Brazilian Deforestation

What Is The Brazilian Government Doing To Reduce Deforestation Rates Within The Amazon And How Successful Has It Been?

During the years 1996 to 2005 the average yearly deforestation rate was around 19,500 square kilometres. Since 2005 the rate has been drastically reduced to around 7000 square kilometres a year or around 40% of the 1996-2005 average.  The government has helped achieved this vast reduction in a number of ways. The first key government actions to reduce the deforestation rate were the expansion of land designated as national park or indigenous reserves.  By stamping government ownership on much of the Amazon people have been deterred from taking land and clearing it by the prospect of potential government sanctions.

Asian Megacities

Lahore

Holding the prestige title of capital of Punjab province and boasting the second largest population for a city in Pakistan Lahore is classified as a mega-city. The population of Lahore is around 10 million and is growing rapidly.




Lahore is a historically diverse area within its region. Being the capital to the Ghaznavid's, Ghurid's, Mughal's, Sikh's and the British Empire. It is the 40th most populated urban area in the world and accoridng to the guardian it is the second best tourist destination in the whole of pakistan.

 The economy of Lahore in PPP GDP figures was around $40 billion with an average annual growth rate of around 5.6%.  Lahore contributes around 13.2% of Pakistan's total national GDP. Around 42% of Lahore's workforce is employed within the service sector of the economy. For such a large and rapidly growing city infrastructure is generally good and communications are up to date with most businesses being able to access high speed internet.

Lahore is described as Pakistan's most accessible city, with an abundance of public transport and private transport. Roads are being expanded every year and are well maintained. 75% of citizens have their own means of transport but many choose public transport as it is often cheaper or quicker and sometimes the government gives incentives for its use.

Lahore is overwhelmingly Muslim with around 94% of people being so. The rest are mainly Christian or seek. Lahore is also described as the cultural heart of Pakistan due to its rich history spanning many empires. Lahore is also well known for its abundance of schools, colleges and universities which provide the city with the skills it requires to pursue a service based economy.

Chinese Megacities

Chongqing, China

Chongqing is a very large inland city in South-West China. It is one of only 4 municipalities in China controlled directly by the central government. It perhaps sums up quite well Chinese development, the city has grown exponentially and the municipality of Chongqing now has a population of 31.4 million. It is quoted by many sources as being the worlds largest municipality in both physical size and in terms of population.

The city of Chongqing served as China's capital city during World War II and the war against the imperial Japanese armies. Today it serves an economic purpose, being the hub of economic activity in the upper Yangtze region. The urban population or the actual city population is around 5 million at a density of 382 people per square kilometer. The cultural background of Chongqing is mainly "Han" with around 91% of people being of Han ascendancy.

Chongqing has a sub-tropical climate with its summers being among the hottest in the whole of China around 34-35 degrees. The economy is Chongqing is growing rapidly with 137,000 square meters of floor space being added to the city everyday for commercial, industrial and residential purposes. The city grows by about 1300 people every day which adds approximately $15 million to the economy daily. It is China's third largest automobile producing region, producing 1 million cars and 8.6 million motorcycles.

The Chongqing Iron and Steel Company is Asia's largest Aluminum  manufacturing factory. The current GDP stands at around $90 billion with $3300 per capita and about 15% annual growth. Unlike Lagos, Chongqing is a well planned city, transport and infrastructural needs are planned for to prevent problems.

Other problems include organized crime, in 2009 4893 suspected criminals were arrested for organized crime. However, Chongqing's most prevalent problem is its huge water pollution levels in the nearby rivers and tributaries in addition to the heavy air pollution which both the UN and the EU quote as being unsafe.

African Megacities

Lagos

The megacity of Lagos stretches along the South-West Coastline of Nigeria. Stretching 389 square miles with 8 million residents at a mind boggling density of 7941 people per square kilometre Lagos is the fastest growing city in Nigeria and is fueling the process of rural-urban migration within Nigeria.

Formerly known by the name Eko, Lagos was the capital of Nigeria from 1914 to 1991. It was stripped of its capital status after the capital was shifted to Abuja since Lagos was criticised for being "too Christian" and Abuja is a balance between the Islamic North and the Christian south.

The size of the Lagos metropolitan area totals 15.5 million. By a conservative estimate Lagos grows by 275,000 people every year. The economic effects of Lagos growing rapidly is of a chinese essence. Large supplies of cheap rural migrant labour, inflows of foreign investment and accumaltions of industry, technology and commerce all keep business costs low and potential for profit high.

20% of Lagos' GDP is provided from petroleum based services or exports. Lagos port is Nigeria's largest port and one of the largest in Africa, it brings Lagos exclusive trading opportunities and a constant supply of imports to fuel sectors of the economy where Nigeria is not self sufficient.

However, Lagos has a rapidly rising slum population and its government has been slow to improve transport infrastructure (the Lagos light rail project is not due for completion until 2012) and education is still for the elites or highly skilled. Lagos only has 7 secondary, University and college institutions. Tourist attractions include Oba's Palace, the Nigerian National Museum, Shrine of Fela, the beach resorts and Prophet T.B. Joshua's Synagogue and the Church Of All Nations.

Geography Courses

 UCAS Geography Courses

There are many types of geography based courses at British universities. There are the more standard geography courses and then the more obscure parts of geography plus geography courses integrated with other subjects.
These are the core geography courses:
Geography F800
Geography L700

There are Human geography courses:
Human Geography L701

And Physical Geography Courses:
Physical Geography F840

As well as geography with other subjects here are a few more examples:
Geography with Study in Continental Europe (F801)
Geography and Environmental Management (FF89)
Geography and History (LV71)
Geography with Animal Science (F8D3)
Geography and Sociology (FL83)
Geography with French (F8R1)
Geography with Psychology (F8C8)
Geography with English (F8Q3)
Geography and Economics (LL71)

The Millenium Development Goals

The Millenium Development Goals

The MDG’s are a set of 8 international development goals that all 192 UN nations and 23 international organisations aim to achieve by 2015.

They are as follows:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Halve the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day, achieve decent employment rates for men women and young people and halve the number of people who suffer from hunger.

Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

By 2015 all children will have the opportunity to complete a full primary education.

Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality And Empower Women

Eliminate the gender disparity in the education systems of the world by 2015.

Goal 4:  Reduce the child mortality rate

Reduce the under 5’s mortality rate by 66% by 2015.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Reduce the maternal motality rate by 75% by 2015 and get access to contraception for all women.

Goal 6: Combat Major Diseases

Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV by 2015,  achieve universal access by 2010 to HIV drugs to all who need it and have halted and begun to reverse the incidence of major diseases like malaria and sleeping sickness by 2015.

Goal 7: Environmental Sustainability

Integrate the principles of sustainable development into every countries policies and begin to reverse the process of environmental degradation. Have a significant decline in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.  Improve access to sanitation and clean water and improve the lives significantly of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership For Development

Develop a non discriminating trading and financial system. Address the needs of LDCs. Address the special needs of landlocked or island underdeveloped states. Deal with worldwide debt problems. Make medicine and new communication technology available to developing countries by negotiating with large providers.

Problems With The MDGs

The major problem with the MDGs seems to be the fact they provide targets that for many nations are unattainable. For example a certain level of forest cover (around 50% is the average target) is almost impossible for an industrialized nation to achieve.  And some gender equality targets are almost impossible for hard line Islamic states like Iran to achieve since women always play a more traditional role in society. As well as the fundamental problems of the objectives themselves the whole project is under-funded, the 0.7% of GNP agreed by the industrialized wealthy nations isn't being paid and some are refusing to give that much.

Progress

Progress is difficult to generalise some nations are doing well and others are progressing badly or even regressing. Check the progress of a nation of your choice from here:

http://www.mdgmonitor.org/

The World Bank

What Is The World Bank?

Well as Keynes famously said they must have got the names of the world bank and the IMF mixed up. The world bank funds development projects and the IMF loans money to struggling nations. The world bank is an international organization with 187 countries as members. The function of the world bank is to loan money and provide assisstance with nations looking to construct large scale development projects. It was formed in the Bretton Woods agreement after world war two to aid with the reconstruction of a war torn Europe.

The Structure Of The World Bank

There are 5 Sections to the world bank:

1) The International Bank For Reconstruction And Development, IBRD.

2) International Finance Corporation, IFC.

3) International Development Association, IDA.

4) Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, MIGA.

5) International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID.

What Does The World Bank Do?

The IBRD and IDA provide loans and grants to countries looking to undertake development projects or lacking access to sufficient credit/loans. Loans cover areas such as health and education, agriculture, rural development, environmental protection, infrastructure and governance.

The organization is demand by western free market theorists who are quite influential within the world bank, it promotes free trade and it likes to make nations it helps into large capitalist free markets. As much as people criticize the world bank, for being a "neo-colonialist" arm of the western world aiming to spread its economic structure and culture, it has helped international development substantially in its time.

The International Monetary Fund

What Is The IMF?

The IMF is a global organization that aims to promote international monetary cooperation and international economic stability whilst increasing the prosperity of international trade. The IMF also works to solve financial crises in the international economy (Greece being the most recent example) by using pro-Keynesian methods as opposed to the alternative method which is devaluation (reducing AD in the hope imports will fall and rescue the trade balance).

What Is The Purpose Of The IMF?

> Promote international monetary cooperation.

> Facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade.

> Provide exchange rate stability.

> Ensure multilateral payment systems are keep functioning fairly, efficiently and are regulated sufficiently.

> Provide financial aid to members who are struggling to cope with certain financial crises.

Drawbacks Of The IMF

>Places strict and sometimes unreasonable conditions with its financial aid packages.

>Dominated by the biggest contributors (i.e. the USA is significantly more powerful than other smaller nations like Poland even if they each give the same % of GDP).

> 2001 Argentinean crisis showed the failures of hefty budget restrictions and that the aid is not always beneficial.

> Critics say the IMF encourages Globalization and is increasing the global disparity of income by making LDC's more dependent on the developed nations.

Is There A Link Between Economic Growth and Water Demand?

Generally it is accepted that as economies grow in size the amount of water demanded within the economy also increases. If you observe the graph to the right you can see over the past 100 years agricultural water demand has increase 600% , industrial usage has increased nearly 1000% and domestic use about 400%. In 1900 we used about 700km cubed of water, in 2000 we used about 4,500km cubed of water. Does this show a trend with economic growth in the world?

Note the scale can be deceptive (the space between 0 and 2000 is the same as the space between 2000 and 10000.

It seems quite obvious that generically water demand does follow economic growth. Throughout the 20th century both water demand and economic growth constantly increase. In both graphs the sharpest rises come after the end of World War II. Therefore it is logically to agree with the trend. However, you must not rule out the effects of other factors, for example population growth. Even though the above graph shows economic growth in terms of GDP per capita (which therefore factors for the additional population growth) the increase in water demand is also affected by a growth in population.

We can see from the first graph that the largest increase in water consumption in the whole century is clearly industrial usage. Since the 20th century was the era of vast industrialisation particularly from 1980 onwards when the Asian economies started developing rapidly (India, South Korea and China). Agricultural usage still uses the most water worldwide and Agricultural output is very closely linked with GDP levels; increasing food supply is a result of increasing demand within an economy which is a result of growth.

There is an extensive link that is easily proved between water demand and economic growth. Since water demand is the amount of consumers in an economy willing and able to buy water demand will increase when consumers have increased wealth to demand more and when consumer demand leads to demand for other goods or services which need water to be produced.

The Dependency Theory

The Dependency Theory: In geographical terms the dependency theory is the way that low income states or groupings have become dependent on high income nations in order to survive. This has come about due to the way world economic integration has created winners and losers.

How Are Low Income States Dependent On Others In This Theory?

Stock markets are too technology advanced for some dependent nations.

Low income states since they lack the skills and financial base to compete with high income states often are reliant on the provision of cheap labour and supplying natural resources to the high income states. High income states also exploit the low income nations by selling them obsolete technology. High income states very often make up the largest buyer of low income state's exports.

Since high income states are owners and developers of most technological advances low income states are very much dependent on high income states to sell them technology and capital which to them is an advancement (but very often for the high income states this kind of technology is outdated).

There are other ways in which high income states can make low income states dependent on them (economic functions is the most common way)  such as economics, media control, politics, banking and finance, education, culture, sport, and human resource development.

How Did This Situation Occur?

globalisation has created the dependency theory

The globalisation of the world economy, the emergence of capitalist economies as the most successful, aggressive trading schemes, unstoppable Trans-national corporations and the general effects of an integrated world economy. All these factors have led to small income nations being disadvantaged partially because they are never given a chance, in the capitalist world markets those with significant comparative advantages win and those without them lose. High income nations posses these advantages (technology, skilled labour, solid infrastructure, high GDP, stable economies, international culture) and low income nations are therefore driven out of the wealthy markets and left to be the undervalued part of the world economy; manufacturing and resource extraction/cultivation.

Superpower Geography: Mackinder's Heartland Theory Explained

Mackinder's Heartland Theory

English Political Geographer Sir Halford Mackinder came up with his heartland theory in the 1904. He submitted his theory to the Royal Geographic Society. The theory came about due to the fact that Russia was a huge nation at this point in time and even though slightly backwards in some respects at the same time they still held a vast empire yet to be defeated in battle. 

The theory states that all of world power rotates around the pivot area. So the pivot area is the power stronghold of the world; it will always have power but the power in the areas around it will change. The pivot area places an importance on Eastern Europe and the Russian Empire.

Many believe that Mackinder's Heartland Theory was used by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi's as his way of planning a world takeover, however, how far this was used is yet to be fully deciphered.

Mackinder labelled Europe, Asia and Most of Africa the World island. It was in his opinion the land mass all connected together that held the most power. The offshore islands (including Britain and Japan)  held the next amount of power, followed by the outer islands which are the North and South American and Australia.

Although the theory was proved successful, from World War II onwards the idea lost its significance. Since Russia the so called heartland of power crumbled to the German armies and the Japanese  islanders ended up conquering vast areas of Asia which is connected to the World Island. Also the theory itself implies a weakness and insignificance of sea war craft which played a vital role in World War II.

The World Trade Organisation

The World Trade Organisation

What is the world trade organisation?

The world trade organisation is an international regulatory body that is responsible for negotiating trade agreements, policing the rules of international trade and settling disputes involving one or more member nations.

Who are the members of the WTO?

The world trade organisation has 153 members of which they account for 97% of the value of international trade. The most recent member to join was the Ukraine in 2008.  The WTO was formed in 1995 by the world’s biggest trading players such as the USA, the UK, Germany and India. China became a member in 2001.

What Does the WTO actually do?

The WTO has a statement of responsibility in which it states it will regulate world trade in accordance with non-discriminatory, predictable and fair policies. Whilst allowing trade to benefit developing nations through fair competition and removing their entry barriers into western markets.

What was the Uruguay round?

The Uruguay round was a WTO meeting in which key policy changes were made. Tariffs on industrial products were to be cut by 40% in the years 1995-2000, the end product of this was average cuts from 6.3 to 3.8%. Also developing nations were able to get the number of high tariffs down on their goods. The average number of goods with a tariff of 15% or more fell from 9% to 5%. Binding agreements were also decided whereby developed and developing nations cannot increase their tariffs above a pre-agreed level.

What Was The Doha Round?

The Doha round was held in Qatar in the Middle East. It was another WTO agreement in which improving conditions for the developing nations took centre stage. Industrialised nations agreed that by 2013 they would not subsidise any of their export industries. Also for the extremely impoverished nations, a “everything but arms” initiative was created by which they can sell their products to the western markets with no tariffs, this deal covers about 97% of these nations exports.

						The Best Universities For Geography 2010  Here are the best universities in the country for studying geography based courses. The information is courtesy of the complete university guide. As you can see the best university in the country for geography is Cambridge. There are many London universities which rank among the best such as LSE (London School Of Economics), UCL (university college London) and Royal Holloway. However, take note of the graduate prospects column, this clearly shows that if you are looking for the best employment prospects then LSE is the place for you.     Rank Institution Student Satisfaction Research Assessment Entry Standards Graduate Prospects Overall Score 1 Cambridge 4.25 5 A 511 79 100.0 2 London School of Economics 3.68 5 A 435 91 98.2 3 Oxford 4.04 4 A 492 78 97.1 4 Durham 3.68 5* A 453 77 97.1 5 University College London 3.95 5* A 436 74 97.0 6 Bristol 3.71 5* A 459 71 96.1 7 Edinburgh 3.53 5* A 442 72 95.1 8 St Andrews 4 B 444 67 94.0 9 Royal Holloway 4.13 5* A 359 67 94.0 10 Dundee 3.83 4 A 429 69 92.6 11 Sheffield 3.82 5 A 398 66 92.4 12 Southampton 3.74 5 A 393 68 92.3 13 Newcastle 3.66 5 A 369 71 92.0 14 Nottingham 3.54 5 B 426 66 91.2 15 Strathclyde 3a C 467 63 90.9 16 Loughborough 3.91 5 B 364 65 90.7 17 Cardiff 3.89 5* A 321 59 90.2 18 Birmingham 3.94 4 B 379 65 90.1 19 Reading 3.92 4 A 356 65 90.0 20 Leeds 3.69 5 B 369 65 90.0

PC Games To Support Geography

Being an avid gamer myself I have been able to appreciate that certain PC video games have to ability to provide additional enriching information that has provided useful in my high level Geographical studies. These games often provide geographic information in the terms of the spatial structure of our world, as well the history of how certain places came to be and why their geography is as it is today.

A game that I have found invaluable is Europa Universalis III. This game is a Strategy game based between the 15th and 19th centuries. It provides players with the ability to acquire detailed knowledge of the world and its places, it provides many regions not just countries so you are able to know that say Goa is in India or Seminole is in the USA etc. The game also shows depending on the start date you choose the position of European colonies which is useful knowledge. Map options also show the spread of different cultural groups and religions at any given start date you choose.

Another game , which is less thought-intensive is Far Cry 2, not obviously applicable to geographical concepts. However, playing the game it is clear it gives a fantastic view on the structure of impoverished and war torn African countries. Similar to Botswana in many ways it shows how the diamond trade and foreign intervention within the economy and military of the small African nation (the nation is fictional in the game) has led it to its almost total destruction. You can gain some good ideas from this game so why not give it a try.


Finally cities XL a game which is linked to the economic and social side of big cities and development. Take on the role of the all seeing and all dancing city planner who has the ability to control everything. This game gives you an insightful knowledge of what cities need to function fully and the effects of them growing in size. It will give you the ability to not only have fun but explore the role that big cities have to play within the social and economic structure of a country. Can you balance economic growth, with social equality and protect the environment?

How Far Is Economic Development Due To Energy Security?

How Far Is Economic Development Due To Energy Security?

Economic development needs a range of factors to ensure it can be achieved. There must be the capacity within the economy to expand, this is determined by having enough labour, market demand and resources to grow and develop economically. Energy security plays a key role in economic development. Having enough energy allows the economy to enter new sectors i.e. from agriculture to industry. Partially one of the reasons why much of Africa struggles to develop is because it doesn’t have abundant energy resources to generate electricity from or run motor vehicles.

China is a very good example of how economic development has been empowered by an abundance of energy. China has huge reserves of Coal, access to electricity from the three gorges dam and reserves of oil and gas. It has sustained nearly 10% growth in the past 10 or so years, with its energy needs climbing at an alarming rate. China’s industrial sector uses 71% of the countries energy.

Kuwait is another example. For much of its early history (up until the 70s and 80s) Kuwait was a relatively small and low income arab state. The GDP per capita in the 1970s was just around $4000. By 1997 it was $23,000. Standards of living and development has advanced at rapid rate, access to endless amounts of oil has allowed them to set up industry and for peoples homes to have access to electricity. Their citizens also can use cars cheaply. The excess oil they can sell to make further profits. All this growth wouldn’t have been possible without access to abundant energy supplies.

However an abundance of energy resources doesn’t always result in economic development, take for example Gabon in Africa, it produces about 150,000 barrels a day more than it uses but its people are still highly impoverished and economic development is similar to that of other African countries that have no oil. In a sense economic development is not solely affected by access to energy there are many other factors such as the government’s organisation of the economy and the skills and training your workforce has.

Looking at the Gazprom gas cut off of last year this is a good example of how some countries are vulnerable in terms of energy security, and for the period when the gas was turned off much of the Eastern European countries like Romania has people living without central heating, without electricity and the whole country came to a standstill. It can quite easily be assumed that if such a shortage were to be long-term the economic development in many countries (including developed ones) would see a decline in the economic development and the wellbeing of its people.

The main points for supporting that economic development is determined by energy security is by looking at the countries mentioned above that have significant energy security and have had fast and sustainable (so far) economic development. Energy security means countries can continue to grow industry and the economy as well as improving the living standards of its people. Economic development however in some countries that have abundant energy supplies does not always occur; some countries with access to energy security live in relative poverty. Therefore, it can be said that even though energy security is one of the most fundamental properties to a prosperous economy sometimes other factors such as corruption, bad government planning and a poorly skilled workforce can hinder countries from achieving satisfactory levels of economic development.