Impact of weather on human activities

The fog which has caused so much travel chaos at Heathrow and other airports and the torrentiao rain which affected much of wester Scotland last week are good examples of how CONTRASTING weather systems can affect people.

Last week we has severe storms caused by a SUCCESSION of COLD, WARM and OCCLUDED FRONTS, associated with a CYCLONE (LOW pressure) bringing extremely wet, windy conditions in from the Atlantic. In cyclones, the isobars are PACKED CLOSELY; by contrsast this week we have HIGH PRESSURE (ANTICYCLONE) where the isobars are widely spaced, indicating very light winds. See the weather map (Met Office web site) for details. HUMID air cools and the water droplets condesnse to form fog. There is no wind to remove the fog, so it tends to linger, especially in low lying coastal regions or river valleys. High presure areas may remain STATIC for several days, so the fog, as well as BLACK ICE and FROST may continue.

Cutting down on Christmas Waste

Here is an extract from a web site devoted to cuting down on waste.

* Overflowing dustbins and extra bags of rubbish are a common sight in the streets after Christmas. We all create more waste over the holiday period.
* The Royal Mail delivers around 150 million cards and packets each day during the pre-Christmas period. It is estimated that up to 1 billion Christmas cards (17 for every man, woman and child) could end up in bins across the UK.
* It is estimated that over Christmas as much as 83 square km of wrapping paper will end up in UK rubbish bins, enough to cover an area larger than Guernsey.
* We could use an extra 750 million bottles and glass containers, and 500 million drinks cans. About 20% to 30% more glass and cans are collected each year over the Christmas period.

The amount of waste we produce and our main methods of disposal are currently not sustainable. The production, treatment and disposal of waste can all harm the environment. This is not just because of the problems with landfill, incineration or other disposal options - it is also because we use new resources to replace ones we have thrown out. It is estimated that for every tonne of waste produced in our homes, five tonnes has already been produced in manufacturing and 10 tonnes at the point where the raw material was extracted. About 600 million tonnes of raw resources are used in the UK per year, 570 million tonnes of which end up as waste losses through energy, water, solid wastes and other emissions.
As a result of our lifestyles, on average every household in the UK throws away 1.2 tonnes of waste every year. This amounts to a staggering 30 million tonnes in total.
In just a fortnight we each throw away from home, amongst other things, five glass bottles or jars, six cans, seven plastic bottles and three and a half kg of paper and card. A massive 60% of our household waste could be recycled or composted, but most of it is still deposited in landfill sites. Nearly 23% of domestic waste was recycled and composted in England in 2004/05. We need to find ways to not only recycle more, but also to reduce and reuse our waste. We need to focus our efforts and change our habits and what better time than during the Christmas period; a new approach for a New Year!
Having a green Christmas doesn't mean being a Scrooge! Just follow these simple action points for cutting down on Christmas waste.

Over to you: what suggestions do you have for cutting down on Christmas waste?

Migration is BBC News Focus

This month BBC News will be carrying a series of dispatches covering the phenomenon of mass migration. The topic of migration is very important in both S and H Grade, so it is worth following.
You need to know about two main types of migration:

Nation to Nation-people moving from one country to another. Eg, Somalia to the UK; Mexicans to the USA; Poles to Scotland. Some migrants are asylum seekers; others are economic migrants; many are simply exercising the right under recent EU law to move freely from one country to another.

Internal-people moving from one region of a country to another; eg, people from the Highlands and Islands to urban areas; Americans moving to Florida and California from more northern states.

For an insight into migration click here to get a detailed case study on China's migration. It is estimated that 345 million people are going to move from the rural areas to the city areas, eg Shanghai, over the next 25 years.
This explains why cities in the Developing World (ELDCs) are growing so fast.

Arctic Ocean

A report on the BBC's web site warns that the Arctic Ocean may be close to tipping point and that it may be free of summer ice by 2040. The site explains that data presented at the American Geophysical Union suggests the ice is no longer showing a robust recovery from the summer melt. This would be part of a global chain reaction in which reduced ice cover means more heat absorption by oceans, accelerating global warming and thereby melting even more ice. ."
Eventually, she said, the system would be "kicked over the edge", probably not even by a dramatic event but by one year slightly warmer than normal. Very rapid retreat would then follow. Locally, this would have major consequences for wildlife in the region, not least polar bears which traverse ice-floes in search of food, as those of you who have watched Planet Earth will have seen.
Loss of summer ice would seriously compromise the lifestyles of the region's indigenous peoples, though it could also bring new trading opportunities as sea routes opened up.
On a global scale, the Earth would lose a major reflective surface and so absorb more solar energy, potentially accelerating climatic change across the world.

Follow Up Work to Settlement Study

S4 created a spreadsheet to make up a database about selected settlements in the Scottish Borders.

this is a good example of

1. GATHERING TECHNIQUE,

because you are collecting information by
(a) extracting information from the OS map
(b) Using Search Engine to find out additional information from the Borders Council Web site

2. PROCESSING TECHNIQUE

Once you have entered data on to the spreadsheet we can

(a) SORT IT, eg Rank Order
(b) PRODUCE GRAPHS that show significant patterns


Homework for Tuesday 12th December

1. Read the posting for Thursday which gives checklist for describing site and growth.
2. Describe the site and growth of Kelso (use the OS map on the blog)
3. Describe growth of Durham (SQA General Paper)
4. Describe the site of Carlisle (you need Carlisle OS map)
5. Answer the question on Carlisle (SQA)

S4-Settlement Patterns

Regional context-Kelso's situation in the South East Borders-note its importance as a route centre on the Tweed



OS 1/50 ooo map will allow us to identify and describe a settlement's site and growth.

use the checklist below to describe the site and growth of Kelso.

Site

Things to ask

Dry/wet ground-i(e prone to flooding; on sloping, well drained land?)
Route centre? (eg, cross roads, river crossing/bridging point?)
Sheltered/exposed? (eg is it in a valley floor or on a hillside?)
Defensive-eg steep land, meander loop?
Is the local relief flat, sloping, steep, undulating variable?- (what is the contour pattern?)
Height-look at spot heights and contours
Always quote grid references.


Growth

In what way has the settlement grown?
Does it extend along a river?
Does housing follow the roads?
Has the settlement expanded up the hill?
What natural features appear to have restricted growth, eg steep slopes, cliffs, flood plain, marsh, woodland?
What human features appear to have restricted growth, eg farmland, greenbelt laws?

Honeypots!

S4 mapwork

S4 carried out a map interpretation exercise, using the OS 1/50 000 map extract of Kelso (pictured above-can ypu work out where on the map the photograoher was?) They plotted the location of the towns and individual buildings, such as farms and stately homes, on to a scale drawing. By selecting the information they required, the underlying pattern of settlement could be more easily recognised, described and then explained.

Description of settlement patterns-

Dispersed-settlemets spread over a wide area, separated by a large distance
Clustered-settlements closely spaced

Homework for Thursday 7th December:

Find out the population of Kelso; Earlston; Newtown St Boswells; St Boswells
Are they all towns?

For discussion:

Which of these settlements has a secondary school?
What do you think is the minimum size of town neededto support a secondary school?

Go to Geograph-find a picture of each of the above settlements and bring it in for your ring binder. You will be annotating it in class, so make sure it has geographical relevance.

Where is this?

Where is this?

Give reasons for your answer.

Would you want to visit this place?

St Columba's Geog Blog

Where is this?

Would you want to go here?

What are the people doing?