Ask a Geographer!
May 3, 2007 by geoimo
If you have a burning geographical question to ask feel free to ask it here! This however, is not a homework answer facility…!!! Anyone who wishes to answer questions please feel free to comment…
May 3, 2007 by geoimo
If you have a burning geographical question to ask feel free to ask it here! This however, is not a homework answer facility…!!! Anyone who wishes to answer questions please feel free to comment…
Dear GeoImo, can you answer this question for me as I am really stumped and so do not know the answer???
You’re at a specific point in a country on a continent in the world. You’re not on an island. If you were to travel in a straight line 300 kilometers (186 miles) in any direction, you would no longer be in the country you started from. What is the largest country in the world you could have started from?
How many planets are there in the world?
take two!!!!! how many countries are there in the world!!!!!
Response to Pigeon may 10, 2007…
If I am in a country, in a continent then Antarctica is out of the question. As for not being on an island… well this depends on what you definition of an island is… Regardless, if i can travel in a straight line for 300km and enter another country… then I can be up to 299.9km away from the border of that country. Your question does not say that I have to be in the centre of the country and therefore, I could be standing just 1 cm from the border. in which case… all I need to answer the question is to know the largest country in the world!! This in effect will automatically be the correct answer…. Russia! Phew…
Cheers for that mental challenge Pigeon… i look forward to your next question….
How could you link a computer modem to Geography?
Response to Dan’s 2 questions… may 10, 2007…
If you mean how many planets are in the ‘world’… - well none, as the ‘world’ as we know it is a planet itself - the Earth!
If you meant how many planets are in the Solar System… nine…eight offical ‘planets’ (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) and the dwarf planet of Pluto.
See the http://www.nasa.gov website for more information.
As for how many countries… the best answer is 194 countries. 192 members of the United Nations, The Vatican City (Independent Country) and Taiwan (member of the UN until 1971) when China replaced Taiwan. Taiwan continues to press to become a member, however China claims the country is simply a province of China. Please remember there are dozens of territories and colonies which often refer themselves to being countries such as Puerto Rico and even the components of the UK (Scotland/England/Wales) but they are not fully independent countrie, states, or nation-states!
Paddy…. of course a computer modem could be linked to Geography:
- a computer uses energy in the form of electricity which is generated probably from the burning of fossil fuels in a power station. The computer itself is a form of telecommunications which links (via the modem) many other people in many other countries in the world together. The modem enables access to the internet… one of the major cause of ‘globalisation’ in the world. Globalisation refers to the increasing global connectivity we are experiencing in the C21st…
Haha miss i got one - How Does Crufts - The Dog Show link in too geography ??? :D
Matt… the ‘greatest dog show’ takes place every year in the NEC (flagship (high profile) development) in Birmingham… England’s Second largest city. This year over 25,000 dogs will travel from around the globe to attend the show. All those carbon emissions! Both IAMS and Samsung (TNC’s) sponsor the event as they are very interested in animal welfare and humanity…!
How fast does the world spin???
Miss, why is the atlas called an atlas???
What is the difference between a country and a continent ?
How many volcanoes are there in the world, how many are active, dormant and extinct?
How did gravity get inside the Earth?
What keeps our atmosphere around the earth instead of floating out into space?
Heres one for you! How many rivers are there in the entire world?? Rather you than me to find that one out! Good luck!
Tom Daniel
Why do we have flags for every individual country?
Who started languages around the world?
Loo and Steph
By what name was Vanuatu known before independence?
Hiya miss!! Heres a geographical question for you: what is the purpose of volcanoes?? i have wondered this for ages now Soph 7T x x
What is the atmosphere and what is it made of?
hieloooooo!!! how ya doin….. this is a toughy……. why is the sky blue?cya
Response to Jamie - I am impressed you have done your homework 4 times!! That is a first! Well done…
1. The speed that earth spins varies due to latitudinal location. At the north pole, the speed is almost zero but at the equator, where the circumference of the earth is greatest, the speed is about 1,038 miles per hour (1,670 kph).
2. The mythological Greek figure ‘Atlas’, who was forced to hold up the planet earth and the heavens on his shoulders as punishment from the gods, was commonly featured on old books of maps. Thus, the books with the image of atlas became known as atlases.
3. No one knows why there is gravity! There are different kinds of “why” explanations…more commonly… matter and energy cause spacetime to curve, and that causes the “natural” paths of objects to come together as if they were attracted by a force. That’s the explanation provided by Einstein’s theory of general relativity!
4. Our outer space begins where our atmosphere ends. Our atmosphere gradually peters out and gets thinner, so it doesn’t have a clear boundary. At an altitude of 100km, the atmosphere is so tenuous that for many purposes it can be regarded as non existent. Consequently, 100km is generally taken to be the limit of our atmosphere and therefore the edge of space. There is no air in space - it is a vacuum therefore the atmosphere simply cannot float out into space…
Hi Miss
What has nothing got to do with geography?
Cameron. a country is a geographical territory. it usually has its own government, administration and laws; and often a constitution, police, military, and tax rules. A continent is a large continuous landmass.
Seven landmasses and their associated islands are commonly reckoned as continents; Antarctica, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australasia.
Laura - the most recent count is that there are 1,511 volcanoes on the Earth that have erupted in the past 10,000 years. Most of the volcanoes on Earth are found around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. There are approximately 500 active volcanoes, not including those hidden by the oceans… 300 dormant and 700 extinct. Dormant and extinct volcanoes can be unpredictable making the 3 categories blurred…
Tom - there is a lot of rivers in the world. It depends on several factors - your definition of a ‘river’; time of day/week/month as rivers are so dynamic and change every day. Saying that… apparently there are approximately 1,65,00,000 rivers in the world?? However… noone has officially counted all oif them!
Loo and Steph - Governments choose to use flags as they symbolise a country. Languages were started about 1.5 million years ago by the indigenous populations of the nation in which the language was invented.
Laura, Vanuatu – is the New Hebrides from 1980 after gaining independence!
How many miles would I have traveled if I went from St. Thomas More to Syndey then to Tokyo then to Moscow all the way round to Los Angeles and back home at St.Thomas More?? from liam
Also if i was flying in an areoplane how much fuel would I use up?
Soph, the purpose of volcanoes is complex…about three-quarters of the rocks are igneous rocks created by the cooling of magma. The purpose of lava (magma) deposits on the earth’s surface is to deposit minerals, also carbon dioxide is emitted. Volcanoes also help to form islands. More importantly, volcanoes release a huge amount of pressure and heat which is inside the earth - aiding the cooling of the Earth’s interior…
Jake - the atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet. It is made mostly of the gases nitrogen (78%), and oxygen (21%). Argon gas and water (in the form of vapor, droplets and ice crystals) are the next most common things. There are also small amounts of other gases, plus many small solid particles, like dust, soot and ashes, pollen, and salt from the oceans.
As for why the sky is blue… well…as light moves through the atmosphere, most of the longer wavelengths pass straight through. Little of the red, orange and yellow light is affected by the air.
However, much of the shorter wavelength light is absorbed by the gas molecules. The absorbed blue light is then radiated in different directions. It gets scattered all around the sky. Whichever direction you look, some of this scattered blue light reaches you. Since you see the blue light from everywhere overhead, the sky looks blue.
see http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/sky_blue.html for more info…
Helena…. Geography is of course linked to nothing. Afterall, Geography is about everything. ‘Nothing’ is the antithesis (opposite) of everything… therefore Geography is about everything and nothing… ‘Nothing’ refers to an absense of something. Without geography… the world will be boring therefore the world is ‘nothing’ without Geography!!!
Liam…. well…firstly you will travel SE 17014.08 km to Sydney…then NW to Tokyo 7821.22km… then NW to Moscow 7476.74km…then SW to Los Angeles, California 9762.35km…then NE to Longton 8534.93km. This gives a total distance of 50,609.32km.
As for how much fuel… well this depends on your aeroplane. From researching this… approximately 100 litres per 50 kilometres. this works out at over 101218 litres… far too much fuel…
How many weather disasters has there been since the 1800’s in the world?
What is the surface area of the world?
when are the oxygen tests going to be available to use at school??
what is the volume of the earth?
Lydia - what would be classed as a weather disaster? I presume this would be any weather pattern which has caused some sort of severe impact on humans. Tornados, blizzards, hurricanes/cyclones/typhoons, Lightning, storms, and floods would all be included… in which case we are talking millions I am sure. There is no such records/evidence for the total number of weather disasters as each country is monitored seperately by the government of that country. Global warming is also contributing to an increased number of weather disasters worldwide.
Greg, the surface area of the world is 510,072,200 sqkm. 148,939,800 sqkm of which is land surface and 361,132,400 sqkm of which is oceans.
Liam - the oxygen tests will be available when the company nothers to deliver them! They were due 3 weeks ago. Will keep you informed.
Ben - the Earth is approximately a sphere (actually it is sphere slightly flattened at the poles). Volume is calculated if you know its radius. The mean radius of the earth is approximately 6.4 million metres. This comes to 1,097,509,500,000,000,000,000 cubic meters. Needless to say, this is very large!
How many countries in the world have German as their chief native tongue (i.e. more people speak German as a native language than any other)?
8 9 4 3
Chelsea… 4 countries in the world have German as their chief native language… Germany, Austria, Switzwerland and Liechtenstein…!
Ages ago you were going to tell us how much sand was on the planet.
Do you know what the answer is?
Jenny
Jenny, apparently the number of sand grains on earth is probably somewhere between 10^20 and 10^24. That is 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 ish… That’s a very big ‘ish’… there are many places on earth which we haven’t been… This number is also increasing as the earth warms and areas experience desertification.
Hi miss, ive got a good question for you.Now that they are cutting down a lot of the Brazilian rainforest, what are the effects of soil erosion on the wildlife? Haha. Try answering that one!
Charlie… soil erosion will affect the many insects which survive in the soil. Heavy rainfall, washes soil into the river and so many insects whose habitat is the soil itself will also get washed into river too. Soil erosion also causes leeching of nutrients too. The plants which depend on these nutrients in the soil will suffer too. Therefore the wildlife which live in the plants and trees which sink their roots into the eroding soil will also be affected as soil quality reduces…
How did tree’s first appear on the earth?
Ayaaz - Trees evolved from other species of plants and first appeared and began to cover the land surface of the Earth some 370 million years ago. The earliest known modern tree is the Archaeopteris, a tree that looked similar to a Christmas tree with buds, reinforced branch joints and wood similar to today’s timber. Its branches and leaves resembled a fern.Today there are approximately 100,000 known species of trees that exist throughout the world!
Dear GeoImo,
Thanks for your answer you were right, you are the cleverest Geographer that I know but to prove your Geographiness what is the answer to…
If I had to save myself by surfing down a molton lava flow, what would I be able to stand on that wouldn’t melt from the heat of the lava?
And for a bonus…
How many people can the Earth support?
What is one of the names of a 2007 hurricane?
Why is it, that Butterflys, only come out in spring, or summer?
Thats a toughy,
Josh Sheen 8H
What did iceland used to be called?Why is the Earth round?
Hi, is the Arctic, a ice berg from the ice age?? If so, how come its gone all the way to the top, and bottom, why not in between?
Thanks Josh
In March 2004 seven eastern European countries joined NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Of these new NATO members, name the one that borders the Russian oblast of Kaliningrad.
heya miss,
its sophie shuff from 8H,
Why is there a richer north and a poorer south?
Who came up with the idea of it?
oh!!! luv ya blog miss its ace!!!!
I have a good one for you Miss…Why does the wind blow in different directions?
Hii Miss.. I have a good question for you that i have never really thought about.. Why does the wind blow in different directions?
Thanks
miss why is the earth coverd in millions and millions of rocks?
which continent has most raw materials?
How long would it take to travel around each country in the world if you drive there by car?
When people say the beach is not ”man made” well where does the sand and all the water come from????
At the edge of the earth is it solid??? or could you put your hand through it and its just air??
People say that the beach is not man made….well where does all the grains of sand and all the water come from…because it doesnt just drop out of the sky..does it..
how many different types of animal are there in the world
Why is water wet?
What came first the egg or the chicken? Plus this homework is ace…
Tasmin… see this web page for a list of all hurricanes in 2007…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Atlantic_hurricane_season#Storm_names
Joshua… there is evidence to suggest that butterflies are surviving in winter months in the UK due to climate change…
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2511435.ece
A butterflies life span depends on weather, predators, and many other factors), ranges from about 2 to 14 days. Maximum life span ranges from about 4 days for the Spring Azure to 10 to 11 months for the Mourning Cloak (N.America). Which is longer than ’spring/summer’…
Dan - Iceland used to be called Bejams… The world is not round anyway it is very close to an oblate spheroid—a rounded shape with a bulge around the equator (geoid). Although this varies from this by up to 100 metres (327 ft). The average diameter of the earth is about 12,742 km
Josh - the Arctic has been frozen since the ice age yes. if you mean why is large volumes of ice like the Arctic ice sheet found in the North and South poles but not on the equator. This is due to temperatures at sea level. The poles are much cooler than the equator and therefore this maintains the ice ecosystem. However, you can still get ice close to the equator… up mountainslike Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya!!!
What was the first country discovered and why was it called what it is called?
Where is the world’s deepest lake and what is it called?
Why do people have different coloured skin?
what rock forms magma ?
Why is geography called geography?
Dan - me thinks it was Lithuania.
Sophie… you ask a complex question which has many contributary factors. In particular, I feel rich and poor countries are inevitable in the current world trading system. As Kiminori Matsuyama states; “International trade creates a pecking order among nations, and as in a game of musical chairs, some countries must be excluded from being rich”. Noone ‘came up’ with the idea of it… it has happened as a consequence of our actions.
Sammie - the sun’s warming of the earth is essential to the creation of wind. Our atmosphere is made up of air, which is composed of different kinds of gases. The sun shines on our atmosphere all of the time, but it heats the surface of the Earth unevenly, so in some places it is warm while in other places it is cold.
As the air gets warmer, its particles spread out. This makes the air light, or less dense, so it rises. As air cools, it becomes heavier, or more dense, and it sinks. As warm air rises, air from cooler areas rushes in to take the place of the heated air, creating wind. This process, called convection, causes the air to move.
Wind varies by season and wind is affected by land topography as well. Ocean coastlines also create a windy environment due to the cooler water and the warmer land during the day, and warmer water and cooler land at night.
Ash…. the earth is made up of rocks and minerals… so naturally it is covered in millions and millions of rocks too! Rocks are just solid materials made up of one or more minerals… see http://geology.wr.usgs.gov/parks/rxmin/rock.html for more info about rocks!
What is the San Andreas Fault..??
Nabeela - the continent with most raw materials is apparently Africa…
Rach this depends on how long you wish to stay in each country! Also how are you going to drive across oceans!! I guess this could take many years… based on the average speed in Britain which is 19 mph (due to traffic)… you would probably be driving for the rest of your life. best get started…!
Emily… beaches can be man-made in the sense that we can add beach material to replenish beaches/provide coastal management. However, the grains of sand come from broken down (eroded) rocks/shells over time they build to form a beach. The water is not part of the beach itself though!
Alisha - there is no edge to the earth as it is spherical… although there is a society that believe that the earth is flat. See http://www.alaska.net/~clund/e_djublonskopf/Flatearthsociety.htm
If you refer to the atmosphere… then yes you can put your hand in it! If you refer to space… then you need to get there first before you can put your hand in it! But yes to that too…!
Lauren there are approximately between 2 and 100 million species. The reason that guestimate is so vague is because scientists find it impossible to sample all habitats in large areas.
Max - water is wet because it is a liquid and liquids are wet. This is the nature of water… like rocks are solid!
Also the egg came before the chicken as chickens evolved from non-chickens. The creature which laid the egg which turned into a chicken was a descendent of a chicken but not a chicken as we know it!!
Ayaaz Any rocks can form magma… after all magma is hot molten rock.
How many years ago was the earth made and how was it made ?
What is the largest swamp in the Americas? Which is the largest country in Americas? What is the smallest ocean?
Jack - good question - there is no evidence to suggest which was the first country discovered. Life originated in Africa… so it was definately an African country. At the time of discover - the coutries borders would not have been defined anyway…
Joy Russia’s Lake Baikal, located north of the Mongolian border, is the world’s deepest with a maximum depth of just over one mile (5371 feet / 1637 meters). Lake Baikal is so deep that it holds about one-fifth of the world’s non-frozen fresh water supply.
Jack people have different coloured skin because the colour of a human’s skin depends on how much melanin there is in their skin.
Melanin is the pigment that gives your skin its colour. The more melanin you have in your skin the darker it is and the less melanin the lighter it is. Melanin also helps protect your skin from the sun. People who’s ancestors lived in very hot places, close to the equator where there was a lot of strong sunlight will have more melanin in their skin so they will have dark skin. People who’s ancestors lived in cold places, far away from the equator where there was not a lot of strong sunlight will have less melanin in their skin so they will have light skin.
Josh the word geography was invented by the ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes and literally means “writing about the earth.” The word can be divided into two parts - ge and graphy. Geo means the earth and graphy refers to writing.
Sharn the San Andreas fault line is a major geological fault in California; runs from San Diego to San Francisco; the source of many many serious earthquakes!
Why has it never rained In Calama, a town in the Atacama Desert of Chile?
Hello GeoImo, I hope yesterdays question did not out fox you? I am amazed at your geographical knowledge! How do you know so much about the World, both physical and human?!
Anyway today’s question is…
What would happen to the world as we know it if the Earth were hollow below the crust, assuming it didn’t collapse inwards?
Thanks for replying - we have another question
Why have planets got colours?
Why after all these years have the countries moved apart?
is that true?
There is probaly a simple answer for this question but im confused…..
why cant the world have just one language wouldnt it be easier to get by in life!!!
Sophie… it is generally accepted that the age for the Earth and the rest of the solar system is about 4.55 billion years (plus or minus about 1%). As for how it was made - I like many scientists, believe the Earth was made as a result of the ‘Big bang’… see http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/b_bang.html
There is also a theory of Creationism see http://www.sentex.net/~tcc/
You believe what you wish of course…!
The largest swamp - Atchafalaya Basin in south central Louisiana… largest country (area) is Canada… Smallest ocean is the Arctic ocean.
Tom the Atacama is a high (most elevations are over 8000 feet) and cold desert, average temperatures range from 0° to 25° Celsius (32° to 75° F). Atacama always has salt lakes, snow on the mountaintops and some underground water, regardless of how long it’s been since the last rainfall. It does rain in Atacama… just very very rarely due to the lack of moisture in the atmosphere. Once in a while a warming effect over the Pacific Ocean affects weather all over the world so even the driest places can be drenched by rainstorms.
Pigeon…a brilliant question… If the Earth were hollow we apparently would be in danger of death by suffocation, thirst, frying, starving, freezing and drowning, in that order… A hollow Earth would not have enough mass to hold on to an atmosphere by gravity, and surface water would boil away. There would be no magnetic field, (generated by the Earth’s liquid iron interior). Compasses wouldn’t work, and some migratory animal species might get lost, but that would be the least of our worries as deadly radiation from the sun and outer space could then penetrate to the Earth’s surface.
It would be a pretty grim world. There would be no spectacular volcanoes, and no source of lava. However, one could save time and money on flights from the UK to Australia by cutting holes on opposite sides of the globe and hopping through one of them - wearing protective clothing of course. The journey time would be a mere seven and a half hours.
A hollow Earth would have been highly susceptible to destruction from the meteorites which bombarded the Earth in its early history. Even assuming it was not destroyed by the battering then it would be a barren place.
see http://www.newscientist.com/backpage.ns?id=mg18224506.900
Is it true there will really be another ice age if global warming continues? If yes, why would this happen?
Loo and Stef - Planets have different colours as they are made of different materials and it depends how their surfaces or atmospheres reflect and absorb sunlight. E.g. Mars is covered with a fine dust which contains iron oxide (rust). This gives Mars its orange color.
Sophie - the earth is dynamic and constantly changing…the crust of the earth is ‘egg shell’ thin and constantly changing due to forces in the mantle. Countries have always been ‘moving’…! see http://volcano.und.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/lessons/Pangea/Pangea1.html
Emily - there are 6,912 living languages in the world today. There is not one laguage as each language has evolved over time depending on t he nation speaking it and their circumstances… not sure whether it would be easier… would be alot more boring if there was only one language!!
Sarah - this is a great question… indeed global cooling may be the consequence of global warming. The theory is that ice melt may dilute the salinity of the oceans, leading to temperature changes for our ocean currents which help to regulate temperature around the earth. Thus causing temperatures to plummet… the extend at which the earth could cool is only theory. However this happened in the past in North America…leading to the last ice age in Britain… obviously global warming is what is causing our vast frozen areas nearer the poles to melt (Greenland/Antarctica)…
(1)how many people are there in the united kindom?
hi miss, heres a question… what is the purpose of the o-zone layer? What is it made of?
how long would it take travel round the earth??
Megan - the population of the UK is approximately 60,609,153 (July 2006 est.)… but is growing by more than 320000 a year…
Lauren - the ozone layer is the part of the Earth’s concentrations of ozone (O3). It is mainly located in the lower portion of the stratosphere from approximately 15 km to 35 km above Earth’s surface, though the thickness varies seasonally and geographically…the concentration of ozone in the ozone layer is very small, but it is vitally important to life because it absorbs biologically harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation emitted from the Sun.Depletion of the ozone layer allows more of the UV radiation, and particularly the more harmful wavelengths, to reach the surface, causing increased genetic damage to living organisms.
Megan - it would take as long as you want to travel around the earth depending on how and what you travel in…
e.g. you can spin a globe with your finger and get around in a second… or you can take you time and go travelling the real world… country to country… this could take as long as you wish.
If you cycled around the circumference of the world (40,075.16 km) at an average speed of 20 km/hr then it would take.. 40075.16 hours…83.48 days…. around the world in nearly 80 days!!!
Suppose that you have four maps with different fractional scales drawn on pieces of paper of identical size. Which scale will the map that shows the largest area of Earth’s surface have?
millions of years ago the world was one big continent. will this happen again?
Hi GeoImo, My Penguin penpal Brian is frustrated that his Polar Bear friend Colin, constantly taunts him that he is warmer and his block of ice is melting. So why is it colder at the South Pole than the North Pole?
Please can you find out as he is about to migrate inland and will not be able to use his mobile phone…
Thanks
People keep saying the earth is going to end because of global warming but can you tell me exactly when it is going to end thanks.
hey miss, why do you grow butterflys?
hi miss,
whats the smallest independent republic in the world without an official capital?
p.s the language and nationality are both palindromes and read the same word both forwards and backwards.
miss why on a world map are all the countries different colours?????
answer that one .
How do you link a playstation 2 to geography
how do you link a t.v to geography
why do trees have leaves?
How long will it take to travel From England to every other country and back to england again?
Nicola, irrelevant of there being 4 maps…a map with scale 1: 100, 000, 000 is a typical scale used to show the whole world. This is all landmasses and therefore the map with largest amount of land surface.
Chloe… continental drift will always occur, and it is occurring at different speeds and in different directions…. there is always a chance (be it slim) that continents could fit together eventually…never say never.
Pigeon - The South Pole is so much colder than the North Pole as it sits on top of a very thick ice sheet, which itself sits on a continent. The surface of the ice sheet at the South Pole is more than 9,000 feet in elevation–more than a mile and a half above sea level. Antarctica is by far the highest continent on the earth. In comparison, the North Pole rests in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, where the surface of floating ice rides only a foot or so above the surrounding sea. The Arctic Ocean also acts as an effective heat reservoir, warming the cold atmosphere in the winter and drawing heat from the atmosphere in the summer.
Regardless… if I were Colin… then I wouldn’t be taunting Brian and instead I would be very concerned as melting ice means that his habitat is disappearing… melting ice in the North could lead Colin’s whole family of polar bears to extinction. Now that is come back for taunting Brian. Wouldn’t wish it upon him though.
Emily… three weeks on Thursday…
Only kidding - noone knows. I predict over a trillion years or so??? By which time this earth will be a most impovererished one no doubt. I don’t think it will be a one moment event which causes the earth to end, but rather a gradual decline… due to global cooling of the earth’s interior…
Sumayya… I ‘grow’ butterflies because I like them and am interested in them as a species. I also like to do my bit for conservation… my butterfly farm only helps to ensure our environment still has butterflies to enjoy.
Maria - Nauru island in the Western Pacific Ocean. Nauruan - Nationality/language
hi miss,
how do you say petropavlovsk-kamchtskiy and what is it (it’s on your ceiling)
Roughly how much does all of the ice in Antarctica weigh? Let’s see you answer the one, that is… if it’s possible.
Harry - colours are chosen by the cartographer (map maker)… there is no hard or fast rule to say which should be which colour.
Liam - of course a play station 2 could be linked to Geography… uses electricity for its energy which is produced from gas/coal fired power stations in this country. Made from plastic mostly (bi-product of crude oil), rubber and metal… all natural resources… sold in shops, many of which are TNCs (Trans-National Corporations) which sell products in many different countries around the world… I could go on… The same reasons for televisions…
Liam trees have leaves as they are the primary organs of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process in which the energy of sunlight is collected and used to make sugars. These sugars are then transported to other parts of the tree and used for nutrition.
Becky… I have answered something similar… all depends on how long you wish to stay in each country and how you travel. If I was to do this… probably many many years as I would have to investigate every country to satisfy my curiosity!
Adam - Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky will be worded phonetically… so Pet-ro-pav-lov-sk - Kam-chat skee
Conor - great question! The ice sheet covers over 99% of continent and has an mean thickness of 2.16 km. By multiplying the area of the ice sheet (13,524,390 square km)by this thickness, we find that the total volume of the continental ice sheet is 29,212,682 km cubed.
Water expands when frozen to ice so the weight will be less than its volume.
Another way of looking at it is… Antarctica contains approximately 70% of the earth’s fresh water of 326,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons which is 228,200,000,000,000,000,000 gallons. one gallon weighs approx 8.34 pounds = 190,318,800,000,000,000,000,000 pounds
Which is…. 863,286,077,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms.
Now that is alot of ice.
On September 11th 2001 [them terrorist attacks] How much smoke was ‘released’ in the atmosphere!!
ages ago u said the one thing that is indestructable is water but if it can’t be destroyed then how much water is there on the earth including the atmosphere?
Why is the earth called the earth? How do we know that the tallest mountain is actually the tallest mountain?
Soph scientists estimate over one billion cubic kilometres (one cubic kilometre of water would fill 300 Olympic-sized swimming pools). Water covers nearly three quarters of the earth’s surface in oceans as well as rivers, lakes, snow and glaciers. There is water in the atmosphere and water underground. Water evaporates and returns to the land surface in what is known as the hydrologic cycle.
Charlotte The word `Earth’ itself has had much the same meaning long ago, referring to the thing ‘on which we live’. We have a very different understanding now of what the ground/world is than people did back then, but we still call it the same thing.
The tallest mountain is ‘Mauna Kea’ - it is the highest point on Hawaii… it is 4,206m above sea level. Everest is 8,838m. However when measured form the sea bed to the summit, it is 10,200m making it the ‘tallest’ mountain. The ‘highest’ is measured from sea level to summit. ‘Tallest’ is from base to top…!!! Bet you didn;t know that!
what is the smallest state (in square miles) in the world?
How many gallons of fuel would it take to drive around the world once in a H2 Hummer
H2Hummers do 12.6 miles to the gallon
Michael
hi miss….what’s the first thing we will be doing in september in geog????????
Emily - the first thing we do in September is group fieldwork at Alton Towers.
Bill - Vatican City - 0.2 square miles - The world’s smallest state, the Vatican has a population of 770, none of whom are permanent residents. The tiny country which surrounds St. Peter’s Basilica is the spiritual center for the world’s Roman Catholics (over 1 billion strong). Also known as the Holy See, Vatican City is surrounded by Rome, Italy.
Vausey - the circumference of the earth is 24,859.82 miles. Therefore little over 1,973 gallons.
Hiya….me and my family go to Southport most weekends for the day..and last Saturday I found a weird looking shell I’ve never seen one like it before shall I bring it in on monday??
Wow… sounds intriguing Emily! Please do bring it to school and I will examine it for you… Shells are fab.
Why is it that polar bears are only in the North, and penguins in the south?
ha miss i got 1
Why is it that tornado’s are named ????????????
kimmy x
why are the planets spheres ?
Joshua - Penguins evolved in the south and need rich waters. The tropics are a barrier for them and the north has ecological equilivants to penguins in puffins and other alcids. Polar bears likewise can´t cross the tropics, so they are limited to the north. It’s all about the food supply. The location of penguins is always near a drift that carries a good source of food. They are not found north of the equator. See also…
http://www.educapoles.org/index.php?s=7&rs=13&uid=93&lg=en
Kimmy - tornados are not named. Hurricanes are named because the use of short, distintive given names is quicker and less subject to error than the older more cumbersome latitude-longitute identification methods. These advantages are specially important in exchanging detailed storm information between hundres widely scattered stations, coastal bases, and ships at sea. The use of easily remembered names greatly reduces confusion when two or more tropical storms occur at the same time.
Tim - planet’s are spheres because the sphere is the shape you get when no one piece of the planet is much different from any other and all the pieces are trying to reach the center. Why do the pieces of a planet try to reach the center, I’m sure you know, it’s the force of gravity. Philosophically, it goes all the way back to Aristotle. He stated that heavy things move downward, until they couldn’t move downward any more. From geometry, a sphere is the shape that is most compact — all of the parts of a sphere are as close to the center as can possibly be, and no other shape has that property — and so he reasoned that the earth must be a sphere. See http://www.bautforum.com/archive/index.php/t-2011.html
Matt - a fascinating question…with no specific answer. A lot… and what was released was very toxic. Here are some intriguing comments regarding the environmental implications of all the dust and smoke…
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/timeline.jsp?timeline=enviromental_impact_911_attacks&env_imp_general_topic_areas=env_imp_independentStudies
http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/ofr-01-0429/
i got another 1 about hurricanes
who was it that decided that we should name hurricanes????
kimmy agen x
What % of the Earth is watery?
sand is made by water eroding away rock.so why is there no water in the desert but lots of sand?
where do people come from?
sand is made from water eroding away rocks.so why is there no water in the desert but just sand?
why do fishes live in water?
why can’t earth’s gravity pull a comet towards the earth?
what is the biggest volcano in the world?
Hi Geoimo, I’ve heard that Britain is sinking in the South and rising in the North, is this true and if so why?
PS What’s big, white, furry and always points North?
A Polar Bearing!
Hee Hee.
Loving the site by the way best blog ever!!!
Sorry for the next one, might not be directly linked to geography but made me laugh and it is to do with deserts…
Three legionnaires were walking through the desert under a baking sun.
They were fully equipped with enough water for days, and food a plenty.
On the shimmering horizon mirages came and went. Visions of swimming pools, stalls full of ice-cream, sorbets, freshly-whipped smoothies of every conceivable flavor. But the legionnaires did not crack, they kept marching solidly on.
Suddenly one of them froze, “Psssst” said he. His companions halted, and strained their eyes to where the first legionnaire was pointing. “Le voila”, said he, “Regardez, mes amis, isn’t that a bacon tree on the horizon?”
And sure enough; there it stood, proud and defiant in the middle of the desert, an oasis with a true bacon tree. Slowly they crept forward towards the mysterious object so far off. Inch by inch, centimeter by centimeter, until they were within a stones throw of the bacon tree.
Even nearer they crept, and suddenly, a shot rang out, dropping one of the legionnaires in
his tracks. The other two returned fire, and gave first aid to their wounded
companion. As they bandaged him, and poured water over his face, they could hear his faint voice,
“That was no bacon tree,” he gasped, “That was a ham bush.”
what is the largest pebble
what is in a piece of molton rock?
why do we have different cultures?
where in the world is paradise?
Waseem…the biggest volcano in the world is Mauna Loa in Hawaii…800,000 cubic kilometres!!!
Kimmy - 1950 by the US Weather Bureau!
Steve - majoriy of sources say 70% water…
Becky… Antarctica is a desert and has no sand just water and ice!!! In deserts, sand is not just made by erosion from water. Sand in the desert is made by weathering. This page expains really well…
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/apr99/924495477.Es.r.html
Waqar - evolution states that fish evolved from single celled organisms in the oceans. Certain fish took an evolutionary leap and evolved into land-based animals… they were no longer fish. The fish species that remain live in water as this is the only habitat they can survive in in their current evolutionary state.
Jason… earth’s gravity can pull a comet to earth. A comet can be described as a “big chunk of ice with some rock”, and can create a lot of damage when they impact Earth. Comets big enough not to get burnt out before they reach the earth’s surface are ‘long-period’ objects (approx every 200 years)…. scientists are concerned about the potential impacts of a sizable comet impacting the earth, especially in a populated area…
Pigeon - Yep, it’s true. It’s the result of a process called isostatic rebound. Also, the burden of Scottish ice pushed up the crust in areas that were ice free. So the south of England gets a double whammy – sinking crust and rising sea level. All this adds up to one inescapable fact: the lower Thames was never a good place to site a major capital city.
Crazy Mark - there is no distinction/classification between pebble, stone, rocks and boulders. Usually though ‘pebble’ tends to refer to the smallest. Stones are a bit bigger, marble sized. Rocks are a bit more bigger: fist size. Boulders are huge!! So the ‘largest pebble’ is decided by YOU!!
Luke - molten rock is hot rock in liquid form as it has melted. It is made from whatever minerals were in the rock before it melted!
Hannah - there are so many cultures becasue human nature is complex. Cultures develop over time depending on the resources available to the population, its language, its geography, its interdependence with other cultures and so on. Consequently… there are many many outcomes and therefore different cultures. Makes the world more interesting anyway. Would be dull if everyone was the same.
Hannah - great question…paradise is a place which you think is perfect! The perfect environment (no pollution/sustainable etc) is often referred to as ‘Utopia’… But my personal paradise is sometimes up a mountain, othertimes on a beach… depending on my mood at the time. Paradise to me is the environment you are in… its a personal thing.
What is the biggest volcanic eruption in the world?
Lewis - The largest eruption in the world this century occurred in 1912 at Novarupta on the Alaska Peninsula. An estimated 15 cubic kilometers of magma was explosively erupted during 60 hours beginning on June 6 — (which is equivalent to 230 years of eruption at Kilauea (Hawaii) or, about 30 times the volume erupted by Mount St. Helens (Washington) in 1980.
miss were does the moon come from ?
miss please tell me………who conquered mount everest?
and on what date did it happen ?
why was the meriden line created?
and who benfitted the most from it ?
And why is the Meriden line important in today’s life style ?
Is the mass of the earth less or more than when it began?
hiya miss i have given u a few question’s soo i will give you another one what to make you think a bit!!!……………………… A continental shelf is moving but in which direction is it going and what affect is it having on Britain?
work them out miss hehe
Well Megan - you do like to keep me busy!!
1. There are several theories about where the moon comes from…
a) The Fission Theory: This theory proposes that the Moon was once part of the Earth and somehow separated from the Earth early in the history of the solar system.
b) The Capture Theory: This theory proposes that the Moon was formed somewhere else in the solar system, and was later captured by the gravitational field of the Earth.
c) The Condensation Theory: This theory proposes that the Moon and the Earth condensed individually from the nebula that formed the solar system, with the Moon formed in orbit around the Earth.
d) The following theory is widely accepted today;
The Giant Impactor Theory (sometimes called The Ejected Ring Theory): This theory proposes that a planetesimal (or small planet) the size of Mars struck the Earth just after the formation of the solar system, ejecting large volumes of heated material from the outer layers of both objects. A disk of orbiting material was formed, and this matter eventually stuck together to form the Moon in orbit around the Earth. This theory can explain why the Moon is made mostly of rock and how the rock was excessively heated. Furthermore, we see evidence in many places in the solar system that such collisions were common late in the formative stages of the solar system.
See http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question38.html for more info…
2. 1953: The New Zealander Edmund Hillary, and the Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest on the Nepal-Tibet border.
3. The Meridian line dates back to October 1884. At the International Meridian Conference it was desirable to adopt a single world meridian to replace the numerous one’s already in existence. The Meridian passing through the principal Transit Instrument at the Observatory at Greenwich was to be the ‘initial meridian’. That all longitude would be calculated both east and west from this meridian up to 180°.
All countries would adopt a universal day. The universal day would be a Mean Solar Day, beginning at the Mean Midnight at Greenwich and counted on a 24 hour clock. That nautical and astronomical days everywhere would begin at mean midnight. All technical studies to regulate and extend the application of the decimal system to the division of time and space would be supported.
As for who benefits the most - depends on you perception. perhaps the men involved in building the line in Greenwich, London!
4. The Meridian line enables all countries to have a universal soal day. Without it, each country would perhaps have their own way of telling the time. With out the line in greenich it would just be somewhere else in order for Geographers and Cartographers to map this world.
5. Apparently… The mass of the Earth increases every year because of 3,000 tonnes of meteorite debris that hits its surface from space. So more…
6. Birtain is part of the continental shelf of Europe. This plate is one of several plates which meet to form the crust of our planet. All plates move in different directions. We are moving away from Iceland on the Eurasian plate and new oceanic crust is forming along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. This means Britain is actually getting further away from this plate boundary…
Hi GeoImo, check this out for the latest high resolution maps of the real Bib Brother House.
http://www.192.com/bigbrother
Are there country’s that are not yet been discovered
Emily… sorry to disappoint but nope. We have discovered all countries so far. Unless a new one is formed….???!
is water blue and why?
hi miss, why is water blue?
Got you intrigued did we…
well water is faint blue. Although water appears clear in small quanities (like a glass of water), the blue color becomes visible the more water we look through. Thus, deep lakes and seas are bluer than a shallow river.
The surface of seas and lakes often reflect blue skylight, making them appear bluer.
Pure water and ice have a pale blue color, best seen at tropical white-sand beaches and in ice caves in glaciers. It is neither due to light scattering (like the sky), nor dissolved impurities. This is because, the absorption which gives water its color is in the red end of the visible spectrum, one sees blue, the complementary color of orange, when observing light that has passed through several meters of water. This color of water can also be seen in snow and ice as an intense blue color scattered back from deep holes in fresh snow.
see http://webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/5B.html for more info
Whats the biggest Island in the world? UK, Australia…..??? Bit silly but…
:s
Matt - the biggest island in the world is greenland. Austrailia is considered a continent.
As the definition states it is smaller than a continent, and is surrounded by water…
so can’t be Africaeuropeasia although this large land mass is surrounded by water!
Oh ye, Greenland want go there lol. Anyway one more question i need ask lol.
Seems as though the olympics flag has 5 rings because apparently of the 5 continents in the world.
I thor the Continents were - Europe, Asia,Middle East, Africa, North America, South America, Oceania and Antarctica.
So how can there be 5??
Europe, Africa, Asia, The Americas (N and S) and Australasia.
This excludes Antarctica obviously. There is your 5.
Middle east is a region not a continent.
Where did you get the catepillars from again? I want some lol!