Political Geography of Space
Tuesday March 31, 2009
The new international news site GlobalPost.com has an interesting article about the political geography of Low Earth Orbit. As the article points out, Low Earth Orbit is now home ... Read More
Mayotte Votes to Become Overseas Department of France
Tuesday March 31, 2009
The French territory of Mayotte, which is part of the archipelago of Comoros and thus claimed by Comoros, voted 95% in favor of becoming an Overseas Department of France. ... Read More
World's Busiest Airports
Sunday March 29, 2009
The Airports Council International has just released their rankings of the world's busiest airports and so I present you with the listing of the 30 busiest airports in the world. ... Read More
Earthquake Lights
Sunday March 29, 2009
My colleague Andrew Alden, the Guide to the About.com Geology site has a fascinating article about earthquake lights, which occur before, during, and after earthquakes. It's an interesting phenomenon. ... Read More
The Gulf Stream
Thursday March 26, 2009
The Gulf Stream is the strong, fast moving, warm ocean current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. Learn all about the Gulf ... Read More
The New Baby Boom
Thursday March 26, 2009
It's official! The 4,317,119 recorded births in the United States in 2007 broke the nation's record set in 1957 at the height of the Baby Boom. Likewise, the ... Read More
Ocean Currents
Wednesday March 25, 2009
The movement of water in the world ocean impacts the global climate. Learn all about the currents of the ocean from geographer Amanda Briney's latest article in the realm ... Read More
Female Travelers of the 1700s and 1800s
Tuesday March 24, 2009
The UCLA Charles E. Young Library Department of Special Collections provides an interesting
Really Hot Water
Monday March 23, 2009
Deep in the Atlantic Ocean lie what are called black smokers, hydrothermal vents along the mid-oceanic ridge. Scientists have discovered that the water in and near these vents is ... Read More
Geopolitical Activism at the Dry Cleaners
Monday March 23, 2009
I suppose that the dry cleaners might be one of the last places you'd expect geopolitical activism. After all, it's the dry cleaners. However, in New York City ... Read More
Census Data Frustrations
Sunday March 22, 2009
The U.S. Census Bureau has just released their latest estimates of the metropolitan areas of the United States. I've really grown frustrated with Census data for metropolitan areas over ... Read More
Another Strange Border - Baarle-Nassau
Sunday March 22, 2009
I might have to turn my list of ten unusual borders to a list of eleven. Thanks to reader Steve who let me know about a strange border that ... Read More
Stream Order
Thursday March 19, 2009
Did you know that there is a ranking system for streams and rivers that ranks bodies of flowing water on a scale of one to twelve? Learn all about ... Read More
Climate Literacy
Thursday March 19, 2009
The U.S. federal government has produced a great publication (on the multi-agency climatescicence.gov website) that seeks to educate everyone about the Earth's climate. I quote from the 17-page publication, ... Read More
Glacier National Park: Glacier-Free by 2030
Wednesday March 18, 2009
It was often said that Glacier National Park in Montana would not be home to any glaciers by 2050. Well, now scientists are saying that thanks to temperature rise ... Read More
Increasing Temperatures Could Mean Billions of Fewer Humans
Tuesday March 17, 2009
The director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, said that if global temperatures rose nine degrees Fahrenheit due to the buildup of greenhouse ... Read More
Generational Demographics
Tuesday March 17, 2009
The Population Reference Bureau provides an interesting report about the demographics of the past few generations in the United States. The dates and names they use for the generations ... Read More
Egg Balancing on the Equinox
Tuesday March 17, 2009
About.com Urban Legends Guide David Emery discusses the often repeated tale that one can only balance an egg on its end on the spring equinox. The March equinox this ... Read More
Lebanon's First Embassy in Syria
Tuesday March 17, 2009
Lebanon has opened their first embassy in Syria since independence in 1943. The new embassy represents a warming of relations between Syria and Lebanon, which had been strained for ... Read More
Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan
Friday March 13, 2009
Yi-Fu Tuan is a Chinese-American geographer famous for pioneering the field of human geography and merging it with philosophy, art, psychology, and religion. Read Amanda's biography of Yi-Fu Tuan ... Read More
Russian Name Changes
Thursday March 12, 2009
Immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was all the rage in the former USSR to change one's city name to a pre-Communist name. After a while ... Read More
Basin and Range Province
Thursday March 12, 2009
The Basin and Range Province of the Western United States has a unique topography. Amanda's latest article explores the geology and structure of basin and range complexes not just ... Read More
Modern Hoovervilles or Bush-Lands or Obama-Towns?
Thursday March 12, 2009
Many media sources have been reporting on the rapidly growing tent city located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in my hometown of Sacramento, California, a city ... Read More
Farthest Visible Distance?
Wednesday March 11, 2009
John asks an interesting question on the forum. Basically, he is trying to determine the farthest distance visible between two points on earth. He suggests that perhaps it ... Read More
Spring Break in Mexico
Wednesday March 11, 2009
Despite the fact that Mexico is one of the top spring break locations for American college students, this year some universities are recommending that students not attempt a trip to ... Read More
Global Currency?
Tuesday March 10, 2009
A few days ago, I was thinking that perhaps the world needed a single global currency to help some of the economic problems. Well, lo and behold today I ... Read More
New Geography Quiz
Saturday March 7, 2009
I am pleased to present my latest geography quiz. It's a fifteen-question multiple-choice geography quiz to test your geographic knowledge. Good luck!
West Virginia Works to Boost Image
Friday March 6, 2009
The state of West Virginia is seeking to improve its "hillbilly" image in the mental maps of many as it begins to spend millions of dollars on marketing, decreasing brain ... Read More
Tsunami Memorial Museum Opens in Indonesia
Friday March 6, 2009
A brand-new $6.7 million museum commemorating the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami has opened in Aceh, Indonesia. Aceh was home to nearly half of the approximately 240,000 people who were ... Read More
Pondicherry Changes Name
Thursday March 5, 2009
The Indian city and territory of Pondicherry changed its name and this most recent name change in India has just started to catch on. With this most recent change, ... Read More
Ecomigration - Where To Go?
Thursday March 5, 2009
The Washington Post has an interesting article about some people who have relocated (from Washington D.C. to New Zealand, Israel to Indiana, and New Orleans to Shreveport, Louisiana) due to ... Read More
The Geography of Recession
Wednesday March 4, 2009
The New York Times has published a county level map of the latest unemployment values for the United States. The resulting map of the impacts of the recession is ... Read More
A Southeast Asian EU?
Wednesday March 4, 2009
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has established the year 2015 as their goal to achieve a European Union-style trading group without barriers among the ten member countries. ... Read More
Spring Forward on Sunday
Wednesday March 4, 2009
At 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 8, Daylight Saving Time begins in the United States. Daylight Saving Time begins the second Sunday in March at 2 a.m. when the ... Read More
Environmental Determinism
Tuesday March 3, 2009
Environmental determinism is a controversial topic that developed out of the discipline of geography. It has been likened to racism and has lost credibility as a theory. Read ... Read More