GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

“The Urban Observatory city comparison app enables you to explore the living fabric of great cities by browsing a variety of cities and themes.”

Source: www.urbanobservatory.org

Russia exploits a conflict in Azerbijan’s breakaway region while Washington watches.

On April 1, an obscure conflict in Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh nearly devolved back into full-scale war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Transatlantic leaders called for an end to the violence and for redoubled efforts to settle the underlying political conflict but did little else. Russian President Vladimir Putin, by contrast, launched decisive actions to shore up Russia’s international reputation and pull Armenia and Azerbaijan away from the West.

Tags: Armenia, political, war, borders, political, geopolitics, Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Russia.

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

The Finnish baby box, which the state has given to expectant mothers for 75 years, has sparked copycat boxes across the globe.

Source: www.bbc.com

A few years back I shared a delightful article that demonstrated how the Finnish baby box lead to the Finland having the best infant mortality rates in the world.  This first article itself is the story now.  This great BBC article with geographic themes took hold and the act of this article getting shared around the world inspired similar initiatives–this type of diffusion shows layers and layers of good geography present in this viral phenonomen. 

Tags: Finland, medical, media, population, demographic transition model, unit 2 population, technology, diffusion.

At certain moments we all feel the desire to escape from it all. Even if it’s only a brief walk or a long drive through the countryside, there is truly no greater companion than ourselves.

Source: www.theplaidzebra.com

In the past, those that didn’t ‘fit’ the normative regulations of society or didn’t want to fit them could withdraw from society to the margins. Modern society (taxation requirements, documentation, increased population density, private land ownership, urbanization, etc.) makes retreat from society much more difficult today. Some retreat while among us; homelessness has a great distance from social networks, even if not a spatial distance from city centers. I’m not trying to romanticize the past, because I am sure that retreating from society hundreds of years ago would certainly be fraught with peril and layered with tremendous difficulties. 

Collectively, we have especially demonized women that pull back for societal connections (the idea of the lone ‘witch’ is loaded with negative cultural connotations). Many of these individuals seek a different human and environmental interaction, and feel a stronger connection to the land and animals than they do human society.  Some with mental health issues find that societal interactions exacerbate their problems while can solitude and a more physical landscape can offer peace of mind and happiness.  I don’t have any answers, but wanted to think about individualistic and isolationist geographies of those that don’t feel at odds in large groups and contemporary society.  

Tags: mobility, housing, cultural norms, environment, culture.

We know how to harvest potatoes and apples. There are other fruits and vegetables, however, which have natural habitats we can barely imagine. We see these items in the grocery store every day, but often we have no idea how they got there.

Source: brightside.me

This set of teaching images hammers home how natural items become commodities that are removed from their original context.  The fact that these foods are somewhat difficult to recognize shows just how most consumers have been removed from the full geographies of their food.  

Tags:  food production, images, agriculture, food, economic.

For decades, Sweden has served as a haven for those fleeing war and persecution the world over. But the country’s traditionally liberal acceptance of refugees is now being questioned. Some 160,000 asylum seekers arrived in the country last year alone, stretching its resources. Sweden’s idealistic culture is starting to show cracks.

Tags: podcast, culture, Sweden, refugees.

Source: www.npr.org

Human activity is playing a role in the dwindling size of Utah’s Great Salt Lake, according to new research.While the research group acknowledged the role that climate fluctuations, such as droughts and floods, have played in the shift of the lake’s water levels over time, the decrease in the lake’s size is predominantly due to human causes. According to the report, the heavy reliance on consumptive water uses has reduced the lake level by 11 feet and its volume by 48 percent.

Tags: physical, Utah, environment modify, environment, water.

Source: www.accuweather.com

“Early American wilderness photographers were snapping gorgeous vignettes of mountain peaks and sunrises before Instagram’s 1977 filter was even a thing. But, aside from their timeless appeal, the true value of these nineteenth-century photographs is derived from their role in the American conservation movement.”

Source: wilderness.org

Many National Parks (especially Yellowstone and Yosemite) are special to me because my grandparents took me there–these trips inspired in me a deep awe for the wonders of this Earth.    We owe a great debt of gratitude to these early photographers whose work captivated a nation to start a conservation ethos to protect wilderness.

Tags: place, images, art, landscape, California.