Geographical articles from September 2008

Geographical archives from September 2008

He's a geographer?(FROM THE EDITOR)(column)(Editorial)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... This month, the curtain falls on our long-running In conversation series. In its place, we're starting a new department that we've called I'm a geographer. When I first started working on Geographical, I was surprised by the number of...

Google Earth reveals ancient desert secrets.(WORLD WATCH)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... A group of Australian researchers has used Google Earth to uncover hundreds of new archaeological sites in Afghanistan. David Thomas, a postgraduate student at Melbourne's La Trobe University, and three colleagues used satellite images from...

New designation could keep world's first 'starlight reserve' in the dark.(WORLD WATCH)(Mount John Observatory)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The world's first UNESCO starlight reserve has been proposed for part of New Zealand's South Island in a bid to maintain the clear views of the night sky that can be enjoyed there. The Mount John Observatory, located on a rocky mountaintop...

Protection planned for Paraguayan plains.(WORLD WATCH)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] More than a million hectares of endangered forests in Paraguay are to be jointly managed by a UK conservation charity and a local NGO under a new initiative announced by the Paraguayan environment minister, Arq....

Laos dam threat to Mekong River.(WORLD WATCH)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The Irrawaddy dolphin could become locally extinct if a proposed dam is built on the Mekong River near the border between Laos and Cambodia, according to local environmentalists. There are also fears that the 240-megawatt Don Sahong dam could...

The world's tallest mountain is to be subjected to a huge clean-up operation next year, according to Chinese officials.(CHINA)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The world's tallest mountain is to be subjected to a huge clean-up operation next year, according to Chinese officials. Tibet's environmental protection chief is considering whether to restrict access to Mount Everest during the clean-up, which...

A 300,000-square-kilometre area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge took a significant step closer to becoming the second High Seas Marine Protected Area, following a commitment from the officials of 15 countries at a European Commission meeting in France.(ATLANTIC OCEAN)
September 1, 2008... A 300,000-square-kilometre area of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge took a significant step closer to becoming the second High Seas Marine Protected Area, following a commitment from the officials of 15 countries at a European Commission meeting in...

A passenger flight from mainland China has landed in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, for the first time in 60 years, signalling an improvement in diplomatic relations between the two nations.(TAIWAN)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... A passenger flight from mainland China has landed in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, for the first time in 60 years, signalling an improvement in diplomatic relations between the two nations. The China Southern Airlines flight from Guangzhou...

The UN has called for greater investment in family planning, following the release of a report to mark World Population Day that estimated that the global population will surge from 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050.(GLOBAL)(United Nations)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The UN has called for greater investment in family planning, following the release of a report to mark World Population Day that estimated that the global population will surge from 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050. According to the UN,...

Voters in local elections across England could be entered into a prize draw when they vote, under new proposals to boost turnout.(ENGLAND)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Voters in local elections across England could be entered into a prize draw when they vote, under new proposals to boost turnout. Outlining plans to 'rehabilitate local political activity', communities secretary Hazel Blears suggested offering...

Products made using the fruit from native African baobab trees win soon go on sale in shops across the UK, following approval by the EU.(UK)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Products made using the fruit from native African baobab trees win soon go on sale in shops across the UK, following approval by the EU. The large hard-shelled fruit contains six times more vitamin C than oranges and twice as much calcium as...

Abu Dhabi leases land in Sudan.(WORLD WATCH)(lease of agricultural land for food security)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Abu Dhabi, part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has leased 30,000 hectares of agricultural land in Sudan as part of a large-scale initiative to bolster food security. The largest of the nation's seven...

Top 10 mobile telephone ownership.(WORLD WATCH)(Statistical table)
September 1, 2008... TOP 10 MOBILE TELEPHONE OWNERSHIP (SUBSCRIBERS PER 100 PEOPLE) 1 LUXEMBOURG 154.8 2 ARUBA 135.1 3 LITHUANIA 127.1 4 ITALY 124.3 5 HONG KONG ...

Wanted: Kitchen Table Lingo.(WORLD WATCH)(lingo collection)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... To mark the 80th anniversary of the Oxford English Dictionary, linguistic research organisation the English Project is calling for contributions to its Kitchen Table Lingo project in a bid to create the first inventory of words and phrases that...

Fears for forest funding.(CLIMATE WATCH)(fund initiatives results to corruption and regional conflict)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Moves to fund initiatives aimed at protecting the world's forests in order to slow global climate change could simply fuel corruption and regional conflict, according to a coalition of NGOs. The concept of...

Greenland ice sheet not accelerating sea level rise.(CLIMATE WATCH)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Contrary to fears that the seaward movement of the vast Greenland ice sheet is accelerating, a group of climate scientists have discovered that during the past 20 years, the sheet's movement has actually slowed by around ten per cent, despite...

A group of senior US environmental scientists have proposed that a new organization be created to tackle the challenges posed by climate change more efficiently.(USA)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... A group of senior US environmental scientists have proposed that a new organisation be created to tackle the challenges posed by climate change more efficiently. In a paper published in Science, former directors of several US research...

Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have created a Climate Cooperation Index that ranks the responses of 188 countries to international climate policies.(SWITZERLAND)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have created a Climate Cooperation Index that ranks the responses of 188 countries to international climate policies. The results place Germany and the UK high on the list, while the USA...

The first half of this year (up to the end of June) has been marred by more natural disasters, on average, than at the same point last year, according to German reinsurance group Munich Re.(GLOBAL)(Munich Reinsurance Co.)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... The first half of this year (up to the end of June) has been marred by more natural disasters, on average, than at the same point last year, according to German reinsurance group Munich Re. The company has tracked earthquakes and volcanic...

Rising temperatures are expected to result in a surge of people suffering from kidney stones in the USA, particularly across the southern regions where the climate is dry and warm.(USA)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Rising temperatures are expected to result in a surge of people suffering from kidney stones in the USA, particularly across the southern regions where the climate is dry and warm. According to a hydrologist from the University of Texas, an...

Icebergs scratching the life out of the seabed.(CLIMATE WATCH)(Brief article)
September 1, 2008... Antarctic marine species are being threatened as increasing numbers of icebergs scrape their fragile seafloor habitats, according to new British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research. By marking and monitoring the sea bed at three different...

Nauru.(HOTSPOT)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Nauru holds the distinction of being the world's smallest republic. Located in the Pacific Ocean, close to Papua New Guinea, the island nation has a total area of just 21 square kilometres; the Vatican City is twice...

Solway Coast: once a lawless region inhabited by smugglers and bandits, the Solway Coast, located in a largely forgotten corner of northwestern England, is still a wild and beautiful landscape of big skies and panoramic views--and one that deserves to be better known.(AREA OF OUTSTANDING NATURAL BEAUTY)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I'm standing in the middle of the Solway Firth, wearing a pair of waders two sizes too big for me and desperately trying not to topple face-first into the muddy water. The water is already flooding around my chest...

Society celebrates addition of Eastern flavor.(IN SOCIETY)(Royal Geographical Society's Singapore branch)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) has long had an international outlook: many of the Society's most prominent Fellows have conducted--and continue to conduct--fieldwork across the world's seven continents,...

A selection of September's events.(IN SOCIETY)(Royal Geographical Society's events)(Calendar)
September 1, 2008... 5 September, 7.30pm Summer garden party: The departure lounge (YOUNG MEMBERS SOCIAL, LONDON) Join us for this year's Young Members' garden party, with a theme of the airport departure lounge. Enjoy a Pimm's reception on arrival,...

Inuit sunglasses: brought back from the Arctic by the 19th-century explorer William Parry.(FROM THE COLLECTION)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When the British explorer William Edward Parry travelled to the Arctic in the hope of finding the Northwest Passage (a shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via the Arctic Ocean), he stacked up plenty of...

Fire and brimstone.(Java sulphur miners)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sitting on the Ring of Fire, a 40,000-kilometre trail of tectonic activity that surrounds the Pacific Basin, Indonesia is home to more than 150 volcanoes. One of these, Kawah Ijen, located in East Java, constantly...

The wood for the trees: on the island of Puerto Rico, a group of researchers are undertaking an ambitious long-term project to try to demonstrate that it's possible to produce timber in tropical rainforest without damaging the local ecosystem.(Puerto Rico rainforest)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 'Data?' 'Ready.' 'Tree J, DBH, 52.' '52. Got it.' 'Data?' 'Ready.' 'Tree K, canopy, east-west, 137.' '137. Got it.' Enveloped in the soothing green of the Puerto Rican rainforest,...

Caught in the crossfire: as the Maginot Line celebrates its 70th anniversary, John Gimlette travels to Alsace-Lorraine to discover a region that's often been at the very hub of European warfare.(Alsace-Lorraine)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] From the Saverne Gap, a vantage point high in the Vosges mountains, it's easy to see why this, the 'left shoulder' of France, has been so bitterly contested. To the east lie the plains of...

The great commission: missionaries and hill tribes in Thailand: two millennia after Christ commanded his apostles to 'make disciples of all the nations', the hill tribes of Thailand are accepting his word. But as their traditional societies falter and critics make claims of cultural genocide, is Jesus' Great Commission really to blame?(Missionaries in Thailand)(Cover story)
September 1, 2008... In a small rural village outside Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, Sunday is the day of noise. Evangelical rock echoes from a new church on the hill and a pickup truck with booming, oversized speakers drives along the dirt road. 'That's the...

Nectar of Allah: honey has a unique place in Islamic culture, and Yemen produces the rarest and most extensive honey in the world. Prized as a delicious, all-powerful medicine, beauty product and aphrodisiac, it's the subject of a thriving trade.(Yemeni honey)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It brings wealth to merchants; doctors consider it a universal remedy. Beekeepers speak of it as a gift from Allah. Women believe in its ability to reduce infertility and men praise its aphrodisiac qualities. Its...

Disputed territory.(Kashmir)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The ongoing conflict in the Indian state of Kashmir saw tourist numbers in the region slow to a trickle, effectively destroying the local economy. Recently, however, improving relations between Pakistan and India...

Japan.(Geographical archive)(photographs of Japanese culture )(Photograph)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When the Meiji Emperor ascended to the throne in Japan in 1868, he ushered in a new period of enlightenment for the country. It opened its doors to the world and a tourism boom quickly followed. Photographic...

The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks?(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Earth After Us: What Legacy Will Humans Leave in the Rocks? by Jan Zalasiewicz Oxford University Press, hb, pp256, 14.99 [pounds sterling] It's 100 million years in the future and humanity has long been...

Woods, Hedgerows and Leafy Lanes.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Woods, Hedgerows and Leafy Lanes by Richard Muir The History Press, pb, pp192, 14.99 [pounds sterling] Perhaps this book should be retitled A Handbook for Tree Detectives as, despite the drab title, it's really a...

Geography: A Very Short Introduction.(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Geography: A Very Short Introduction by JA Matthews and DT Herbert Oxford University Press, pb, pp180, 6.99 [pounds sterling] Introductions to the 'nature of geography' are now commonplace within the world of...

Iraq: Then and Now.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Iraq: Then and Now by Karen Dabrowska and Geoff Hann Bradt Travel Guides, pb, pp288, 15.99 [pounds sterling] While it's highly unlikely that the majority of Iraq will be accessible for tourism in the near future,...

Top 10 writer's reads.
September 1, 2008... Brian Schofield is a British journalist and a committed environmentalist who currently lives in Brighton. His first book, Selling Your Father's Bones, is out now 1. Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen (Pan Books, 6.99 [pounds sterling]) The...

Naked Airport: A Cultural History of the World's Most Revolutionary Structure.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Naked Airport: A Cultural History of the World's Most Revolutionary Structure by Alastair Gordon University of Chicago Press, pb, pp306, 9 [pounds sterling] Alastair Gordon fell in love with airports in the early...

Eduard Spelterini: Photographs of a Pioneer Balloonist.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Eduard Spelterini: Photographs of a Pioneer Balloonist edited by Thomas Kramer and Hilar Stadler Scheidegger & Spiess, hb, pp148, 45 [pounds sterling] Most of us, in this age of air travel, have seen mountains...

1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1434: The Year a Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy and Ignited the Renaissance by Gavin Menzies HarperCollins, hb, pp384, 20 [pounds sterling] Gavin Menzies begins with a grumble: 'One thing that greatly...

Empires of the Indus: From Tibet to Pakistan--The Story of a River.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Empires of the Indus: From Tibet to Pakistan--The Story of a River by Alice Albinia John Murray, hb, pp384, 20 [pounds sterling] Travel writing can have unintended consequences: the 'flowery imagination' of...

Romanian Furrow: Colourful Experiences of Village Life.(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Romanian Furrow: Colourful Experiences of Village Life by Donald Hall First published 1933. Most recent edition published by Bene Factum, pb, pp232, 9.99 [pounds sterling] Between the First and Second World Wars,...

King the swingers: few people can say that they've spent a night in a tree 90 metres above the ground, secured only by some ropes and a hammock. The canopy of the tropical rainforest is surely one of the most challenging yet rewarding environments to explore. John Pike describes some of the kit requirements for this demanding activity.(ESSENTIAL GEAR)(Buyers guide)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Peering down from my perch 70 metres above the forest floor, I curse myself for Ignoring my own advice. 'Go easy on the water, bring a fleece, and don't switch on your headtorch if you can avoid it.' Now, gently...

All that glitters.(TRADE SECRETS)(gold investment)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As the world's economic woes deepen, many people will be turning to gold as a safe investment with which to ride out the turbulent times. And, indeed, the price of gold has surged in recent years. But the production...

Garden safari: wildlife photography doesn't have to involve trekking off the Serengeti, the Amazon or the Sahara--there are plenty of suitable subjects lurking in your own backyard in the suburbs.(PHOTOGRAPHY)
September 1, 2008... Geo photo Late September marks the onset of autumn and receding daylight hours. Deciduous trees start to change colour before shedding their leaves, the last swallows and swifts begin the long journey south for the winter, and eager...

Bridge over the A465.(MAILBAG)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I would like to add a comment about the news story 'Why did the Cornish bat cross the road?' in the July issue of Geographical (Worldwatch). On 29 March last year, the A465 between Gilwern and Abergavenny in...

Less than true story.(MAILBAG)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... I was a little surprised to see that Ray Mears listed The Long Walk by Slavomir Rawicz in his top ten reads (Geographical, June 2008). There's no doubt that this is a cracking tale of heroism and adventure, and the book was a bestseller for...

Gap founder.(LETTER OF THE MONTH)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I have been reading the excellent article on the gap-year industry in the August Geographical (The credibility gap). I was founder of the whole gap movement and 'invented' the term 'gap year'. After the end of...

Growing solution.(MAILBAG)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In response to the article For pear's sake in the July Geographical (Trade secrets), I would like to advise you of the scheme operated by a number of West and Mid Sussex district councils, where recycled garden waste...

Pen Hadow.(I'M A GEOGRAPHER)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] After setting up his own polar travel company, Pen Hadow became the first person to complete one of the last great polar challenges--to walk solo, without resupply, from Canada to the North Pole in May 2003. Since...

From the Royal Geographical Society: (with the Institute of British Geographers), otherwise known as the 'home of geography'.(I'm a geographer)
September 1, 2008... There has never been a better or more important time to study geography. With growing interest in issues such as climate change, migration, environmental degradation and social cohesion, geography is one of the most relevant courses you could...

I'm a geographer.(Iain Stewart, Rita Gardner, Wayne Hemingway, Pen Hadow, Dame Mary Marsh, Paul Rose, Alan Hinkes)
September 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When they think of geography, most people think of maps, oxbow lakes and rain-soaked fieldtrips to Wales. But as an academic discipline, geography has made numerous important contributions to human knowledge and...

The path ahead.(environmental occupations)
September 1, 2008... A background in geography, earth/environmental science, land management, climate change, GIS and the like, can really open doors. From teaching and forestry to engineering and digital mapping, the case studies below demonstrate the astonishing...