Snowdonia 2012 - Geography in Action!

Well done to the geographers who behaved impeccably and learned lots of new skills on the Snowdonia field trip. It was an action packed weekend of  gorge scrambling, river studies, towns, mountains, glaciation kung fu, the legend that is Buck and much more! 

Here are a few images!

Hurricane Sandy Aftermath

At least 40 people have been killed, millions are without power and transport across the north-eastern US has been severely disrupted as storm Sandy heads north for Canada.

In New York City, 18 people have been killed and the public transport system remains closed until further notice.

It is estimated that more than 15,000 flights were cancelled

Earlier, Sandy killed more than 60 people as it hit the Caribbean.

Sandy brought a record storm surge of almost 14ft (4.2m) to central Manhattan, well above the previous record of 10 feet (3m) during Hurricane Donna in 1960, the National Weather Service said.

People waking up this morning faced a terrifying scene. The streets are deserted, there is no electricity and there is debris everywhere - mattresses, sandbags swept away by the superstorm, tree branches. It's spookily quiet - no lights anywhere, and a dark grey, still menacing sky. 

For more information about how hurricanes form, click here!

The US Awaits Super Storm

Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the east coast of the US, where rain and high winds have already caused considerable damage.

Track the storm with NASA for the most up to date information on the hurricane

Click here for more information

Out of this World!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19943590

Have a look at this video from Felix Baumgartner's chest mounted camera. He bacame the first skydiver to go faster than the speed of sound, reaching a maximum velocity of 833.9mph (1,342km/h).

Link to the Chest Camera!

Manny from Ice Age Found!

Manny from Ice Age Found!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Manny_in_Ice_Age_3.jpg

A well preserved carcass of a mammoth has been found by an 11 year old boy in the permafrost of northern Siberia.  It has been named Zhenya, after Zhenya Salinder, the boy who found the carcass while walking his dogs in the area.

Click here to find out more!

Rain, Rain Go Away!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19693499

None stop, torrential rain and 70mph winds have been causing havoc on the roads and widespread flooding across the UK. Ten people have been rescued from their flooded homes in Merseyside by firefighters using inflatable rafts.

Take a look at this interactive flood map!

There are 41 flood warnings and 164 alerts in England and Wales, and flood alerts in nine areas of Scotland. Northern Ireland is also set to be hit.

So, What's Causing it?

An area of low pressure is to blame, bringing disruptive heavy rain and strong winds to the UK.

Alex Deakin explains the meteorology behind the stormy weather.

'Meteors' sighted in skies 

across UK

Did anyone spot this unusual sight in the night sky?

People from across the UK have reported seeing bright objects in the night sky, thought to be meteors or "space junk".

Dr Tim O'Brien, associate director of the Jodrell Bank Observatory, told the BBC it was difficult to know the cause of the phenomenon.

"It's hard to say exactly, whether it was a chunk of rock coming in from outer space, burning up in the atmosphere, or a bit of space debris we call it, space junk, which is basically man-made stuff from a spacecraft that's burning up in the atmosphere.

"[The object was] probably 80 miles up or so, high up, moving very fast, actually, 18,000 miles an hour, probably, at least."

Colin Johnston, from Armagh Planetarium in Northern Ireland, said the lights were unlikely to be part of a meteor shower.

"There are actually several small, faint, meteor showers scheduled across September but they're so unspectacular, not many people actually bother looking for them.

"I think that actually this spectacle tonight might not be associated with that."

"I think it's something just by chance has happened to come in tonight, some piece of actual space junk floating around the universe for billions of years has just picked tonight to fall in across our skies, or a satellite that's been up for some years has decided to burn up," he said.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19683687 23/09/12 

Residents return home in Guatemala as volcano dies down

15 September 2012 Last updated at 08:30Help

Local residents in Guatemala have begun to return to their homes as the Fuego volcano dies down.

Thousands of people had been evacuated after the volcano started spewing ash and lava.

Volcanologists said powerful eruptions were catapulting burning rocks as high as 1,000m (3,280ft) above the crater and lava was flowing down its slopes.

Experts say the eruption of the Fuego, 50km (31 miles) south-west of Guatemala City, is the biggest since 1999.

Will Grant reports

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-19608453