Geographical articles from January 2004

Geographical archives from January 2004

No crisis yet, China.(relations with Europe)
January 1, 2004... According to a White Paper recently published by the Chinese government, our friends in Beijing are starting to take Europe seriously as an emerging political and economic superpower. Admittedly, close inspection reveals a subtext with some...

Getting settled.(Prize Letter)
January 1, 2004... My interest was caught by the dossier (Whose land is it anyway?) in the December issue. Over the past seven years, I've spent time with a local NGO working with the indigenous people of Rajiv Gandhi National Park in southern India. The park...

Super read.(letters)
January 1, 2004... I'm writing to congratulate you on your excellent publication. I subscribed to Geographical ten years ago during my A-level and degree-level geography studies and found it most useful, but had lost touch. I came across a copy in my local...

The road to enlightenment.(letters)
January 1, 2004... The article on Mount Kailash in your November issue (Trekking towards enlightenment) was excellent. I wondered if you were aware that the Chinese government intends to build a road around the mountain. Marie Lippens, Knokke-Heist, Belgium

Land of light.(letters)
January 1, 2004... I was dismayed to see the feature on Africa subtitled on the cover of the July issue as 'Exploring the dark continent'. For how long will Africa be saddled with this arrogant, 19th-century, Eurocentric label? How dare we use it, and what do we...

The cart before the horses.(letters)
January 1, 2004... I refer to the image of a horse and cart in the Thames that appeared in the reviews section of the October issue. Anyone well over 80, as I am, will know that the purpose of taking a wagon through a ford or pond isn't to cool the old horse but...

Where am I from?
January 1, 2004... Born in 1874, and originally a farmer, this eminent politician fought for equality for peasants in his homeland, ultimately leading to the countrywide strike of August 1937. Name both the man and the stamp's county of origin, then check your...

Up to 10,000 tonnes of spilled oil continues to threaten Spain's Galician coast, 14 months on from the Prestige disaster.(Spain)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Up to 10,000 tonnes of spilled oil continues to threaten Spain's Galician coast, 14 months on from the Prestige disaster. According to a WWF report, 64,000 tonnes of oil was spilled by the tanker in November 2002--60 per cent more than...

Hundreds of endangered species are without any form of legal habitat protection, according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN).(Global)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... Hundreds of endangered species are without any form of legal habitat protection, according to the World Conservation Union (IUCN). Comparisons of the ranges of more than 11,000 species with maps of protected areas has shown that of the 4,734...

Scientists predict Arctic meltdown.(Europe)
January 1, 2004... EUROPE Researchers from University College London (UCL) and the Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research say that Arctic Ocean sea ice is getting thinner and will eventually disappear completely during the summer months. ...

Laser scans uncover new carvings at Stonehenge.(UK)
January 1, 2004... UK Archaeologists have discovered two carvings of axe heads on the monument at Stonehenge. Both have been dated to around 1800 BC, making them some 500 years younger than the monument. Invisible to the naked eye, the carvings were found with...

Geographical wins industry awards.(worldwatch)
January 1, 2004... Geographical has won two prestigious media-industry awards, including subscription magazine of the year. It achieved the double triumph at the annual Periodical Publishers Association Magazine Subscription Awards in November, where it was also...

British explorer finds lost Inca city.(Peru)
January 1, 2004... An Anglo-American expedition supported by the RGS-IBG has discovered a series of ancient buildings close to the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru that may shed new light on the world-famous Inca site. Led by British writer and explorer Hugh...

A 45-million-year-old fossilised ankle bone that has been found in central Myanmar could be from an ancestor of many of today's primates.(Asia)
January 1, 2004... A 45-million-year-old fossilised ankle bone that has been found in central Myanmar could be from an ancestor of many of today's primates, including humans, say scientists from the University of Montpellier II, France. They say it suggests that...

Geographical editorial board member Nick Crane is to present a new series on BBC2 in 2004.(UK)
January 1, 2004... Geographical editorial board member Nick Crane is to present a new series on BBC2 in 2004. Scheduled for June, Map Man will plot the history of British cartography.

Union aims to cut down on illegal timber imports.(UK)(Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians)
January 1, 2004... Greenpeace and UCATT, Britain's construction-workers' union, are joining forces to combat the importation into the UK of illegally logged timber. The UK is Europe's worst offender, with 60 per cent of imports of tropical timber coming from...

Satellites to help make gorilla maps.(Global)
January 1, 2004... A joint initiative between the European Space Agency and UNESCO is to develop further the use of Earth-observation satellites to help safeguard gorilla habitats in Central Africa's remote rainforests. The BeGO (Build Environment for Gorillas)...

Klaus Toepfer of the UN Environment Programme has called for international law to be strengthened to protect the environment.(Global)
January 1, 2004... Klaus Toepfer of the UN Environment Programme has called for international law to be strengthened to protect the environment during armed conflict and war.

The Royal Society is hosting a meeting this month to discuss atmosphere-ocean-ecology dynamics in the western Indian Ocean.(UK)
January 1, 2004... The Royal Society is hosting a meeting this month to discuss atmosphere-ocean-ecology dynamics in the western Indian Ocean. Between 19 and 20 January 2004, 15 respected academics from six countries will present new information on the geological...

January BBC meteorologist Helen Willetts begins her new column on Britain's weather phenomena with a discussion of everyone's childhood favourite--snow.(Weatherwatch with Helen Wiletts)
January 1, 2004... This is traditionally Britain's snowiest month and a time when forecasting can be particularly taxing. To children, snow is a weather phenomenon that is exciting and fun--and used to be, in Britain at least, a chance to get time off from...

Expedition sets off to 'settle' the Nile.(Africa)
January 1, 2004... An international expedition is setting off this month to navigate the White Nile from source to sea for the first time in recorded history. The five-person team from Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa will follow the river's 6,690-kilometre...

The first annual investigation of the health of wild bird populations in Wales has found that trends for many species are different to those seen in other parts of the UK.(UK)
January 1, 2004... The first annual investigation of the health of wild bird populations in Wales has found that trends for many species are different to those seen in other parts of the UK. Produced in part by RSPB Cymru and the Countryside Council for Wales,...

George Perkins Marsh (1801-82): a linguist, diplomat and nature lover, Marsh brought about a revolution in the way we view the environment.(Late Great Geographers #39)
January 1, 2004... What was his background? Born in Woodstock, Vermont, USA, George Perkins Marsh was the son of a US senator. An obsessive reader, he took school education in his stride and was a great linguist by the time he was 20. Having taught for five...

20 years ago today ... Geographical Magazine, January 1984.(WorldWatch)
January 1, 2004... The first issue of Geographical for 1984 opened with a story on China's burgeoning population which, according to newly released census figures, bad topped a billion and was growing more rapidly than demographers had previously thought. Today,...

Quizzical: have you ever wondered how a sextant works? Or perhaps you're curious about all those tunnels that riddle the Rock of Gibraltar, or how the world's postal services figure out who gets paid what for delivering your overseas letters. This month, we sent Chris Edwards off to find answers to questions on all of these subjects and more.
January 1, 2004... The world populations at the time of going to press was according to: the United Nations 6,393,593,837 the CIA 6,342,423,539 the US Bureau of the Census 6,339,384,914 When I send a postcard home, who gets the money from the...

Peace building: with the tenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide approaching, Charlie Furniss visits the country's northwest to witness a remarkable episode in the nation's efforts to promote unity and reconciliation.
January 1, 2004... Last August, Rwandans voted for a new president in their first multi-party elections since 1962. The result was staggering: Paul Kagame, leader of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, won by a majority of 95 per cent. Around the world there were...

Europe 2004: the bigger, the better?(Geographical dossier)
January 1, 2004... This May, ten countries, mostly from Eastern Europe, will be invited to join the European Union (EU). They aren't expected to refuse. In the nine countries that recently held referenda, voters backed joining by sizeable majorities,...

Not quite members: because of reservations among the existing members, the AC10 must wait five years before they achieve full voting rights. But even before they've joined, many are already starting to enjoy the economic benefits of membership.(Geographical dossier)
January 1, 2004... Eastern European countries have harboured ambitions of joining a united Europe since the end of the Second World War. At that time, the London-based governments-in-exile of Czechoslovakia and Poland raised the prospect of a post-war alliance....

To join or not to join: joining the EU is only the first step. Following their accession, the members of the AC10 will have to address the question of whether or not they want to adopt the euro--a decision fraught with serious economic consequences.(Geographical dossier)
January 1, 2004... Strange as it might seem, those keen to slow down European integration have welcomed next year's planned expansion, seeing it as a way to counter the strong influence on EU policy of two of the largest members, France and Germany. "The greater...

Death of democracy? Will the accession of the AC10 change the balance of power in the EU, or are changes to the European Convention going to reduce their influence, forcing them to club together in order to make themselves heard?(Geographical dossier)
January 1, 2004... The first wave of parliamentarians from the AC10 countries to sit in the European Parliament could end up with the shortest of political careers as MEPs. Just one month after taking their seats in the parliament at Brussels, they could well...

A century in the sky: a century after Wilbur and Orville Wright took to the air for the first time, aviation expert Joanna Walters looks at the history of flight and discusses how the Wrights' feat changed the way we see the planet.
January 1, 2004... Jerry Carr is 71, fit as a fiddle and as enthusiastic today about the space programme as he was when he signed up to become one of NASA's first astronauts in 1965. He travelled into space on Apollo missions eight and 12 and spent 84 days on...

Women & war: the Imperial War Museum is currently holding an exhibition that explores the role of women in warfare and conflict situations. Charlie Furniss examines how their participation has changed in the past 150 years.
January 1, 2004... When Boudicca and her daughters led the Iceni revolt against the Romans in 60-61 AD, they were bucking a trend as old as civilisation. In most societies, war was considered the sole preserve of men--women, it was thought, lacked the necessary...

Indigo a magical dye: it has been used in textile production, painting and medicine and its seemingly magical properties have given it a special place in folklore. Jenny Balfour-Paul discusses the historical, commercial and botanical aspects of the world's most valued dyestuff.
January 1, 2004... Imagine a world where clothing and other textiles had no colour other than that of the raw fibre, whether beige, brown or black. Then picture the impact when prehistoric man began applying to the surface of skins such earth pigments as ochre or...

The fabric of history: this month, we've scoured the archives of the Royal Geographical Society to examine the traditional practice of textile production around the world.(Geographical Archive)
January 1, 2004... Ever since the discovery of techniques such as spinning, weaving and felting, people have been able to process raw materials to serve the basic needs of clothing, shelter and everyday utility. From these utilitarian origins has risen a...

The New Encyclopedia of Birds.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... edited by Christopher Perrins Oxford University Press, hb, pp656, 35 [pounds sterling] Of all the world's animals, none inspire quite the same level of devotion as that enjoyed by birds. And it sometimes feels as if publishers exploit this...

The Last Great Quest: Captain Scott's Antarctic Sacrifice.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Max Jones Oxford University Press, hb, pp352, 20 [pounds sterling] The Last Great Quest isn't a biography of Scott, but an examination of the impact that his story had on the people of Edwardian Britain, from suffragettes to scouts....

Trawler.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Redmond O'Hanlon Hamish Hamilton/Penguin, hb, pp339, 20 [pounds sterling] When anthropologist and author Redmond O'Hanlon sets out on a journey, he usually selects a new friend or mentor to accompany him. Not that he always meets with...

The Meaning of Everything.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Simon Winchester Oxford University Press, hb, pp260, 12.99 [pounds sterling] Although Dr Johnson and many of his lexicographical predecessors had produced English-English dictionaries of a sort, none had seen the need to research one...

Aerial: the Art of Photography from the Sky.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Jason Hawkes, Rotovision, hb, pp159, 24.99 [pounds sterling] Aerial photography has come a long way since 1858, when the first known aerial photographs were taken from the basket of a hot-air balloon by the Frenchman Gaspard-Felix...

Life on Air.(Audiobook Review)
January 1, 2004... by David Attenborough BBC Audiobooks, audiotape, 25.99 [pounds sterling] From an inauspicious television debut in 1950, via a stint as controller of programming for BBC2, to his current lofty position as a national treasure, Life on Air...

Prof: the Life of Frederick Lindemann.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Adrian Fort Jonathan Cape, hb, pp384, 18.99 [pounds sterling] In the early days of the First World War, spin was costing lives--in the form of the spiralling dives of fighter pilots who'd lost control of their planes. It took genius to...

Rajasthan.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Pauline van Lynden, Assouline Publishing, hb, pp320, 39.95 [pounds sterling] It's all too easy for coffee-table books to reduce the variety of life to glib simplicity, so when this heavy tome dropped through my letterbox, I thought,...

Naples '44: an Intelligence Officer in the Italian Labyrinth.(Book Review)
January 1, 2004... by Norman Lewis First published in 1978. Moat recent edition published by Eland Books, pb, pp192, 9.99 [pounds sterling] Whenever I'm approached by a young would-e travel writer in my position as a director of Eland Books I tell them to...

In society: a round-up of news, views and events taking place at the RGS-IBG this month.(Editorial)(Royal Geographical Society)(Editorial)
January 1, 2004... School trips rule okay School visits have always been an integral part of a young person's education, providing the opportunity to develop key personal and social skills at the same time as complementing geography teaching in the...

Society events in January.(Calendar)
January 1, 2004... For further details, please contact the Events Office on 020 7591 3100 (unless otherwise stated), or see full listings at www.rgs.org/events At the Society 12 January, 6.30pm CALCUTTA: CITY OF THE IMAGINATION Krishna Dutta...

Geographical travel: this month we climb to the mysterious summit of Venezuela's Mount Roraima--the inspiration for Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World--talk to the founder of responsible walking-tour company ATG Oxford, and take a tour of the past, present and future of adventure travel.(Namib Desert, Namibia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... SOSSUSVLEI, NAMIB DESERT, NAMIBIA In the middle of the Namib Desert, antelope graze beneath the towering bulk of a huge sand dune. Having endured arid and semi-arid conditions for tire past 80 million years or so, this narrow strip of land...

Butterfly treks raise money.(Travel update)
January 1, 2004... Walking-tour operator Naturetrek has donated 2,466 [pounds sterling] to Butterfly Conservation, the first instalment of funds raised through its butterfly-dedicated trips, the first of which took place last summer. * Info:...

Path to wealth.(Travel update)(National Trail in Britain)
January 1, 2004... Britain's longest National Trail, the 1,015-kilometre South West Coast Path, generates 300million [pounds sterling] a year--enough to support more than 7,500 jobs--according to the latest figures.

Sustainability online.(Travel update)(World Expeditions Web site)
January 1, 2004... Adventure-travel specialist World Expeditions has made its award-winning, independently moderated booklet of tips on how to be a responsible traveller available for free download on its website. * Info: www.worldexpeditions.co.uk

Green city mapping.(travel news)
January 1, 2004... Making your way around the world's cities in an ecologically friendly fashion is about to get easier The New York based organisation Green Map System (GMS) will showcase ten 'green maps' of North American and Asian cries in an atlas due out in...

Tourism concern for tomorrow.(travel news)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... It is particularly energising debating the merits of the entries for the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Awards. As a judge, have the rare chance so study the growing number and variety of international applicants who wish to promote...

Monuments fund honoured.(travel news)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2004... The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has been awarded the Fifth Annual World Tourism Award, the prize established in 1997 by American Express, the International Herald Tribune and Reed Travel Exhibitions to recognise extraordinary achievement in the...

Landmark book.(Travel update)(Landmark Trust handbook 20th edition)
January 1, 2004... The Landmark Trust, a charity dedicated to preserving historic buildings, has published the 20th edition of its handbook, which illustrates the 178 buildings it has restored and made available for self-catering holidays. The book, priced at...

Putting the adventure back into travel: in the first part of this month's special report, Christian Amodeo traces the origins of adventure travel and speaks to a number of tour operators about what it means today. Then, in part two, he examines some of the most popular adventure-travel activities and presents an extensive list of useful contacts.(Adventure Travel Special)
January 1, 2004... There you stand, soaked to the skin by raindrops the size of golf balls, your feet slowly sinking into a muddy riverbank. You look down with disdain upon a bamboo raft that your guide assures you is your only way out of the jungle. You're...

Thrill seeking: if you're keen to spice up your holiday experience with a healthy dash of adrenaline and a liberal dose of exhilaration, you're sure to find your perfect guide to the world of adventure travel right here.(Geographical Promotion)
January 1, 2004... * Discover Adventure Discover Adventure has been specialising in mountain biking and cycling holidays since 1994 and offers a friendly, high-quality service at competitive prices, Destinations range from the Pyrenees to Peru, with on and...

Journey to The Lost World: retracing the steps of the most eagerly anticipated of all the Victorian expeditions, Dominic Hamilton travels to Venezuela to visit one of the world's most unusual, alluring and elusive mountains.(Roraima)
January 1, 2004... Ever since Walter Raleigh described a mountain of crystal during his disastrous expedition of 1595 to find the fabled shores of Lake Manoa and El Dorado, the lost city of gold, the sandstone plateaux of the Guayana Shield attracted curiosity...

The beautiful south: South America has it all--awesome waterfalls, rugged mountains, unspoilt rainforest, abundant wildlife and fascinating cultures. Let these specialist operators introduce you to this spectacular, diverse and enchanting land.(Geographical Promotion)
January 1, 2004... Roraima Airways Roraima Airways books a vast array of travel adventures. Through this service, you can charter a plane to exotic areas within Guyana. Stay in the fabulous and relaxing Arrow Point Nature Resort and enjoy a variety of...

Christopher Winney worked as a shepherd in England and farmed poultry in Italy before founding walking-tour company ATG Oxford. A winner at this year's British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Awards, ATG has been actively promoting responsible tourism since its inception in 1979, as Jo Sargent discovered.(Travel For A Living)(Interview)
January 1, 2004... How did ATG Oxford start? What was your inspiration? I used to be a (very unsuccessful) writer and was commissioned to do a book on long-distance walking. So, I walked from London to Rome and it was the most enjoyable thing I have ever...

Francisco Toledo, widely considered to be Mexico's greatest living artist, has become as well known for his philanthropy as for his surrealist paintings. James Blackman spoke to him about his plans to bolster prison libraries and to establish Mexico's first environmentally friendly art school.(In Conversation)(Interview)
January 1, 2004... How did the prison-libraries project come about? Ixcotel jail, in Oaxaca, has a library that my ex-wife and I started 25 years ago, when a priest friend asked me to visit an imprisoned campesino leader there. We got him books and a...