Geography

Geothermal pools are unique and spectacular features which are home to a plethora of species found nowhere else in the world. In addition, geothermal pools provide a cornucopia of ecosystem goods and services such as energy, a source of hot water, health benefits, thermostable enzymes, tourism sites, and even concert venues. Learn all about geothermal pools and their importance in this brand-new article from Claire Weber.

The United Nations has issued their 2013 Human Development Report and it includes several exciting findings. Titled "The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World," the report points out that China has already overtaken Japan as the world's second largest economy, improving the quality of life for hundreds of millions of Chinese. Additionally, countries like India and Brazil are increasing the standards of living for hundreds of millions of people in developing countries. The five top-ranked Human Development Indexcountries in the 2013 report are: 1) Norway, 2) Australia, 3) United States, 4) Netherlands, and 5) Germany.

Due to economic globalization, outsourcing has become a modern business norm. Goods are now often manufactured in developing countries and shipped overseas to be sold in industrialized markets. This practice, however, is not limited just to the exchange of concrete items. Today, even virtual goods and services are outsourced. Learn about the economic geography of gold farming and the global divide between the gold farmers and the gold buyers in MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) from this latest article by Ping Zhou.

Established in 1969, Earth Day is a celebration of our planet and our environment. Learn about this history of this annual commemoration of our planet and its environment, which takes place on Monday, April 22, 2013. What will you do on April 22 to consider our planet? Share your comments below...

The election of Pope Francis (Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio) of Argentina is a signal of the growing significance of Latin America to the Catholic Church. In recent decades the church, much like everything else, has experienced the effects of globalization. Historically, the center of the Catholic world was in Rome, Italy; today that is changing.

There has been some hullabaloo regarding apparent UNESCO recognition of a fragmented independent state located in the world's ocean comprised of the trash islands. The new "independent" entity is called "The Garbage Patch State" and it is actually a performance installation by Italian artist Maria Cristina Finucci, which was on display yesterday in Paris. Tongue-in-cheek descriptions of the entity report that it has a "population" of 36,939 tons of garbage." The Garbage Patch State also has a facebook page.  Perhaps it could be a more permanent home for the citizens of Sealand?

The rate of divorce for the Chinese is increasing at an alarming rate. An estimated 2.87 million Chinese marriages ended in divorce in 2012 alone, a number on the rise for the seventh year in a row. It seems that the recent upward trend has been the result of several factors including China's famous one-child policy. Read this new article about China's divorce rate from Claire Weber.

One of the seven wonders of the natural world and an incredible light show put on by our home planet, the aurora borealis and aurora australis (known as the Northern Lights and Southern Lights, respectively) are caused by the collision of gas particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged electrons from the sun's atmosphere.  It's a sight to see and this new article from Amanda Briney tells you everything you ever wanted to know about these amazing lights in the atmosphere.

Harm de Blij is one of the world's most notable geographers. He had a career as a geographer on television and has written dozen of books. He is familiar to most young geographers as the author of a classic textbook for world regional geography courses at universities. This biography and overview of Harm de Blij's innovative structure of the world should shed light on this remarkable geographer.

Tea is the world's most popular beverage. Tea production is a multi-billion dollar industry and many countries' economies are tied to it. Learn about the geography of tea and the different types of teas from this new article from geographer Ping Zhou.