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.

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.

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 to survive the coming century

ALLIGATORS basking off the English coast; a vast Brazilian desert; the mythical lost cities of Saigon, New Orleans, Venice and Mumbai; and 90 per cent of humanity vanished. Welcome to the world warmed by 4 °C.

Keep up with the latest thinking about global warming; do not just think geographical journals why not check out the New Scientist. This issue has an interactive map to allow you to browse the globe and speculate on the impact on different countries.

This month's Wide World Magazine

For those of you studying GCSE

This month's contents include:
Improve your grade Aiming for an A*
Clean coal?
Wideworldweb Rising sea levels
Holding the coastline
Aerial view The Ganges-Brahmaputra delta
Focus on… Tropical rainforest
Global ecosystems Tropical rainforest

Copies are in the school library or available from Phillip Allan Publishers.

Rainforest Clearance Accelerates

The destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has accelerated for the first time in four years, Brazilian officials say.
Satellite images show 11,968 sq km of land was cleared in the year to July, nearly 4% higher than the year before.

For more information click the following link: BBC News

UK Energy

Some energy experts asked by BBC News warn the UK could face an unacceptable risk of major blackouts in less than 10 years unless policy is improved.
They said the government has dithered for too long over policies vital to energy security and climate security.
But they added that forecasts of an imminent power crisis were far-fetched.
The possible energy gap is being created because of the impending closure before 2015 of nine of our major coal and oil-powered plants.

Read more on the BBC Webpage

Hurricane hits the Caribbean

Hurricane Paloma has strengthened to a Category Three storm and is lashing the Cayman Islands with winds of up to 185km/h (115mph.

For more information click this link to the BBC news page. To track Hurricane Paloma click this link to the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.

Life Expectancy Rises

Life expectancy at birth in the UK has reached its highest level on record for both males and females. A newborn baby boy could expect to live 77.2 years and a newborn baby girl 81.5 years if mortality rates remain the same as they were in 2005–07.

Females continue to live longer than males, but the gap has been closing. Although both sexes have shown annual improvements in life expectancy at birth, over the past 25 years the gap has narrowed from 6.0 years to 4.3 years.

Reasons for the changes include a reduction in smoking and better coronary health advice and care.

This data came from the Office of National Statistics.

Major artery closes for a few days

Those of you studying GCSE will know that part of the syllabus looks at the transport links between the UK and continental Europe.

The Channel Tunnel features quite prominently in this section as do the advantages and disadvantages of using it and the effect it has had on the Channel ports like Dover.

So what effect will a fire like today's have on the transport links in the SE of England?

It's nearly all over!

Back to school on Tuesday for all you pupils (the staff are in tomorrow!) and its official: the dullest August on record!

It could be worse we could be going to the Caribbean on holiday over the next few weeks - just as Hurricanes Gustav and Hanna get up a head of steam.

Keep an eye on their progress and any other hurricane developments by going to the National Hurricane Centre website: click on the link on the Geog Links below.

International fund for the Amazon

Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has launched an international fund to protect the Amazon rainforest and help combat climate change.
The fund will promote alternatives to forest-clearing for people living in the Amazon, and support conservation and sustainable development
Officials will seek donations abroad and aim to raise $21bn (£11bn) by 2021.
But a government minister said Brazil would not accept foreign interference in its Amazon policy. The environmental group Greenpeace said it was the first time Brazil had accepted a link between global warming and preserving the rainforest.
To see some statistics relating to clearance of the Amazon Rainforest click this link.

Big chunk of ice!

A large chunk of an Arctic ice shelf has broken free of the northern Canadian coast, scientists say.

Nearly 20 sq km (eight sq miles) of ice from the Ward Hunt shelf has split away from Ellesmere Island, according to satellite pictures.

It is thought to be the biggest piece of ice shed in the region since 60 sq km of the nearby Ayles Ice Shelf broke away in 2005.

Scientists say further splitting could occur during the Arctic summer melt.

Japan Tremor

A powerful earthquake has struck off the eastern coast of Japan, with officials warning that some regions could be hit by a small tsunami.

Japan's Meteorological Agency measured the 6.6-magnitude quake just before noon off Fukushima prefecture.

The agency issued a tsunami warning for Fukushima and Miyagi prefectures.

Reports said buildings shook in Tokyo with the force of the quake, but there was not thought to be any serious damage or any casualties.

Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries and experiences thousands of tremors each year.

World Population Day

Today (11 July) is the United Nations World Population day.

For more information click on this link to the UN Population Fund.

No Ice in the North Pole?!

For those of you who read the Independent this story will not come as a shock, but for those of you who don't - click the link and read more.

The Independent Newspaper online

I told you Year 11.

It is estimated that there are approximately 100 uncontacted tribes living on the planet and over half of them are in the Amazon Rainforest.

Recent photographs taken by Brazilian Government officials show one such tribe. Located on the boarder between Brazil and Peru these photographs show the homes of the tribe and shows what effect an aeroplane has on the tribes-men; two try to shoot it down with bow and arrow.

An organisaiton that aims to help and protect such tribes is Survival International. Its website has excellent case study material on the effects that modern society has on such tribes. So why not have a look at their website and build up your examples?