GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

TED Talks In the ongoing debate about globalization, what’s been missing is the voices of workers — the millions of people who migrate to factories in China and other emerging countries to make goods sold all over the world.

Our collective understanding of modern industrialization and globalization needs to go beyond the binary of “oppressors” and “victims.”  This lecture explores the voices and lives of Chinese workers that we so often simply see as simply victims of a system, but are full of ambition and agency.

Tags: industry, globalization, labor, China, TED.

See on www.ted.com

Mapa de localización de los trenes de Media y Larga Distancia de España…

This maps shows nicely how mapping and spatial thinking can promote lead towards better logistics and improved transportation.   The real-time updates and schedules shows that social media and mobile devices are promoting greater innovation.

See on positren.nebulacodex.com

Probability of a white Christmas in U.S.

This is not a weather report; we are still too far out to start predicting that with any accuracy.  What this map does show is the statistical probabilities of snow cover thoughout the United States for December 25th based on past climatological data.    

See on www.ncdc.noaa.gov

A new interactive tool allows you to decide how many Israeli settlers to annex and what constitutes a viable Palestinian state.

This article from the Atlantic is a great introduction to a mapping tool that puts the user at the virtual negotiation table.  Peace talk proposals often center around the amount of land that Palestinians want and the Jewish settlements in the West Bank that the Israelis want as a part of the state of Israel.  This interactive, titled Is Peace Possible?, allows the user to propose potential land swaps, see the demographic breakdown of West Bank settlements and videos to introduce users to on 4 major issues: borders, security, refugees and Jerusalem. 

Tags: Israel, borders, Palestine, territoriality, political, mapping. 

See on www.theatlantic.com

NASA.gov brings you images, videos and interactive features from the unique perspective of America’s space agency.

NASA has stunning galleries of images, including this link to images of the day.  NASA has also recently made the 172-page e-book Earth as Art a free download (PDF). 

About the Image: Portrait of Global Aerosols

“High-resolution global atmospheric modeling run on the Discover supercomputer at the NASA Center for Climate Simulation at Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., provides a unique tool to study the role of weather in Earth’s climate system. The Goddard Earth Observing System Model, Version 5 (GEOS-5) is capable of simulating worldwide weather at resolutions of 10 to 3.5 kilometers (km).  This portrait of global aerosols was produced by a GEOS-5 simulation at a 10-kilometer resolution. Dust (red) is lifted from the surface, sea salt (blue) swirls inside cyclones, smoke (green) rises from fires, and sulfate particles (white) stream from volcanoes and fossil fuel emissions.” 

See on www.nasa.gov

Cancer is often considered a disease of affluence, but about 70% of cancer deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
Explore this interactive map to learn about some cancers that disproportionately affect poorer countries.

With this interactive map, users can explore cancers that disproportionately affect poorer countries.  How do these spatial distributions correlate with other developmental, consumption or economic patterns?  What surpises you about this data?   

Tags: medical, mapping, spatial.  

See on globalcancermap.com

Washington state has become the first in America to allow the recreational use of cannabis, setting up a potential showdown with the US federal government.

The states that have legalized recreational marijuana use reflect regional differences in cultural and communal values within the United States.  This is a political quandry will fasinating political ramifications. 

Questions to Ponder: What will the Federal government do considering that a state law is contradicting a federal law?  Will other states follow?  Would a California employee fail a drug test is the drugs were legally consumed in a different state?  Will Washington and Colorado receive more weekend tourism?   

See on www.telegraph.co.uk