Tropical Storm hits the Philippines

A tropical storm has hit the southern Philippines, triggering flash floods that
officials say have killed more than 430 people and left many missing.
Follow the story on the BBC at this link.
And watch it live on the Philippines Typhoon watch.

Happy Christmas Geography Bloggers

Not long left to have your vote.

The vote for the new 7 natural wonders of the world is coming towards its close and you only have a few more weeks to vote.
The provisional 7 winners announced in mid November are: The Amazon, Halong Bay, Iguazu Falls, Jeju Island, Komodo, Puerto Prince Underground River and Table Mountain.
But you can still have a vote by clicking this link.

7 Billion and counting

Although it is not an exact science it is estimated that the worlds population hit 7 billion today.
Watch this clip to see who claims the 7 billionth person.
You can also see where you fit in by clicking this link.
Or you can go the UN's Population Bureau to see their reaction

Geography Photographic Competition

A little different this year, the time frame for your pictures is the autumn and winter period. The theme is "People" and entering couldn't be easier:
Bring into school a photograph taken by yourself in the period between October 2011 and early January 2012; remember to save a digital copy if you have one. The judging criteria will be primarily the geographic element but also the artistic merit and the overall quality.
Here are just a few ideas
~ the bustle of the Christmas market
~ the lone hiker on the skyline of the fells
or even photographs were the "people" element is inferred
~ the blurr of traffic in the rainy night time
~ a cityscape like that below

Good luck!

Year 8 at Cowm 2011

Despite some rain showers and being a little damp underfoot the work of collecting geographical data goes on. Well done to the brave and uncomplaining hardy souls, especially those who just just embraced the day!

Welcome year 7

Well if you are reading this you have found the Geog Blog.

Now click this link.

Use the site you end up at to practice your map skills and to play map games.

Have fun!

Remember to save the blog address in you favourites and the map site - they will both be very useful in the future.

Search for Lake Ellsworth

A pioneering British expedition to sample a lake under the Antarctic ice hopes to find unknown forms of life and clues to future climate impacts.
The mission will use hot water to melt its way through ice 3km (2 miles) thick to reach Lake Ellsworth, which has been isolated from the outside world for at least 125,000 years - maybe a million.

To read more click this link to the BBC.

Follow progress at the Lake Ellsworth Website.

And the distance is .......

Welsh Lamb - 76 miles
Scottish Potatoes - 367 miles
Welsh Leeks - 148 miles
English Parsnips - 36 miles
English Broccoli - 163 miles
English Carrots - 107 miles

Giving a grand total travelled of - 897 miles

So how did you do?

Open Day Competition

Welcome to our Open Day and especially to the Geography Department competition.
Once again food miles is the topic, but this year we have gone for an entirely British fair.

So, to the nearest mile, how far has this Sunday dinner travelled?
Welsh Lamb
Scottish Maris Piper Potatoes
Welsh Leeks
English Parsnips
English Broccoli and
English Carrots

The answer will be revealed here on Saturday afternoon.

AS in Ingleton

Is it an Indian Summer?

Despite the unseasonal weather at the moment and record temperatures for the end of September and start of October it is not an Indian Summer.

Strictly speaking an Indian Summer is classified when there are unseasonal high temperatures in autumn (September to November) which come after the first killing frost.

But we can all enjoy the weather no mater what! Read more at the Met Office

East Africa Famine

The United Nations has declared a famine in two areas of southern Somalia as it suffers the worst drought in more than half a century.

You can read more at the BBC.

Or go to the Disaster Emergency Committee website where there are specific case studies and a place to donate.

For those of us that remember the famines of 1984/1985 that led to Band Aid and the Live Aid concerts this seems a great deal worse.

Here we go again?

Iceland's Gromsvotn Volcano has started erupting but will it effect flights like last year's eruption? Read what the expert think by clicking these links:
BBC News Website
Ice News

BIg day for British Geographers

It's Census day - make sure that you have filled out the Census - As geographers we use the information in so many ways.

What can you do?

Its Climate Week in the UK and this is your opportunity to demonstrate what you are doing and what you can do to combat climate change.

For more details click this link to the Cliamte Week web page.

Spring Equinox

Toady is the first day of Spring!

The sun is moving North but is currently directly above the Equator.

Devastating!

This is just one of the many video clips showing the horrific events following the the 8.9 Richter Scale earthquake in the North East of Japan on 12 March 2011.

For more details click on the Pacific Tsunamis warning Site

A good week for Geographers!

On Monday new images of a remote Brazil tribe were released.

On Tuesday the Police launched their Crime Maps - they enable you to see the crime that takes place on your street.

On Wednesday Cyclone Yasi hit Queensland, Australia

On Thursday the British topped the anxiety about immigration pole

On Friday the Independent reported about drought in the Amazon.

But other than those it was all quiet!

What's in a name?

Year 7 Homework

Click on this link to take you to the University of Nottingham Institute for Name Studies.

Remember you have to find the meaning of 10 settlement names , including why Oldham is so called.

Any problems then come and tell me before the next lesson.

The Geography of GCSE results!

To get a list of the areas click this link.
Just for the record Hulme had a 95% pass rate.

And now in Brazil!

More than 500 people are now known to have died in floods in south-eastern Brazil, the country's worst natural disaster for several decades.
Heavy rain has led to massive mudslides hitting several towns, resulting in thousands being made homeless.

For the BBC story and other links click here.

Have they the answer?

The world is hurtling towards population overload, placing billions of people at risk of hunger, thirst, lack of energy and slum housing.
But the problems can all be overcome through existing engineering solutions, if politics and economics can only change tack.

Do you agree?

To read the article in full click this link.

Not just Down Under!

Flooding is not just affecting Queensland. Heavy rain in the Philippines and in Sri Lanka are having major effects on the local populations. This will give those of you studying AS level an excellent contrasting case-study.

For a report and other links relating to flooding in Sri Lanka click here.

For a report and other links relating to flooding in the Philippines click here.

And on the home front rapid melting snow and heavy rainfall have brought flood warnings up. For more details click to go to the Environment Agency Flood Warning page

Not such a happy start to the year?

The floods in Queensland, Australia will provide excellent case-study material for year 12.

For basic details click this link.

For an explanation for the flooding click this link.

For some of the consequences click this link.