Chapter 1: What is Geography?

Hi 1-5 and 1-9,

Last week, we looked at Chapter 1 and got to know what is Geography. In your own words, below are the statements some of you guys wrote about what you thought what Geography was about before I met you officially to help you understand what is this subject of Geography.

1. It is the study of the Earth
2. It is about the different places in the world
3. It is about the world and countries
4. It is about land of weathers and nature
5. Position of stuff in the world
6. It is about the countries and landscapes they produce
7. It is about maps and climates of the world
8. Study of map

Excellent guesses and ideas, as there are many big ideas and concepts of Geography that some of you have mentioned are going to be taught to you during these 6 months!=)

I also showed you the following video below to ask you if you think Geography is about what the video showed.....

Well, Geography as some of you wrote is indeed about the countries and other places of the world as what the video above shows, but Geography is not only about that. In class, I liken Geography as a subject that is multi-disciplinary that involves subjects like science and maths. I also shared what I thought Geography is about to me(see below).

1. Field of study that enables us to find answers to questions about the world around us, about where things are and how and why they got there.
2. Relationship(s) between humans and the environment

At the end, there is a very important term I introduced in class and is a BIG idea/concept throughout this whole six months of study of Geography.

So do remember this, that Geography is really about the

INTERRELATIONSHIPS

or

PHYSICAL-HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

found on earth..=)

Geography of Food

Make A difference (WWF)

BLOG ACTION DAY-15 OCTOBER 2009

Hi boys...

If you all are bloggers, do consider doing this since it is also after your examinations...=)

Everything you throw comes back

Below are three pictures of witty education about not throwing stuff unnecessarily.

Enjoy!

Photo sources from: http://www.bedifferent.it/scheda_blog.php?id=79

Dust Storm in Australia (Sydney)

Hi guys,

Though examinations may be over, but do look through the video and see how just like the haze problem, dust storms can also cause problems, in terms of visibility, health and environment.

CO2 emissions could fall due to recession

Below is an interesting article read from AFP related to what you are revising and studying, do take a read if you have time.

BANGKOK (AFP) - – Carbon dioxide emissions, the main driver of global warming, could fall three percent worldwide in 2009 due to the global economic crisis, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.

This would be the steepest drop in CO2 emissions for 40 years, chief IEA economist Fatih Birol said at a press conference in Bangkok, adding that the average annual growth in global carbon output until now has been three percent.

Birol said this silver-lining drop in carbon pollution was a "unique window of opportunity" for the world to put itself on a path to limit the increase in global temperatures to two degrees celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the scientific threshold for dangerous global warming.

The recession-driven fall would lead to CO2 emissions in 2020 being five percent lower than the IEA forecast from just a year ago, even if no further action is taken to curb global warming, he added.

The IEA estimate is part of its World Energy Outlook report, an excerpt of which was released at UN climate talks underway in the Thai capital.

It outlined how steeply countries would have to cut their carbon emissions over the next 20 years in order fix the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere at a level that would ensure the two degree threshold is not crossed.

That level, measured in parts per million, is 450 ppm, according to a benchmark scientific report issued in 2007 by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"By reducing emissions, the financial and economic crisis has created a window of opportunity to transition the global energy system to a 450 ppm trajectory," said UN climate chief Yvo de Boer in a preface to the new IEA report.

"This gives us a chance to make real progress toward a clean energy future, but only if the right policies are put in place promptly," added IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka in a statement.

"Every year of delay adds an extra 500 billion dollars (340 billion euros) to the investment needed between 2010 and 2030 in the energy sector," he warned.

The climate talks under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been stymied for months, and are running out of time to deliver a new global climate treaty at a December conference in Copenhagen.

Rich and poor nations are divided over how to share the burden of cutting greenhouse gases, and who is going to pay for it.

A steel factory belching smoke in the western suburbs of Beijing, 2008. The International Energy Agency said that carbon dioxide emissions, the main driver of global warming, could fall three percent worldwide in 2009 due to the global economic crisis

Developed nations are willing to take the lead, but expect emerging giants such as China, Brazil and India to commit to mitigation measures as well -- pledges these countries have fiercely resisted.

Rich nations created the problem and should bear the brunt of the responsibility to fix it, the developing countries say.

Economist Birol confirmed that China surpassed the United States as the world's top carbon polluter in 2007, adding that "it will be the same in the future"

Source: http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20091006/tts-climate-warming-energy-economy-iea-c1b2fc3.html (AFP)