Monday, 17 September 2007
Sunday, 16 September 2007
UNOSAT
UNOSAT is a United Nations programme created to provide the international community and developing countries with enhanced access to satellite imagery and Geographic Information System (GIS) services. These tools are used mainly in humanitarian relief, disaster prevention and post crisis reconstruction.
Link to UNOSAT
Disease alert in flood-hit Africa
Severe flooding across Africa has wrecked hundreds of thousands of homes and left many people vulnerable to water-borne diseases, officials say.
Link to BBC NEWS | World | Africa | Disease alert in flood-hit Africa
ReliefWeb » Home Page
ReliefWeb is the world’s leading on-line gateway to information (documents and maps) on humanitarian emergencies and disasters. An independent vehicle of information, designed specifically to assist the international humanitarian community in effective delivery of emergency assistance, it provides timely, reliable and relevant information as events unfold, while emphasizing the coverage of "forgotten emergencies" at the same time.
ReliefWeb was launched in October 1996 and is administered by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
EXAMPLE: West Africa Floods
Link to ReliefWeb » Home Page
Thursday, 13 September 2007
Met Office: 1961-90 mapped averages
1961-90 mapped averages
Select the elements below to view contoured UK maps of monthly, seasonal and annual averages. The analyses are based on 1 km grid-point data sets which are derived from station data covering the latest WMO recommended reference period (1961 - 1990).
Link to Met Office: 1961-90 mapped averages
Monday, 10 September 2007
Health Expectancy
The population of Great Britain has been living longer over the past 20 years, but the extra years have not necessarily been lived in good health. Life expectancy and healthy life expectancy (expected years of life in good or fairly good health) both increased between 1981 and 2001, with life expectancy increasing at a faster rate than healthy life expectancy.
Life expectancy is higher for females than for males. In 2001 the life expectancy at birth of females was 80.4 years compared with 75.7 years for males. However, life expectancy for males has been increasing faster than for females. There was an increase of 4.8 years in male life expectancy between 1981 and 2001. For females the corresponding increase was 3.6 years.
The gap in healthy life expectancy between males and females is smaller than for total life expectancy. In 2001, healthy life expectancy at birth was 67.0 years for males and 68.8 years for females, a gap of 1.8 years.
The difference between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy can be regarded as an estimate of the number of years a person can expect to live in poor health. In 1981 the expected time lived in poor health for males was 6.5 years. By 2001 this had risen to 8.7 years. Females can expect to live longer in poor health than males. In 1981 the expected time lived in poor health for females was 10.1 years, rising to 11.6 years in 2001.
Link to National Statistics Online
The Office for National Statistics measured "healthy life expectancy" - the age before ill-health strikes.
UK Govt Sustainable Development - Home
The past 20 years have seen a growing realisation that the current model of development is unsustainable. In other words, we are living beyond our means. From the loss of biodiversity with the felling of rainforests or over fishing to the negative effect our consumption patterns are having on the environment and the climate. Our way of life is placing an increasing burden on the planet.
The increasing stress we put on resources and environmental systems such as water, land and air cannot go on forever. Especially as the world's population continues to increase and we already see a world where over a billion people live on less than a dollar a day.
A widely-used and accepted international definition of sustainable development is: 'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs' - Globally we are not even meeting the needs of the present let alone considering the needs of future generations.
Link to UK Govt Sustainable Development - Home
Human Development reports
"The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people's choices. In principle, these choices can be infinite and can change over time. People often value achievements that do not show up at all, or not immediately, in income or growth figures: greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities. The objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives." Mahbub ul Haq
Human development is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they value. And it is thus about much more than economic growth, which is only a means —if a very important one —of enlarging people ’s choices.
Link to HDR
Human Development Index - Encyclopedia of Earth
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of human development that is published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI provides an alternative to the common practice of evaluating a country’s progress in development based on per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The HDI measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development:
- A long and healthy life, as measured by life expectancy at birth.
- Knowledge, as measured by the adult literacy rate (with two-thirds weight) and the combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrollment ratio (with one-third weight).
- A decent standard of living, as measured by GDP per capita in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms in US dollars.
Link to Human Development Index - Encyclopedia of Earth
Wednesday, 5 September 2007
Introduction to Biomes
Biomes are the major regional groupings of plants and animals discernible at a global scale. Their distribution patterns are strongly correlated with regional climate patterns and identified according to the climax vegetation type. However, a biome is composed not only of the climax vegetation, but also of associated successional communities, persistent subclimax communities, fauna, and soils.
Link to Introduction to Biomes
Tuesday, 4 September 2007
Largest Slum in Africa
These are You tube links to some amazing ( and shocking) videos taken in Kibera
Link to YouTube - Kibera - Largest Slum in Africa
LINK Walking through Kibera
LINK Kibera Video
Sunday, 2 September 2007
Pan African Conservation Education - Sharing ideas across communities
PACE covers seven different topics: Living with Wildlife, Water, Soil, Forests, Energy, Living by the Ocean and Urban Living. Through the topic pages, you can find out more about the projects featured in the PACE films, and download the Action Sheets and Environmental Education activities associated with each one
Link to Pan African Conservation Education - Sharing ideas across communities
Saturday, 1 September 2007
MapMSG.com - Statetris-UK
Statetris is an interesting game mixing aspects of the popular game 'Tetris' and geography. Instead of positioning the typical Tetris blocks, you position states/countries at their proper location.
Try: Africa, Europe, France, Netherlands, UK, USA
Link to MapMSG.com - Statetris-UK
Friday, 31 August 2007
Earth Calendar
The Earth Calendar is a daybook of holidays
and celebrations around the world.
For the purpose of this web site a "holiday"
is any day that recognizes a cultural event,
and not necessarily a day when businesses are closed
Link to Earth Calendar
2007 'probably wettest UK summer'
Torrential rain across the UK is likely to mean the summer of 2007 will have been the wettest since records began in 1914, Met Office figures suggest.
Provisional tallies show a total of 358.5mm (14.114in) of rain fell on the UK, narrowly beating the previous 1956 record of 358.4mm (14.110in).
Link to BBC NEWS | UK | 2007 'probably wettest UK summer'
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