The Power of Ice

A must watch video for Year 12 students studying extreme environments. Also an interesting watch for anyone interested in how ice plays a huge role in shaping our planet.

BEDZED - a sustainable housing project

The Geopolitical impacts of oil

Oil is arguably the world's most valuable resource and it is running out fast! As a result there are numerous geopolitical impacts of its use including issues of ownership, political cooperation, interdependence, internal pressures and resource nationalism.

Year 12: Watch this video for homework and use it along with today's classnotes to help you answer the following essay question.
"examine the geopolitical impacts of the increased demand for and production of oil'. (15 marks)

How big brands can save biodiversity - TED TALKS

Convince just 100 key companies to go sustainable, and WWF's Jason Clay says global markets will shift to protect the planet our consumption has already outgrown. Hear how his extraordinary round tables are getting big brand rivals to agree on green practices first -- before their products duke it out on store shelves.

The destruction of the tropical rainforests

Did you know that only 7% of our planet is covered by tropical rain forests - the most important life sustaining biome. This percentage is rapidly decreasing due to human influences and some suggest that 1 and a half acres are cleared every second and therefore in 40 years there will be no tropical rain forests left. But why is this? What are the reasons behind human's wanting to clear the tropical rainforests and what impact will this have? 

Read the following articles to see a few case studies of rainforest destruction and its impacts. Year 12 students, this is compulsory reading - please make case study notes under the heading - destruction of the Amazon.

Amazon road set to create trade between Brazil and Peru

Deforestation soars in the Amazon

Amazon Dam given the go ahead

Pictures of remote Brazil tribe

What does the Environment Agency have to say?

The UK Environment Agency is an organisation that monitors flood hazards in the UK. Check out their current warnings for the UK and use their interactive map section to identify the risk in Miss Gardner's home area. Explore the site by doing the following.

• Go to http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/default.aspx then type in Boston to see what the current warnings for Miss Gardner's town are. Feel free to experiment with other places you may know well in the UK.

• For those of you looking to challenge yourselves at GCSE level (flooding features on your end of year exam), read through the sections on what to do before, during and after a flood.

• Explore this interactive map to see the places worst affected in the UK. Type in Boston to locate Miss Gardner's home town on a map. Interactive flood map

Serious UK flooding affects Miss Gardner's home town!

Miss Gardner's home town of Boston, Lincolnshire is one of many places to experience severe flooding in the UK. 18,000 homes in the Boston area have been affected by this flooding leading to many people being displaced. For more information speak to Miss Gardner as her family and friends are currently being affected by this flood disaster.

The geography behind the flooding?
The main three causes of these severe floods have been: -

• Low Pressure 
• High Tides
• Strong Winds/ storms

The combination of these three factors have led to storm surges which has caused the flooding.

The storm itself is wreaking havoc!

The storm is causing problems across Northern Europe, disrupting travel, causing damage to properties and leading to power cuts. Here are some of the impacts on the region.

• 4 people are thought to have died due to the storm
• KLM has cancelled 84 flights from Amsterdam airport
• One of Europes longest bridges linking Denmark to Sweden is closed
• 64,000 homes in Scotland are without power

Can you name all of the countries in Africa?

Time for a game on the blog. See how many countries you can name in Africa. See your geography teacher for a merit if you can prove with a screen shot that you have successfully named over 40 countries. 

Good luck!

http://www.youdontknowafrica.com/

Ending Overfishing

This is a brilliant animation of the impacts of overfishing. Brilliant for GCSE students particularly as one of your topics for Paper 1 looks at this (Oceans on the edge).

Despite an increased awareness of overfishing, the majority of people still know very little about the scale of the destruction being wrought on the oceans. The short film presents its case for why overfishing needs to end and shows that there is still an opportunity for change.

Do you agree with the video?

Disaster in the Philippines

The Philippines is one of the most disaster prone nations in the world. It is an archipelago made up of over 7000 of islands and is a less economically developed country. 
The country experiences earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, typhoons, flooding along with other natural disasters and due to the poverty and the difficult terrain of the country, coping is often very difficult.

Typhoon Haiyan has been the deadliest typhoon on record killing at least 5,500 people, although the death toll is expected to continue to rise due to serious secondary effects. According to officials, at least 11 million people have been effected in some way by this devastating storm. 

1) Can you find where the Philippines is on a world map and identify why it is such a disaster hotspot?
2) Take a look at the damage caused by the recent typhoon by looking at the panoramic photograph here
Panoramic interactive Philippines devastation
3) Read more about this typhoon and keep up to date with the aftermath by clicking on the link below and carrying out your own search on Google.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/philippines/10469656/Typhoon-Haiyan-Philippines-death-toll-rises-above-5200.html