What I taught in Geography this week

Atmosphere and Circulation help

2012-03-05T15:17:00.002Z

Dear All

Our current topic (Climate for those who dont go to Huish!) is widely accepted to be a little bit challenging, so I thought a special blog post on how to learn about this in a different way might be appreciated. So, first of all, a recap on the most basic rules of circulation in the atmosphere, if you dont want to read, the BBC have produced a really outstanding TV show, called "Orbit" which you can watch here, I would consider this a really excellent way to spend an hour, as it makes the entire start of the module easy and is very visual. They even have a blog centre for more reading, but in the mean time:

1. The spin of the earth:

Earth spins towards the East, if you are attached to the surface (Continents, people, trees etc) then you do not feel this effect, but, for all gases and liquids, the spin of the earth to the East, deflects surface flows towards the West. Hence, all ocean currents, surface winds, hurricanes, are pushed to the west. If the earth did not have any continents, the oceanic currents would just move around the globe, from east to west, but, the continents complicate the issue, and force ocean currents to deflect North, in the Northern Hemisphere, and South, in the Southern hemisphere, along the Eastern edges of the continents.

2. The tilt of the earth:

We tilt at an angle of 23.4 degrees away from an imaginary line that is perpendicular to our orbital plane. Our tilt, or obliquity, does not alter as we move around the sun, therefore, over our summer time, we are tipped towards the sun, summer starting during the spring equinox, through to the summer solstice and on to the september equinox, when we enter winter, as we start to tip away from the sun, reaching our maximum distance, during the winter solstice, or as you may know it, as December the 22nd.

This tilt, is what brings us the seasons, and what causes the ITCZ to move over the course of the year.

3. Convection:

This really is a key concept in Earth Sciences as a whole. The basic principle, is that anything hot, rises, until it hits an impenetrable layer, at which it must split, and flow laterally along this boundary, loosing heat to its surroundings as it does so. Once cold, it must sink, as it has become more dense, it then hits another layer, and diverges, some goes back to the source of the heat (where there will be a vacuum as material is constantly rising), and some heads in the opposite direction.

You have come across this before:

Once you factor in the 3D nature of the planet, and the atmosphere, along with the fact that we are so big, the cells are split into three, you have the global circulation model:

4. With or against Coriolis?

The Coriolis effect, is just the name we give to anything that is affected by the spin of the earth, you have come across it with tides in the Lower Sixth. The key principle to remember, is that anything that moves towards the equator, is slowed by the Coriolis effect, and therefore is always deflected to the West. If the opposite occurs, if a movement of liquid or gas moves towards a pole along the surface, it is boosted by Coriolis, and moves with the turn of the earth.

This means, that winds in the Ferrel cell, on the surface, blowing towards the poles, blow from the SW up towards the poles (Or down, if you are below the equator).

If we are talking Jet streams and Rossby waves, this difference in speed is what controls the path of Anticyclones and depressions beneath the junction between the Ferrel and the Polar cells. These regions are often referred to as the Horseback latitudes. Hence, when the meanders on the Jet stream (which we call Rossby Waves), start to head towards the equator, they are slowed, and therefore pressure builds up in the upper Atmosphere, and all the excess air has to start moving downwards, ie towards the surface, this is what is found in the ridges of the waves (Closest to the poles), whereas in the troughs, the air starts to accelerate towards to poles, leaving behind high altitude low pressure, therefore, to fill the void, air has to be sucked up from the surface, creating a low pressure system, more commonly called a depression:

Trough: pressure is lower in a trough than to the west and east

Ridge: pressure is higher in a ridge than to the west and east

There is an excellent animation of this on the TV show recommended. This passage can sometimes get stuck, as happened in July 2008, and December 2010, as this diagram explains:

5. The ITCZ:

This is the driving force, which starts the tri-cellular model, the ITCZ stands for Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, literally, the place where the surface winds of the Hadley cell come together, and where the most intense heating of the earths surface takes place. It can easily be seen on most satellite images:

It is not a straight line, none of the boundaries between the cells are, and it moves as the earth rotates around the sun. In our winter time, it is more southerly, and over our summer time, more northerly. Where it crosses continents that sit beneath the two extremes, it causes a seasonal reversal of the winds, and this change, brings about the Monsoons:

In India, this results in the onset of the seasonal rains, this dictates plant life, agriculture and water storage, and is not always reliable. It arrives at different times of the year, depending on how far away from the Western Seaboard you are, and can be mapped like this:

The Monsoon brings between 4 months and 6 weeks of intense heavy rainfall, and along with the UK climate, is your major case study of a climatic zone.

So, 5 rules, or key things to remember, and an excellent TV show to watch, the next episode is on next sunday, the 11th, at 9 on BBC 2 - put it in your diary!

Introduction to Climate - Documentaries

2012-03-01T16:52:00.001Z

Dear Students,

There have been a number of university open days and various trips out this week, so in case you missed it, here is the documentary that we have watched in class to consolidate your understanding of the basics of atmospheric circulation

As further reading, and a really excellent visualisation of the link between the circulation system, the slave trade and development, here is the episode of "How Earth Made Us - Wind", really worth watchin as part of your three hours reading for this week:

Happy reading!

Millie

Post Earthquake Recovery

2012-02-29T13:20:00.002Z

It is now a year after the Christchurch earthquake, nearly a year after the Great Honshu Earthquake and two years after Haiti. Here is a comparison between the states of recovery of each of these, and some thoughts on the reasons for the differences between these three very different events. Haiti:

Here are a series of photos taken in the same place immediately after the earthquake, 8 months later and then 2 years after:

A combination photograph shows Haitians walking near a damaged clothing store after an earthquake in Port-au-Prince almost two years later on Dec. 29, 2011 (top), eight months later on Sept. 30, 2010 (middle), and on the bottom Jan. 13, 2010. (Reuters)

A combination photograph shows the badly damaged Cathedral after an earthquake in Port-au-Prince almost two years later on Dec. 29, 2011 (top), on Sept. 30, 2010 (middle), and on the bottom on March 18, 2010. (Reuters)

A combination photograph shows Haitians walking in a badly damaged street after an earthquake in Port-au-Prince, almost two years later on Dec. 28, 2011 (top), seven months later on Sept. 30, 2010 (middle), and on the bottom Feb. 3, 2010. (Reuters)

The most obvious reason for the slow recovery, is that Haiti is a developing country, the lack of immediate funds, and the various controversies around aid (here is an excellent overview from the Guardian), there are also ongoing hazards. Hurricane Tomas in 2010, and Emily in 2011, brought intense rains to a region plagued by long term refugee camps. In the ongoing effort to cook and heat their homes, many of the slopes around the Haitian camps have been deforested in order to supply fuelwood, enhancing the risk of slope failures and landslides. (National Geographic article here, some background from the Red Cross here) and a video of the landslides:

These photos are some comparisons to Japan, this earthquake was 700 times more powerful than Haiti, yet the world has watched in awe, as all except the regions around the crippled Fukushima plant have been cleared and repaired rapidly, this picture shows the repairs made 6 days after the quake:

Here are a series of before and after shots, taken in June, only three months after the quake:

In this combo of two photos, a ship swept away by tsunami sits amid debris-covered residential area March 12, 2011, left, while the ship stays in the same position in the area getting cleaned up June 3, 2011 in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Japan marks three month since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami Saturday, June 11. (Kyodo News/Associated Press)

In this combo of two photos, a sea coast is filled with destroyed houses and debris at Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 12, 2011, one day after the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the area, top, and the same area, bottom, with the houses and debris cleared as photographed on June 3. (Kyodo News/Associated Press)

In this combo of two photos, a shinto torii, or gateway, leading to Kozuchi shrine stands among the debris in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 14, 2011, days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the area, top, and the same area, bottom, with the debris almost cleared as photographed on June 3. (Kyodo News/Associated Press)

In this combo of two photos, damaged houses stand amid debris swept away by tsunami March 23, 2011, top, while those debris are almost cleared in the same area June 3, 2011 in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (Kyodo News/Associated Press)

In this combo of two photos, destroyed houses and debris fill a parking lot of a shopping center in Otsuchi, Iwate prefecture, northeastern Japan, on March 13, 2011, two days after the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the area, top, and the same area, bottom, with the houses and debris cleared as photographed on June 3. (Kyodo News/Associated Press)

So, considering the fact that this earthquake was significantly more powerful than Haiti, why was the destruction comparable (including the effects of the Tsunami) but why was the recovery rapid? As a start, the level of hazard resistant design was high, building codes were strictly followed, and there were mitigation measures in place, such as the Tsu walls, in some places these were 12 meters high. The warning system was in place, and worked, despite the fact that Tokyo had only three minutes warning for the arrival of the P waves, this was enough to get to shelter, or into an open space.

The frequency of the hazard was probably key, the last earthquake in Haiti, the previous earthquake was described as follows:

The earthquake of May 7, 1842, however, was the worst recorded in Haiti before this week’s catastrophic quake. It hit near Cap Haitien, a city of ten thousand inhabitants on the north coast of Haiti. Approximately half of the population died. Waves dashed against buildings along the quay. In the neighboring village of Port de Paix the sea withdrew 60 meters, only to come back to bury the city under four or five meters of water.

This long gap in significant events means that modern day Haitians, did not have a living memory of earthquakes, and in a country where the education system was not well established, and hazard management was not part of the active curriculum, there was little awareness of the risk, and building codes had not been followed, leading to such wide spread collapse. With the added issue of there being only one working seismometer in the country, that at the time had not been turned on, meant there was no warning, or monitoring in place, as opposed to Japan, where there is significant funding for prediction, and the quakes are regular.

Christchurch:

Christchurch 2011, was an anomaly, and is a case study to use to illustrate the point that even a developed country, well used to earthquakes, with an integrated hazard management system, hazard resisitant design and a range of recovery practises in place, can suffer a devastating earthquake. In part, this was due to the quake itself, it was shallow, and close to the surface (5km depth). Another key factor was the nature of the substrate, the soft alluvial sediments meant that liquefaction was common, and affected up to 60% of Christchurch. Having suffered another, larger quake in the September before, this quake further weakened damaged buildings, and has caused a migration of people away from the region.

This series of before and after shots, from the week of the earthquake, to a year after, shows how slow recovery has been, and in part this is due to the high volume of significant aftershocks since last February.

So, the key differences are certainly development, money of course helps, the amount of aid received and the size of the quake, but there will always be other factors that create significant disasters from low Richter quakes, and those countries who can recover quickly from mega quakes.

Itinerary for Iceland

2012-02-09T13:52:00.000Z

Itinerary for Richard Huish College 2012Please remember this is subject to change with the weather!

Iceland Kit Letter - Sent December 2011

2012-02-09T13:40:00.000Z

Iceland Kit Letter to Parents

Iceland Clothing

2012-02-07T16:43:00.003Z

A post specifically for those coming to Iceland! Below you will find the letters, kit list, itinerary and the PP for the parents meeting embedded so you can show you parents all the information they need.

Iceland 2012

First: clothing!

The key to staying warm in Iceland is Layers. You should be wearing something similar to the list below, and the reason for using a layered system, is that we are on and off the bus a lot, and that involves a temperature change of at least 10 degrees, sometimes as much as 25 degrees, hence, you need to be able to adapt to that quite quickly.

In my opinion, the key thing to ensure you have, is a good base layer, this should be a material that wicks away moisture from your skin, so you don't go out into the cold all sweaty, which is how you get cold fast. I normally wear a t-shirt over mine, they are sometimes a little transparent, followed by a good fleecy jumper (I take two) a soft shell layer (wind proof but not water proof) and covering all of that, a good waterproof.

These images are reproduced from Taunton Leisure, with permission, they currently have a sale on but I am not endorsing either the brands shown, or the store, this is for illustration only!

http://www.tauntonleisure.com/

Few key points:

1) most important - looks don't matter for this week! Fashion, should not be a factor in deciding what to take, we don't really go out, when we do, you will want to be wearing all of the above anyway.

2) not to pick on the girls, but... No miniskirts, high heels, telling me tights will keep you warm - they won't.

3) if you are not appropriately dressed - you get to stay on the bus. That decision rests with me, you have been warned.

4) don't go out and buy the really expensive mountaineering kit - you don't need it, we are not going all Ray Mears, you just need to be sensible

5) buy new boots? Please break them in before you get to Iceland, y don't want blisters.

Secondly: Money

You may wish to buy some souvenirs, they will be expensive, so take an appropriate amount of money with you. If you would like to buys snacks, a chocolate bar and a can of drink will cost you around £4 at the moment, I recommend you take some snacks with you, the healthy variety such as dried fruits and nuts travel well and are good for you, but wee do not stop very often at places where you can buy a snack, they are included as part of your lunch, but if you do tend to eat more during the day, plan for this and take some with you.

A note on Icelandic foods: they run from the mundane and Starchy, to the outright bizarre (fermented rams testicles, shark rotted in its own urine etc) and sometimes, to the borderline ethical issues. Icelanders eat whale, and are relatively defencive about it. students in the stats have elected to buy a sample of said smoked minke whale, a staple of the Icelandic diet, that is up to you.

Third: Alcohol

The legal drinking age in Iceland is 20, as such, any one caught drinking, attempting to buy, or taking alcohol with them, will be sent home. Your parents will be advised of this in the meeting. The cost of being sent home sits with you, at times we are three hundred miles away fr an airport, in the most expensive country in Europe, that taxi will cost you several hundred pounds. Having spent £850 on the trip, please don't ruin it for yourself, and the staff by breaking this rule.

Fourth: Stuff to take

Realistically, you should pack to be outdoors, in a cold country, without much socialising in any fancy places. Nick and I look like Michelin men all week, you will too with all those layers, so don't worry about evening clothes, I take a pair of jeans for the evening, but you will need to stay wrapped up. You certainly don't need to take the following: party clothes, hair dryers, straighteners, footballs, laptops etc.

Other highly recommended items include: music, earphones, cards, a book, travel sickness pills, chargers, personal toiletries etc.

Other essentials: a sleeping bag, a hat, gloves, scarf/neck warmer, sunglasses ( it might be cold, but it is very, very bright, especially on the ice), any personal medication (legally, the staff are not allow to give you anything), hats are absolutely necessary, and a scarf is pretty handy.

Iceland Kit Letter to Parents Itinerary for Richard Huish College 2012

Dantes Peak Volcanology Revision

2012-02-03T11:44:00.000Z

Dear All

As a nice and simple way to ease you all back in to tectonics after the various challenges of Poole, we are watching Dante's Peak in class, and you have some revision questions based on the order of events in the movie. If you failed to complete them in class, or were absent, or if you are from one of other colleges following the Blog (Hello Queen Mary's in Walsall and thank you for the lovely email!), you can download the questions, watch the movie, and I will post the answers up soon.

Enjoy the movie, it is one of my all time favourites!
Dantes Peak QuestionsEnjoy not working on 4B!!

Unit 4B fieldwork planning

2012-02-01T15:31:00.001Z

Dear all

Many questions have come up about fieldwork, I have worked through one hypothesis, but here are my suggestions for an aim and what else should be included in a fieldwork question! See you all at 730 on the live blog.

Fieldwork

Aim: To investigate therelationship between the regeneration and conservation issues in Poole

Hypothesis 1:

The building of the TwinSails Bridge will significantly reduce the congestion in Poole

Justification:

The Old bridge was built in 1927

It can halt traffic for up to half an hour

it is not cyclist/pedestrian/disabled friendly

Poole is a tourist Honeypot site and needs to improve facilities

People commute into the centre of Poole for work in the services sector

Poole has the European Ferry port

Method:

Before and after traffic survey (see guidance on Moodle)

Include new locations after the bridge is built and has been open for some time

Count over a systematically pragmatic choice of locations over a given time period, same time in each location

Us a group of geography students

Possibly locate secondary data from Borough of Poole on their site.

Use a Mann Whitney U to compare results and assess for a significant difference

Risk Assessment:

Students must wear High Vis jackets

Groups of three as a minimum

appropriate clothing and footwear

Mobile Phone contacts to staff

Areas with pavements chosen

Limitations:

Only possible to do for one day as a group, would require a longer study over a summer and winter season to be significant

Could not make it to Poole for morning rush hour with students, so would only reflect evening rush hour

Bridge's and new road networks take a few months to bed in, and the old bridge will close for nine months this year in order to be refurbished.

Would be difficult to cover a weekend and weekday as a group of students.

Hypothesis 2:

The regeneration of theHamworthy Gate site, will not have a significant impact on the environment inHoles Bay

Justification:

Method:

Risk Assessment:

Limitations:

Hypothesis 3:

The regeneration planswill significantly improve the quality of life in Poole

Justification:

Method:

Risk Assessment:

Limitations:

Live Session for Poole

2012-01-31T23:08:00.001Z

Dear All

Thursday is the exam, so on wednesday, please submit any questions you have to the ticker, they will not appear immediately, but will appear at about 7:30 when I start the live session. Hopefully, we can cover most topics, but if you need to ask a question, this is the way! You can even replay it later if you aren't around tomorrow evening, but then, where else could you possibly want to be? Any question allowed, as long as it connects to Poole, bear in mind, the answers to your question will appear as fast as I can type!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=533915d311" &amp;gt;Poole: The Final Session for 4B&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

2012-01-27T12:09:00.000Z

Dear Upper Sixth,

As promised, the third post for our Unit 4B exam next week, the lovely Nikki Lewis has clarified the stats tests for you, and given you some examples to work through.

Please download the sheet to have a go, and there is an explanation there for each for you, but as a brief summary:

Spearmans Rank:

Explanation: Used to prove a relationship between two variables, the result is a positive or negative correlation, and this works well when there are only two variables, and for tests where you believe they will be connected.
Result: The result should always be between 1 and -1, and the closer to either end of that scale, the stronger the correlation.
Exam Answer: Make sure you comment on both the strength of the correlation and the level of significance at which it has been accepted, and state which hypothesis has been accepted.
Possible Tests: Type of employment against type of housing, type of employment against another type of employment (Do different economic groups live in the same region?), Population density against type of employment (Do those in higher managerial and professional roles live in less densely packed surroundings).

Chi Squared:

Explanation: A test used to asses if there is a statistically significant difference in distribution of frequencies across an area. This can be used to compare anything that can be expressed as a frequency, such as number of people employed in a certain category, or number of cars in a region. The test will tell you if there is a difference, but not where the difference is, or how much of a difference there is, once you have a positive result, you need to go back to the raw data to search for the difference and then explain the reason behind it.
Result: The result is the sum of all the Chi Squared values, and needs to be greater than the significance value for the degrees of freedom in your test. This is calculated by the number of columns minus one, multiplied by the number of rows minus one. Then you have to go back to the data to find the reason for the difference.
Exam Answer: If a difference has been proved, you can say that according to the result of the Chi Squared test, the positive hypothesis can be accepted, and there is a statistically significant difference between the distribution of frequencies in the given area. You should then refer to the observed frequencies in your test, and explain where the difference is, and any reasonable explanation, or explain how you would conduct further research to find the reason for the difference.
Possible Tests: Traffic observations over area affected by the new road network (pedestrians, lorries and cars over several areas), types of housing over areas, types of employment over areas.

Mann Whitney U:

Explanation: This test will tell you only if there is a significant difference in two sets of data, any data can be used, and for this test you do not need to have the same number of samples in each set of data. This means it is ideal for before and after surveys, particularly with the bridge, as you can add several more survey points to the new road network when it is complete, and still use this test.
Result: This test takes the lowest value or the two rows Mann Whitney values, and the result has to be BELOW the significance level for the number of data sets. The significance values will either be given to you, or will appear as a table such as this:

Exam Answer: The Mann Whitney U value shows that there has been a significant change, this can be seen in the data for x,y,z, and as such the new bridge is clearly reducing the congestion in Poole.
Possible Tests: If the result is accepted, then you have proved there is a significant difference, you need to asses the raw data to see if there is an increase or decrease.
Possible Tests: Traffic, change in population make up or densities before and after the bridge and redevelopment.

Stats for Blog

If you want us to mark any, email us, or leave a comment and I will get back to you!

Millie

Data on Maps

2012-01-26T21:52:00.000Z

Dear All

As some revision for Unit 4B, here are a selection of different ways to represent data on maps! You should be able to comment on how to present data, and the benefits and disadvantages of using each method. Remember that you could be asked to demonstrate your chosen method in the exam, and that you have already been given the full data range for the different SOA's. Hence, it would be a very good idea to look at the groups of data (Population Density, Employment, Housing) and to assess how you would represent each on the map you have been given.

1. Chloropleths

Description:This is a type of map where different regions are coloured or shaded according to their value in a given data set. The range of categories should not be too high (preferably no more than 5/6) and the colour choice needs to be appropriate, often it is best to use a graduated colour change option, rather than several completely different colours, which make it hard to interpret

Method: Assess the range of data for your given statistic, common examples would be population density. Divide this range into 5 or 6 categories, and assign a colour to each. Locate the correct area on the map and colour in according the value for that region. Ensure that you include a scale, title and a key for the colours.

Benefits: This is a very clear way of showing geographical variations in values, looking at a chloropleth allows you to identify patterns easily, and see if there is a geographical factor that is affecting the value, in the example shown, there is a significantly higher percentage of people employed in higher managerial professions living in the coastal areas of poole. This is also a relatively rapid way to transfer data onto a map, that does not require further calculations, specialist kit or programmes, or significant knowledge of statistical tecnhiques.

Disadvantages: It only effectively represents one piece of data, it cannot be used to display more complex data that covers a range of variable such as different emplyment groups, or types of housing.

Best used for: A value with only one variable, such as population density, where you think there could be a geographical pattern.

2. Locational Bar Charts

Description: Bar charts drawn for several categories of information (in this case three) that are drawn directly onto the area in which the measurements were taken. The one below is for percentage of people living in Owner Occupied, Private rented or council rented accommodation in each area. The bar charts need a scale and a key.

Method: Convert all values to percentages, decide on an appropriate scale for the bar charts, the scale needs to show the variation within the categories, but not be so large as to obscure the map. Locate a suitable point within each region to draw the bar chart, and try to ensure that the entire bar chart can be located within the region.

Benefits: Allows for multiple pieces of data to be clearly represented on the map, the result is clear and easy to read, highly visual and not too complicated. The graph does not require any special equipment, and the only maths involved is to convert to percentages, which is essential for comparison.

Disadvantages: Can only be used for a few pieces of data, too many and it becomes hard to read. Deciding on a scale can be difficult if there is a considerable amount of variation across the regions, as some bars will be very small. It can be quite time consuming, as each region will need a different graph.

Best used for: Data with several variables, but can be used for any type of data that is converted to a percentage. In the case of this AIB, the percentage of people in each type of housing, or the percentage in each type of employment would be suitable.

3. Stacked Proportional Bar Charts

Description: A percentage representation of a set of data located on a map with colours assigned to each category. The bar chart scale needs to be chosen carefully, as it needs to not obscure too much of the region, and large enough for the percentages in each category to be seen.

Method: Convert all values to percentages of the total, decide on a scale that will allow clear data representation, and not too large for the map. Draw on the bar chart, shade in the areas, making sure you measure from the top of the last upwards, not the base of the bar chart.

Benefits: Clear, allows multiple data values to be displayed, shows a clear pattern if one is there, only requires a conversion to percentages.

Disadvantages: Time consuming, can overshadow the regions and is often difficult to locate all the bar charts on the map, some often have to be drawn off to one side which makes interpretation more difficult.

Best used for: Data sets with a large range of values that need to be displayed on the map.

5. Locational Pie Charts

Description: Pie charts drawn on the graph in or around the region and coloured according to category.

Method: Find a suitable scale for the pie charts, draw the circles onto an appropriate area of the graph, trying to contain the chart within the region, and then complete each chart in turn with the appropriate values.

Benefits: Very visual, allows multiple categories of data to be represented.

Disadvantages: The pie charts can end up being quite small, hence the categories can be difficult to read, and the pie charts will obscure the region they are meant to represent. It is a very time consuming graph to draw, as Pie charts do require protractors and compasses.

Best used for: Larger maps, with a large amount of data needs to be represented, suitable for any type of data, whether in percentage or not.

6. Proportional Area Representations (Ok, I made that one up)

Description: The areas are shaded to a proportion of the area they represent, this is a more imaginative way to represent data, and could be valid as long as you justify why you have chosen it and explain your method clearly, but it is not part of the syllabus.

Method: Convert values to percentages, find the central point of each region, and draw a pie chart only extending out to the edges of the region. Colour according to value.

Benefits: Very visual. marks for creativity.

Disadvantages: Quite time consuming, and you have to work out a way to find the central point, then the area of the region could distort the true representation of the value, as the shape of the region changes through 360 degrees.

Best used for: Possibly best not used in the exam, unless you are asked to come up with an imaginative new way to represent data.

The key to doing well on map questions, is that you need to pick the right method to display the data they ask for. Some methods are inappropriate for multiple values, some are too time consuming to use in an exam, and some are too confusing to read, make sure you think about it, spend this weekend planning how you would plot all the data you have, AND any you could gather from fieldwork (I am thinking of an isoline map of traffic congestion before and after the bridge opens - but I may have spent too much time reading about Poole!).

Also, bear in mind that the exam is next week, and the long delayed christmas movie will bring up sharply back into the study of plate tectonics and hazard management. Please feel free to bring popcorn to your first triple after the exam.

Millie

Unit 4B word Cloud.

2012-01-26T12:12:00.000Z

Dear All

In an effort to be exciting and dynamic with our teaching of 4B, here is a word cloud visualising the most common terms used in the AIB booklet. It may be useful to consider which words appear most frequently!

Millie

Last Minute Live Revision

2012-01-23T18:47:00.000Z

Dear Lower Sixth!

Tonight there will be e revision session online, here starting at 7:30 incase you have any last minute questions for tomorrow. You do not need to create an account, just submit your question in the box at the bottom, and wait for me to type a reply! (if it is a long reply be prepared to wait a couple of minutes).

This is a "Silly Question Amnesty" so please ask anything, even if you feel we have covered it before, and bear in mind I have control over publishing your posts, so whatever you submit will not appear immediately!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=105fdfe946" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;AS Skills Last Minute revision!&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

See you all soon, you can submit questions from now on (18:46) but I am just grabbing some dinner first, so they will be answered later. Millie

Apps for revision

2012-01-21T22:23:00.000Z

Dear All,

This year sees the introduction of a new learning tool in both Geography and Geology, we have made use of the fantastic StudyBlue.com to bring you some revision Apps (You can access them through the website as well) and they are compatible with both iPhone/Ipod and Android.

Ask yourself the question, click the circle to reveal the answer:

The account is free, and you can login through Facebook to prevent you having to remember another password! Once you have your account, it is then straighforward to add yourself to my classes, and save the resources you want to your "backpack". Those that are saved, will then be accessible through your mobile when you download the App.

In order to find my classes:

When you create your account, the site will ask you where you study, type in "Richard Huish College"
Search for "Millie"
Select "Geography Geog AS"
Go back to "my Backpack" (top center left of the page)
In the class, on the right had side there is a news pane, this will show who else is in your class, and when any new resources are added. You should be able to find the resources in here, click on them in turn, and on the right hand side, select "Save to backpack/ Geography Geog AS" this will make them accessible on your phone.

Currently in the StudyBlue.com Geography class, there are apps for population and rivers terminology, and one for skills, with pictures of all types of graphs and stats tests you could be asked on tuesday, the case studies have pictures, and you can use them as flashcards to test yourself, or each other, and on the website, the flashcards can be turned into self marking tests. The site tracks your progress for each set of cards, and produces a score per session. You can then filter the cards out, and just revise the ones you didnt get the first time if you upgrade to studyblue+, but the site offers fantastic functions for free!

You then need to download the App (StudyBlue) from the relevant App store, or follow the links at the bottom of the page. The App is free, and once you log in you should find the flashcards there waiting for you. Any problems let me know, but you can then start revising.

There are several ways to work, and you do not need a smartphone, either on your phone or computer, check yourself for each card, and if you got it right, give it a thumbs up, if not, select thumbs down, and revise it again later on. When you log on to the site from a computer, you will be able to see how well you have done, and transform the cards into a test by clicking on the "Flashcards" tab as shown below. The questions are multiple choice or true/false, avoid the "Type the answer" questions by unselecting at the top left, and regenerating the quiz:

(Ignore my 3%, I had only done one!)

The quiz then looks like this, be warned, they are pretty difficult!

You can work online in exactly the same was as on your mobile, but only the online version offers you the quiz version. The quizzes are good, and there is an option to change the question style at the top left. You can track your progress online, and if these are useful, I will write some more over the next few weeks to help with the new modules.

Please let me have feedback, I know it is close to the exam, but these would be handy for last minute revision, and as they work on your phones/iPods without an internet connection, just think about all the fun places you can revise such as the bus, the coffee shop, etc, in fact, send me a picture on the Facebook Page of you revising in an unlikely place to win a small prize.

Dont forget the online revision tomorrow, and have a good weekend!

Millie

PS. DIrect links once you have an account:

Rivers Terminology: http://s.tudy.it/twlnsp
Population Terminology: http://s.tudy.it/twlnsp
Skills Test: http://s.tudy.it/twzznk

El Hierro - The Birth of a new Island?

2011-11-18T15:21:00.001Z

In a timely fashion, just as we start volcanoes in geography, and geology AS, a new island is forming off the coast of the Canaries! This is a rare event, still in its early stages, but well worth following over the coming weeks!

So, the basics, El Hierro is the name of the most westerly of the Canary Islands, long considered by early Europeans to be the end of the world, is is a mountainous and volcanic island formed 1.2 million years ago, and with the largest number of volcanic centres of any of the canaries, totally over 800 identified to date. It is under 300 km2 in total and only one eruption has ever been recorded on the island from the Volcan de Lomo Negro vent in 1793. The eruption lasted a month.A series of landslides have lowered the height and reduced the size, the highest point is now 1501m above sea level.

So, what has started in El Hierro is a new Surtseyan eruption, just of shore of El Pinar, a new volcano has been spewing lava and ash into the water column, along with a range of noxious gases. It is however, quite incredibly beautiful:

The activity has persisted for several months now, with a renewed phase towards the end of December, the Global Volcanism Program from the USGS can be found here, with full reports on seismicity and eruptive styles. There have also been several videos uploaded by the Spanish Authorities and observers, including this rather good one of the eruption breaking the surface:

This satellite image shows the blue-green swirls of volcanic particles and ash mixing with the waters to the west of the Island, the three red dots, circle the epicentre of recent earthquakes on the north coast of the island (image belongs to the NASA Earth Observatory website):

So, what does this mean? Well, the eruption is unusual, as it has persisted for nearly three months, and it could continue and break the surface and become subaerial. At the moment, it is a typical Surtseyan style eruption, named after the Island of Surtsey, part of the Icelandic Rift system. This island formed in 1963, with eruptions persisting for three years, and giving its name to the "Surtseyan" eruption style. The initial phase was similar to El Hierro, but the Island of Surtsey was only preserved when the eruption ceased to be Phreato-magmatic, and lava sealed the surface to ensure the Island will be around until at least 2100. This is a new word for many fo you, a Phreatic eruption is one where the explosions are created by water interacting with the eruptive centre and producing stea, which drives a violent eruption of volcanic fragments and ejectiles. Phreato-magmatic, is where the volcano produces magma, which creates a violent eruption, often producing large eruption columns, and common in any sub-marine eruption in the first phase. Once the Island of Surtsey had breached the surface, and built up enough height to overcome the interaction with waves, the eruption style changed to a more typical basaltic eruption with fire fountains and small lava flows, creating a more stable island, that would resist the onslaught of the North Atlantic waves (You can read a summary of the eruption here). There is also an excellent article written by Erik Clemetti, an assistant Professor of Geology, on Hydro Volcanism with a thorough explanation of water/Magma mixing and some great case study pictures.

Back to El Hierro, the future may be shortlived, possibly only a few years, unless lava breaches the surface of the sea and builds an Island. In which case, it would be likely to follow the route of Surtsey, where subsidence into the crust, and erosion would lower the height, but build coastal depositional features such as this Spit that has been built at Surtsey over the last 50 years:

The island is now a UNESCO world heritage site, and has been studied since it first broke the surface yielding volumes of information about the rate of succession taking place on the island. There are now 30 established species, 69 have been counted in total, and 2-5 new species a year are introduced through a combination of driftwood, bird Guano and travelling insects. A soil has started to form, and the island is home to many seals, and hence regularly patrolled by Orcas. Over time, the island will erode, leaving behind a magma chamber, which will be more resistant due to slower cooling, and the island will eventually look like one of the many other small islands in the Vestmannaeyjar (West Man Islands), of which Heimay, which you have studied and some of you will be visiting, is part:

In a recent update, another island has been born in the Red Sea, the small group of islands owned by Yemen, known as the Zubair group, saw a new island breach the surface in December, information is still sparse, but this is part of the rifting process beneath the Red Sea, that extends through the Rift Valley, and is infact a stage or two further along in the Wilson Cycle than the Rift Valley is at the moment:

So, two new islands to keep an eye on over the coming months, as well as highly speculated and potentially catastophic eruption of Katla (remember Icelandic volcanoes are seasonal, they like to erupt in spring when isostatic pressure is relieved by the ice melt, and creates space in the magma chamber, which theoretically can destabilise the volcano). Icelanders refer to both Hekla and Katla as being "Pregnant" or heavily overdue in terms of eruptive frequency, so watch this space! (Or, more accurately, European airspace).

Live Aid and LDC's

2011-09-27T17:22:00.000+01:00

Dear All

as a summary to the work we have done so far this year on LDC's and the reasons for current levels of development, I though some persepective would help you to place our current studies in context.

Many of you will have heard of Live Aid and some of you may have even been one of the 3 billion people who in 2005 watched one of the 10 live concerts, but how much do you really know about the cause, the history, and the success of this unique campaign?

To start, the originl Live Aid was broadcast in 1985, following the release of the Band Aid single, which in case you havent heard it, here is the original:

Formed in 1984, the single was released on 25th November 1984, but re-recorded in 1989 and 2004, topping the charts each time, and is so named as a play on the name "Band Aid" or the plaster company, and is a little self deprecating as the artists at the time recognised that monies raised are like using a bandaid to stem a major wound. Each time this British/Irish super group formed, it collected leading artists of the time, and estimates out the amount of money raised from november 1984 to January 2004 as £75 Million.

A summary of Band Aid charitable activities till 2004

The Live Aid concerts took place the year after the release of the first single, taking place on three continents, and countless countries. But to understand why, in a time before the internet and email, live streaming and Facebook, whose idea was it, and why did it happen?

The answer can be seen by watching any news broadcast of the current crisis in East Africa, but one report, by Michael Buerk, highlighted the famine of 1984 more clearly than any other, and had a profound impact on the coverage and attention the crisis received. It was one of the first, and certainly one of the most emotional, and remains to this day, some of the most moving news footage on record:

So, what was Live Aid? A collection of the best and brightest artists performing in Philadelphia and Wembley, with Concorde on standby to chauffeur Phil Collins from the first concert in London to play in the second. My favourite from the performance, the everlasting, enigmatic and energetic Freddy Mercury, with a fabulous performance:

The freddie Mercury Tribute Concert:

2011-09-25T15:07:00.001+01:00

Hello Upper Sixth!In time for this tuesdays session, here is the ticker for you to submit any questions about the subtopic of LDC's and the Millenium Development Goals. The live audio feed will start at 530, hopefully with some better quality broadcasting on my part!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=70ff226743" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;LDC's and MDG Workshop&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

All questions will be answered on tuesday night, we are about to move on from LDC's to the issues surrounding globalisation and developing countries and further case studies to include India and China, South Korea and a carefully selected TNC. In the meantime, keep your eyes open for a post regarding feminism, following the shocking views of some of my upper sixth classes, and the notes from the video on Globalisation. See you tomorrow, with your completed essays, ready at the start of the lesson!Millie

Equality Across the World, and yes, we still need it.

2011-09-22T15:12:00.000+01:00

Dear AllFollowing the discussions held in many of my A2 classes this week, don't worry I shalln't name and shame, I felt it was time for an imaprtial assessment of how closs to true equality we are across the globe, and a reasoned, written response as to why it is. in fact, considered to be one of the driving forces behind development, and on of the largest challenges we face. Don't worry, this is not a feminist rant, merely a subjective (well, mostly) review of the current statistics, and an explanation as to why so many of the MDG's focus on equality for women. The womens rights movement, started in developed countries in the late 19th century, and most of you will have heard the term "Suffragette", whilst "Suffrage" means the civil right to vote, it is a term that has become linked to the granting of votes to women. New Zealand, was in fact the first country to afford women the vote in 1893, whilst in the UK, the "National Union of Womens Suffrage Societies", founded in 1897, and spearheaded by Millicent Fawcett led over 20 years of peaceful political campaigns, (Wo)mannedlargely by the UK Middle class. It is worth noting, that the Womens Social and Political Union, was a separate, and more Militant offshoot of this organisation, who wanted more action on womens votes, and was headed by Emmeline Pankhurst.

The suffragette movement has attracted much speculation over its course of action, but the sacrifices made by these women should not be underestimated. Pankhurst was arrested 8 times, and staged hunger strikes in Royal Holloway with other WSPU leaders, which led to the practice of forced feeding of women prisoners in 1912. She continued to campaign, and support the policy of property destruction and activism, which led to many fo the original members of the WSPU leaving the organisation

To start, we have had legislation in the UK for 41 years, making it illegal to give preferential treatment to either one of the sexes. Ms. Fawcett said in a speech in 1911 that their movement was "like a glacier; slow moving but unstoppable".

So, how does any of this affect development? Quite simply, it is the "Girl Effect" and here is a video from the charity promoting the issue, which sums up the problem far better than I can:

In terms of factors that affect fertility and mortality, we have covered the idea that the more control and education a woman has, and importantly the more access to family planning and contraceptive materials we have, the later they will have their first child, the more they contribute to the workforce, the tax base and the politics of their country.

This leads us to the question, which countries are leading the way, and who is falling behind with regards to Gender Equality. Here is one of my favourite images, a complex graph, but one that relates the ratio of earnings, and the percentage of seats held in parliament:

According to the 2006 statistics, Sweden is the country with the highest degree of equality, women earn 85% of male earnings, and occupy just under 50% of the seats in parliament. In contrast, Oman, the UAE, the Sudan, Eqypt and Morroco have under 25% of their parliamentary seats held by women, and they earn on average, 25% of equivalent male salaries. There are some suprises here, and of course some significant uprisings since this graphic was produced. Kenya has few female politicians, but women earn 80% of a typical male salary, whereas in Rwanda, over 5% of places are held by women, and the earnings ratio is 0.70.

Fascinating stuff, but in a country like the UK, where it is illegal to discriminate, and we were one of the first to give women the vote, and legally, a woman can do the same as any man, why are we in the middle of the pack? Women in the UK earn less than 70% of their male equivalents, and hold 15% of parliamentary seats. I wonder what Emeline Pankhurst would think of this?

Drainage Basin Terminology

2011-09-21T13:20:00.000+01:00

Dear Lower SixthPlease see below for a summary of the drainage basin processes and factors affecting them from the lessons this week, remember, if you are in Millie's AS group, you have a test on this on Monday!

Upper Sixth Workshop

2011-09-20T17:19:00.000+01:00

Dear all please use the text function here to ask any questions

Tonights session will focus on the colonialism essay and the work on the Millenium Development Goals we are doing in class. Please ask any questions about the last weeks work and the live audio should start at 530, lasting for around half an hour, longer if there are more questions.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=aa07c99217" &amp;gt;Colonialism and MDG workshop&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;Here is the audio stream:under developmentSee you all in a minute, please submit questions throughout!Millie

Your Colonialism Essay: A timeline to help you.

2011-09-19T01:04:00.000+01:00

Dear Upper Sixth

Here is a the mentioned timeline, it is by no means meant to be a complete history of Colonialism, or contain all information you would need, but does cover a range of events up to the present day crisis that could be relevant to you essays, here is the title again:

"To what extent are the the current low levels of development in Sub-Saharan Africa a product of European Colonialism"

If you feel you have another event which should be included here, let me know and I will add it in.

Please remember the live sessions on a tuesday evening, starting at 530, but you can submit any questions through the blog in advance, and replay all text and voice sessions at any time.

See you tomorrow!

Millie

Iain Stewart in a Box?

2011-09-17T22:46:00.000+01:00

As many of you will already know, and the rest of you in my classes will soon gather, I, like many other geography teachers, am rather fond of Iain Stewart, Professor of Geocommunications at Plymouth. If you haven't already seen them, his documentaries are excellent, and in the library, and make up a very informative, easy to watch part of your four hours extra reading a week (Check out "Power of the Planet" and "How Earth Made Us" - particularly good as an introduction to higher level geography).

Iain is in the news today for taking part in an experiment for his next documentary, the test is taking place this weekend at the Eden Project, where you can see Iain living in a perspex box with 120 plants:

Why? This should be an excellent demonstration of the role plants play in the regulation of our atmosphere. The plants will not be able to convert all of the CO2 produced into oxygen, and the experiment could be terminated early if oxygen levels drop too low, but with the range of plants in the box, the concentration of oxygen should drop no lower the 12%, which is roughly comparable to an altitude of over 4000m.

This has been done before, in the mid 18th century, with mice, so lets wish Iain the best, and keep an eye on this story as it develops over the next couple of days!

Climate Change comes to Somerset? (Oh no, not the Cider!)

2011-09-15T11:14:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the first post of the year! A summary of recent climate change activity, and the potential dangers to a somerset tradition.

This year has seen a flurry of discussion about how climate change, and the Rio +20 summit (Rio Earth Summit 20 years on, Kyoto runs out next year, leaving a gaping void in binding climate agreements), and the general consensus seems to be that the way to get people to listen on the climate change front, is to tell them that it will hit them where it hurts. Their wallets.

Much research has been done since the Stern Report on the impacts of climate change, and governments all around the world are starting to see some changes. We have had two extreme winters, costing many millions in repairs to roads and infrastructure, Hurricane Irene reached New York, unusual for Atlantic Hurricanes, and Africa is gripped with one of its worst droughts on record. This month has seen the start of a geo-engineering trial, the SPICE Project (Stratospheric Particle Injection Climate Engineering), which is in the early stages of testing, and over the next few months the kit will go through field trials with a kilometre long hose and Helium balloon spraying water at altitude, with an aim to identify three key issues surrounding the highly debated idea of geo-engineering (reproduced from: http://bristol.ac.uk/news/2011/7895.html):

Evaluating candidate particles: Researchers from the Universities of Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge and the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory are considering what would be an ‘ideal’ particle to inject into the stratosphere. The researchers will aim to identify a particle with excellent solar radiation scattering properties, and consider what potential impacts might be on climate, weather, ecosystems and human health.
Delivery systems:Engineers from the University of Cambridge and Marshall Aerospace will test the feasibility and design of using a tethered-balloon to inject particles into the stratosphere. They will be using the data obtained from the test-bed project in computer models to examine how a full-scale system might work at an altitude of 20km.
Climate and environmental modelling: Researchers from the Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Bristol are working with the Met Office Hadley Centre to consider what can be learned from past volcanic eruptions. They are also modelling the potential impact on ozone layer concentrations, regional precipitation changes and atmospheric chemistry.
SPICE is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), with support from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) who are providing laboratory facilities and expertise for the project.

The full article is well worth a read, and will be useful for our final module this year.

For those of you still debating the idea of manipulating the climate system, against taking radical political and economic action to reduce our carbon emissions, here is an excellent blog post from todays Guardian, by John Shepherd, part of the comprehensive section on all geo-engineering issues that can be found here.

Some countries are already considering preventative measures, Kiribati was in the news this week for their contemplation of a radical scheme involving the creation of artificial islands , that their vulnerable population could relocate to. The scheme proposed by Vincent Callebaut, the Lillypad scheme, images below, would see vast floating islands holding hundreds of people each and capable of handling the coming challenges of global climate change.

Extreme though this sounds, the idea is feasible and as Kiribati is already facing a $900 million bill for protecting its infrastructure, against a $2 Billion bill for constructing an oil-rig like structure to house several hundred people, the economics are becoming more justified with every centimetre rise in sea level. Artificial islands are in fact, nothing new, several have been built over our history, some more famous than others, such as the controversial Palm Islands and the World in Dubai:

On a smaller scale, the floating villages of Lake Titicaca are older and still in use to house the Uros people, there are believed to be around 40 of these islands anchored in the lake, very few accept visitors, and the Islands anchor them using long poles to reach the lake bed. Other island states have started to construct "Rubbish Islands" such as Thilafushi in the Maldives, which has been controversial, but perhaps the only way to handle the 3.5kg of waste produced each day by tourists who now number over 100 000 per week to the islands. Semaku is the island cretaed from nothing but open water to hold Singapores rubbish, which is incinerated or rcycled, then compressed into vast ocean based chamber, and now is a recognised nature reserve and mangrove swamp, and a tourist attraction for the city state.

So, this year should prove to be interesting, you would be well advised as aspiring geographers to keep abreast of the developments at Rio +20 the official website is here, and here is the link to the Guardians coverage of the event which will develop over time, so keep this link handy!

So, you ask, how does any of this affect us in Somerset? If you have been saying to yourself, or heard many others say, that this winter was so cold, how can global warming possibly be happening? Or, even better, as someone recently said to me "Yes thats all very interesting, but that sort of thing doesn't happen here", a little story about the weird weather this year, and how it could potentially affect our most precious of Somerset exports, cider.

You will probably remember, that spring this year was rather lovely, early and very hot, we had a fantastic easter break, short though it was, and all enjoyed a sunny Royal Wedding (See my earlier post on Royal Wedding Geography). Summer has been ok, not too hot but you may have noticed we have an abundance or soft fruit, and apples. No bad thing, for a county that still exports a lot of cider, but the trees are a little confused. Having blossomed and fruited early, they are not putting out their winter buds, normally not seen until the leaves drop later in autumn. The problem here, is that should we have a tradition "Indian Summer" late in September or October, as has happened for the last two years, the trees could start to put out new leaves again. When the winter finally comes, and judging by the last two years, it will be cold, the trees may suffer some fairly serious damage. Combined with the fact that a common sight at the moment, are apple trees breaking under the weight of their bounty this year, the increased tree damage, and potentially confused buds, could leave us in an awful position next year, as in, we may have a cider shortage.

Dont panic yet! If the winter stays cold, we could be ok, the trees will be fine, and come spring, we might have another great year for our apples, but we could be missing some of our small mammals and birds that depend on autumn fruit like Hawthorn and Elderberries, both of which are already fruited and going over, or Rosehips, which traditionally last till november. Even the Holly is coated in berries already, so when it gets cold, and food gets scarce, there will not necessarily be enough to fatten up hibernating or migrating species before the long winter.

What can we do about it? Well, firstly, do your apple trees a favour, and pick some fruit off the heavily laden branches to prevent too much damage, secondly, we may all need to provide a bit of grub for the birds later on in the year, last, but not least, enjoy this years apple crop, next years may not be any where near as good.

Lets hope that this doesn't happen, but the signs of coming climate change are all around us, having never had a day off for snow when I was at school or college, over the last three years I've had the better part of two weeks snowed out of work, remember, climate change does not mean we are just going to get hotter, we will suffer more extremes of temperature and shorter, more extreme seasons. Sound familiar?

Upper Sixth Workshop: Essays and an Introduction to Colonialism.

2011-09-13T10:05:00.002+01:00

Dear Geographers!

Welcome back to the Upper Sixth, it has been a long holiday, and a while since the last blog post but this year we have some exciting new developments to help you with your reading for the subject.

Firstly, every tuesday night, from 530 on, for about an hour, there will be a live extension workshop here, the new development, is that you will be able to hear me through the player on the blog, and you will be able to ask any questions about that weeks topic through the CoverItLive function. This means that you do not need an account, or to sign in, you ask a question about the weeks lessons by typing, and I will answer through the miracles of live radio streaming!

This has been developed as a means to allow us to target the Upper Sixth at a more convenient time, and you can replay the session. If you cannot make the session, you should be able to submit a question through the Ticker on the blog and when the event starts I will answer all questions!

Other developments:

We will be having a series of guest bloggers in throughout the year, people who are either ex-students now doing Masters of PhD's in relevant fields, keep an eye out for their articles! If you know of anyone working in a Geographical, or even better, Geological field, please out them in touch with me if they would like to contribute!

Lastly for now, if you are considering an earth science related degree, please do let me know, as we are always on the look out for more student bloggers, this would mean that as an enrichment, you put together your own blog, commenting on current affairs, writing up case studies you come across, etc. This will allow you to show your universities you are a dedicated earth science student, and has been well received in the past by university interviewers. Remember, competition for places is on the rise, and this is a good way to make yourself stand out from the crowd!

Come back to this page at 530 for the workshop, you should be able to access it through a 3g smart phone, but let me know if there are any problems!

In the meantime, if you have a question about the essay, please leave it here:

"To what extent are the low levels of development in Sub-Saharan Africa a result of European Colonialism"

Due: week commencing 26th September.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=8113d419d7" &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Upper Sixth Workshop: Essays and Colonialism&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Climate Revision Online

2011-06-07T19:12:00.000+01:00

Dear All

Welcome to tonights blog, you dont need an account, so starting at 730 please join in with any questions relating to climate!

Climate Revision Session

New Volcano Pictures!

2011-05-24T19:59:00.000+01:00

As you have probably guessed, I do love a good volcano photo, and before I start blogging about the purely academic and revision based, here is a brief Photo essay of pinched images of the current Grimsvotn Eruption.

A very dramatic skyline, volcanic eruptions produce sulphur and ash which refract the sunlight creating some truly spectacular sunsets. To place the eruption in a wider atmospheric context, here is a satellite image of the UK and Iceland, as you will all know, this eruption is likely to be nowhere near as disruptive as the last one from E15, as the current weather system is a depression, it should move off to the North East, which will blow ash away from us.

Sometimes, the eruptions produce these rather lovely cloud formations:

In terms of political Impacts, Obama flew to London a day early to avoid the potential ash chaos:

The Ash is also less likely to cause disruption die to the new Met Office/Aviation rulings on ash in jet engines, which is now 20 times the original level, and a limit of 4000 micrograms per second.

And a good picture of an Icelandic Dirty Thunderstorm:

Pretty cool, or actually scorching hot, but a very special sight! A lot of you have asked me today why it is that the last year has seen so many Icelandic eruptions, the answer is not too simple, the last 20 years have been unusually quiet, and with the added complication of the volcano/Ice melt feedback cycle (Ice sheets decay faster, less pressure on Magma chambers, therefore the magma chamber has "space" fills with magma, especially in the spring, and is likely to lead to more high latitude eruptions, which for those of you following this, may kick us back into a cold period due to reflection of UV in the upper atmosphere. Perfect negative feedback)

Grimsvotn eruption

2011-05-23T19:42:00.001+01:00

This month has seen the start of a new volcanic eruption in Iceland. It is worth noting it is unlikely to cause the level of disruption seen last year with the E15 eruption, this is Grimsvotn, Iceland’s most frequently erupting volcano in Historical times. It erupted a little bit last year, and does so every few years, and instead of Ash being the main concern, this one tends to produce Jokulhaulps of some magnitude.

Words cannot express how much I would like to be in that plane...

Some background to begin, this is part of what is known as the Vatnajokul Ice Cap, this the largest Ice cap in Iceland, also in Europe, and is home to several volcanoes, Grimsvotn is one of these, and is the main volcano from which the infamous Laki eruption of 1783 started (Laki is a fissure that comes from the same fracture zone and geothermal field).

Grimsvotn’s last eruption was November 2010, but its most famous was the 1996 eruption, forming a cauldron in the ice sheet, attracting world media attention and then quite stubbornly, not releasing the massive Jokulhaulps until after most of the journalists had left the Island. In fact it took 6 weeks for the sub glacial melt to make it to the Sandur, the vast volcanic desert plains that make up much of Iceland’s south coast, and have been formed by successive glacial bursts.

The Grimsvotn Cauldron, pictured in 2004, the vent beneath the Ice has erupted and the cauldron clearly visible

Vatnajokul is an unusual ice cap, it houses a large volcanic lake underneath the ice, and this is the main threat, the lake is dammed in to a certain level, but can be easily overtopped when an eruption melts more if the basal ice. This leads to flooding, but as it is a well-known and practised process, rarely cause much disruption to the Icelandic’s, though disruption to the rest of the world is left to p[lay out this week (Again, unlikely, the alarmists are making a story here, but last year was a fluke of an ash laden eruption and unusual prevailing winds). These glacial lake outbursts occur after the start of the eruption, but can take weeks, Iceland is well equipped for this and used to it, and their roads and public services are restored very quickly afterwards.

Sub glacial eruptions are well known to be ashy, even though the nature of most of Iceland’s volcanoes is Basaltic as the contact between hot magma and ice produces instantaneous fracturing of the magma, and steam, this was the main issue with E15, in that steam rising with heavy ash content causes problems for Jet Engines. This time, Easy jet have latched onto a positive of the potentially looming ash cloud, but testing their new Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector, which they were going to test in the Pacific, but now have a testing ground significantly closer to home. Do remember that each natural disaster is an opportunity for us to learn more and fine tune our management, prediction and mitigation strategies.

This particular eruption, is reportedly already subsiding, there is a very high incidence of dirty thunderstorms, and as soon as any are published, which will be soon, I will add them to the blog, in the meantime, have a look at some of these lovely other photos of the plume, and some Icelandic ponies.

Ongoing Live Questions

2011-05-19T11:34:00.000+01:00

Hello Upper Sixth!

This is a bit of an experiment, you can post questions here and i can answer them, it is ongoign, so the response may not be immediate, but i would like you to use it as a place to make suggestions for resources/help over the half term period.

I havent used this particular piece of technology before, the Lower Sixth Geologists have had a number of evening revision sessions using something similar, but this is a work in progress, so.....

What it could be used for - comments of case studies, suggestions on what to cover in class next week, requests for further information, I will be posting relevant articles, links to resources as i make them, and updates on events at college after you finish next week.

All feedback much appreciated!

Millie

Hazards Revision Session

2011-05-19T11:20:00.001+01:00

This is a live online Q and A, intended as a place for those of you in exams for the day to ask anything you may need to after college. Attendance is non compulsory, you dont need to create an account, you just go to the blog (this page) type a question and i will answer, bear in mind your comments are not published live, but are published by me, and if it is a long question, please give me a few minutes to type!

There will be a separate climate session on the tuesday after the climate revision day

2011-05-18T10:34:00.000+01:00

Hello Lower Sixth and Upper Sixth resitting skills!

Here on Monday night there will be a live online Q and A for the skills exam. This is a very simple way for you to revise, all you do is come to this blog page, and type a questn and I will answer it for you!

The sessions have been runni really successfully in Geology, and they can be very useful to you. You do not need to create a ness account, or do anything particularly IT based, just turn up, ask your questions and then stay for as long as you want.

The session will run for around two hours, longer if there are lots of people, could you Be aware that your comments are published by me, so there may be a sho time delay, and when a question needs a longer answer, give me time to type it!

Last Minute Skills Revisn

Upper Sixth! Revision Help

2011-05-12T15:18:00.000+01:00

Hello Uppers!

AS the AS geography exam is next week, I'm aware that the blog and the workshops have been very much focused on the Lower Sixth topics, so here is a post just for you!

Nick has very kindly been through the textbook and come up with a list of subheadings that could easily be the focus of the short answer questions this summer. They are categorised by module, and would make an excellent format for you to make sure you have all the notes you need and case studies for each.

You should be, and should have been for some time, revising pretty hard by now. The exams have a nasty habit of creeping up on us very fast at this time of year, and they are now a month away. As you enter the final fortnight (Sob/Cry/Scream in delight at the idea of under two more weeks of lessons), you need to ensure you have everything you need from us before the half term break.

So, the subheadings:

Tectonics

The theory of plate tectonics

Features of plate margins

Hot Spots

Distribution of volcanoes

Volcanic eruptions

Intrusive and extrusive volcanic activity in the UK

The impact of volcanic eruptions

Causes of earthquakes

Distribution

Magnitude and frequency

The effects of earthquakes

Weather

Structure of the atmosphere

The atmospheric heat budget

Planetary surface winds

Atmospheric pressure and winds

The general atmospheric circulation system

British Isles - basic climatic characteristics

British Isles – Air masses affecting the….

The origin and nature of depressions

The origin and nature of anticyclones

Storm events

The ITCZ

Tropical Monsoon Climate

Tropical Revolving Storms

The urban heat island effect

Urban areas – precipitation, fog, air quality, winds

Evidence for climate change

Possible causes of climate change

Effects of global warming

Effects on monsoon climate

Effects on the UK

Responses to global warming

Development and Globalisation

Development

Globalisation

Global Marketing

Patterns of production, distribution and consumption

NICs

Growth in the 21^st Century

Countries at low levels of development

Quality of Life

Debt

Social problems

Global groupings

Social and economic groupings

Growth of the EU

TNCs - definitions

TNCs – growth and location

TNCs – globalisation

TNCs - Social, economic and environmental impacts

Trade vs Aid

Economic vs environmental sustainability

Sustainable tourism: myth or reality

Ecotourism

As ever with geography, the best answers have the following characteristics:

Terminology - we wouldn't teach it if you didn't need to know it, so use it. There is a dictionary on moodle that you can fill out with all the key words from all the modules this year.
Structure - Don't just write everything you know in a rush, take your time and answer questions properly, categorise your sentences and make sure you write in good English.
Case Studies - quite often, even if the question doesn't say "Using case studies analyse...." they are still expecting you to demonstrate knowledge of real world examples. It can never hurt to "name drop" a few examples into the short answer questions.

The last point to remember, is that there are marks available for "Thinking like a geographer", this is exam board terminology, Nick, Nikki and I have all been at exam meetings with our Chief Examiner talking about how impressed he is when students demonstrate they understand the nature of the subject, how the syllabus links together, using unique and local examples etc.

What he is really trying to say, is that by this stage in your education you should realised that geography is everywhere, and concerns pretty much everything. Therefore you can talk about anything you have learned, not just in this subject and your other AS modules, but your other subjects too. What have you read in the news? What is important to you that you understand and can relate to geography? Use examples, use your brains and look at the subject as a whole.

That may all sound a bit wishy washy and all-encompassing coming from a possibly slight over enthused teacher, so to make it clear, lets define what geography is:

The bridge between the human and physical sciences?
The science of dealing with the earth, its lands, features, inhabitants and phenomena
Spatial analysis of natural and human phenomena
Understanding the earth and everything that takes place on it or in it
How has the earth changed and developed and come to be as it is today?
A world discipline?

In reality, for the numpty like me, Geography is the study of people and place, and how the two interact. It is studying how we are affected by and affect the planet.

So, set yourselves up with a list of revision topics, the case studies and the revision booklets. Traffic light topics, make new notes, believe me this really helps, and come to workshops. We are currently finalising a post half term structured week of revision, designed as last minute help, with a day on each topic and a session on exam technique for short and long answers.

Hope this helps, if you have any particular requests for assistance with Upper sixth revision, leave them here as a comment and i will try to make it happen!

Millie

PS - As of next week, all Upper sixth classes are open to all upper sixth students, there are columns in 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, please feel free to come along if you want to.

Mississippi Flooding

2011-05-11T22:26:00.000+01:00

Hello Geographers,

A very successful visit from UWE today, a summary post will be coming your eway shortly so if you couldnt make it, there will be materials you can use to add to your exams.

On a topical issue, and one that can be used for your Lower Sixth exams next week, the Mississippi is currently experiencing its largest floods in nearly a century, so here is a brief (well maybe) post about current affairs geograpahy and rivers.

Obviously,the first priority right now, is dealing with the social impact, those families and communities that are flooded out, expecting to be flooded or have already lost possessions and their homes in this months floods. After an April that received 600% of average rainfall, the floods started high up in the rivers very long, long profile, and the crest/peak of the flood is making its way to the delta tonight.

To start, here are some before and after photos taken from the Daily Mail website:

The standing floodwater in this part of the states brings some unique issues, including the presence of snakes like this one:

With the river just centimeters below an all time record, and 500 000 acres of farmland flooded by the deliberate breach of a levee to alleviate flooding downstream, here are some more pictures and a summary of impacts at the end.

Fish jumping to catch flies over flooded farmland.

A deer taking shelter on the roof of a house.

A levee breached to lessen pressure on defences downstream and prevent overtopping.

Economic Impacts

The nine floating casinos in Tunica County Mississippi have been forced to close, the gross $87 million a month, employ 9,700 people and contribute $10 million a month to local and state taxes
At Present there are ten oil refineries at risk, threatening a total of 13.7% of domestic oil refinery, this has caused a 13.3% rise is gas prices to $3.38 a gallon.
Following the threat to crops, cotton prices have risen 5% in three days, corn 4% and Soy 1%.
Flooding estimated to cost Arkansas agricultural industries $500 million

Social Impacts:

Thousands have been evacuated in Tennessee and Mississippi due to rising floodwaters, and the flood wont reach the Gulf till the end of the month, as it still has much of the 2300mile long course to travel
Angola State Penitentiary (Prison) is evacuated
4 million people live in 63 parishes and cities adjacent to the river

Environmental Impacts:

The Corps have opened the Bonnet Carre and Morganza spillways to relieve pressure on New Orleans by diverting water into Lake Ponchartrain and the Atchafalaya River Basin respectively (see picture above)
Snakes, Spiders, alligators and rats all a risk at the moment
Water Moccasin and Cottonmouth snakes are both venemous and pose a threat to people, they are seeking refuge in homes and trees.
In Tennessee the water reached 47.87 feet, less than a foot below the all time 1937 record
3 million acres in Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi expected to flood by the end of the week, with 11 million cultivated acres in Mississippi crop prices nationwide will have to rise.
Deer and coyotes have been spotted sharing the same levee to shelter form flood waters
Wild Turkeys, breeding at this time of year, are likely to see a significant drop in numbers as nests and young birds are flooded

Political Impacts:

With the Riverbend and Waterford 3 nuclear plants right next to the river and still downstream from the floods, lets hope we are not about to witness nuclear problems in America as well.
100 homes and 130 000 acres of land were sacrificed by blowing a levee to keep Cairo safe.
the Corps have spent $13 billion since 1927 protecting the Mississippi from flooding, will it work?
Will this lend some weight to the climate change movement in America? How much more proof do you need?

Caused by the melting of heavy snowfall, and an unusually wet April and with more thunderstorms expected on thursday, as the crest reaches the delta, this disaster is far from over yet. Cairo has been saved by repeated a 1937 flood eent of dynamiting a levee to relieve pressure, this floods less valuable land and keeps the city safe from overtopped flood walls.On May 2nd, the level in Cairo had reached 61.2 feet, breaking the 1937 record of 59.5ft.

UWE Visit on Wednesday

2011-05-09T22:07:00.000+01:00

Dear All

As you know, this Wednesday some of the lecturers from the geography department at UWE (University of the West of England) are coming down to give three lectures. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to firstly learn some more about University life in Bristol, and in a very exciting geography department, and to experience a sort of taster session for lectures. They have written three sessions, two of them aimed at the AS, and one specifically for the A2, and they will be very beneficial to your revision. With the Exams looming next week, a break from routine and a fresh perspective on geography will be a good idea for all of you!

If you are in Column 2 (Weds afternoon lessons) you will be attending the lectures as part of your class, if you arent, you are invited to come into either B21 for the Lower Sixth (Uppers are also welcome, especially if you are retaking Unit 1), and the Upper sixth in B110, which is upstairs in B block at the far end of the corridor (opposite end from Geography and one floor up).

The two lower sixth lectures are:

Coastal Management in Bridgwater Bay - Dr Chris Spencer

River Management and Climate Change - Dr Chris Parker

Both will run for around an hour, and will cover some of what we have done in class, and a little bit extra, I cannot emphasis enough how valuable attending these sessions will be, and there will be an opportunity to talk to Chris and Chris about life at UWE which is a very popular destination for our students.

The Upper Sixth Lecture will be something rather special, you have all trolled through the lessons on evidence for global climate change, and if you were with me today, a fairly dull session on various pieces of legislation and other responses to global climate change (Remembered! Not Global warming anymore!).

Dr Wendy Woodland will be giving a lecture on....

"Climate Change - Back to the future"

And in the lab you will be looking at some actual evidence, that may make the topic a bit more tangible, and probably a lot more interesting than when I taught it! She is bringing some samples with her, and you will be using microscopes to identify the evidence, very scientific for geography!

So, if you can, please try to make yourself free for weds afternoon, everyone is welcome, please be courteous and turn up on time, and bring some paper to make a few notes on.

In addition, we are now only a week away from the exams, keep revising, if you are bored of revising one way, take a break and try something new, there are lots of online activities, there are terminology revision cards for coasts and rivers, and some describe the picture cards (I will explain in class tomorrow).

Apart from that, try get revising, a good site for questions, other resources etc, and dont forget, google earth, fly around and look at your case studies, where are they, what can you see. Test each other, come to workshops, join a revision forum online, post a queston to the fb page!

Just dont give up now, there is still a lot of time that can really make a difference!

One final word of warning, "I just read through my notes millie, i learn better that way" or similar sentences worry me, you need to cover as many different ways of learning as possible, and just re-reading your notes is not enough. You need to hear it (From me), Write it (You did that), preferably rewrite it (revision cards?), Read it (Module booklets, notes, that old fashioned thing called a text book) and preferably, if you have understanding friends, parents or pets, say it out loud, you can tell if you have really understood something if you can explain it to someone else.

See you all in the morning!

Volcanic Place quizzes!

2011-05-03T23:00:00.009+01:00

A new revision activity, aimed at the Upper Sixth, find the case study! Follow the link and the picture, get three clues and then locate the case study on google earth

My placespotting.com quiz

Question 2:

My placespotting.com quiz

Question 3:

My placespotting.com quiz

Question 4:

Question 5:

Question 6:

The other volcanic case studies will be coming your way soon, if anyone fancies making some for the other modules feel free just send me the links and ill post them to FB or the blog.

Happy hunting!

World at risk. Earthquakes and Megacities

2011-04-28T22:26:00.000+01:00

This fantastic map shows the earthquake risk or regions around the world, the relative size of a countries population and the location and size of megacities. Reproduced here from a blog i follow:

http://www.viewsoftheworld.net/?p=1382

The blog is called "Views of the world" and is a collection of very interesting and unique maps. This one clearly shows that certain cities are at high risk:

The city sizes are based on 2015 estimations by the UN, some regions are well known, such as LA, overdue for its next "big one", Istanbul with its notable seismic gap, and earthquakes recently working their way up the North Anatolian Fault. Some are more surprising. Bogota is at rick, according to a recent poll by LaPatria, a Columbian newspaper, 95% of buildings do not follow earthquake proof standards, and the region has experienced rapid urbanisation over the last 50 years. There have been significant quakes before in Columbia, in 1785, an earthquake lasting 4 minutes struck Bogota, the last significant quake was January 1999 with a magnitude 6.4. As a country, Columbia sits between the North and South, and the currently most successful economic region in the world, Latin America.

Mexico City is well understood, and with the Torre Major, and the other earthquake proof measures put in place since the 1985 quake, stands to be well prepared, can the same be said for Tehran, Baghdad and Kabul? Regions of conflict, with many other priorities for public funding. An earthquake in any one of these regions would be devastating. The last major earthquake to strike Lima was in 2007, measuring magnitude 7.9, but quakes on this boundary are regular, Chile has had 13 over magnitude 7 since 1973.

Perhaps Jakarta is the most prepared, this article discusses how prepared the city is following the devastating Japanese Earthquake, with the city council claiming it could withstand up to a magnitude 8, though some buildings were lower. With a population already approaching 10 million, lets hope this claim is never tested.

One point to take away, the earthquake in Japan has prompted worldwide reviews of where is at risk, and how prepared they are, and this can only be a good thing for future safety, especially as it not necessarily the most well designed building, or deepest foundations that save lives, but instead it is education, evacuation plans and early warning, where most countries are no focusing significant amounts of time and money.

Essays workshop from today

2011-04-28T20:50:00.000+01:00

Structuring Answers

Human essays usually focus on Impacts/issues/consequences/reasons and can nearly always be structured by a paragraph each on Socio-Economic, Political and Environmental. This includes essays on physical topics with a human element, such as flooding or protection.

If it is Rivers and regarding processes it can normally be split into upper/middle/lower courses

For either rivers or Coasts, if it is a purely physical question, such as the formation of a landform, or changes associated with sea level change, it needs to be a logical explanation, using the right terminology, and set out in stages.

This really is the key to doing well in eessays, you need to make sure that you are using geographical words in order to secure the top marks in all questions, not just essays!

In terms of further help, it was suggested that seeing some model answers would be the best way for you to understand structure. As such, you can vote on the essays you would most like to read and I will write them. If there are enough people interested, i will write two of the essays below this weekend for you to read. You need to vote on FB for the number essay you want.

1. Some housing and transport systems in the UK are being designed to reduce energy use. Discuss how the importance of such schemes is reducing the countries contribution to global warming(126)

2. Describe and explain the impact of the use of fossil fuels on the environment (100)

3. Discuss the view that nuclear power can be managed to that it is an environmentally sustainable source of energy (70)

4. Describe and explain why there is no single form of renewable energy that would satisfy a countries complete energy needs.

5. With reference to a named country, evaluate attempts to manage population change(124)

6. Outline and comment on the economic and political consequences of population change (97)

7. “for better or worse” discuss how population change can affect the character of rural and urban areas (66)

8. Ageing populations represent the greatest concern to populations experiencing change. To what extent do you agree.

9. With reference to one or more case studies of coastal management, discuss whether the benefits outweigh the costs (122)

10. With specific reference to a case study of coastal erosion, asses the relative importance of its physical and socio-economic consequences (94)

11. Using a case study, assess the causes and consequences of coastal flooding (62)

12. Describe and explain the coastal landforms resulting from sea level change

13. Describe and explain the development of meanders (120)

14. Describe and explain the formation of landforms resulting from rejuvenation (92)

15. Channel characteristics such as cross profile, wetted perimeter, hydraulic radius, roughness and channel efficiency change downstream. Describe and explain how channel characteristics change downstream (59)

16. Flooding represents the greatest risk to the poorest parts of the worlds population. Discuss.

SO, cast your votes, write some of your own and stay on top of your revision!

A very cool Map

2011-04-27T20:22:00.002+01:00

In Addition to Royal Wedding Fever, this cartogram shows population of the UK in a very cool way, so i thought i would share it with you!

Royal Wedding Geography - a themed post

2011-04-27T20:19:00.000+01:00

So, this may well be jumping on the bandwagon, but I thought id see how the Royal Wedding could be used as a geographical point for your summer essays. Whether you are a Royalist or Republican, going to be glued to the TV on friday or avoiding it at all costs, what does this Wedding mean for the UK?

Visitors
Fact - average tourist spending in the UK is £65 a day

For the wedding of Charles and Diana, 0.6 million people visited London for at least the day, that was 30 years ago, before the advent of the cheap flight and the Eurostar - if the same number come to London this weekend, and it is likely to be higher, this would generate £40 Million in revenue
There has been a 28% surge in Eurostar bookings for this weekend, in comparison to the same weekend last year
There has been 121% increase in Hotel bookings in London
There is a predicted 20% rise in tourism revenue this year, taking the UK's earnings from tourism from £500 million to £600 Million
BUT the bill is yet to come in for public spending on the wedding, will it balance out?

Social Media/Communications

Charles and Diana's wedding was the most watched TV event ever, with 1 billion viewers in 1981, back when we had TV's shaped like a large box, the internet was a sci-fi movie phenomena, and streaming unheard of.
There are now 162 million webpages discussing the wedding
Google has produced a snazzy fly through of the wedding route in google earth GIS-Tastic:

Royals?

regardless of your feelings, 1/8 of the 30 million tourists to this country spend money on Royal attractions (thats 3 750 000 people every year who pay to do something with a Royal theme)
The BRIC countries are leading the way in visiting the UK for the Royal flavour with 83% of all Russians visiting Buckingham Palace
60% of Americans opt for royal outings. Europeans spend the least - an average of £400 a visit - while those from the Middle East spend almost four times that, at an average of £1,500 per visit
Charles and Diana's wedding doubled UK tourism for 1981

Retail

Tesco has sold 120 miles of union jack bunting
Ebay reports a rise of 12,491% on Royal Memorabilia this year
Tesco has also sold 1300 tonnes of Jersey Royal New Potatoes compared to a total of 250 tonnes last year - good if you are growing them!
Goldsmiths Jewellers are predicting a 50% rise in engagements this spring - lets hope their gold rings are fairtrade like Will and Kates were rumoured to be (I liked this rumour - it did raise some awareness of the issues surrounding gold extraction - in fact, the Royal family has a small amount of Welsh gold in their vault which all royal wedding rings are traditionally made from)
Beer - an estimated extra 100 million pints will be pulled this weekend, hopefully mitigating the 3.8% decline in Beer sales in the UK this quarter in to last year
Memorabilia - who doesnt want a plate like this one? (seriously, this is big business)

Small Businesses

An extra bank holiday presents a cost to small businesses and employers, do you pay employees or make them take it as holiday, and loose a days business
Many people have opted to take the three days (Yes those that we are at college for!) as holiday, as effectively, you would then have 11 days in a row off work, only using up three days holiday. For many small businesses this would be catastrophic

Olympic Fever

With all the coverage, and pictures of London being taken and circulated this weekend, there is an excellent marketing opportunity for tourist thinking of coming to London, and many will be convinced to come visit.
The extra street cleaning, roadworks and preparation for the Wedding is timed well to help preparation for the Olympics
Some visitors will be staying longer, perhaps until the end of the games, and they have to spend money!

Social Impacts

Whatever your views, a wedding is a nice, spirit raising happy thing to celebrate, and in these times of austerity, job cuts, funding cuts and conflicts all around the world, a little good old fashioned cheer is a good thing.
The UK has some negative press, we are involved in a new conflict in Libya that there are some very divided opinions about, this is a purely positive news article that will put the UK in the frontline of the media.
There is however, an increased risk to some areas, the concentrations of people in towns and cities does provide a target.
The younger generation have a closer link to William and Kate than any of the other Royals, and a happy modern fairytale marriage provides a good role model, and as a country, we could do with some nice healthy young role models around.
The "copycat" wedding, is already available in China, further evidence for the Westernisation of Culture

So, whatever you are doing (the correct answer is "revising for my mock!"), enjoy the day, to be honest, there are only a couple of these in your lifetime, and its probably worth a few minutes of your time at least, if you can find any fantastically weird and wonderful geography links let me know by leaving me a comment!

Revision Summaries for Modules

2011-04-27T18:49:00.000+01:00

The idea is that these topics should take you about half an hour to do, hopefully this helps:

Rivers:
Global Hydrological Cycle
Drainage basin systems
Water Balance Graph
Long and Graded Profile
River Features
Rejuvenation
River management (Hard)
River Management (Soft)

Population:
Key Terms - CBR/CDR/TFR/IMR/NI/RLF
Factors affecting Fertility and Mortality
Population Pyramids
Demographic Transition Model
Youthful and Ageing Populations
Optimum Population
Population Policies
Settlement Case Studies
Social Segregation

Coasts
Marine Energy
Processes of Weathering
Influence of Geology on Coastlines
Coasts as a System
Coastal Landforms
Biogenic Coastlines
Storm Surges
Coastal Management (Hard)
Coastal Management (Soft)
Holderness
Lyme Regis

Energy
Types Of Energy
Renewables and Non Renewables - how, what, where advantages/Disadvantages
Sustainability
Appropriate technology
Climate Change
Energy Mix of UK and Sweden

Hope this helps. remember this week is the after college essay writing session on thursday, and normaly workshops running all week next week, skills work shop on tuesday!

Lastly. There are only three weeks left, working hard now really pays off for next year, so heres to three weeks of hard work!

Millie

Revising.

2011-04-16T14:16:00.001+01:00

Hello Upper and Lower sixth!

It may be Easter, but you guys have a main priority for your weeks off. Revision, and lots of it, I know some of you seemed to think I was joking, but in order to achieve the grades you want, you need to approach this week as though you were still at college, and working every day.

As a bare minimum, in college time, you spend 4 hours and 40 minutes in lessons, and you should be spending around 3/4 hours doing your extra reading, as recommended to you since the start of the year. So, per subject, depending on if you are upper or lower sixth, you should plan to spend either 7 hours 40 min, or 8 hours 40 min per subject this week.

So, if you are doing four subjects at AS, this week you should try to timetable 30 hours and 40 minutes
and, if you are doing three subjects at A2, you should timetable 25 hours 40 minutes revising.

Sound like a lot? In comparison to the world of work, you have a 37.5 hour day week for an average job, and for nearly everyone, a job is the main aim of studying! So, now is the time to work, and for some of you, this comes easily, for others, it takes a bit of practise. The thing you want to avoid most, is not doing everything you can now to get your results, and that means you taking control of your own learning by following a few simple suggestions, this is by no means a set of instructions, but will hopefully help you to get started:

Know what you have to revise: start by making a list of all your subjects, and the modules within them, break it down to subtopics that would take you about half an hour to revise (ie, river management, landforms, population pyramids or volcano types)
Plan your time: no-one is going to work all day, all evening and weekends. Look at your week off, write out a list of days, and work out what times you already have plans, and block that time out. Be realistic, give yourself some time out to relax, like a weekend, it is important you recover from the demands of term time. However, you need to weigh up how much time is sensible to take out, and commit to a reasonable number of hours per day.
Targets: use your list of modules and your time table to set your self goals. Don't make them unrealistic, that is demotivating, but use your half hour long subtopics to fill up the time. If you cant fit all the topics into this week, consider working at different times, i.e. evenings, and use the next bank holiday weekend (Unless you are planning to watch the Royal Wedding!)
Get on with it: we all do the same thing, starting off is really difficult, but you have to do it. There is no way around this, but when I have to work, I can find almost anything to distract myself, suddenly the house needs cleaning, floors need scrubbing, if it gets really bad I decide to go running! Then, only once I've run out of every other possible thing to do, do I start work. This is bad, learn from my mistakes! The way to deal with revision apathy is to start small, ten minutes, stop for a drink, 15 minutes, stop for a snack, etc, build it up so you learn to focus for longer and longer periods of time.
Celebrate: Achieving your goals is motivating, and rewarding, if you have done something right, reward yourself with something you like, and herein lies a lesson, have stuff around that makes a suitable reward, for me, it is expensive Ice cream, homemade cakes (no surprises there and they are normally made during my "do anything but work" phase) but make sure there is a light at the end of the revision tunnel (besides great results).

So, there are my tips on how to get started and how to revise, once you get going, it becomes a lot easier, especially once you find the place where you can work, for me, the public library was the saviour of my A-Levels, they have little private rooms you can work in, and a big table you can spread out on, and it is dead quiet (It is a rare person who actually takes in lots of information whilst watching TV or listening to music).

So, the question many of you have asked me, when i have suggested you spend 5-7 hours a day revising, is how do I know. Firstly, the geography team has seen a lot of students, with a lot of different styles come through Huish, and those that base themselves in a classroom and do the work, do much better. Those who make notes, revision cards etc do better (you are covering more ways in which your brain absorbs information - hearing, seeing, writing, speaking all work).

Secondly, on a more personal level, I revised in a similar way to that described above, it was not perfect, but I did work nearly every day, a couple of hours in the evenings after college. It worked, I don't think I could have worked any harder, and I got the grades I wanted to do the course I really wanted, and I now have a job I really enjoy, and for all of you, that starts with you getting good grades this summer.

So, in terms of what I can do to help you, later on there will be a list of subtopics for the modules we do at Huish, there are websites that have resources such as www.getrevising.co.ukMoodle has most PP and geofiles on it, and the FB page is an ideal location for questions, there is a new discussion set up for each year group for you to ask any questions you have.

Remember, there are plenty of resources and help out there, but at the end of the day, a lot of this comes down to you. Help yourself by starting your revision sooner, rather than later, and making it effective.

Hope this helps!

Millie

ITCZ explained

2011-04-11T15:01:00.000+01:00

This Photo from the NASA observatory website is a clear depiction of the ITCZ from a couple of weeks ago. The line of clouds running across the Northern sector of South America and across both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans is a result of the area receiving the most insolation, therefore the most evapotranspiration, and low pressure forming as a result of the continued rise of warm air. Remember, it is the Long Wave Terrestrial Radiation that heats the air, not the incoming UV.

Iceland day 3!

2011-04-01T23:43:00.000+01:00

We are at the moment driving across the Sandur, a vast volcanic plain, formed through glacial outbursts or Jokulhaulps. The last of these, from Grimsvotn in 1996. The landscape is littered with the remains of old bridges, that sometimes last only a few days, and are often destroyed in order to allow the flood waters to pass through. There has been much stabilization of the sandur with planting of resistant plants which aim to capture Aeolian sediments and protect the main ring road. This road is quite an accomplishment for Iceland, the vast sandur's present a significant risk to those attempting to cross the,.The villages and the towns in the East depend on it now as a main route to the capitol, but before that, the options were to cross the mountain glaciers, dangerous in the case of Vatnajokul which has the largest geothermal system in Europe underneath it, or to try to cross the hundreds of glacial fed rivers. The alternative is to drive around the rest of the coastal road to the north, not exactly a short cut! If you go it wrong, as would have been easy with Grimsvotn, as the flood occurred six weeks after the eruption, and rose to 5m high, you risk being washed away with boulders the size of houses! Here is a picture taken looking out across the Sandur that clearly shows some of the management in place for glacial floods:

The wing dykes are a means of diverting flow away from roads and bridges that would be more expensive to repair. There are many of these all over Iceland, as the ring road is often destroyed over the winter periods in different places.

After this we headed to the Glacial Lagoon, Jokulsarlon, where the Bond movie was filmed, this is a proglacial lake, formed as the glacier retreats and deposits material in a terminal morraine, then fills with water behind it. This one is connected to the sea, and creates a spectacular black beach littered with icebergs. We did manage to see some seals in the lagoon, they are to two tiny black dots in the middle!

The ice is filled with tiny bubbles, which we will be using as proxy evidence for climate change very soon in class. We can measure the relative proportions of gases in the bubbles and from that calcualte atmospheric composition and temperature. They are also remarkably pretty:

The shores of the lake, which is brackish water are also coated in smaller icebergs which can take many years to melt if they are large enough. The concern over the lake is that the coastline is eroding due to lack of fresh input of sediment from eruptions, and rising sea levels, if there is no replenishment, the river mouth will soon reach the lake, the morraines will be destroyed and the ice will be gone:

Finally, the beach, blue icebergs, black sand and white waves, enough said:

There are times in Iceland's history when these floods cause significant growth of the land, in fact they depend on much of the material as without it, coastal towns like Vik, where we stopped for souvenirs, are more at threat from coastal erosion as the sediment is removed by the high energy waves but not replenished at the same rate. The last Katla eruption in 1918 extended the southern coastline by 4km in 24 hours. Katla and Hekla are both overdue! Maybe replenishment will come soon, though preferably not while we are out here!!!

Iceland Day 2!

2011-04-01T23:14:00.000+01:00

Today was a real Icelandic experience! We have had the full range in weather, from sunny and warm, to sleet and driving rain! It would be fair to say all our waterproofs were fully tested today, and not all of them made it through! (unfortunately my own trousers fall into that category)

We started the day with a trip to a fantastic waterfall Skaftelfoss (? - spelling to be amended when i can find an Icelander to ask). This is the one you can walk all the way behind on a wide ledge, and look out across the Glacial flood plains through the water:

For the more adventurous/well dressed, you can stand underneath the falling water, for a few minutes at most! As demonstrated by these students! (This may have been the downfall of many of the failed waterproofs today)

from there, we went to another unpronounceable waterfall, which for those of you in either mine or Nikkis's classes will have seen at least once on one of the many Iain Stewart documentaries. This is the one he Paraglided off from, and used (for those who can remember it) in the rather dramatic Scottish widows video:

If you came on the trip and are reading this in retrospect, can you spot the waterfalls, the coastline and arches and waterfalls we went too, as well as a particularly infamous lava flow? Let me know if you've worked it out! This started out as a wet stop, but we did manage to get some great photos, like this one:

From here it was on to the southern coastline, which is filled with spectacular coastal features such as arches and stacks, and some huge caves. A couple of members of staff had to make a desperate run for shore when a very large wave took them by surprise, and we had a nice walk along the top of one of these arches. The marine energy is high in Iceland for a couple of reasons, firstly, the Gulf stream is important for Iceland, as much of the North Atlantic deep water sinks just to south, and this sinking motion at the northern most tip of the gulf stream, helps to drag warm water across from the Gulf of Mexico, which in turn, gives the UK its nice CTWM climate. Secondly, there is no land to the south of Iceland until you hit Antarctica! So there is a large fetch, plenty of wind, and finally, lots of deep depressions from the passage of the Rossby waves in the Polar Jet.

The interplay between the high energy and hard rock coastlines produces some textbook landforms. The Arches and stacks tend to form in the lava flows on the coastline which are in some cases well over 100m thick. Dyrhouley coastline has a series of arches, as pictured, filled with seabirds whose main defense mechanism is to produce smelly vomit to coat their attackers.

Here's Nick doing his best Geographer pose!

And some nicely silhouetted students by the sea:

After lunch, we went on to the Sandur, and drove through the Laki Lava fields, a truly impressive, if menacing reminder of the power of some of these Icelandic volcanoes. Laki erupted and formed these lava fields in 1783, the fissure was a typical Icelandic eruption and was over 24km long and with over 100 active craters. The eruption lasted several months, releasing enough CO2 and SO2 to affect global climates for a few years afterwards. The lava covers an area of 600 square KM, the same size as the Somerset Levels, the immediate area during the eruption was utterly destroyed, the lava flows over 60km from its source, drying up the glacial rivers and utilizing their beds in order to flow downhill efficiently. The lava is unusual, it has a high concentration of fluorine, poisonous to both humans and animals in large quantities, it has however, led to the formation of some really spectacular moss, it is thick, often over 6 inches thick, and a very bright green, but that is all that grows here, other vegetation would not have anywhere near enough soil to grown here (think succession and pedogenesis – 3000 years to form 1m of soil and this eruption created a new lithosere)

So, we finished the day with an outstanding dinner of roasted Icelandic Lamb, with sweat potatoes and chocolate pudding, and added a Huish Cairn to the Cairn Field:

Iceland Day 1

2011-03-31T23:37:00.000+01:00

Dear All

A few things from the Iceland trip so far! Firstly, it is cold here, not as cold as it was when we dd weather in class, but icy!!

Todays activity was caving, more on that later, looking at the Rift Valley and the Inland Lake, and then one of Icelands most impressive waterfalls, Gullfoss.

So, the Rift Valley first of all, it was a great start to the trip, placing the day in context with the tectonics of the region. The Rift Vally is one f Icealnds main features, and divides the country nearly in two, most major fracture zones run parallel to it, and within it are some of the islands most significant landforms. It is in effect, a smaller version of the East African Rift Valley, a low lying area, very marshy in this case, filled with lakes and volcanoes, and to which many rivers flow towards. On a more cultural note, it is also the location of the worlds earliest, and still active parliament (Þingvellir). It is a particularly pretty spot, and the Parliament (below) is located on the easternmost edge of the North American Plate, and in fact, you can put one foot on either plate in parts of the rift. Where the plates are pulling apart through rifting, a series of normal extensional faults has caused the land in the centre, this photo is taken looking down the junction between the two, the cliff on the left is the American, and the cliff on the right is the European plates:

The Rift is a very pretty area, which we were due to go underneath in our caving adventure, and adventure it was! We went down into an old lava tube, formed from the cooling of the exterior of the lava flows, and where it is insulated in the middle, the lava continues to flow, often collapsing to form the often photographed skylights in Hawaii. Ours was around 7000 years old, but made a tube roughly 5 by 5m througout. The cave was rather icy, and had some spectacular ice formations waiting for us, like these:

Along with the stalacmites of ice, the stalactites where also pretty impressive:

On emerging from the cave, there were a full variety of facial expressions, some obviously thrilled with their caving experiences, some rather relieved to be out of the snow!

See the facebook page after we get back for more photos!

Next up, after a short drive, we were at Geysir National Park. There are some videos of both mud pots and geysirs, but they are particularly difficult to photograph! However, the pools of silica saturated water that were a variety of shades of blue were fantastic, here are two:

The videos and many more pictures will be uploaded into the blog when we return and have a more steady internet connection! Last stop of the day was Gullfoss, a huge fault guided waterfall with two main sections. At low flow (really) this year, the waterfall was impressive, with clear blue waters from its glacial source. Gullfoss is one of the most impressive waterfalls i have ever seen, unfortunately it had got a bit overcast by then, but still well worth a look!

The next post will hopefully be tonight, filled with moss, more waterfalls and some rather wet students, but we have just had a truly fantastic roast lamb dinner with Eva's secret recipe gravy. Yum.

Holderness Coastline

2011-03-28T14:52:00.000+01:00

Dear Lower Sixth!

Welcome to an online post especially for you to help you with your work whilst we are in Iceland. You will be starting your first major case study of this module, the focus is on coastal erosion and management, and the area is Holderness in East Yorkshire. This is one of the most rapidly eroding coastlines in the UK, and can retreat as fast as 2m a year. The stretch of coastline you will be studying runs from Flamborough Head in the North, to Spurn Point i the South, the sediment underlying much of Yorkshire is Glacial till, and there are high grounds to the West which mark the western limit of Ice sheets during the last ice age.

So, what is coastal erosion? Let the Environment Agency explain!

Rock type is important, Till is a very immature rock, it forms under ice sheets and in Yorkshire is as young as 50 000 years old. The rock is soft, unconsolidated and composed of mud's and some sands with pebbles in it:

As such, the rock is very easy to erode, particularly over the winter when wave strength is at its highest, as seen in this short clip of the waves over winter breaking against the soft till:

There are some good intro videos to the case study already made for us, so here's a good basic one:

This is an excellent clip showing a time lapse photo project over a year in Yorkshire showing how much erosion and deposition takes place:

Why is this such a problem for Holderness? Well, you will get plenty from the video notes, including a rather interesting lady who loses her cows over the edge of the cliff. But Holderness is a real tourist honeypot site, there are numerous holiday parks and mobile home sites right on the coast, unfortunately they are at serious risk and many have already been lost to the sea:

There are of course defences in place, but many are now ageing and in need of replacement, such as these groynes at Hornsea which are not overly attractive to tourists wishing to use the beach:

Yet, groynes are a relatively simple form of defence and the tourists would rather have a beach with groynes than none! They do however cause Terminal Groyne Syndrome, a rather painful affliction if you are a beach, which sees the sand piling up in some areas, and therefore being depleted in others (remember sediment cells are systems). The worst example of this is Mappleton, and it has resulted in certain areas of the coastline being protected through an aggressive Hold the line strategy, and some being lost through managed retreat with the creation of the five new bays.

The decision has been taken to defend Mappleton at the expense of the down drift towns such as Cowden (The former location of the Earle Farm which has now largely fallen into the sea).

This clip is part of the Blue Peter from 1994 that focused on Mrs Earle loosing her farm to the sea, much of this farm has now gone, as a result of the protection installed at Mappleton to protect the road and the village. This is an excellent example of a cost-benefit analysis, it cost less to build two groynes at £1 million each in Mappleton, than to relocate the road and the residents, but the Earle farm paid the price in 1997. To add to their misery, they were then asked to pay for the demolition costs at their farm as the building was slowly falling into the sea. Quite often, insurance companies do not pay for claims as a result of what is known as a "gradually operated cause", as in coastal erosion, so for many of these homes at risk from receding coastlines, there is no compensation.
This is an excerpt from a geography revision forum on the topic:

Coastal erosion - Holderness coast, Yorkshire.
Tip: Remember the shape of the coastline as the man with a beard
- Main rock is boulder clay so cliffs are unstable. Other main rock is chalk
- Cliffs retreat by 2m a year
- 50 villages that exist during the medieval times are lost today
- 5 km of land already lost
- Major features (in order from north to south) – Flamborough Head, Holderness Coast and Spurn Head
The Great Debate – Protect Mappleton/ B 1242?
- Problem: Protecting an area of land always mean greater pressure and coastal erosion on neighbouring stretches of coast

Hornsea is a big town so groynes are necessary. However this means greater coastal erosion will occur in the south; meaning it would affect Mappleton. Mappleton is a small village but an important road, the B1242, runs through it and losing it would mean compensation of millions of pounds. Planners decided to protect it, but this would mean the coastal area down further south will suffer from greater erosion (10 metres a year).
FOR Build rock groyne - trap sand at Mappleton - southern coast and farms destroyed

One example would be Sue Earl, a farmer in Great Cowden. Although she had lost a lot of land every year, she was determined to keep the farm running. Eventually the sea will claim the whole farm so she had to give up, especially when the farmhouse went too.

AGAINST Do nothing - Mappleton and parts of B 1242 destroyed; huge compensation - sands continue protect southern coast and farms

A new development is that permission has been given for a huge offshore wind farm just offshore from Spurn

Read the full article here

Your comparative case study will be Lyme Regis, which we will cover on the trip, but in order to prepare yourself here is a video explaining why Lyme is an important site, not only for the town itself, but also for the South West:

Work to do this week:

Watch the video on Holderness and Spurn Head
Read the module booklet pages 48 to 54
Complete the side of the sheet with the map on it.
On the reverse, make bullet point notes on considerations for coastal management split into the four categories (Social, Economic, Political, Environmental) we will add to these when I return.
Answer the past paper questions on pages 55 and 56 for me to take in next Tuesday

I know we have not yet covered sand dunes and salt marshes, but you need an introduction to management before the field trip to Lyme Regis next week, on that note, please sign up asap, the Thursday and Friday sessions are filling up, and the trip is an important part of your course.

Any questions please have a word with Richard!

Mass Movement 101

2011-03-27T19:19:00.000+01:00

To all Lower sixth geologists and geographers of both years!

You have recently studied mass movement as part of your course, which is of course the downslope movement of rock and soil under the influence of gravity. Here is an explanation of the key types of mass movement with some videos and after uch request, this post will be bullet pointed for ease of reading, though, personally I feel you need to be reading and making your own bullet points!!

Here is a good intro and a full episode of "When Nature Strikes Back" on Landslides:

Rock Falls

dry movements
very fast
typical on hard rocks
more common on rocks that are heavily fractured and jointed as these can be exploited
key weathering process = freeze thaw
Triggers = Earthquakes, heavy rain, eruptions,
Anthropogenic Influences = undercutting, traffic vibrations

This video is an explanation of the hazard at Yosemite National Park, it is very clear on the risks, why Yosemite is prone to falls, and about how to assess impacts and detecting falls:

You may have seen this one in class, but here's how the Norwegians approach mass movement management:

Testing your rock throwing capability:

The Swiss approach - useful for management:

A very technical rockfall management barrier:

Landslides

This is the downslope movement of a large block of material that moves as a coherent mass, ie it retains its internal structure until hitting the base of the slope and fracturing into smaller pieces. It is more common over wet periods, and on steep slopes, and often observed on coastlines.

Relatively dry movements, prompted by water
Relatively fast
typical on relatively hard rocks, often those that dip towards the base of the slope
more common on rocks that are heavily fractured, steeply dipping and easily laden with water
key weathering process = water layer weathering, hydration, freeze thaw
Triggers = Earthquakes, heavy rain, eruptions, undercutting by the sea
Anthropogenic Influences = undercutting, traffic vibrations, building on steep slopes, terminal groyne syndrome, climate change

This fist video is of a region that has been undercut to allow road access, which is clear at the end, and has prompted a massive landslide. It was triggered by heavy rains, but you can clearly see some of the trees remaining upright until the landslide hits the bottom of the slope:

This next video is of a huge landslide that occurred in a malaysian mine, it was predicted but you can clearly see how once it starts, the slope is destabilised and more and more material becomes entrained in the flow:

This Landslide in Italy last year, was spectacularly caught on camera, much of the material remains intact, and it looks like a flowing liquid, but, as with the malaysian video above, there is very little moisture in here, it is nearly a pure gravity driven movement:

Why we shouldn't deforest our rain forests reason number 1003:

Another swiss video, excellent for monitoring and management of landslides! Very informative and some good shots of testing barriers

And here is a barrier being tested:

So, in short, landslides can be managed through structural responses, ie building retaining fences, careful monitoring and avoiding potentially dangerous situations such as undercutting and building on steep slopes.

Slumps

These are very hard to catch on camera, they are similar to a landslide, but the slumped rock remans intact, just resting at a lower angle with the beds and trees tipping back towards the original cliff profile. The largest of the UK's slumps is at Lyme Regis, which you will see on the fieldtrip.

Fairly wet, and relatively fast movements
Material does not travel far from source
typical on soft rocks, often those that are unconsolidated or weakly consolidated
most common on muds and clays on the coast
key weathering process = hydration
Triggers = Earthquakes, heavy rain, eruptions, ash fall, saturation, snow melt
Anthropogenic Influences = terminal groyne syndrome, climate change, building on cliff tops.

Here is a photo of a rotational slump from Barton on Sea, note the surface is still vegetated, just at a lower position than the rest of the cliff:

Unfortunately, i cant find any videos of a slump in progress, if you know if one, post a link below!

Mudflows/Debris Flows

This is a considerably wetter movement than any of the others, here water is the key, in that the excess water equates to extra weight, and the force of gravity acting on the slope causes the rock face to loose all internal structure and to mix with the water to form a dense fluid capable of transporting large boulders.

Very wet movements, prompted by water saturating pore spaces
Relatively fast, but speed slows with change in slope and distance from source
typical on soft rocks, often those that are unconsolidated
most common on muds and clays
key weathering process = hydration
Triggers = Earthquakes, heavy rain, eruptions, ash fall, saturation, snow melt
Anthropogenic Influences = terminal groyne syndrome, climate change building on cliff tops, forest fires

The first video gives a good idea of the movement of a debris flow, this is a flow on the Andes and clearly shows that even at slow speeds, mud flows can move large boulders through traction:

This second video is from California, a region used to debris flows, this one is caused by a forest fire which exposes the soil and with heavy rain and no support, the soil is easily entrained in surface runoff. Note the tractor at the end, I am not sure if he is meant to be there or not!

This shows an aggressive mud flow in Afghanistan prompted by snow melt, the region is clearly prepared/used to these events as the road is closed off and the gully well eroded:

In terms of management, debris flows can be identified before they start as the conditions that prompt them are fairly well understood. When this happens, barriers can be put in place as the following video explains:

They can be managed structurally, as this video of a barrier under construction shows:

Management

All Mass Movement can be managed through mitigation (lessening the hazard once it occurs) or management (trying to prevent it from happening). As every with geography, the basics for the region are:

Education
Hazard Mapping
Land use Planning
Evacuation Procedures
Prediction
Monitoring

Specifically for mass movement, the biggest enemy is water. Water can be removed through drainage, either surface or below. In places like Lyme Regis, where much of the cliffs are drained, this is done at great cost sub surface in order to preserve the attractions of the area.

Surface runoff needs to be managed as well as movement through the rock, and no coastal cliff can be controlled without taking into account the coastal as well as terrestrial processes, which is why when considering coastal management, we need to consider coasts as a constantly changing, over different time scales and working as a system, with inputs from both the land and the sea.

So, not quite bullet pointed all the way through, but a short video summary of different types of mass movement and their management. Post any questions below, remember for AS geography, all physical essays on the coast will need a mention of geology and the risks of different rock types. Mass movement for the A2 is a risk in most tectonically active regions and more of a risk in Developing countries.

See you all on Monday

Millie

Nuclear Energy and Plate Tectonics

2011-03-23T23:12:00.000Z

As the worlds attention has switched from Japans threefold disaster, perhaps it is time to reflect on the possibility of this disaster happening elsewhere, and to review the effects of the only other nuclear disaster besides the atomic bombs, to have been as threatening.

There have been many articles of late, speculating on the future of the worlds nuclear industry, and in reality, the likelihood of this disaster happening again is low. Nuclear remains one of the safest fuels even including the disaster at Chernobyl. This graphic from new scientist shows the deaths associated with each fuel type per 10 billion KwH of energy:

The impacts of coal, both in terms of extraction and the resultant deaths from poor air quality and pollution, are far greater than Nuclear, a recent study suggests that in the US alone, 13 200 people die every year through inhaling particulates largely produced by burning coal. In total, the UN estimates that 9000 people will have been killed by the chernobyl Meltdown. Pripyat is still evacuated, besides a few illegal re-settlers who returned to the area a few years after the 1986 catastrophe. The surprise fuel source in this graph is hydro, but the anomaly is explained by a year of severe flooding in China that caused a mass failure of dams.

So., does this mean nuclear is the way forwards? Probably not, but we do need to consider that the recent disasters in Japan have been disproportionately represented in the press. The lesson that needs to be drawn here, is that whatever we build, create or try to manage, we wont win against forces of this size. This earthquake knocked the axis of the earth off by 16cm, it moved an entire island 2.5m closer to the states, and created a wave detected thousands of miles away. Luckily, the Tsunami was not as powerful as the 2004 wave, and did not cause extensive damage outside of Japan.

Also worth considering, is the likelihood of this happening again, as discussed in the New Scientist article distributed in class today, this was a disaster that would have been managed if only one of the disasters had occurred. Japan is no stranger to earthquakes, and widely used nuclear as it has virtually no fossil fuels of its own. So, how many other nuclear power stations are at risk? This fantastic map shows all earthquakes over 4.5 and the location of all reactors. The full map can be viewed here and is interactive:

It is clear that the potential risks are low for the vast majority of reactors, most are not in regions prone to large earthquakes. A blog from the Guardian highlights the risk as being connected to the age of the reactor, and there is some mileage in this. The older the reactor, the more degraded the concrete and casings, and the higher the possibility of the risk. Out of 442 active reactors, 60 were built before 1975, putting them at a higher risk of fault. Possibly of some concern, if we lived in tectonically active region, Hinckley point B1 was built in 1976 and B2 in 1978, in fact our newest power station is Sizewell B, completed in 1995, making it already 16 years old, in an industry where plants were originally predicted to last for forty years.

The map does show some potential threats. Japan is clearly the most active tectonically and with the largest volume of reactors, but there are others in a similar situation. This up close map of the US shows more detail on the links between tectonic activity in the states and reactor locations:

Those most at risk are in California Diablo Canyon and San Onofre, built to withstand a 7.5 and a 7 respectively, however, as little as two weeks ago, a new report highlighted they may not be as quake proof as first thought as a new fault system has been discovered near by. Diablo is built under half a mile from a new fault zone, and Onofre would be susceptible to both quakes and tsunami's both of which are common in California. The next "big one" is overdue and will of course, eventually come, does this mean we shouldn't build nuclear power plants? However, in terms of planning, it is probably not possible to plan for all these hazards, tsunamis hold potential to travel thousands of miles, so you cannot just manage your own coastline, you need to account for all others that could affect you! In terms of the Pacific, thats 21 countries that need to co-operate, manage and monitor not just earthquakes, but landslide risks, volcanoes and asteroids. No easy feat.
It does have to be pointed out, that magnitude 8 and over quakes occur very rarely, see last weeks New Scientist for a theory on linked or coupled mega quakes, and by no means, as far as I am aware, there are no risks of impending nuclear doom and Hinckley is certainly not at risk!

But, for your AS course, you do need to know about Chernobyl as it really represents worst case scenario for Nuclear, and with this type of energy experiencing a world wide renaissance, there has been much coverage and publication of images associated with the Chernobyl meltdown. Here are a few with some explanation:

Taken a few days after the diaster at reactor four, this image shows Chernobyl just before the decision was made to install the sarcophagus (See the Telegraph photo essay for more)

This photo is of a pig born near Chernobyl after the blast, the worst potential effects are to developing foetus' in the womb, and over 60 000 children experience problems associated with the metldown

What about the machinery used in the recovery efforts? It is too irradiated to use, and now sits in a field around 15 miles from the site as you need an NBC suit to go near it:

The problem of Chernobyl is ongoing, the sarcophagus was a hastily put together concrete tomb in 1986, that by 1988 already showed signs of structural stress, original predicted to last for fifty years, it was repaired in 2005, and is due to be replaced by the New Safe Confinement due for construction in 2013. The sarcophagus currently contains The sarcophagus locked in 200 tons of radioactive lava, 30 tons of highly contaminated dust and 16 tons of uranium and plutonium.In 1996 it was deemed impossible to repair the inside of the sarcophagus as radiation levels were estimated to be as high as 10,000 röntgens per hour (normal background radiation in cities is usually around 20-50 microröntgens per hour). The new structure should be more effective and last for 100 years:

Of course what a lot of the press has focused on for the last few days has been the risk of Fukushima releasing radiation into the atmosphere as Chernobyl did, and this radiation moving in the jet streams and coming down over other areas (like wales)

It is important that we do not allow the nuclear threat to overlook the far more significant disaster, the earthquake and tsunami. This image shows the degree of flooding is clearly shown in this before and after photograph of the Sendai region:

Besides the alteration to our axis, and the States-ward movement of Japan, the earthquake was pwoerful enough to shift the Whillans Ice Stream in Antarctica by half a metre, known as a slip event, it poses little risk, and it normally moves around a meter per day.

Here is a fact based round up of the disaster to date:

According to the Japanese foreign ministry, 128 countries and 33 international organizations have offered assistance as of Tuesday.
Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano told Reuters in an interview last week the total damage to the world's third-largest economy could exceed $250 billion, the equivalent of 2-3 percent of gross domestic product.
At least 14,722 buildings have been completely destroyed, the National Police Agency of Japan said on Tuesday.
At least 760,000 households in 10 prefectures were without running water as of Tuesday, the Health Ministry said, down from
A total of 9,199 people were confirmed dead by Japan's National Police Agency as of 1400 GMT on Tuesday, while 13,786 were reported missing

However, one of the worst damaged roads has already been repaired:

This really represents the difference in levels of development and recovery, Japan's earthquake was over 100 times more powerful than Haiti, yet in Haiti less than 5% of the rubble has been cleared and only 5-10% of the houses needed have been built. The situation is still dire, with much of the population in increasingly unsafe and dangerous refugee camps:

This photo was taken in January of this year, lets hope that it improves soon:

Essay from me

2011-03-22T02:36:00.000Z

Hello

I have written an answer to the timed essay you did in class last week, the next task in your essay skills development, is to use the mark scheme that you will receive with your essay, to mark mine, look for markers in each of the categories, have a read and tell me what you think in class

See you tomorrow!

Weather systems affecting the Cool Temperate Western Maritime Climates represent many benefits and no significant hazards to their populations and industry. Discuss (40)

2011-03-22T02:34:00.001Z

Cool temperate western maritime climates (CTWM) are found in several countries worldwide, all of which are bordered immediately to their western seaboards by oceans which moderate the climate typical of their latitudes. These countries include Chile, the UK, New Zealand and Western Canada (British Columbia) all of which are classified as MDC's. These countries enjoy climates with a limited range in temperature, significant extremes are rare and the climate is well suited to agriculture and aquaculture. Their populations have made use of these benefits particularly the UK by progressing through their agricultural revolutions, and the demographic transition early in their history. It can be argued that this early development is a product of a temperate climate, however this may be altered by global climate change which poses a significant risk to all these regions. However, this moderated climate is punctuated by extremes in weather conditions, though by definition, the CTWM is changeable on both a short term basis with the passage of anticyclones and depressions, and a significant yearly variation with seasons, when these extremes do occur, their infrequency places both industry and population at risk as these countries are poorly equipped and unused to more climatic events as has been observed in the UK during the 1987 storm, the 2003 heatwave and the two recent severe winter anticyclones.

The CTWM is found across the UK, and is a climate controlled by its location in reference to the tri-cellular model. This country sits beneath the boundary of the Ferrel and polar cells, and as such endures the influence of the jet streams and the Rossby waves created by their undulating path around the northern hemisphere. These high altitude waves direct the path of high and low pressure systems on the surface, predominantly anticyclones and depressions. The degree of sinuosity, either a high zonal flow with few waves, or low zonal flow with a significant north south movement, determines the location of these different pressure systems which bring considerable variations in weather.

The first of these systems, anticyclones, bring different conditions depending on seasons. During the winter months, the descending air brings clear, cloud free skies, very little precipitation and low temperatures. In the UK these temperatures rarely drop below 2 degrees, and during a typical winter anticyclone the hazards for these events are manageable. To the general population the main social hazards are to drivers, black ice and radiation fog are common, particularly during the cold nights, and are the cause of many accidents. They can pose a risk to infrastructure and property with frozen pipes and potholes which are both caused by the expansion of water by 9% as it freezes. The elderly can be at risk from illnesses such as pneumonia, and particularly with rising fuel costs, this risk may be set to increase. In general, these events cause few hazards to industry, and offer the benefit of tourism in Scotland such as ice climbing and associated tourism, the roads are easily managed through gritting and the public is used to these conditions.

There have recently been examples of severe anticyclones over our winters that have brought significant risks. The winter of 2010 saw a significant snow storm followed by a sustained blocking anticyclone that kept temperatures in some regions of the South West as low as -10, and in Scotland a new record of -27 was set. This anticyclone restricted temperatures and allowed the snow and ice to persist to depths of several centimetres. As the country is unused to this, there were numerous impacts on society. There was sustained criticism of the government as we ran out of grit and salt for the roads, the airports were closed for several days creating loss through trade, and the airports were filled with many international students, ranging in age from 10 to 18 for up to four days. This prompted the Chinese government to consider sending a dedicated plane to retrieve children stranded in the UK. The novelty of ice over lakes in the UK caused some people to venture out onto the thin ice which collapsed, killing five, often as a result of attempting to rescue others or animals. The UK does not have a significant number of snow ploughs, our infrastructure is not set up to cope with cold weather, hence many of our major transport lines around the country are closed, including our roads, railways and shipping lanes. This isolates the UK from our international links, and as we are not self sufficient in either food, energy or labour, anticyclones represent a potentially significant impact to our economy.

In the summer months, extreme anticyclones represent significantly different hazards, but also some considerable benefits. During our summer, an anticyclone again brings clear skies, with cool nights, and heat wave type conditions. Daytime temperatures can exceed 30 degrees, which poses the most damaging risk to our population. Intense insolation causes high risk of sunburn and heat stroke, often people do not follow safe guidelines for sitting in the sun and the combination of dehydration and beach weather encourages people to go swimming when they are weakened, which has led to many deaths, particularly during the 2003 heatwave where 23000 people died across Europe. As with winter anticyclones, the demographic most at risk are the elderly, and the very young.
The potential implications from intense heating of the surface are wide spread, and in terms of environmental impacts, could cause widespread damage. Ice caps and glaciers melt at a faster rate in mountainous regions, rivers and lakes that are not glacially fed can dry up, causing widespread drought and hosepipe bans. However, due to the high levels of development, countries can afford to import water, hence comparatively, the disasters could have a more significant impact in regions such as sub-saharan

It can, however, make a positive economic impact. Particularly in the South West if the UK, heat waves bring about a boom in local tourism, especially around honeypot sites such as Lyme Regis and Newquay, creating demand for jobs in the service sector, and helping to encourage re-investment and redevelopment of older coastal engineering schemes, and possibly ensuring that these new schemes are more sustainable and ecologically friendly than more traditional concrete based walls and groynes. Lyme Regis is an excellent example, showing how natural processes can be developed in the form of the new shingle beach, to dissipate the wave energy, whilst appearing to be very much a natural feature that encourages tourism. Summer Anticyclones also increase the yield of certain crops within the UK, particularly our higher value crops such as English strawberries, and encourages high levels of attendance and associated spending at some of the UK's biggest summer events such as Wimbledon and Glastonbury. The final hazard these systems bring, is to create convectional thunderstorms, the precipitation form which is often channelled directly to surface runoff across the baked ground surface, such as the floods in Boscastle in 2003, where steep topography at the edge of the Dartmoor batholith created significant flash floods and caused over £12 million in damages.

The other significant weather system, a depression, is formed by the slow mixing of two air masses, the tropical maritime and the polar maritime. The differing conditions of the two, combined with the coriolis effect create an anticlockwise rotating system that always moves NE across the country. Where the air masses meet, fronts develop that bring frontal rainfall, and the rising of the warmer air creates low pressure and unstable atmospheric conditions. These systems are normally associated with higher wind speeds, blowing across the pressure gradient and towards the centre of the depression. When these systems are relatively small, they bring our much needed rain, and do so throughout the year, this enables successful agriculture, water supply to populations and industry, and keeps our reservoirs and lakes topped up. They rarely represent hazards, besides sustained precipitation can cause flooding, and deep depressions are rare, and often blown off course towards Iceland, or loose all excess moisture by the time they reach the south east due to the orographic influence of higher ground in the west.

When these systems are very deep, such as during both 1987 and 2008, they are very hazardous. The 1987 storm cost £3 billion in damages by todays estimates, and had a significant impact on our biodiversity and ecosystems. This storm had a low pressure centre of 963 millibars, and winds speeds approaching hurricane strength. Many lightweight coastal tourist centres such as caravan parks and chalets suffered almost total devastation, and over 15 million of the UK's trees were lost in one night. In addition to several fatalities, there was extensive damage to property and infrastructure, and again transport routes and trade were affected. It is rare for a storm to persist for so long overland, but this event affected nearly the entire country, and with restricted emergency services, recovery was slower than many would have liked. In 2008, another severe depression occurred in March, just before the start of the tourist season, damaging coastal regions, including some defences which a an impact on tourism that year.
These events raise the question of funding for new coastal defence projects, as with rising sea temperatures and a predicted increase in extreme weather, our coastal towns are both the UK's biggest tourist resource, and the most vulnerable areas of the country. Low pressure systems also pose the risk of a significant storm surge which when combined with high tides raises the risk of overcoming coastal defences.

These events must be placed in context, by comparing them to other climate regions and associated hazards. Our level of development ensures we are able to recover faster from any hazard than a developing country, and all of our most hazardous weather systems are short-lived. The benefits of our climate certainly outweighed the hazards early on our development, as they ensured we could feed our populations and not suffer water stress which would have limited our ability to develop. In comparison to a failed monsoon in India, or another category four or five hurricane in Louisiana, these impacts are certainly manageable, and with the advent of better weather forecasting and prediction, the hazard can be mitigated. However, this situation may change over time as the predicted patterns of global warming play out. As a country we are kept warmer than we should by our proximity to the ocean, and the influence of the gulf stream. Should a large volume of freshwater enter the North Atlantic, and the Gulf Stream shut down (or the North Atlantic Deep Water), we would loose this influence, and be subjected to an icy and far colder yearly temperature which would restrict future growth. Should the number of extreme events per year increase, our older defences will be overwhelmed, we have cut our spending on these as a country, and we will have to adapt to a new climate, which could bring benefits, but will enhance the risk posed by the CTWM.

Overall, the threats to population and industry are rare, and uncommon, but significant when they occur. The benefits of the CTWM are felt year round, and have brought all these regions economic and social prosperity. The threat posed by global climate change is one that can be addressed through research and development into predicted changes and patterns, and given enough time, which may be the issue, developed countries may well be able to managed sufficiently under their new conditions. The two main weather systems are therefore both important, when extreme both are potentially damaging, but represent a manageable risk.

New Library Stock

2011-03-21T16:57:00.000Z

Dear Geographers,

There are now some new additions to the Library which you may well like to check out. By request, the fantastic series "How Earth Made Us" is now in stock, it is a wonderful series for A-Level as it covers in great detail and with some fantastic graphics the earth and our relation to it, covering tectonics, rivers, winds and finally how we are now altering the planet as a result of our development and industrialisation.

This is most suited to the A2 groups who have now done tectonics and population and should be drawing the links between different areas of the syllabus. It is however and excellent geography show and will be a useful revision resource to everyone. In addition, Human Planet is now is as well and is another great way of exploring the links between our planet and the way in which we live.

You can find all the mentioned resources in the library, you may need to reserve some of our more popular titles, but there is a special geography display:

Not only movies, but also these old fashioned square-ish things called books that you read and learn from! Very strange concept to read for pleasure, but we do have both of the Al Gore books on climate change along with some interesting textbooks and novels.

In terms of movies, not one to check out for a relaxing evening in, but Darfur is the movie of the week, I have to warn you, I was hiding behind the sofa for a lot of this one, it is horribly graphic, but if you dont know about the Darfur crisis, take a look. It does not hold back on the gruesome details of the genocide that is currently taking place here. The movie is disturbing, but represents the horrors that rarely make it into our press.

You have been warned, it is a 15, but it is borderline to my eyes.

Check out the trailer here:

On a lighter note, WallE is in, recycling in a future world, and the revision questions to go with Dantes Peak will be on the display tomorrow - test your volcanology!