Geographical articles from June 2009

Geographical archives from June 2009

Going underground.(FROM THE editor)(carbon dioxide's impact, consumption of coal's impact)(Editorial)
June 1, 2009... With the recent coverage of the 25th anniversary of the miners' strike and the ensuing pit closures, it's easy to get the impression that coal is a fuel on the way out. But that perception couldn't be further from the truth. Although coal...

Geographical competition.(WHERE IN THE world?)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Identify this country using the following clues: It has 23 recognised languages Its current capital city is its third since the 16th century Remittances from expatriates account for about 12 per cent of...

Volcanic plumes exhibit tornado-like characteristics.(WORLD watch)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Large volcanic plumes released following a violent eruption can create dramatic weather systems all of their own, including lightning, waterspouts and dust devils phenomena usually associated with tornados--according...

Maltese tunnel network discovery boosts knights' tale.(WORLD watch)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Maltese tunnel network discovery boosts knights' tale: Evidence of an underground network of tunnels has been discovered beneath the historic capital of Malta, fuelling a debate about their original purpose. The tunnels, which are thought...

Wheat fungus threatens world's harvests.(WORLD watch)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Wheat fungus threatens world's harvests: Crop specialists are working to slow the spread of stem rust disease, a deadly airborne fungus that has the potential to devastate between 80 and 90 percent of the world's wheat. [ILLUSTRATION...

Radiation continuing to affect Chernobyl wildlife.(WORLD watch)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Radiation continuing to affect Chernobyl wildlife: More than two decades after the reactor inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in northern Ukraine exploded, new research published in Biology Letters suggests that wildlife inside the...

Mathematicians shed light on tsunami wave formation.(WORLD watch)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Scientists studying wave formation have developed a new mathematical model that could be used to better understand the behaviour and destructive potential of tsunamis. Prompted by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami...

Much of the salt spread on roads during freezing weather ends up in the water table and may be endangering aquatic ecosystems, according to a study released by the University of Minnesota, USA.(USA)
June 1, 2009... Much of the salt spread on roads during freezing weather ends up in the water table and may be endangering aquatic ecosystems, according to a study released by the University of Minnesota, USA. Focusing on the cities of Minneapolis and St Paul,...

Maria Helena Guimaraes, Sao Paulo state's secretary for education, has been fired after thousands of schoolbooks destined for sixth-grade pupils were printed with incorrect maps of South America.(BRAZIL)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Maria Helena Guimaraes, Sao Paulo state's secretary for education, has been fired after thousands of schoolbooks destined for sixth-grade pupils were printed with incorrect maps of South America. The mistakes, which included omitting Ecuador...

A new project aimed at connecting wildlife sanctuaries across Belize has received a significant financial boost following the University of Southampton's successful bid for 174,000 [pounds sterling] from the Darwin Initiative.(BELIZE)
June 1, 2009... A new project aimed at connecting wildlife sanctuaries across Belize has received a significant financial boost following the University of Southampton's successful bid for 174,000 [pounds sterling] from the Darwin Initiative. The money will be...

Researchers from Texas A&M University have used radiocarbon dating to show that two coral outcrops off the coast of Hawaii are among the oldest living creatures on Earth.(USA)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Researchers from Texas A&M University have used radiocarbon dating to show that two coral outcrops off the coast of Hawaii are among the oldest living creatures on Earth. Using submersible vehicles, the researchers found a bed of Leiopathes at...

World's waterways feeling the strain of climate change.(CLIMATE watch)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... A new study has shown that some of the world's most important rivers are drying up, in many cases as a result of global climate change. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The research, published in a report from the National Center for...

Viability of carbon capture and storage confirmed.(CLIMATE watch)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Viability of carbon capture and storage confirmed: An international team of scientists has demonstrated that carbon dioxide has been stored safely in natural gas fields for tens of thousands, or even millions, of years, suggesting that...

The government has launched an 11 million [pounds sterling] five-year research programme into ocean acidification.(UK)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... The government has launched an 11 million [pounds sterling] five-year research programme into ocean acidification. Focusing on the Atlantic, Southern and Arctic oceans, the study will assess how marine ecosystems are being affected by...

There's no guarantee that existing flood defences in New Orleans will protect the city in the event of another catastrophic hurricane on the scale of Katrina, according to a panel of experts from the US National Academy of Engineering.(USA)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... There's no guarantee that existing flood defences in New Orleans will protect the city in the event of another catastrophic hurricane on the scale of Katrina, according to a panel of experts from the US National Academy of Engineering. The...

The Italian government has announced a 200 million [euro] plan to harvest introduced algae from the canals of Venice and transform it into a zero-emission fuel.(ITALY)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... The Italian government has announced a 200million [euro] plan to harvest introduced algae from the canals of Venice and transform it into a zero-emission fuel Two types of seaweed, which have become a nuisance for gondolas and ferry boats, will...

Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore have developed a method for converting C[O.sub.2] into methanol at room temperature, a process that usually requires high temperatures and pressures, as well as toxic catalysts.(SINGAPORE)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore have developed a method for converting C[O.sub.2] into methanol at room temperature, a process that usually requires high temperatures and pressures, as well as toxic...

Hurricane damage causes forests to emit carbon.(CLIMATE watch)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... Hurricane damage causes forests to emit carbon: Damage caused by recurring hurricane activity across the USA is causing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide to be returned to the atmosphere, according to new research published in the...

Surrey Hills: Olivia Edward visits an AONB where coordinated efforts are underway to preserve the rural idyll and countryside character that belies its location just south of Greater London.(AREAS OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY)
June 1, 2009... I'm standing in the middle of a potential oil field. But it's a rather unusual one: it isn't in the Middle East, the USA, or even out in the North Sea. It's in a quiet woodland glade near Coldharbour in the middle of Surrey. 'Listen to...

Forum on the future of tourism.(IN society)(Environment and Society Forum)(Conference news)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] MANY OF the key issues that are currently high on government agendas have important geographical dimensions, including migration, climate change and the current economic downturn. Geographers, with their knowledge of...

Selection of events.(ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (WITH IBG))(Calendar)
June 1, 2009... JUNE 2009 (TBC) JUNE, 7PM 21ST CENTURY CHALLENGES: Britain's population time bomb (Discussion and debate, London) With Britain's 17 million baby boomers now fast approaching retirement age, what pressures will they and...

Event of the month.(IN society)(Exhibition Road's annual music day)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 21 JUNE, 11AM-MIDNIGHT EXHIBITION ROAD MUSIC DAY (Event, London) Join the RGS-IBG in a celebration of music at Exhibition Road's annual music day, with performances and activities for everyone, at both...

Joseph Hooker's stockings: worn by the botanist during James Clark Ross's 1839-43 Antarctic expedition.(FROM THE collection)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As a young boy, Joseph Dalton Hooker would sit on his grandfather's knee, looking at a book by Captain James Cook and dreaming of adventure. A picture of Cook's crew killing penguins particularly caught his...

Win a tropical holiday to Cairns, Queensland.(COMPETITION)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef region offers, quite simply, the best natural experiences in the world. Nowhere else on Earth do two World Heritage areas sit side by side, as the Great Barrier Reef and Wet...

That moment: the winner of the Mountain category is Michael Collins of Wolverhampton: a peaceful view.(COMPETITION)(Essay)
June 1, 2009... From the hill town of Taunggi in central Myanmar, the bell shape of a stupa, shining gold and white far above, was remote, beautiful and so peaceful that I was compelled to reach it. A long, sweaty climb later, I stood alone on a hilltop at the...

Hell for leather.(photostory INDIAN LEATHER)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Indian leather industry is booming, but environmentalists are concerned that regulations are being ignored in the rash for profits. In Kanpur, on the banks of the holy River Ganges, children work with dangerous...

The burning question: it has been described as 'the single greatest threat to civilisation and all life on our planet', but we just can't seem to shake our dependence on coal. Indeed, consumption is rising rapidly, especially in China, where it's being used to fuel the country's economic boom. So, can we clean up coal before it's too late?(DOSSIER: Coal)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The miners' strike that gripped Britain 2S years ago this year was widely portrayed at the time as a struggle to the death between the government and an industry past its heyday and on its knees. And yet while the UK...

Fishing in troubled waters: fishing is an integral part of life in Liberia, West Africa, but the profession is under threat. Foreign trawlers are scooping up fish in vast quantities, with potentially catastrophic consequences for a country that is struggling to recover from civil war.(culture LIBERIAN FISHING)
June 1, 2009... It's 7.30am in the waterside slum of West Point, in the Liberian capital, Monrovia. The sun is edging steadily up the horizon and fishing chief Kofi Kwansa's crew have just finished preparing their brightly painted boat, Psalm 35, for another...

A new dawn for Iran: ever since the Islamic Revolution in the 1970s, Iran has been something of a closed book to the West. But as regime change in the USA heralds a softening of attitude towards Iran, travellers are starting to rediscover a country radically different from the image presented by the media.(travel IRAN)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sitting in a teahouse in Esfahan smoking an apple-scented ghalyan, Hassan tells me he's quietly optimistic about Iran's future. 'For us Persians, it has been a confusing time. When America...

2009 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards: vote for the cleanest, greenest and most responsible travel companies, destinations, operators and individuals for a chance to win an eight-day Kenyan safari for two.(COMPETITION)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Now entering its sixth year, the Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards scheme, founded and organised by responsibletravel.com, is calling on you to nominate the very best in responsible tourism. In what is...

Russia's frigid heart: a near-permanently frozen region of rivers, mountains, tundra and forest enclosed by the Ural Mountains in the west and the Pacific and Arctic oceans in the east, Siberia is a place of extremes. This selection of photographs from the archives of the Royal Geographical Society taken around the turn of the 20th century, capture scenes from across the mighty region at a time when it was little known outside of Russia.(GEOGRAPHICAL archive)(Photograph)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TOP: winter in western Siberia, 1912. The low-lying West Siberian Plain extends in an easterly direction from the Ural Mountains and...

A passion for rocks.(The Mountains of Saint Francis: Discovering the Geologic Events that Shaped Out Earth)(Book review)
June 1, 2009... THE MOUNTAINS OF SAINT FRANCIS: Discovering the Geologic Events that Shaped Out Earth by Walter Alvarez WW.Norton, HB, US $24.95 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Walter Alvarez's passion for rocks drips from every page of this...

Treasures of the Natural History Museum.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2009... Treasures of the Natural History Museum by Vicky Paterson NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, HB, 25 [pounds sterling] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There are, staggeringly, more than 70 million specimens housed in...

The Rambler's Countryside Companion.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2009... THE RAMBLER'S COUNTRYSIDE COMPANION by E Mansell CASSELL ILLUSTRATED, HB, 9.99 [pounds sterling] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This reprint of a 1950s text, then called The Wayfarer's Book, carries an authentic whiff of bygone times,...

Sisters of Sinai: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2009... SISTERS OF SINAI: How Two Lady Adventurers Found the Hidden Gospels by Janet Soskice CHATTO AND WINDUS, HB, 18.99 [pounds sterling] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Agnes and Margaret Smith could have walked out of a Bruce Chatwin...

Stranger to History: A Son's Journey Through Islamic Lands.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2009... STRANGER TO HISTORY: A Son's Journey Through Islamic Lands by Aatish Taseer CANONGATE, HB, 14.99 [pounds sterling] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Aatish Taseer 'grew up with a sense of being Muslim, but it was a very small sense', a...

Top ten writer's reads.(Wilbur Smith's favorite books)(Brief article)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Wilbur Smith is a best-selling novelist. Hewas born in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in 1933 and wrote his first novel, When the Lion Feeds, in 1964. His 36th novel, Assegai, is out now 1. AFRICAN GAME TRAILS BY...

Survival Handbook in Association With the Royal Marines Commandos: Endurance Essentials for the Great Outdoors.(Book review)
June 1, 2009... SURVIVAL HANDBOOK IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE ROYAL MARINES COMMANDOS: Endurance Essentials for the Great Outdoors by Colin Towell DORLING KINDERSLEY, HB, 17.99 [pounds sterling) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

The Rape of Mesopotamia: Behind The Looting of the Iraq Museum.(Brief article)(Book review)
June 1, 2009... THE RAPE OF MESOPOTAMIA: Behind the Looting of the Iraq Museum by Lawrence Rothfield UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, HB, 14.50 [pounds sterling] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This is a book of blame and consequences. In April 2003, as...

If at first you don't succeed: in 2005, an attempt by Australian adventurer Chris Bray and his companion to traverse Victoria Island in the Canadian Arctic ended in bitter failure. Here's how they improved their gear for their return three years later, armed with fresh knowledge of the frozen tundra and with revenge in mind.(ESSENTIAL gear)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Flung around like a rag doll on the end of a stick, I pick myself up again and hang forward in my hauling harness. My eyes are blazing and I'm biting my tongue to hold back mounting frustration. Despite the fact that...

Ten of the best.(ESSENTIAL gear)(Buyers guide)
June 1, 2009... The harsh lessons learned during the duo's initial failure meant that they returned to Victoria Island with gear that's better suited to the changing Arctic terrain with which they had to contend Don't forget... ... audiobooks. Despite...

Are we playing dangerously? The video games industry has grown into a multi-billion-dollar global phenomenon, joining movies and television as mainstream entertainment for children and adults alike. But the electronics companies who make the high-tech games systems are under fire for their poor environmental practices.(TRADE secrets)
June 1, 2009... When a member of an internet forum posted to ask how he should responsibly dispose of some old computer games, the responses weren't entirely predictable. While some posters suggested using freecycle.org--where users can offer and accept each...

Seabird cities: photographic opportunities abound in the numerous seabird colonies dotted around the British Isles, but be sensitive to the feathered inhabitants and watch out for flying guano.(GEO photo)
June 1, 2009... As a group of more than 7,000 islands, islets, sea stacks and rocky outcrops perched off the end of a continental landmass and facing the vast expanse of the northern Atlantic Ocean, it's unsurprising that the British Isles play host to an...

Don't get stuck in the mud.(Letter of the month)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2009... I was so pleased to see the mention of Cedric Robinson, the Queen's guide to the Kent Sands, in the piece on the Amside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (April 2009). We went on a charity walk with him across Morecambe Bay last...

A good read.(MAIL bag)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2009... Please thank Nicholas Crane for his marvellous list of favourite books (Writer's reads, May 2009). I'm now half-way through a second-hand copy of The Journeys of Celia Fiennes and enjoying finding out what Britain looked like to a female...

Collective insights.(MAIL bag)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2009... I wanted to write to commend the staff of Geographical for the monthly From the collection column. As a Fellow of the Society who lives out in the 'back of beyond', I seldom get a chance to come and delve through the Society's two million maps,...

The miracle of chocolate.(MAIL bag)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2009... I was amazed to read of Andy Pag's journey across the Sahara in a truck powered solely by chocolate (Chocs away, April 2009).To me, the very idea that you could run a large motor vehicle on confectionery was, frankly, preposterous. ...

Population control: is it ethical?(MAIL bag)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2009... I was just wondering what Geographical thought about Sir David Attenborough becoming patron of the Optimum Population Trust, which campaigns to limit the number of people in the world. Does Geographical think, as the trust does, that exploding...

A cruel practice.(MAIL bag)(Letter to the editor)
June 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I read your article on traditional tribal scars in Benin (Scarred for life, May 2009) with great interest. Although I know that these scars can look appealing and seem to be an example of different tribal groups...

Kate Ashbrook.(I'M A geographer)
June 1, 2009... Kate Ashbrook runs the Open Spaces Society, Britain's oldest conservation society, founded in 1865 as the Commons Preservation Society. Its purpose is to protect Britain's commons, greens and open spaces, and the public's right of access to...