Megaprojects - The World Islands - Archipelego - Dubai Projects
Saturday, 28 April 2007
Scorched | Weekend | Guardian Unlimited
As the conflict in Darfur spreads across central Africa, with thousands more displaced and killed, Julian Borger in Chad investigates the origins and contradictions of what is likely to be seen as the first climate change war
Source: Scorched | Weekend | Guardian Unlimited
Landslip fear over clifftop crack
Crack in cliff at barton on Sea may be linked to earthquake
Link to BBC NEWS | England | Dorset | Landslip fear over clifftop crack
Earthquake resources
Excellent blog with links to resources from Rob Cha (again!)
Link to GeoBlogBytes
Good images from the BBCExcellent links and powerpoint from Alan parkinson at geographypages
UN: we have the money and know-how to stop global warming
Global climate change experts will this week lay out a detailed plan to save the planet from the catastrophic effects of rising temperatures. Climate change could be stopped in its tracks using existing technology, but only if politicians do more to force businesses and individuals to take action.
The UN study will conclude that mankind has the knowhow to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 26bn tonnes by 2030 - more than enough to limit the expected temperature rise across the planet to 2-3C.Such a move would cost the world economy billions of pounds over the next two decades, but this could be recouped by savings due to the health benefits of lower levels of air pollution.
Cheaper solutions could bring down emissions to 1990 levels, but that would still see average temperatures rise by as much as 4C this century, with devastating consequences for wildlife, agriculture and the availability of water.
Sector by sector
Transport
Despite breakthroughs in cleaner options, such as hybrid cars, the sector is the fastest growing source of emissions, the report says. It highlights emerging technologies such as cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells and biofuels. The report says government policies such as mandatory carbon dioxide emission standards are crucial, but that hikes in car tax, fuel duty and moves such as road pricing will be less effective as incomes rise. Better public transport can make a significant contribution.Potential saving by 2030 (million tonnes carbon dioxide equivalent): 3,200
Industry
Industry offers the largest potential savings, although the report acknowledges: "Their implementation requires a stable policy environment that is respecting international competitiveness and includes measures for stimulating technology uptake." The IPCC suggests new controls on industrial pollutants such as methane, nitrous oxide and the chemicals HFCs and PFCs, all potent greenhouse gases. It also says there are big savings for firms who invest in more efficient use of fuels, materials and electricity, combined heat and power systems, and recycling. Heavily polluting industries could benefit from new process technologies that avoid carbon and are expected to come on-stream beyond 2015, it says.
Potential savings: 6,500
Energy supply
More efficient supply, renewable sources, shifts from coal to less polluting gas and nuclear power will play a role in the short to medium term, the IPCC report says. Managing such a transition requires "active policy involvement" such as reducing subsidies for fossil fuels while helping cleaner technology with renewable quotas for power companies and subsidies. The EU has pledged to generate 20% of all energy from renewable sources by 2020. The report says concern over energy security, combined with the development of power infrastructure in the developing world, creates an opportunity to reduce emissions cheaply.
Potential savings: 5,100
Agriculture and forestry
Soils, trees and vegetation provide an important carbon store, and the report says improved land and forestry management offer some of the easiest and cheapest emission savings. "Many options are immediately deployable, do not reduce productivity and have co-benefits," it says. More efficient fertiliser use and better care of crop and grazing land are good too. On forestry, some 65% of the potential carbon savings are in the tropics, and the report says a "combination of afforestation, avoided deforestation and agro-forestry" is the best approach. One major sticking point is whether developing nations such as Brazil and Costa Rica should be paid not to chop down their virgin rainforest.
Potential savings: 6,000
Buildings
Low-cost measures to improve the energy efficiency of buildings could save greenhouse gas emissions and money, the report says. It recommends countries should follow the examples of Germany and Switzerland and force through policies to cut emissions from housing. Appliance standards, building codes, better labelling and procurement procedures for the private sector have worked to cut pollution. Geoffrey Levermore, buildings expert at Manchester University who helped write the report, said: "There's no blue sky technology to revolutionise this industry by giving us a little matchbox that will provide all the energy for your house, but if the right policies are implemented, there are some real savings to be made."
Potential savings: 4,400
Waste
The IPCC says post-consumer waste, such as plastic bags, generates less than 5% of global emissions, but that the rubbish sector can still help to tackle global warming. Recovering methane from landfill sites in the developing world generates more than 15% of carbon credits traded under the Kyoto protocol. Waste management is a key component of wider moves toward sustainable development, it says. Unlike some sectors, the technologies available to reduce emissions from waste are "mature and readily deployable". It adds: "Recycling and waste minimisation provide indirect greenhouse gas mitigation benefits via the conservation of raw materials, and energy from waste offsets fossil fuel consumption."
Potential saving: 1,250
Source: UN: we have the money and know-how to stop global warming | Climate change | Guardian Unlimited Environment
BBC NEWS Earthquake shakes parts of Kent
An earthquake has shaken parts of Kent, damaging buildings and disrupting electricity supplies.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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