GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

As you can see, the biggest recipient by a long way is Israel (this is fiscal year 2014 data, but nothing’s changing), and two other big ones are Egypt and Jordan, which both have aid packages that are tied up with their peace treaties with Israel. None of these are poor countries (indeed, Israel is downright rich), and the point of the money is to advance an American foreign policy agenda — not to help the poor. Pakistan and Afghanistan, which round out the top five, actually are pretty poor, but, again, the main American interest in them is clearly foreign policy rather than poverty.

Tags: political, geopolitics, development, economic.

Source: www.vox.com

Two Syrian women took a hidden camera through the northern Syrian city of Raqqa to document their life under ISIS rule, according to CNN affiliate Expressen TV.

Source: www.cnn.com

This is a rare glimpse inside the heart of ISIS controlled territory.  If you have never considered this perspective, imagine that you were an ordinary citizen living in an area that was overrun by ISIS, and are hoping to keep your family alive.  What would you life be like? 

Tags:  political, terrorism, ISIS.

“Scientists think an asteroid killed the dinosaurs. In today’s extinction, humans are the culprit.  [In this podcast] our guest is Elizabeth Kolbert, author of the book The Sixth Extinction.  The book begins with a history of the big five extinctions of the past and goes on to explain how human behavior is creating this sixth, including our use of fossil fuels which has led to climate change.”

Source: www.npr.org

As stated in a JSTOR daily article, “New research confirms that the next mass extinction is in progress, and we’re the cause. There’s been little doubt that humans have been severely altering the planet and reducing biodiversity, but it has been unclear how many species go extinct under normal circumstances, without human influence.

This new research clarifies the rate of ‘background extinction’ (the rate of extinction during the point before humans became a primary contributor to extinction). The research confirms that human activity is driving species extinct at a rate far higher than the background rate. A look at previous events suggests cause for concern. Geologists recognize five previous mass extinction events— the end of the Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods, meaning that we’re now in the 6th.”

Tags: physical, podcast, biogeography, environment, ecology, environment modify, sustainability, geology.

What makes an idea, a brand, or a behavior catch fire? This hour, TED speakers explore the mysteries behind the many things we spread: laughter and sadness, imagination, viruses and viral ideas.

Source: www.npr.org

What made the world the way it is?  The spread of people, ideas and goods–Geographers refer to this as diffusion and these 5 podcasts all center on what factors promote the spread of some phenomena, and what obstacles and barriers exist to the diffusion of others. 

Tags: podcast, medical, diffusion, culture, popular culture, globalization.

Think you’re a geography expert? Test your knowledge with BBC Travel’s Geoguessr – the game that proves how well you know the world!

Source: www.bbc.com

Source: xkcd.com

I’ve always enjoyed this comic strip…it highlights some of the difficulties in teaching about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. 

Tags: Israel, Palestine, political, language, toponyms, Middle East.

It is quite significant that extremely high fertility figures are now mostly confined to tropical Africa, with only a few exceptions (such as Afghanistan and East Timor).

Source: www.geocurrents.info

In the decades after 1950, less developed countries were characterized as having very high fertility rates and that was (by and large) an accurate statement.  While the highest birth rates are still in less developed economies, it is important to note that the subjective scale is changing; while over 8 was once uncommonly high, now over 5 is as comparably uncommon a fertility rate as 8 used to be.  This still signals global population growth, but the idea that the ‘less developed world’ hasn’t adopted birth control or other measures to slow population growth is outdated.   

Tag: declining populations, population, demographics, unit 2 population.

If the population of the world was only 100 people, what would society look like? How many people would have shelter? Clean water? Education?

Source: www.youtube.com

Reminicent of the picture book, “If the World were a Village” by David Smith, this video attempts to make large statistics more meaningful to to a broader audience. The concept is simple, but the impact is profound.

Tags: statistics, development, perspective.