The Weather of 2012

It started with a drought and is now probably going to be the wettest year on record - so what caused this dramatic change?

The science behind Britain's wild weather will be explained by watching BBC One on Sunday 30 December at 17:30 or for seven days after by watching the Iplayer. The programme is Wild Weather in 2012.

To see a preview click this link.
 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Geog Bloggers.

The Black Marble

Image taken by the Suomi Satellite using the VIIRS instrumentation.

For more details read this link

Or go to the NASA website.

The Island that isn't an Island!

A South Pacific island, shown on marine charts and world maps as well as on Google Earth and Google Maps, does not exist, Australian scientists say.

Read more at this BBC link

For a different perspective read this Independent article.

Is it the end of paper maps?

Is modern technology and the use of GPS the end of paper maps?

See what Simon Garfield believes by clicking this link.

As a geographer - I don't think so!

Thank you for coming to our open events

We hope you enjoyed looking round school and we thank you for taking part in the Food Miles Competition.

The answer was: 5792 miles

The Broccili from Lincolnshie = 93 miles

The Parsnips from Suffolk = 171 miles 

The Carrots from Norfol = 129 miles

Sugar Snap Peas from Zambia - 5038 miles 

The potatoes from Aberdeenshire = 280 miles

The lamd from the Lake District = 81 miles

Welcome to Hulme's open events

Welcome to the Geography Department:

Why not take part in our food miles competition:

Below is a list of ingredients for a Sunday roast dinner, but how far have the ingredients travelled to get to the plate?

Broccoli from Lincolnshire
Parsnips from Suffolk
Carrots from Norfolk
Sugar snap peas from Zambia
Potatoes from Aberdeenshire
Lamb from the Lake District.

The answer will be revealed on Saturday at 4pm.

So how will you play FIFA15 or Justin Biber downloads?

Britain risks running out of energy generating capacity in the winter of 2015-16, according to the energy regulator Ofgem.

Its report predicted that the amount of spare capacity could fall from 14% now to only 4% in three years.

For more details read the BBC article or look at the Ofgem report

Follow up-to-date Geography News

Put this in your favourites or follow it on Twitter or Facebook.

Earthweek gives weekly up dates on Geography in the news - the sites tag line is:

"A diary of the Planet"

Arctic sea ice cover shrinking

Arctic sea ice has reached its minimum extent for the year, setting a record for the lowest summer cover since satellite data collection began.

The 2012 extent has fallen to 3.41 million sq km (1.32 million sq mi) - 50% lower than the 1979-2000 average.

For more on this story click this link

Congratulations

Well done to the Class of 2012 for your GCSE Geography results.

We look forward to seeing most of you on the 4th September ready for your ASs

And to those of you who are leaving - best wishes.

Fabulous!!!!!!

Well done to the A-level students on achieving an outstanding set of grades.
"You have the whole world in your hands"
Good luck for the future.

Volcano Live

In case the rain is stopping you get out-and-about here is something to watch on BBC 2 from Monday 9 July - Volcano Live

Kate Humble and Professor Iain Stewart present a four day journey into our extraordinary and dynamic planet, live from Kilauea on Hawaii, the world’s most active volcano.

Watch it or tape it - Monday to Thursday 8pm BBC 2.

Tornado in the UK

For those of you in year 9 and for anyone else who is interested here is proof that we do get tornadoes in the UK.

Click this link to the BBC.

Popocatepetl is ready to pop

Keep your eye on the volcano with the best name.
View this clip at the BBC.
Keep watching Mexico's monitoring programme on this link.

What would you spend it on?

Poverty has risen in Nigeria with almost 100 million people living on less than $1 or 63p per day - so what would you buy?

And I know what you are thinking "that must be a fortune in Nigeria", but look at the following shopping list:

1 litre of milk = $2.50

Loaf of bread = $1.27

12 egss =$3.21

1 pair of jeans = $25.75

1 pair of trainers = $125.00

1 minute of mobile phone = $0.19

One way bus ticket = $0.85

So what would you buy?

Read more at the following BBC page.

Photographic Competiton Results

This year was rather different from previous, with an emphasis on human geography and a winter time period. But the entries did not disappoint. The winner was Guy Richardson with an evocative shot taken on the moors. The humans in the landscape could not be more clearly defined than by the walkers braving the elements in the shadow of the giant turbine. The colours are bold and the composition excellent. Well done.

The iconic city-scapes shot by Phoebe Dickson and Kate Roodhouse came very close; may be you even disagree with the judges?

Thank you all for entering!

Cyclone Movies by Year 9

The Year 9 work on hurricanes gives plenty of scope for independent study and extended work. Presentations such as this by Daniel Turner Gallastegui inform and entertain the whole group. See what you think.

Link to the Project

Controlled Assessment 2012

Keep up to date with the Hulme geogblog for the latest tips and bonus help. It may help boost your marks or at the very least give you some ideas on how to expand your project. It may just save you a little time and make the whole process just that bit smoother. For instance the image below from OMBC is now no longer readily available. It does give a useful insight into the planners ideas about land use zoning in the CBD

Are we this desperate?

The Yasuni National Park, known as "the lungs of the world" and one of the most bio-diverse places on earth, is under threat from oil drilling. The race is on to find the funds required to develop new sustainable energy programmes that would leave the oil - and the forest - untouched.


Read more at the BBC.

How are your map reading skills?

It may be old fashioned but I don't use a Sat Nav for exactly this reason!

Intrigued - read this article from the Telegraph.

Tthe World at its best!

Happy 2012

Happy New Year - Can you name the locations shown on the picture?