Lack of Blogging

Unfortunately I haven't been able to blog for ages! I was busy with exams at the end of July and found myself procrastinating my way through summer and preventing myself doing anything worthwhile.

However I've returned to college now and hopefully can beginning blogging regularly. Just a quick update on things in my little world- I took my AS exams in July and broke up from college 6 weeks after, I went on a small scout camp to braggers wood in the new forest as part of my volunteering and then My family and I went to Scotland for a few days, we watched the Edinburgh tattoo, visited family and immerse ourselves in the culture of the fringe festival. When I returned home I got my results- ABBB, they're ok, could have been better could have been worse. I have dropped English literature and am continuing on with geography (full ums on the first exam wooop!), maths and physics :) I've also been checking out universities for next September which us all very exciting. Finally after much anticipation and a few problems with billing by up to date subscription of national geographic magazine has started!

Icelands' Big Issue

National Geographic's March 2008 article titled "power struggle" looked at the on-going feud between the renewable sources of energy within Iceland and then the unspoiled landscape.

 



Iceland sits on a not only on a constructive plate boundary along the Mid-Atlantic ridge where the north American and Eurasian plates are diverging and pulling apart. As a result molten magma rises from the asthenosphere. This causes a build up of pillow lava, as the plates are continuously pulled apart lava cools and builds up until the submarine volcano protrudes out the water. Iceland also sits on a mantle plume called a hotspot. This 100-200km wide column of hot rock rises from deep within the earth, forcing magma through the lithosphere and out via volcanoes. This culmination of tectonic activity makes Iceland one of the most volcanic regions in the world.

Map of Iceland

 
This unlimited source of geothermal and hydroelectric power has been long sought after whilst the Icelandic government has had to tempt companies to base in Iceland with the promise of cheap electricity to run their industry. One such company is Alcoa, the worlds third largest produced of aluminium. The Fjardaál smelter in eastern Iceland was completed in June 2007, The plant processes around 940 tons of aluminium a day, making it Alcoa's second largest smelter. However in order to harness the energy of Iceland's dramatic landscape a area covering 22 square miles had to be flooded. Not only will the flooding cause wide scale damage to the landscape, the rivers used in the project feed the islands main glacier called Vatnajökull. In total 3% of Iceland's land will be affected by the Dam itself.
 
 


 

Vatnajökull Glacier
  

 


Kárahnjúkar is located in eastern Iceland, 700km away from the capital Reykjavik. The hydropower plant itself consists of nine dams, three reservoirs, seven channels and sixteen tunnels. The Jökulsá á brú and Jökulsá í Fljótsdal, and several smaller rivers are diverted to the north of the Vatnajökull glacier The main dam is over 190 meters tall making it the largest of its kind within Europe. The total cost of the project was 1.3 billion US Dollars and was funded by Landsvirkjun, the largest energy provider in Iceland. However it is likely the Icelandic tax payer will be contributing to the cost of the Dam despite not receiving any of the electricity produced. It's not just economic impacts that Iceland will face but it is likely that as the reservoir level raises and lowers the mud and silt left on the banks will dry and solidify and then the prevailing winds will carry dust, spoiling the pristine landscape. Many environmental activists initiated a protest camp at Kárahnjúkar. On the 19th July 2005, 25 activists shut down the site for 3 hours by locking themselves to a caterpillar construction vehicle and a pick up truck, blocking the main access roads. The pictures below come from the Kárahnjúkar protest camp on http://www.savingiceland.org. The last post from the camp was made in December 2011 reflecting on the long term impacts of the Dam. As expected the profits of the Dam were below the directors expectations, this is said to be due to the low price of energy sold to Alcoa's aluminium smelter.  

 

 

 

 



Migration into Mexico



Mexico's southern border

The February 2008 edition of National Geographic features awe inspiring images of Guatemalan immigrants sleeping on a railways waiting to catch a train through Mexico to the United States. The article is cleverly titled “Mexico’s other border” highlighting the infamy of the perilous Mexico- United States crossing.  For immigrants the journey starts at the  Suchiate river, the southern border between Guatemala and Mexico, from there they hike north east towards Arriaga. The journey of around 200 miles is perilous with around 400,00 migrants passing through Mexico facing many dangers such as kidnap, murder, drug runners and migration officials.

The river crossing is made on wooden rafts for $100 dollars per person, whilst local traders pay $10 for a crossing. This extortion of migrants demonstrates their desperation to cross. Once over the border migrants make there way to Tapachula, an immigrant sanctuary for shelter and food. Tapachula is a city of 270,000 which houses many migration sanctuary's which run on donations in order to care for those who have been worn down or event amputated from falls off freight trains. However to reach Tapachula the migrants must avoid the National institute of immigration, a checkpoint created to detain up to 960 illegal immigrants and whilst processing and deporting them quickly and efficiently.

To avoid deportation migrants face many gangs, know as maras, it is unclear whether they are working as part of  widespread organised crime or just smuggling drugs however they pose a serious threat to migrants who are seen as an easy target since they are often unarmed and carrying plenty of money. around 50% of migrants are female however up to 80% of these migrants end up in the sex trade according to Mexican Senator Maria Elena Orantes, who is in charge of a Mexican human rights group. she also claims that around the border between Guatemala and Mexico, around 100,000 women and some 2,000 girls are forced into prostitution. Criminal organisations such as the Mara Salvatrucha trick pretend to be smugglers and trick them into human trafficking organisations to the USA by promising marriage and employment or scare them by warning of running out of money during the crossing or being kidnapped by traffickers while travelling through Mexico unaccompanied. As the American government attempt to crack down on human trafficking smugglers chose to take more dangerous routes to ensure entry into the USA. As a result the price for migrants increases. According to various estimates, between 80% and 95% of illegal immigrants employ smugglers to assist in crossing the southern border from Mexico to the USA. Despite the high risk of travelling through Mexico to America thousands of people risk their lives in the hope of money and liberty

Volcanic Fury

In the January 2008 National Geographic magazine there was an article titled "The Gods Must Be Restless", based on Mount Merapi, the extremely active volcano on the island of Java. During May 2006 there was a plethora of seismic activity from the volcano which lead to more than 22,000  people being ordered to evacuate from the surrounding area. The article focused on the spiritual beliefs of the people living in Kinarejo, a small village 5 kilometres to the south of Mount Merapi. The 500,000 residents of Yogyakarta  rely on Mbah Marijan, the spiritual gatekeeper to the volcano. He refused to leave his home in Kinarejo despite being ordered to evacuate by scientists, as a result hundreds of other families refused to leave the island. He was badly burned in the 2006 eruption however 2 years after the article was publish Mount Merapi exploded again. On the 26th of October 2010 Marijan refused to leave his home once more and is reported to have said to his friend that "my time to die in this place has almost come, I can't leave".




Mount Merapi, May 2006

Another reason Marijan refused to leave was because the eruption  is not so much of a danger to the residents of Yogyakarta but the expansion of "The Kingdom of Merapi". In Indonesia there are more than 30 volcanoes which inhibit the lives of Indonesians to the extent where they learn to accept them as part of everyday life. Locals depend on the mineral rich soil created by the volcano for agriculture. This collection of volcanoes are formed at the Eurasian and Indo-Australian plate boundary where the heavier Indo-Australian plate is being subducted below the Eurasian plate.




Indonesian Volcano's.

Due to the nature of the destructive plate boundary many of the volcanoes are composite cone volcanoes due to the high silica content from the oceanic crust. As a result the lava is andesitic and non viscous, this means the lava flows at a slow velocity producing a low level volcano. Krakatoa is only 813m high however it produced one of the worst recorded earthquakes of modern history. The island of Krakatau (Krakatoa) is located between Sumatra and Java. On August 26-7th 1883 a series of 4 eruptions took place which caused major destruction to the island itself. The explosions were so loud they were reportedly heard 3,110km away in Perth. It is estimated that over 30,000 were killed, both from deadly pyroclastic flow and tsunamis. Recently the Volcano has been active in several small eruptions. on the 12th of march 2013 Krakatoa produced andesite volcano bombs which left small impact craters. As the active volcano continues to grow it's next large eruption remains
unpredictable.

Discovery

After sifting through piles of my dad's national geographic magazines I decided it was time to read them and really engage with their content in order to better understand the world around me. From a young age I have been fascinated with the world around me. This interest undoubtedly stemmed from multiple holidays abroad which allowed me to experience the rapid urbanisation of Dubai, the breathtaking surroundings of the Grand Canyon and only drove my inquisitive nature further.

When I read the January 2008 article titled "the gods must be restless" I was inspired to continue reading them and blog about the articles I find most interesting. Not only will this help with my A-level study but will hopefully allow me to develop my field of interest before I progress on to university to study Geography.