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I’ve been enjoying watching my investments fall in value over the last week, another example of globalisation, American banks giving loans to people who can’t afford to pay them back… and I was distressed to find out that Elvis was dead.

(Image courtesy of the B.B.C. .)

On a more serious note a strong earthquake in Peru has lead to several hundred deaths.

Alan has highlighted an article on about the potential of London flooding, some great animations as well. Some further reading can be found here and here on the blog.

Between this coastal arch on the Dorset coast, called Durdle Door

(Image by Alison Ainsworth and courtesy of Ian Murray at Geography Photos.)

and this film…

The B.B.C. reveals all, not the most sensible idea…

Hitting the water at such speed could knock you out, you may not also know the depth of the water or whether rocks are present. This man was very lucky.

The fall out from Russia claiming of the North Pole continues, as reported in the Independent. Hat-tip Alan.

Bangladesh, which I’m to visit later in the year, continues to suffer from the Monsoon rains.

A belated present from a Geographer mate Jo, ‘A long way gone’, is the true story of Ishmael Beah, a child solider involved in the civil war in Sierra Leone, those of you familiar with the film ‘Blood Diamond’ will know something of the background to the conflict, it is a harrowing read, but well worth it to gain an insight into the childhood geographies of others. There are a number of multi-media resources on the website, including Ishmael reading the first chapter from this book.

Ishmael speaks here on the The Hour show

A truly inspirational individual.

The Daily Mail has an article about the future flooding of London and the conditions that brought it about, those of you who are familiar with the 1953 floods will note the similarities. Interesting reading.

Hat tip Alan. This is a fascinating idea, urban vertical farms. Less space, locally grown produce reducing carbon footprints (But as we know, food can be produced in the U.K. , transported to the continent, for washing and packaging, and then shipped back to the U.K. ), visually pleasing. But what about countryside?  One for the National Rural Dimensions conference at the start of the month.

Received an emailed from Is Allen, communications coordinator at Oxfam . It included news of a competion, does anyone fancy having a go? If so, I’ll put together a help resource.

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Mid-Point Poster Competition Make posters – win prizes!

Schools are invited to take part in our MDGs mid-point poster competition and win books, a poster set, and a visit to Oxfam HQ in Oxford! Use our great resources about the MDGs to help pupils design their own posters encouraging world leaders to work harder to meet the MDG targets to halve poverty by 2015.

National Geographic have a channel on YouTube, they also allow the embedding of videos, when will the B.B.C do this? A nice introduction to Global Warming.

Read in the Nottingham Evening Post about Peter Clark,  a Nottingham man, who wants to attempt a journey to the South Pole, completing Shackleton’s original route. Peter is looking for sponsorship for the expedition, which will be in aid of the Make A Wish Foundation.

Year 8 students have asked for more geographical simulations, this is one that is both topical and distressing.

Play the game and learn about the situation. Are we linked to the conditions facing people in Darfur? I’d be interested to know what you learn from this, which ever year…

One major question is, did you know this was happening and what should the United Kingdom do about it?

I’ve already done a little bit.

Thanks to Noel Jenkins for informing me about this, the Darfur Wall is a charity project aimed at raising money for local people caught up in the conflict. Donate a $ and a numbered square is lit, representing one of 400,000 individuals in the Darfur region that have died. My square is 1076.