GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

“Globalisation was supposed to tear down barriers, but security fears and a widespread refusal to help migrants and refugees have fuelled a new spate of wall-building across the world, even if experts doubt their long-term effectiveness. When the Berlin Wall was torn down a quarter-century ago, there were 16 border fences around the world. Today, there are 65 either completed or under construction, according to Quebec University expert Elisabeth Vallet.”

Source: news.yahoo.com

This is an intriguing opinion piece that would be good fodder for a class discussion on political geography or the current events/refugee crisis. 

Tags: borders, political.

Croatia reverses its policy on allowing in migrants and instead transports hundreds northwards, angering Hungary and Slovenia.

Source: www.bbc.com

How much do you know about the world? Hans Rosling, with his famous charts of global population, health and income data (and an extra-extra-long pointer), demonstrates that you have a high statistical chance of being quite wrong about what you think you know. Play along with his audience quiz — then, from Hans’ son Ola, learn 4 ways to quickly get less ignorant.

Source: www.youtube.com

Our preconceived notions of places, as well as some of the dominant narratives about regions, can cloud our understanding about the world today.  This video is a good introduction to the Ignorance Project which shows how personal bias, outdated world views and news bias that makes combating global ignorance difficult.   However, the end of the video shows some good rules of thumb to have a more fact-based world view.  

Tags: statistics, place, regions, media, models, gapminder, development, perspective.

Tags: Canada, language, social media, images, place, culture, landscape, tourism. 

Source: instagram.com

“The New England Journal of Medicine looks at death reports in 200 years of back issues. The first thing to notice here is how much our mortality rate has dropped over the course of a century, largely due to big reductions in infectious diseases like tuberculosis and influenza.”

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

This infographic shows the main causes of death in 1900 in the United States and compares that with the 2010 figures.  The United States, during that time underwent what many call the epidemiological transition (in essence, in developed societies we now die for different reason and generally live longer).  

Questions to Ponder: What geographic factors shape mortality rates and shifts in the mortality rates?  What is better about society today then before?  Has anything worsened?  How come?

Tags: mortality, medical, development, historical, USA, population, statistics, unit 2 population, infographic, models.

Source: storymaps.esri.com

This ESRI interactive web app uses the “swipe” function to compare 12 places over time.  These locations have experienced significant environmental change since 1990.  This is an user-friendly way to compare remote sensing images over time.  Pictured above is the Aral Sea, which is and under-the-radar environmental catastrophe in Central Asia that has its roots in the Soviet era’s (mis)management policies.  

Tags: remote sensing, land use, environment, geospatial, environment modify, esri, unit 1 Geoprinciples.

This 1868 pocket map of Chicago shows the city in full-blown expansion, a mere 3 years before the infamous blaze

Source: www.smithsonianmag.com

“A new census that shows that Earth is host to a staggering 3.02 trillion trees — more than scientists expected.The most recent estimate only counted 400 billion trees, reports Rachel Ehrenberg. Because prior studies used satellite technology alone instead of including data from on-the-ground tree density studies, writes Ehrenberg, they missed the mark. They also estimate that since human civilization began, 45.8 percent of all trees been lost.”

Source: www.smithsonianmag.com

I love satellite data, but ground-truthing is critical to so many research projects. 

Tags: remote sensing, conservation, physical, biogeography, environment, resources.

After World War I, Canada drew up classified plans to invade the U.S. Meanwhile, the U.S. had its own secret plot to create the “United States of North America.”

Source: www.mprnews.org

I never knew 1921 to 1930 was such a frosty time in Canadian-U.S. relations that BOTH sides drew up possible invasion plans.  Judging by these amazing arrows, these plans were never seriously about to be executed, but it is a good reminder that geopolitical partnerships (and rivalries) are ever-changing.  Today, if there are border tensions between these two allies, it might just center around the Arctic as it’s geopolitical importance is rising.  Also, I did enjoy the 1920s reference that Americans simply assumed that Canada (once the British Empire was dismantled) would naturally be absorbed by the United States. 

Tags: Canada, geopolitics, political, war.