Geog a Blog

In attempts to link various disciplines to geography, I read  Social Theory   by Professor William Outhwaite. It allowed me to gain a better understanding of the social aspects of geography and how they relate to the economic, political and so on. The book introduced me to numerous topics that I will discuss in this post which were greatly fascinating, ranging from capitalism to theories of religion.  The place of inequalities in society is a constantly discussed and relevant topic. Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a social theorist who believed that social inequalities should not diverge too far from natural inequalities (such as strength and skill). This introduces the idea that unequal rewards may, in fact, be fairer, such as performance related pay. This was used in the UK during 1980s, but was abandoned in 1990s as seen as intrusive, divisive and not worth the trouble, especially as people tend to compare themselves with people similar to themselves rather than peopl...

There are many agencies and groups that can influence a place’s physical characteristics and sense of place, through reimaging, rebranding, the creation of activities, festivals and so on. Furthermore, they can influence the residents’ sense of belonging, identity and wellbeing within an area, thus shaping the behaviours of people. These groups can include the local community, governments and corporate bodies, each with varying abilities to cause positive changes. Local community groups have a more direct influence on the behaviour of people, due to the initiatives involving the locals themselves, however government’s and corporate bodies have greater funding and capacity to make larger scale changes to a place’s physical environment, thus influencing place meaning.  Brighton Pride is a vibrant celebration of Brighton & Hove’s diverse community, with visitors from across the globe enjoying its celebrations. Community fundraising is at the heart of Brighton Pride, with many...

Prior to 1949 China had experienced a century of imperial decline, natural disasters, foreign invasion and civil unrest. This resulted in life expectancy being as low as 36 years; during this period of time China was in stage one of the demographic transition model with high birth and death rates , resulting in a relatively steady population size, fluctuating due to epidemics and baby booms. China then entered the second stage in 1949 when the communists took over, as they began to modernise China. This shift to economic development led to a 10% annual growth rate in the economy between 1949 and 1958. Death rate and infant mortality fell due to a very successful healthcare programme and better nutrition. However, birth rate remains high (34.03 per 1000 in 1957) due to the traditional view of more children being needed to work the land and guarantee the parents security in old age remaining; this is characteristic of countries in stage two of the DTM. This led to rapid natural incr...

An Inconvenient Truth  (2006)  is a documentary by former Vice President Al Gore and is about his campaign to educate people about global warming. He begins by talking of how people choose to ignore the occurrence of climate change as it is often seen as too big a challenge to face, and if it is acknowledged the necessity to make drastic changes is undeniable. Many choose to believe that there is disagreement among scientists about whether we are causing global warming and whether it is an issue. But, there is a clear majority view among scientists that global warming is a huge global issue that humanity has caused. There is also this misconception that the Earth is simply too big for humans to have any lasting impact on it, however, advances in technology have led to our ability to have an effect, especially upon the atmosphere. The atmosphere is the most vulnerable part of the Earth, therefore we are able to alter the composition of it. This has led to the enhanced gree...

How severe and widespread the impacts of storm hazards are often influenced by the wealth of a country, the management procedures they have in place, as well as the region’s infrastructure. All these factors affect both the short and long-term impacts, as well as the scale of the hazard effects. Past hazards have indicated that storm hazards are highly damaging to both LICs and HICs, with Hurricane Katrina in the USA and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines both having a huge number of fatalities. The development of a place often allows the impacts to be mitigated to an extent, however, the magnitude of the storm hazard itself is still impossible for humans to control. The wealth of the US allowing it to recover well and mitigate the impacts of storm hazards is apparent with hurricane Irma. Despite Irma being the fifth costliest hurricane to hit the mainland of the US, with $50 billion worth of damage, there were no major long-term impacts. There were also no fatalities, as 6.5 mil...

Poor economics is a long-term research project undertaken and written up by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo. It outlines the “surprising truth about life on less than $1 a day”. The authors outlined 5 key lessons that emerged from their lengthy research. Firstly, the poor often lack critical pieces of information and believe things that are not true. An example of this is not knowing how much fertilizer to use, therefore using twice as much, eating into their already small profit margins. Uncertainty about knowledge such as the benefits of vaccinations leads to procrastination hence a large percentage of the population are not immunized. Their conclusion to combat this was information campaigns that:  say something people don’t already know,  are in a simple attractive fashion, and  must come from a credible source. Secondly, the poor bear responsibility for too many aspects of their lives. The poor don’t have access to government cleaned and chlorinate...