The Blog

Well Vix has informed everyone what she thinks will happen to the blog so now I will.

The blog is obviously going to carry on up until the exam with (hopefully) helpful material which will (again hopefully) help people to get better grades. "What's going to happen after that though?" I hear you cry. Well I imagine that it will continue but probably with more of an emphasis on news stories and reviews and 'proper' geography in the news. Once I get to Uni the blog will probably start to become more true to it's original aim again. However the name will have to change as I'll no longer be a geography student but rather an Earth and Environmental Student and thus the posts will be catered to such an audience. I do however hope to keep it as interesting as possible despite how depressing it becomes with endless predictions of the depletion of finite resources e.g. soil (who'd have thought we'd run out of soil?!).

So yeah that's where I see this going, if it's still going after my first Uni then the blog posts will be coming to you from the delightful Iceland...

so where our blog is going

so today has been the very last day of college and this morning at 10 20 our very last ever A2 geography lesson ended. now obviously the name of the blog is what i learnt in geography this week and i am sure the name will soon change as although i am going to carry on beeing a little bit of a geography geek james is off to do environmental therefore the bredth of this blog should increase and be really accessible to all of the earth sciences.
i dont think i am going to stop blogging about random things and i am going to attempt to choose a news story each week; however i am going to wait to do this until after my exams so please still keep a watch with what is going as im sure things will be changing!

Comparative Case Studies: Haiti and Chile

Comparative Case Studies: Haiti and Chile

Haiti

• Date – 12^th January 2010
• Magnitude – 7.0 or IX on the Modified Mercalli Scale
• Depth – 13 km (8.1 miles)
• Deaths – 92,000 t0 316,000
• 1.5 – 1.8 million homeless

Economists from Latin America estimated that the Earthquake would cost between $8.1 and $13.9 billion, almost double Haiti’s GDP of $7 billion (world bank figures for 2008).

Why was this quake so destructive?

• ·      Depth of the earthquake; this quake was very shallow meaning it caused more damage.
• ·      Haiti is an LDC and ranked 130^th in GDP (nominal). This means it doesn’t have the resources or money to develop earthquake proof buildings or educate the public.
• ·      Haiti hadn’t experienced an earthquake in 168 years and Port-au-Prince (Haiti’s capital) hadn’t for 210 years. This lulled the Haitian people into a false sense of security.
• ·      Since the earthquake at least 52 aftershocks measuring magnitude 4.2 or more have been recorded. The largest (5.9) is said to have caused the collapsing of already weakened buildings.
• ·      Essential services were destroyed; 3 hospitals collapsed, the harbour was too damaged to be used, the control tower at the airport was seriously damaged and the main road to Jacmel (a large city in the south-east) was blocked. This prevented emergency services from helping the injured and prevented external help from reaching the country.

Government Response

• ·      Initial confusion over who was in charge (the government or the UN) left no single group organising relief efforts until the 16^th January.
• ·      Government handed over control of the airport to the USA to improve flight efficiency for aid reaching the country.
• ·      Due to the slow distribution of resources throughout Haiti looting began to take place
• ·      Aid from around the world began pouring in. ICE-SAR, Iceland’s search and rescue team were the first to reach Haiti within 24 hours of the Earthquake. Teams from China, Korea, Israel and Qatar were also mobilised.
• ·      The USA and Canada allowed the temporary relocation of Haitians to their respected countries whilst relief efforts were underway

S – Rotting bodies were found in the streets as the Haiti government struggled to cope with the vast numbers of dead found in the streets

P – Shows globalisation between governments and how the world can pull together in times of crisis. For example the Americans were happily working alongside the Chinese and Russians something that would never have happened in the past

E – The cost of the earthquake could reach almost double that of Haiti’s GDP in 2008

E – Dead bodies were piled into cemeteries as people tried to respect the Voodoo religious burial rights however they couldn’t cope so bodies were left rotting causing disease and depression.

D – 92,000 people dead is a huge knock on the workforce of Haiti, 316,000 would be even more disastrous. At a time where the government will need all the money it can to rebuild the diminished workforce will be producing less, thus elongating the time of recovery.

Chile

• Date: 27^th February 2010 (03:34 local time)
• Magnitude: 8.8 Richter scale (6^th largest earthquake ever recorded). The strongest shaking reached MM IX in Concepcion, MM VII and VIII were felt in the capital Santiago
• Depth: Between 30.1 km (19 miles) and 35 km (22 miles)
• Deaths: 562 identified fatalities
• Costs: $15-30 billion worth of damage to Chile’s economy. Also caused economic impacts within other nations due to the tsunami that was caused

Geology of the Area – The Earthquake

The earthquake was a result of the Nazca plate being subducted underneath the South American plate in an Oceanic – Continental convergent boundary. Experts and seismological centres have predicted that aftershocks will continue to plague the area for up 5 years; for example on the 11^th February 2011 a magnitude 6.8 aftershock struck. Chile has been capable of producing massive earthquakes since the Palaeozoic era (500 million years ago) and the largest earthquake ever recorded occurred in 1960 in Chile, magnitude 9.5.

This earthquake was 501 times more forceful than the Haiti earthquake but caused less destruction. Why was that?

• ·      The earthquake in Chile was at a much greater depth than that of Haiti. The Haiti earthquake was at a depth of 13km, thus almost half the depth than that of the Chile earthquake. The large depth of Chile helped to protect it from Love waves, most of which had dissipated by the time the waves had reached ground level; in comparison the shallow depth of Haiti allowed for the increased destruction due to love waves.
• ·      The geological history of the areas also greatly affected the earthquake; Chile is above very old rock, which is very hard thus the impact of the earthquake was reduced. In contrast Haiti sits upon very young rock, which is unconsolidated; this enhances the destruction as it means that the ground experiences more shaking and more buildings collapse.
• ·      Collapsing buildings are the main cause for deaths during an earthquake. Chile has stricter buildings codes than Haiti meaning that the buildings survived the earthquake better, reducing the number of fatalities.
• ·      The situation was lucky in some respects as the predicted wave height of the tsunami never materialized. This vastly reduced the number of fatalities that could have been expected from an earthquake of this magnitude.
• ·      The fact that Chile is one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world has resulted in a very educated/prepared population and emergency services. This reduced the number of fatalities of the earthquake.

Government Response

• ·      The government announced that it wouldn’t ask for help until it had fully assessed the situation however many nations were quick to respond e.g. the EU, the USA, China
• ·       To combat looting the military was ordered to assist the police and the government announced that criminal penalties would be more severe during the catastrophe. Looting quickly ends without much conflict, unlike New Orleans.
• ·      Countries began to send medical aid, shelters, food supplies, clothing, fuel, generators etc. Seismologists and seismology centers are also sent and set up
• ·      Vaccinations against tetanus and hepatitis are deployed.
• ·      Rubble from buildings is either re-used or sold to help with the relief effort
• ·      A fund was begun named Chile helps Chile with the aim of raising $29 million to build 30,000 emergency homes began on 5^th March, by 23:00 on the 6^th $58 million had been raised.
• ·      The Chilean government announces that over 35 countries responded to specific requests

The way both governments responded shows the level of preparation of Chile and how it helped to mitigate impacts. The response from the Haitian government was very ‘washy’; no singular group took charge of the relief operation for a long time, which resulted in higher numbers of casualties. Chile communicated well with other countries meaning that they got the aid they needed and where they needed it.

S – Some areas that the police/military couldn’t reach were left to fend for themselves against the looters. Some of the community armed themselves to protect their homes and/or livelihoods.

P – Shows how a government can deal with a natural disaster effectively by gathering the right type of support from around the world.

E – The Chile helps Chile fund is an excellent example of how a country can support itself during a national crisis so that it doesn’t have to rely on outside aid which may be tied or have to be repaid.

E – Research centers calculated that Santiago was moved 28cm to the southwest and Concepcion was moved at least 3m to the west.

D – The destruction caused many to be left without jobs, this could have potentially led to the negative/de- multiplier effect in some areas. 

Well I hope that was helpful, it took me long enough to write. 

a few development definitions:

first world:- NORMALLY DEMOCRATIC AND CAPITALIST COUNTRIES...
I.E. WESTERN EUROPE, NORTH AMERICA, JAPAN,NEW ZEALAND.

third world:- ALL OTHER COUNTRIES INCLUDING AFRICA,ASIA AND LATIN AMERICA...
-COUNTRIES THAT REMAINED NON ALIGNED
-NOT MOVING WITH CAPITALISM + NATO
I.E. COMMUNISM + SOVIET UNION


post cold war:-SOVIET UNION FELL IN 1991 , EASTERN BLOCK CEASED TO EXIST
-have now moved away from purely economic and political indicators


the Brandt line- north/south divide
   (now considered derogatory-- Indonesia and south America both above the line)

GDP-total value of products and services produced within the territorial boundary of a country
    -used to seee how the strength of a countries local economy

GNP-total value of goods and services produced by all nationals of acountry (whether living in or out the country)
   -used to see how the nationals of the country are doing economically

HDI-a measurement of gnp/capita, adult literacy, school enrolement, le at birth
   - number produced is between 0 and 1
         - 1-0.8 = high
         -0.8-0.6= medium
         - below 0.6 = low

the environment can hold hdi backwhereas economy can boost it

HPI-shows ecological efficiency
   -high levels of resource consumption do not rely produce high levels of well being



CORE PERIPHERY
- the fact that there can be variation in a country

e.g. USA-washington HDI= high.
                          - vancouver and seattle just over the border= tourists
WHEREAS
             -montana HDI=low
                           -near mountains
             -new orleans HDI=low
                            extreme weather; hurricanes etc


MDC-stable economy high GDP and HDI
NIC's- S.Korea- more than 40years
RIC's- last 40years i.e India
LDC- (see previous post)
CPE's- communist countries N.Korea, China, Kerela, Cuba, Vietnam, Burma
ORC's-oil rich countries -some developed some not

DEVELOPMENT IS A CONTINUAL PROCESS!!!!!

Revision - Tectonics

Apparently our exams are coming up? I don't really know, I think Millie said something about doing 7 hours of revision a week. That sounds a bit extensive to me, I'll give it a few more weeks until I start...






So I am going to start delving back into my favourite topic and prove my nerdiness to the world as I get excited by the Laki eruption of 1783 (and the synoptic links it offers), the Wilson cycle, the possibility of predicting earthquakes etc. I'm like a child before christmas. 


The first topic shall be... (drum roll)


THE EVIDENCE FOR CONTINENTAL DRIFT AND IT'S RELATIVE USEFULNESS 


So alrighty then, lets get this show on the road. Firstly what is continental drift? Continental drift is the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates in relation to each other, this can be moving towards each other, away from each other or laterally against each. 

Geologists (and aristocrats with nothing else to do) often identified the simplest evidence for continental drift. This is the fact that certain coastlines match with each other, for example in 1620 Sir Francis Bacon recognised that the coastlines of East South America and West Africa were closely related (though he failed to note that they can also form the tectonic rex...). This represents the first piece of evidence that can be used to prove continental drift, matching coastlines to each other. This however is very subjective which makes it unreliable and can match coastlines that are completely unrelated for example the UK looks as if it could slot quite snugly into the Gulf of Carpentaria (other people may disagree, illustrating the subjectiveness). What this evidence does allow is for further investigation, it's a cheap method of identifying areas which may be worth looking into. 


Biology and Climate have also been used to identify and help prove continental drift. By finding common fossils in vastly distant locations such as the Mesosaurus (which has been found in both Brazil and South Africa) we are able to distinguish that these locations were once connected. We can interpret these locations as being connected due to the traits of evolution, the chances of the same species evolving simultaneously in separate locations is almost impossible. A prime example of why we interpret evolution this way is by examining Madagascar. Madagascar split from Africa 160 million years ago meaning it's flora and fauna evolved independently of the rest of the world's. This has resulted in species similar to those found elsewhere but actually not related, for example the Tenrec which is often mistaken as a common hedgehog. This is an example of species filling the same niches in different areas but not evolving commonly, crucial to establishing the continental drift theory. 

The diagram illustrates sea floor spreading and how it can be
measured using palaeomagnetism

The discovery of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in 1948 helped provide evidence for continental drift. Along the ridge there is a line of volcanoes which is where new oceanic crust is created, thus if oceanic crust is being created then the Earth is getting bigger but it's not. Therefore it must be being destroyed in a separate location. This, when coupled with the discovery of sea floor spreading in the 1960s provides (arguably) the strongest evidence for continental drift. Investigations into sea floor spreading were made possible with the development of Radio Carbon 14 dating (RC14) which has proven that as you move away from the mid-ocean ridges the age of the rocks increases. The final piece of 'modern' evidence for continental drift is Palaeomagnetism. This was discovered in the 1940s due to use of military SONAR equipment and then then theorised into what we understand today by Fred Vine and Drummond Matthews. Palaeomagnetism explores the concept that when iron bearing magma cool below the Curie point the iron within the rocks acts a "fossil compass" pointing towards the prevailing global magnetic field (the Earth's magnetic field switches between North and South and vice versa, every 400ka) . If the sea floor is spreading then the oceanic crust should show symmetrical magnetic stripes as you move away from the mid-ocean ridge. 


I reckon that's enough to be getting on with at the moment, if anyone has any questions feel free to ask away, we're here to help. I'm off to procrastinate instead of doing revision.

Millenium development goals

So I have decided that I am going to start posting summaries and clippets of A2 geography starting at the beginning of the year,

Our first topic of the year was development so this is where I will start!

LDC’s

These are defined by a few key factors,

-income below $750 per capita per year

-very weak resources

    - i.e healthcare, education, nutrition/calorie intake

-economic vulnerability

    i.e –instable exports and instable agricultural production

these are generally associated with a corruption, dictatorships and conflict.

There are currently 49 countries classified as LDC’s this is divided with 33 in Africa, 15 in Asia and 1 in Latin America (Haiti).

-          16 of these are landlocked and 12 small islands

So the question is what is being done to help these countries?  the answer is millenium development goals.   These are a set of 8 goals set up by 192 united nation members who were  hoping tgo achieve them all by 2015 however each one has their own set of deadlines.

   The first goal:

   -To halve the proportion of people whose income = below $1/day

         -this was set to start in 1990 and be achieved by 2015

  -To achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all

        -reasons? when people lose their jobs it leads to vulnerable employment where human rights are comprimised

       - Halve the proportion who suffer from hunger

                -1990-2015

Achieved by:  subsidy programmes in Malawi and Ghana for fertiliser and feeds

                        Malawi need 2.2 million tonnes for self sufficiency

UNDP- supporting national, rural employment gurantee scheme-India

                                      - Providing a minimum of 10days work a year

Goal 2:  ensuring children everywhere are able to complete primary education by 2015

                    -sub saharan africa and South asia

Being achieved by:

-fees abolished in 8 countries-- Tanzania, enrolement ratio doubled to 99.6% in 2008

-world programme-providing school meals

      -encourages parents to send the children to school

EU- basic education in Africa programme- to adopt legal frameworks guranteeing 8-10 year olds uninterrupted education

for goal 2 to be achieved goal one needs to be achieved first.

Goal number 3!

-elimintaing gender disparity in primary and secondary education
       -2015

-Giving women more time to achieve-
      -Diesel run generators burkino faso - frees up womens time.




Goal 4:

-Reduce under 5 mortality rate by 2/3rds. 1990-2015

Achieved by

   -Immunization programmes- Egypt, Vietnam and Bangladesh

  

   -Mosquito nets provided to reduce malaria

              - Republic of Congo

 Goal number...5!

Reduction of maternal mortality by 3/4

      -1990-2015

Achieved by:

- investing in mobile maternal health units

                -e.g. Pakistan

-achieve universal access to productive health care

Goal 6:

To halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015

Achieved by?

   - access to treatment for thos ethat need it

   - free access to antiretrovial treatment

                   -e.g Botswana-- increase Life Expectancy by 4years

                                          -reduce new cases of HIV

Number 7:

-To halve the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation

Achieved by:

    -UNICEF- water quality survelance

                    -promote low cost sanitation

                    - promote and improve sanitation in schools

Goal 8:

-Develop an open,rule based, predictable, non-discrimintary trading and financial system

                - Deal comprehensively with debt issues

 

Achieve by?

-UN conference, south-south cooperation

           -co operation thgrough aid, trade technical assistance and investment

                              -- encourages countries of the south to advance valuable partnerships

So this is the first of the many posts to come on development, i hope reading this will start to jog your emory back to last July!!!



Iceland

So in our last post we seemed to forget the very first day just after we landed, we visited a spa which definitely had a distinct smell of rotten egg! after showering vigorously and playing with the pretty cool technology that was the lockers (yes even i think that this piece of technology was kind of trippy) we bathed in the smelly waters which were heated through geothermal means and thus were lush! during the odd occurence of swimming in such odd water (i mean if water smelt that bad in the uk and had that same bright blue/ milky appearance would you even think about putting on your bikini and taking a dip-no i didn't think so!) we then continued to smear white clayish mud all over ourselves and our faces because it is meant to be good for the skin! (my skin most certainly is not feeling any better for it but who doesn't love the excuse!) lastly even frozen pieces of volcano were being spread onto peoples faces!

  Iceland has some of the most stunning views and beautiful landscapes that i think i have seen so far, the sheer diversity and surprise in weather conditions is truly awesome!

Since i landed in iceland i have been sat on a coach driving on complete flat yet surrounded by stunning snowy mountains... the waterfalls aren't half bad either!!! We have been to see many waterfalls in the past two days one of which we got to walk behind and stand under, one of the others we were able to view from the top and see a petrified troll (what else i mean really!) i stood as close to the bottom of this particular waterfall as possible without swimming in the vast plunge pool, the power in the spray  of it was immense. The next waterfall was different and unique again with the waterfall flowing over columnar basalt-- columnar jointing caused as molten rock cools (usually basalt) and contracts.

the rest of today was spent with us walking around a lagoon coming from the glacier the lagoon contained many icebergs and seals as well, the beauty of this was outstanding, the simple contrast of blue waters and crystal clear ice.

EEEEK whilst i have been writing this blog, which happens to have now been for the past hour, i have been interrupted with people running in and shouting that the northern lights are outside-- they are stunning! so on this note the people are trying to shut up this room, it is quarter to twelve and i need some sleep before glacier walking tomorrow!

so long farewell!