Geographical articles from November 2006

Geographical archives from November 2006

Burgeoning attractions.(responsible tourism )(Editorial)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The face of travel is changing. Package tours are on the decline; responsible tourism is on the rise. And while the bulk of the world's travellers are still happy to tread the well-worn paths, more and more people are seeking out new, emerging...

China to tackle workplace deaths.(WORLDWATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The Chinese government has announced plans to reduce the country's alarmingly poor industrial health and safety record, which last year saw 127,000 people die in accidents in the workplace, according to state news agency, Xinhua. Nearly...

Hope for ozone hole, say scientists.(WORLDWATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The ozone hole appears to have stopped widening, according to two US scientists whose studies first helped bring the hole to the public's attention during the 1980s. Speaking at a conference in Washington, Dr Susan Solomon of the...

Bolivia kicks foresters and miners from national parks.(WORLDWATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Bolivian President Evo Morales is pressing on with plans to ensure that Bolivia's poor benefit from its wealth of natural resources by revoking foreign forestry and energy concessions within 20 of the country's national parks. "Here and...

Bronze age bang was bigger.(eruption reports)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... A recent study by scientists from the University of Rhode Island, USA, has found that the eruption of Thira, on the Greek Island of Santorini, 3,600 years ago was more devastating than previously thought. Examinations of the ocean floor...

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has promised to supply China with one million barrels of oil by 2012.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Venezuela's president, Hugo Chavez, has promised to supply China with one million barrels of oil by 2012. Under the deal, a new oil refinery will be built in Venezuela with Chinese technology. China is Venezuela's second largest oil importer...

One of five Slovenian brown bears controversially released in the French Pyrenees earlier this year.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... One of five Slovenian brown bears controversially released in the French Pyrenees earlier this year has been found dead at the foot of a cliff after an apparent accident.

Milan is to follow London's lead by introducing a congestion charge from the beginning of next year.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Milan is to follow London's lead by introducing a congestion charge from the beginning of next year. The variable payment will initially be set at around 2 [euro] (70p).

Angered by calls to outlaw tuna fishing, a group of French fishermen gave Greenpeace activists a taste of their own medicine in August when they prevented the group's ship.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Angered by calls to outlaw tuna fishing, a group of French fishermen gave Greenpeace activists a taste of their own medicine in August when they prevented the group's ship, the Rainbow Warrior, from docking in the port of Marseille

The Global Environment Fund has been given a US$3 billion boost by 32 governments from around the world.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The Global Environment Fund has been given a US$3 billion boost by 32 governments from around the world to help back essential NGO- and community-based environmental projects get under way in developing countries.

The government of the Philippines has appealed for donations of hair and feathers to help absorb more than 200,000 litres of industrial fuel released in the Panay Gulf, when ah oil tanker sank in August.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The government of the Philippines has appealed for donations of hair and feathers to help absorb more than 200,000 litres of industrial fuel released in the Panay Gulf, when an oil tanker sank in August. Around 15,000 prisoners obliged by...

Scientists at New Zealand's Livestock Improvement Corporation have launched a multi-million-dollar project to reduce flatulence in cows.(NEW ZEALAND)
November 1, 2006... Scientists at New Zealand's Livestock Improvement Corporation have launched a multi-million-dollar project to reduce flatulence in cows. Livestock release methane, a potent greenhouse gas

A helicopter chartered by conservation organisation WWF crashed in the mountainous east of Nepal during poor weather conditions at the end of September.(World Wide Fund for Nature)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... A helicopter chartered by conservation organisation WWF crashed in the mountainous east of Nepal during poor weather conditions at the end of September. All 24 passengers on board were killed, including seven WWF staff

Exploratory oil well leak causes chaos in East Java.(mudflows)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Aman tries to recover items from a factory that has been buried by noxious mud and boiling water leaking from the ground near an exploratory oil and gas well in Sidoarjo in East Java province, Indonesia. The mud began flowing from the...

Top 10 countries with the highest proportion of protected land area (%).(Statistical table)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... TOP 10 Countries with the highest proportion of protected land area (%) 1. Colombia 72.3 2. Venezuela 70.3 3. Saudi Arabia 41.8 4. Zambia 41.4 5. Tanzania 39.6 6. Austria ...

Illicit alga: the road to riches?(blue green alga trade)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The illegal harvesting and trade of a blue green alga that grows in the semi-deserts of western China is contributing to desertification in parts of China's north and west. Despite looking like a black scouring pad and acquiring a spongy...

Katrina's displaced are 'climate refugees'.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... A quarter of a million people have yet to return to their homes along the USA's Gulf Coast more than a year after Hurricane Katrina, prompting one environmental expert to call for them to be labelled 'climate refugees: According to Lester...

Water crisis hitting world's richest nations.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The problems associated with water scarcity are no longer restricted to Door countries, according to a new report from WWF. Rich Countries. Poor Water. released during World Water Week at the end of August, highlights the recurring droughts in...

The site of a former industrial equipment factory in Camborne, Cornwall, is to be turned into 390 eco-homes as part of the government's attempts to regenerate the town.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The site of a former industrial equipment factory in Camborne, Cornwall, is to be turned into 390 eco-homes as part of the government's attempts to regenerate the town, which used be a tin and copper mining hub.

Five people were arrested in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu after state officials ordered an end to the practice of hiring strippers for funerals.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Five people were arrested in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu after state officials ordered an end to the practice of hiring strippers for funerals. This once-common practice was used to help boost attendance - a high turn out is seen as...

Plans for a 232-megawatt wind farm on cleared grazing land near Colac, Victoria, have been given the green light.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Plans for a 232-megawatt wind farm on cleared grazing Land near Colac, Victoria, have been given the green light. The AU$380million (150million [pounds sterling]) farm will be comprised of 116 turbines spread over 2,550 hectares and will...

Heavy monsoon rains caused severe flooding and landslides in western Nepal at the end of August.(NEPAL)
November 1, 2006... Heavy monsoon rains caused severe flooding and landslides in western Nepal at the end of August, displacing thousands and leaving at least 31 people dead.

Californian wetlands on road to restoration.(Bolsa Chica wetlands conservation)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... More than 70 years after being drained to enable access to underground oilfields, the 156-hectare Bolsa Chica in California became a wetland once again in August, after officials allowed a dam to be bulldozed to let water from the Pacific Ocean...

Rare rhino baby boom.(javan rhino calves)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Scientists have found evidence that the world's rarest rhino species has been breeding successfully in the wild in a remote national park in Indonesia. In August, a team of biologists working in Ujung Kulon National Park on the western tip of...

Bike-based laser mapping hits the south coast of England.(WORLDWATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Surveyors on quad bikes firing lasers at the landscape are helping to determine how coastal areas of the south coast of England are changing over time. Nottinghamshire-based electronic surveying specialist 3D Laser Mapping has been commissioned...

Philippines' record-breaking tree-planting.(WORLDWATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The Philippines' government has attempted to set a world record by simultaneously planting more than half a million trees along a 3,500-kilometre road network at the end of August. The so-called Green Philippine Highways project aims to...

The global geography of surnames.(WORLDWATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Geographers at University College London (UCL) have undertaken the first study of how British surnames have spread around the world. UCL's Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis enlisted geographers, linguists, geneticists, computer scientists,...

Drawing oil from a Rocky Mountain stone.(WORLDWATCH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Two of the world's largest energy companies, Royal Dutch Shell and Chevron, are planning to test the viability of mining oil shale--an alternative source of oil--in the Rocky Mountains, in the hope of reducing the USA's reliance on crude oil...

Desert rainfall disaster.(Rajasthan, India)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The highest rainfall recorded in 200 years has brought devastation to the largely desert region of Rajasthan in northwestern India. At least 135 people have been killed and tens of thousands displaced, following severe flooding at the end of...

New standard for overseas activities: have your say.(In Society: A round-up of news, views and recent and forthcoming events at the RGS-IBG)
November 1, 2006... If you're involved in providing outdoor ventures abroad, or if you regularly participate in fieldwork or adventurous activities outside the UK, then now's your chance to play a role in the development of safety-management systems that will...

The lost world of Tibet's Tsangpo Gorges.(LECTURE OF THE MONTH)
November 1, 2006... 27 November at 6.30pm (LECTURE, LONDON) Acclaimed presenter, author and explorer Ian Baker will give a richly illustrated talk on the converging narratives of 19th-century exploration and the Tibetan quest for an Earthly paradise in the...

Butabu: the wonders of West African adobe architecture.(In Society: A round-up of news, views and recent and forthcoming events at the RGS-IBG)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... This autumn, the Society's exhibition pavilion will be transformed by an eerily beautiful collection of images of the unique adobe architecture of West Africa. The images are the work of British photographer James Morris, who has captured the...

Forthcoming events in November.(Calendar)
November 1, 2006... For details, please contact the Events Office on 020 7591 3100 1 November, 7pm Monsters in the closet: are slums the future face of cities? (LECTURE, HIGH WYCOMBE) More of the world's population now lives in urban rather than...

Join the society--GET the magazine.
November 1, 2006... Often called the 'Home of Geography', the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) promotes an enjoyment and understanding of our world. Membership is open to anyone. You may use geography in your profession, have a thirst for geographical...

Lost and found in Lop Nor: Sven Hedin's tape measure.(ARTEFACT OF THE MONTH)
November 1, 2006... Swedish explorer, writer, and geographer Sven Hedin (1865-1952) made four expeditions into Central Asia between 1893 and 1935. The region was to have a profound effect on him. On his first trip, he wrote that "the whole of Asia was open before...

Painted love.(BULGARIAN WEDDING)(Bulgarian Muslims)
November 1, 2006... Heavily discriminated against during the Communist era of the 1980s, Bulgaria's Islamic community was effectively isolated through a combination of poorly maintained roads and a law forbidding them from leaving their villages in traditional...

A green Land pleasant land: areas of outstanding natural beauty 50 years on.(Gower coast of Wales)
November 1, 2006... Fifty years ago, the first of a new protected area was established along the Gower coast of Wales. Called an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, or AONB, this designation was created to protect the most beautiful and distinctive landscapes in...

Guano happens (sometimes): the discovery during the mid-19th century that bird droppings could be used to reverse falling crop yields saw governments around the world join a frenzied rush to annex any guano-encrusted outcrop they could get their hands on. Jordan Goodman delves into the history of the excreta change the world.(GUANO)
November 1, 2006... It may not be a suitable topic for polite dinner conversation, but it's a fact that the guanay cormorant has no equal when it comes to the value and purity of its droppings. Not that you're very likely to see this bird or its waste products...

On the tusks of a dilemma.(ivory)(Cover story)
November 1, 2006... During the 20th century, poaching for ivory sent the populations of African and Asian elephants hurtling towards extinction. But then, following a 1990 ban on the trade of ivory, they began to stage a remarkable comeback, leading many...

The times they are a-changing.(TIMES ATLAS)
November 1, 2006... First published in 1895, the Times Atlas of the World is now a global bestseller--last year, the concise edition sold more than 5,000 copies in the UK alone, and the atlases are used by everyone from the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign and...

A thoroughly modern explorer: for half a century, Robin Hanbury-Tenison has been an expeditionary force to be reckoned with. Nick Smith caught up with the explorer on his 70th birthday and discovered that he has lost none of his legendary thirst for both adventure and controversy.(GEOPEOPLE: ROBIN HANBURY-TENISON)(Interview)
November 1, 2006... As our meeting draws to a close, Robin Hanbury-Tenison leaves the Traveller's Club in a buoyant mood. He's just about to have his head x-rayed-not because he's injured himself, but because he's soon to become a work of modern art. It's clearly...

... To see the gorilla? Mountain gorillas are Rwanda's major tourist drawcard. But this African nation with a troubled past has plenty more to offer--a fact that it's keen to advertise to the rest of the world and its tourists. Geordie Torr travels to Nyungwe National Park in the country's southwest to see another side of the Land of 1,000 Hills.(RWANDAN TOURISM)
November 1, 2006... Hot, sweaty and oh, so tired. We've been stumbling and scrambling up and down the steep terrain for hours and have neither seen nor heard anything of our quarry. The group of Belgians we met up with earlier have already headed back, too...

Equipped for earth's extremes.(survival equipment)
November 1, 2006... Survival in the world's most extreme environments depends upon preparation, knowledge, organisation and, most importantly, equipment. Having the right tools, clothing and supplies in the correct quantities can be a matter of life or death in...

Royal Geographical Society with IBG: advancing geography and geographical learning.(Institute of British Geographers)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... The Royal Geographical Society Picture Library is an unrivalled resource, containing more than half a million images of peoples and landscapes from all over the world. The collection holds photographs and works of art from the 1830s onwards and...

A hymn to forgotten heroes.(The Lost Men: The Harrowing Story of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... The Lost Men: The Harrowing Story of Shackleton's Ross Sea Party by Kelly Tyler-Lewis Bloomsbury, hb, pp366, 18.99 [pounds sterling] Everyone knows the story of Ernest Shackleton's epic journey to South Georgia after his ship, the...

Another jungle book.(Rainforest: A Photographic Journey)(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Rainforest: A Photographic Journey by Thomas Marent Dorling Kindersley, hb, pp360 25 [pounds sterling] I think it's fair to say that the world isn't exactly lacking in glossy picture books about the rainforest. In order to stand out...

Extreme Floods: A History in a Changing Climate.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Extreme Floods: A History in a Changing Climate by Robert Doe Sutton Publishing, hb, pp256, 20 [pounds sterling] This chronology of floods, mainly in Britain, over the past 1,000 years is impressively researched: a real treasure trove...

How Napoleon's naval ambitions were sunk.(The War for All the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... The War for All the Oceans: From Nelson at the Nile to Napoleon at Waterloo by Roy Adkins and Lesley Adkins Little, Brown, hb, pp560, 20 [pounds sterling] Napoleon Bonaparte, before he became emperor of the French, aspired to bring...

Getting Wet: Adventures in the Japanese Bath.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Getting Wet: Adventures in the Japanese Bath by Eric Talmadge Kodansha International, hb, pp256, 12.99 [pounds sterling] In books of this nature, there's always one factoid that every review is going to quote, so here goes: in 1999,...

Top 10 writer's reads.
November 1, 2006... Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is Prince of Asturias professor in the Department of History, Tufts University, and visiting professor of global environmental history, Queen Mary, University of London. The editor of the Times Atlas of World...

Exuberant dress, extraordinary tattoos.(The Shan: Culture, Art and Crafts )(Book review)
November 1, 2006... The Shan: Culture, Art and Crafts by Susan Conway River Books, hb, pp212, 35 [pounds sterling] In much of the complacent West, it's easy to forget the double plight of displaced people in less fortunate parts of the world. As well as...

The Silent Steppe.(Book review)
November 1, 2006... The Silent Stepped by Mukhamet Shayakhmetov Stacey International, hb, pp250, 19.95 [pounds sterling] Genocide doesn't make for easy reading, but new memoir The Silent Steppe sets one man's story against the backdrop of the destruction of...

A world of beautiful images.(Planet Earth: As You've never Seen it Before )(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Planet Earth: As You've never Seen it Before by Alastair Fothergill BBC Books, hb, pp311, 25 [pounds sterling] Covering all of the world's environments, from forests, plains, deserts and mountains to caves, rivers, oceans and the poles,...

Great southern land.(In Patagonia )(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin First published in 1977. Most recent edition published by Vintage Classics, pb, pp260, 7.99 [pounds sterling] In Patagonia redrew the boundaries of travel writing: part journal, part storybook, it's an account...

Following in the footsteps of the Cossacks.(A River of White Nights: A Siberian River Odyssey )(Book review)
November 1, 2006... A River of White Nights: A Siberian River Odyssey by Jeffrey Tayler Robson Books, hb, pp230, 16.99 [pounds sterling] An area that makes up 56 per cent of Russia, Siberia contains almost all of the nation's natural resources, including...

Journey of the Magi: Travels in Search of the Birth of Jesus.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... Journey of the Magi: Travels in Search of the Birth of Jesus by Paul William Roberts Tauris Parke, pb, pp398, 9.99 [pounds sterling] "Santa really stiffed me," writes Paul William Roberts. His Christmas gift--a 19th-century copy of Marco...

The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815 War Against the Pirates of North Africa.(Brief article)(Book review)
November 1, 2006... The End of Barbary Terror: America's 1815 War Against the Pirates of North Africa by Frederick C Leiner Oxford University Press, pp240, hb, 16.99 [pounds sterling] Well into the 19th century, the USA was paying tribute to Algiers:...

The pain event: surely one of the toughest sports going, adventure racing's popularity is on the rise. Steve Duffy returns from the eight-day Eco-Challenge with some useful advice for would-be competitors.(essential gear)
November 1, 2006... Every time the beam of my head torch hits the water, the ocean boils with fish. The occasional flying specimen launches itself out of the black sea, clearing the outriggers of our perahu (a small wooden outrigger canoe used by native fishermen)...

Ten of the best: light on weight but not on quality was our guiding principle this month as we tracked down some of the best equipment suitable for adventure racing currently on the market.(ESSENTIAL GEAR)(Buyers guide)
November 1, 2006... [1] Waterproof jacket Haglots LIM Ultimate Jacket 150 [pounds sterling]/247 grams When Haglofs created their LIM Less Is More) range, I they weren't joking: made from Gore-Tex Paclite, this ultra-light waterproof, breathable...

Snug as a bug in a lightweight rug.
November 1, 2006... Marmot's latest sleeping bag, 'the Pounder'--a name that you might not associate with a good night's sleep--is sure to be a popular choice for backpackers and hikers thanks to its light weight, versatility and reasonable price tag. This red and...

Win! A pair of Targhee shoes.
November 1, 2006... The designers at Keen have added event waterproof breathable uppers to its latest Targhee range of all-terrain shoes. Named after the 12,000-square-kilometre Caribou Targhee National Forest, which spans Wyoming and Idaho, USA, the shoes are...

Germans go stitchless.(Deuter Sport und Leder GmbH)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... After more than 100 years in the bag--and pack-making business, German company Deuter has thrown away the needle and thread for its new Dry Shield range of backpacks due out in the new year. A clever new technique binds together the packs'...

A bright idea.
November 1, 2006... An Italian fabric maker has devised a unique method of blending textiles with technology to produce a fabric that literally lights up the room. Working with an Italian electronics company and Swiss weaving specialists, Luminex has managed...

Clothing for photographers.
November 1, 2006... Wildlife photographer and Geographicol contributor Andy Rouse has been working with Paramo Directional Clothing to produce an exclusive range of garments to meet the needs of outdoor photographers. Items include the Andy Rouse Wildlife...

Sweat-resistant sunscreen.
November 1, 2006... Hi Gear has launched a new range of high-performance sunscreens suitable for sportsmen and -women. The Himaya Sport sunscreen range has a special ingredient called Aqua Fix that allows skin to breathe and isn't removed by sweat. What's more, it...

Jet lag: medical advice from Jason Gibbs, head pharmacist at Nomad Travel stores and health clinics.(Travel health)
November 1, 2006... Jet lag is a distinctly modern problem that didn't exist until passenger jets enabled people to cross multiple time zones in a matter of hours instead of weeks or months. It's essentially the disruption of the body's circadian rhythm--that is...

Explorer's essentials: Jake Meyer, youngest man to climb Mount Everest and the seven summits.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... 1. Phantom down jacket. Probably the lightest down jacket on the market, the Phantom keeps me cosy. * www.mountainhardwear.com 2. Soft shell Torch jacket. The Torch jacket is an awesome climbing jacket, with a fantastic fit,...

The geographical good guide guide: helping you choose that vitally important, but often rather confusing, item of kit: the guidebook.(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... TRAILBLAZER What are they like? Started in 1991 by traveller Bryn Thomas, Trailblazer guides cover a range of activities and regions that aren't already served by other guidebooks. The series has now grown to 44 titles, including trekking...

The inside story: Keith Wilson ventures into the great indoors and discovers a whole new set of difficulties with which photographers must contend.(Geo photo)
November 1, 2006... After taking the time to take a series of photographs of a historic building's exterior, it seems only natural to venture indoors and photograph parts of the interior. But don't expect it to be easy. Not all places permit photography indoors;...

Why not ask me?(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... Is it just me, or are the papers printing a greater number of news stories containing the results of new public opinion polls? Their presence in the mainstream media seems to be growing and I'm curious as to how the market researchers actually...

Cheating the cheetah.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... Having just returned from my second visit to Namibia, I particularly appreciated Nick Smith's article on conservation there (On Namibia's conservation trail, September 2006). On the surface, Namibia appears to have everything going for it:...

Miraculous images.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... Many thanks to the Geographical team, for presenting such an awesome selection of Frans Lanting's photographs in last month's photoessay (The history of a miracle, October 2006). Wow. What more can I say? The compositions--refined; the subject...

The not-so-big apple.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... In the opening to the otherwise excellent feature, Old New York (Archive, October 2006), the city is mistakenly referred to as "the largest and most densely populated city in North America". You have obviously forgotten that Mexico City is in...

Remote and local.(Letter to the editor)
November 1, 2006... Here at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), we share Paul Deegan's passion for cultivating the next generation of youngsters keen to gain first-hand experience of the world (Mailbag, October 2006). And Paul's workshops on his Mount...

Natalie Hoare in conversation with ... Bettany Hughes.(Ajantha Perera)
November 1, 2006... Ajantha Perera, the University of Colombo after bringing members of an impoverished underclass of 'rag pickers' to her lectures. She has since devoted her full attention to improving conditions for the rag pickers and lobbying the Sri Lankan...