Geocaching
Friday July 31, 2009
The sport of geocaching involves using a GPS to locate hidden treasure based on latitude and longitude. Learn all about geocaching from Amanda's latest article.
America's Meanest Cities
Friday July 31, 2009
A new report, "Homes Not Handcuffs," from the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty and the National Coalition for the Homeless reports on the criminalization of homelessness in U.S. ... Read More
UN Members
Friday July 31, 2009
Take a look at my complete listing of the 192 members of the UN along with their date of admission. I found it fascinating that Ukraine and Belarus are ... Read More
New Geography Quiz
Thursday July 30, 2009
As promised, I provide you with a brand-new multiple-choice geography quiz. Good luck and enjoy!
China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, U.S.A. Lead World in Executions
Wednesday July 29, 2009
A new report by the anti-death penalty group Hands Off Cain shows that China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and the United States lead the world in the number executed ... Read More
Some Chinese Enouraged to Have Two Children
Wednesday July 29, 2009
Since China's one child law provides for couples who are each an only child to have two children, Shanghai is trying to encourage those eligible couples to have two children. ... Read More
Volunteering in the U.S.A.
Tuesday July 28, 2009
The Corporation for National & Community Service has a site devoted to trends and statistics about volunteerism in the United States. Volunteering in America includes rankings based on the ... Read More
Iceland Could be EU Member in Three Years
Tuesday July 28, 2009
The foreign ministers of European Union member countries jump-started Iceland's membership in the international organization by requesting a formal assessment of the country’s fitness to join the EU. Iceland ... Read More
Using Nets to Catch the Fog
Tuesday July 28, 2009
Lima, Peru's annual precipitation is about half of an inch so the desert city relies on lakes in the Andes. Scientists have developed nets that catch the moisture from ... Read More
Sahara Desert
Monday July 27, 2009
While Antarctica is the world's largest desert, the Sahara Desert often gets mentioned and recognized as it is the world's largest hot desert. Learn about the geography, biodiversity, and ... Read More
The Greening of Public Housing
Monday July 27, 2009
The New York Times has an interesting article about efforts in New York City's public housing system to make recycling more popular. Despite the eagerness expressed in this article ... Read More
Will You Complete Your Census 2010 Form?
Sunday July 26, 2009
The 2010 Census forms are being printed now and will be mailed to homes across the United States in mid-March 2010. In the 2000 Census, there was an average ... Read More
High Speed Trains
Sunday July 26, 2009
Are high speed trains the transportation solution of the future? Many are advocating their expansion and urban corridors throughout the world are considering these expensive trains. Read Amanda's ... Read More
Kosovo Independence
Sunday July 26, 2009
Kosovo is the world's youngest country but it struggled for more than a decade for independence. Learn about the rocky road of independence for Kosovo in my new article ... Read More
Census 2010 Form Printing
Sunday July 26, 2009
The U.S. Census Bureau has begun printing 120 million Census 2010 questionnaires, which is the shortest questionnaire since the first census in 1790. Consisting of just ten questions, the ... Read More
Gapminder
Wednesday July 22, 2009
I've been holding off on announcing Gapminder for a few days because I've felt challenged as to how to describe it. Gapminder provides animated graphs of demographic data for ... Read More
New Geography Quiz
Monday July 20, 2009
Test your geographic skills with my latest five-question multiple-choice geography quiz, which I plan to return to this site as a nearly weekly feature once again.
Energy Saving Building Codes
Monday July 20, 2009
Cities, states, and countries are develop increasingly tough energy-saving building codes for new buildings to save energy and fight global warming. The U.S. Energy Department estimates that 40% of ... Read More
Daylighting Rivers
Sunday July 19, 2009
The term "daylighting" refers to the restoration of rivers in cities where those rivers were previously underground or confined to concrete canals. The Dot Earth blog takes a look ... Read More
The Sunbelt
Sunday July 19, 2009
The region of the United States known as the Sunbelt has seen tremendous growth over the past few decades. Learn about this region and its history from Contributing Writer ... Read More
Biological Blob Floating in Arctic
Friday July 17, 2009
A 12 mile-long blob of some sort of organic material is floating in the Arctic Ocean off the coast of Alaska. The mass is located in the Chukchi Sea ... Read More
Iceland Votes to Join EU
Thursday July 16, 2009
Iceland's parliament voted today to begin membership talks with the European Union. The 32-28 vote (with two abstentions) in the Althing, is a result of Iceland's economic troubles as ... Read More
India's First Wal-Mart
Thursday July 16, 2009
A joint venture between Wal-Mart and India's Bharti group opened India's first warehouse store - BestPrice Modern Wholesale. The warehouse store is only open to business owners, their families, ... Read More
New U.S. Census Bureau Director
Wednesday July 15, 2009
After weeks of delays due to concerns about sampling issues in Census 2010, the U.S. Senate confirmed Dr. Robert Groves, a sociologist, as the new director of the U.S. Census ... Read More
USGS Topographic Maps as Free PDFs
Wednesday July 15, 2009
The United States Geological Survey has made their collection of old paper topographic maps available to download for free as PDFs through their Map Locator. Simply search for a ... Read More
Mississippi Delta Vanishing
Sunday July 12, 2009
Researchers estimate that due to a lack of sediments flowing downstream and rising sea levels that by 2100 the Mississippi Delta around the area of New Orleans will loose nearly ... Read More
Global Ant Colony
Sunday July 12, 2009
Huge ant colonies from around the world now appear to be inter-connected, with mega ant colonies in Europe, Japan, and North America all familial and friendly with one another. ... Read More
New Blank Outline Map Resource
Sunday July 12, 2009
There's an amazing new source for free blank outline maps on the Internet - D-Maps includes more than 3500 printable maps, available in six different graphic formats. A link ... Read More
Bizarre and Unusual Travel Destinations
Friday July 10, 2009
The L.A. Times has an interesting gallery of photos of unusual travel destinations. It's worth a look but be forewarned, the site will resize your browser window.
Wildland Fire
Friday July 10, 2009
Wildland fires are becoming so very prevalent as more people move to the fringes of urban areas, called exurbs. This creates a wildland/urban interface that makes property destruction all ... Read More
G8 Meeting Earthquake Plan
Wednesday July 8, 2009
The G8 begins a meeting today in L'Aquila, Italy, which was the site of a magnitude 6.3 earthquake last April. Due to safety concerns to protect the world's top ... Read More
The End of an Era
Sunday July 5, 2009
Take a look at this photo essay from The New York Times that records the situation in America's cities where major construction projects have been stopped suddenly due to the ... Read More
New Orleans Was Fastest Growing City in 2008
Friday July 3, 2009
Recently released data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that New Orleans was the fastest growing city in 2008, as it grew by 8.2% as it welcomed home residents who ... Read More
Suez Canal
Friday July 3, 2009
Egypt's Suez Canal is a 101 mile (163 km) long canal that connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Gulf of Suez, a northern branch of the Red Sea. Learn ... Read More
New Additions and One Subtraction from World Heritage List
Wednesday July 1, 2009
UNESCO has added thirteen new sites and has deleted one site to the much coveted World Heritage List. The deletion of the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany from the ... Read More