17% of Earth's Land Without Human Influence
Friday June 29, 2007
A recent report in the journal Science states that (as of 1995) a mere seventeen percent of the earth's land surface remained free from direct human influence. National Geographic ... Read More
State of the World Population 2007
Friday June 29, 2007
The United Nations Population Fund has released their State of the World Population 2007 report online. They highlight that 2008 will be the year in which, for the first ... Read More
Phoenix Overtakes Philadelphia as Fifth Largest City
Friday June 29, 2007
Yesterday, the U.S. Census Bureau released their July 1, 2006 (yes, 2006) population estimates for United States incorporated cites and the big news of the day is that Phoenix captured ... Read More
Global Literacy Quiz
Tuesday June 26, 2007
Newsweek has produced an interesting 130-question quiz to measure the global literacy of the online audience. There's an awful lot of geography there so those who are geographically literate ... Read More
Desalinization Not Worthwhile
Friday June 22, 2007
The WWF reports that desalinization of salt water into fresh water is not an efficient solution to the world's drinking water problems because desalinization is expensive and wastes quite a ... Read More
Iwo Jima Becomes Iwo To
Friday June 22, 2007
The Japanese Geographical Survey Institute has officially changed the name of the infamous island Iwo Jima to Iwo To, which was the original name of the island prior to a ... Read More
Sudan, Iraq, Somalia Most Unstable Countries
Friday June 22, 2007
Foreign Policy has published their Failed States Index 2007, which rates countries on their relative stability. According to the index, the countries that are least stable are: 1) Sudan, ... Read More
Amazon River Longest in World?
Friday June 22, 2007
Caitlin at Geo Lounge reports that a group of scientists have determined that the Amazon River might just be the longest river in the world, taking that title from the ... Read More
Physical Geography Overview
Thursday June 21, 2007
I've written up a new short overview of physical geography. It links to a plethora of physical geography here on my site so I hope you find it useful! ... Read More
Palestine Breaks Apart
Tuesday June 19, 2007
Once unified and working toward peace, the Gaza Strip and West Bank have been torn asunder as Hamas has taken complete control of the Gaza Strip and the more moderate ... Read More
Summer or Winter Begins on Thursday
Sunday June 17, 2007
On Thursday, June 21, at 18:06 Coordinated Universal Time (2:06 p.m. on the East Coast of the U.S.), summer will begin in the Northern Hemisphere and winter will begin in ... Read More
Jack, Muhammad Are Most Popular Names in UK
Thursday June 14, 2007
The Times reports that the second most popular baby name in the United Kingdom is Muhammad (if one takes into account various spellings of the name). The name Muhammad ... Read More
US States Renamed Based on Countries' GDP
Thursday June 14, 2007
The blog strangemaps has an interesting map of the U.S. states renamed based on their approximate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared to the GDP of countries around the world. ... Read More
Bring Back Geography
Thursday June 14, 2007
Jerome E. Dobson, the president of the American Geographical Society and a professor of geography at University of Kansas in Lawrence, has written a lengthy essay about how the discipline ... Read More
Vermont to Seek Independence?
Thursday June 7, 2007
The idea of secession is gaining ground in Vermont, where thirteen percent of residents are serious about leaving the Union to form an independent country. That's up from eight ... Read More
Soccer and Altitude
Tuesday June 5, 2007
The FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association), which governs soccer worldwide, has banned international matches at elevations above 2500 meters (8,202 feet). This means that soccer matches can't be ... Read More
The 22 Worst Place Names in the World
Monday June 4, 2007
The blog Drivl presents this very interesting list of The 22 Worst Place Names in the World. On the list are some fairly foul words in English so reader ... Read More
Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary
Sunday June 3, 2007
Although it was published in 1997, Merriam Webster's Geographical Dictionary remains my favorite geographic reference - one I use daily. If you don't have a copy, consider it because ... Read More
Endangered Rivers
Friday June 1, 2007
WWF has released a report on the world's ten most endangered rivers. WWF reports that these ten rivers are quickly "dying as a result of climate change, pollution and ... Read More