Happy Birthday Meg!!

This is a special 'dedication' post to another geographer in my A2 class who has, for weeks, been asking me to mention her in my blog! And as her 18th birthday is coming up, there hasn't been a better time than now!

Meg asked me yesterday whether there was a country or place called 'Meg' and at first I thought there must be! However, I'm a little disappointed in saying there isn't!

Despite this, there is a place called 'Megin' which is the close I can get to Megan. Megin is in the country of Turkmenistan; sparsely populated with 13 people per sq.mile, it rises to an average elevation of 469 feet above sea level. 0.76% of the children below 5 are underweight and the infant mortality rate is 78 per 1000 births.

In terms of its nature, Megin has an arid climate, and eventhough the land is cultivated, some natural vegetation has been preserved. Irrigated croplands cover the landscape, overall. Its mid latitude steppe climate and the warm temperate thorn scrub biozone means the soil in the area is high in leptosols. Leptosol is a weakly developed shallow soil that doesn't hold water very easily.

July is the warmest month of the year; an average temperature of 38.2 degrees Celcius at noon. January being the coldest month; it has an average temperature of -2.2 degrees Celcius at night. At winter, prolongued freezing periods can take place.

Megin is actually in destructive (viii) on the Mercalli Scale with earthquakes greater than 7 usually on the Richter scale. If an earthquake does take place, damage will be slight in areas of specially designed structures. Damage escalates in more ordinary buildings, with collapse possible. Flood risk, however, is low.

Have a wonderful birthday Meg! :)

Scholarship News is spreading!

Paston Press Release: Scholarship Opportunity

Colder or Warmer Winters

Last night, I was out with some friends around Great Yarmouth and it struck me at how warm it was! It was about 10:00pm and despite my other two mates complaining about the cold, I must admit it wasn't that bad at all. You can usually expect strong North Easterly winds at Yarmouth, and I feel the cold a lot so it must have been pretty mild!

But should we expect warmer or colder winters and why is this? The name 'Global Warming' suggests the former, yet in the short term (the next 50 years) we should all be heading to the shops and buying our wolly sweaters because the Journal of Geophysical Research predicts that the UK will suffer from longer and colder winters. This is mainly due to the fact that as ice ablates in the arctic regions, the heat from the sea water rises into the colder atmosphere, creating effectively a zone of high pressure. Clockwise winds then sweep over the south of the UK and over Europe.

However, in 50-60 years, these cold winters will begin to get warmer. Eventhough there is still a polar air mass circulating over the country, this air mass is getting warmer because of the greenhouse effect.

So Global Warming is the cause of both a short term colder winter and also for the long term warmer winter.

I'm back!

My apologies for the lack of any posts these last couple of weeks; I have been literally so busy with College work and... well, it's that time of the year. Christmas before you know it will soon be here, although it already is in some shops I've been into recently. Despite the fact it maybe a little early, it is great to see the crackers on the shelves, the mince pies in full stock and Slade in the background; I'm getting, as you can see, very excited! Having said that, before Christmas is my 18th! (It's the 10th by the way, just in case you were wondering when exactly to send that large present you've been saving for me!...What do you mean you haven't got me anything?! tch!) Yes, well anyway, that's coming up soon and between these two December events, is my Royal Geographical Society Gap Year Scholarship Induction Day and I must say I am probably excited about this the most. It will be my chance to meet the rest of the successful applicants and a time to begin planning my project. I already have lots of ideas! I'll keep you posted. Oh, and I received a package from the GA (Geographical Association) the other day. Lots of documents regarding Geography, but one of the most exciting things was the badge that they have sent me. It's green and says "Geographer". People have suggested that I wear it and never take it off; I have reservations but here I am with, what I can honestly say, is my first ever Geography Badge!

Exciting News!!

Many of you know that this year I had been working hard in applying for a Gap Year Scholarship from the Royal Geographical Society and about a week back, I received an email saying I had been shortlisted and I was invited to attend an interview on Tuesday 8th (yesterday). Well, despite train chaos, a 3 hour delay and a battle with cancelled underground services, I finally made it to the interview, held at the RGS Headquarters, in Kensington.

Well...I can now announce that I have been successful in obtaining a scholarship from the society who will now work with me this next year in refining some of the gap years details!!

I can't believe it, to be honest. I never thought that something I've wanted so much has actually worked out. My many thanks to Lee Childs, my Geography teacher from Flegg who has given me so much of his time and effort in helping me apply, and to those who have wished me luck and given me so much support over the last week.

I will of course update you on my developments here on this blog!

One of the best days of my life so far!