Geography in the News

Didjuno? Hurricane Dorian's erratic path in September 2019 reminds us that hurricane landfalls are concentrated in some places and largely absent in others. We wrote a Geography in the News article, "Is No Place Safe from Hurricanes?" (Nov. 18, 2005) 14 years ago with a map that still applies to today.

Although Dorian made landfalls in the Bahamas, it then skirted the east coast of the United States, making a second landfall at Cape Hatteras before tracking into Maritime Canada. Although Dorian did horrific damage and loss of lives to parts of the Bahamas as a Category 5 storm, it could have been equally devastating to Florida's East Coast had it tracked due west from the Bahamas.

When we look at Florida's northeast and Georgia's east coast, surprisingly few hurricane landfalls have occurred historically here. Yet North Carolina's and South Carolina's coasts have had many landfalls, as have the Gulf of Mexico shores from West Florida to Texas.

Part of the few landfalls to northeast Florida and east Georgia between Cape Canaveral and Savannah may be partially explained by the concave geography of the coast, but there may be a host of other interrelated causes for the dearth of landfalls here.

Coastal residents, developers and insurance companies often take notice of these geographic patterns, for they may have major economic implications for these coastal regions as Atlantic hurricanes threaten.

And that is Geography in the NewsTM.

Didjuno? World trade depends largely on the safe passage of ships through the many ocean chokepoints. The recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman at the Strait of Hormuz is an example of how vulnerable these chokepoints can be.

We wrote an article back in 2011 about how the Suez Canal could be closed down by political unrest in Egypt and we provided a map showing the quantities of oil through the major chokepoints of the world. Although the quantities have changed a bit, the comparative amounts are similar. We have edited the article here for size.

GEOGRAPHY IN THE NEWS (1082)
Neal G. Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner
Appalachian State University

THE SUEZ AND OTHER CRITICAL CHOKEPOINTS

Egypt’s stability and security remained uncertain in 2011. Amid calls by opposition supporters for the president’s removal, the country erupted into widespread demonstrations against the government in early 2011.

This action sparked speculation about Egypt’s strategic position in the region and led to the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak. With the military assuming control of the government at least until national elections are held, an uneasy peace has descended on the country. Nonetheless, one of the many concerns in the region was that a resumption of widespread unrest could jeopardize security of the Suez Canal, which is an important oil chokepoint.

While important for oil that arrives in Europe from the Middle East, the Suez Canal is but one narrow strait (called “chokepoints”) through which oil passes on its way to oil-dependent countries. According to an article by Business Insider, seven oil chokepoints of the world are crucial to the world economy. These chokepoints move about half of the world’s oil production.

The Suez Canal remained open through the unrest. Egyptian troops reinforced the guards who protected the Suez Canal and the Suez-Mediterranean pipeline (called the “SUMED”) that runs alongside it. When fully loaded large tankers cannot navigate the canal, their oil is diverted to the SUMED, which transfers it to empty tankers waiting off the north coast of Egypt.

In the worst-case scenario, the events in Egypt perhaps could have triggered disruption of both the Suez Canal and the SUMED. Several different scenarios might have occurred, placing the canal and pipeline in jeopardy. The Suez and SUMED are a critical source of Egypt’s income, second only to its tourism revenues.

If a real disruption at the Suez Canal and the SUMED pipeline had occurred, sufficient surplus oil was available at the time to meet world demand. Egypt produces no oil, so the only issue with the Suez Canal and the pipeline is that the geography of oil transport would have changed.

According to the Business Insider article, approximately one-third of all oil moved by tanker navigates the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint. Following it in order of importance based on amount of oil transported through the chokepoints are: the Strait of Malacca, the Suez Canal, Bab el-Mandab, Bosporus, the Panama Canal and the Danish Straits.

The world’s energy market depends on stability in its products’ transportation. Blockage of any chokepoint, particularly in the region around the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, could interrupt the world’s oil transport pattern. Such threats, real or imagined, could drastically affect world energy prices.

And that is Geography in the News.

Co-authors are Neal Lineback, Appalachian State University Professor Emeritus of Geography, and Geographer Mandy Lineback Gritzner. University News Director Jane Nicholson serves as technical editor.

Sources: http://www.businessinsider.com/oil-chokepoints-suez-canal-2011-1 #1-the-strait-of-hormuz-1; and http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_07/b4215016314977.htm

For interested readers, several of the more than 1,200 Geography in the News articles appear on National Geographic's Voices blog at: https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/search/Geography+in+the+News

National Geographic Blog – Voices – Ideas and Insight From Explorers

Didjuno? The Iditarod, the Race of Arctic Champions, begins this year on March 6 from Fairbanks rather than Willow Lake, Alaska, because of poor snow conditions. This is the third time since 2003 that the race's start has been moved to Fairbanks. The race will continue across the wilds of Alaska to end in Nome. Seventy-three teams of dogs have been registered to race, all directed by a hardy group of mushers. We first posted an article and its map about the Iditarod on one of the National Geographic blogs on March 3, 2013, and it has remained one of the most popular of our Geography in the News articles. Please click on: http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/03/03/geography-in-the-news-iditarod-the-race-of-arctic-champions/
Continual updated news about the race also can be found at: www.Iditarod.com

Geography in the News: Iditarod, The Race of Arctic Champions One of the world’s most grueling races, Alaska’s Iditarod Dog Sled Race, began today, March 3rd. The history and geography of this magnificent race excite followers all over the world as the race is one of the most challenging for humans and their teams of dogs. Sixty-six teams registered for the ra...

Didjuno? The flu is once again creating havoc, particularly among U.S. school children. There is considerable geographic modeling of the diffusion of communicable diseases that is helping to understand and reduce the spread of the flu. In 2013 we posted an article on one of the National Geographic blogs explaining a basic diffusion model of flu dispersal. That posting is still very relevant in 2017. See: http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/01/17/geography-in-the-news-a-flu-diffusion-model/

Geography in the News: A Flu Diffusion Model . Although it has peaked in a few states, it is important for the American public to understand the disease and how to prevent its spread, particularly among society’s most vulnerable.

Didju know? The Holocaust Remembrance Day occurred on January 27 and perhaps for the first time since its establishment, the U.S. government hardly recognized it. We posted an article on the Holocaust on one of National Geographic's blogs a couple of years ago and it is still one of our most frequently-read Geography in the News articles. Please see: http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/05/09/geography-in-the-news-auschwitz-remembered/

Geography in the News: Auschwitz Remembered Once more, ultra-nationalist parties are becoming more involved in Europe’s politics. The world is watching, as news media focus on right wing parties that recently targeted minorities in Hungary. These events remind us of events in Europe prior to and during World War II.

Didju know? Daylight Savings Time ends for 2016 on November 6. To see the 2014 archived Geography in the News article on National Geographic's blog explaining how Daylight Savings Time originated and how it affects us, see: http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2014/09/16/geography-in-the-news-losing-daylight-savings-time/

Geography in the News: Losing Daylight Savings Time Daylight saving time will be over for this year in most of the United States at 2 a.m. on November 2. With the exceptions of American Samoa, Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the rest of the country will “fall back” an hour to Standard Time. Some form of daylight saving time, ofte...

Didjuno? Ocean fishing is in rapid decline. Here is a Geography in the News article that may shock many seafood lovers.

DECLINING COMMERCIAL FISH STOCKS

The world may be running out of places to catch wild fish. The rapid expansion of global fisheries over the past 50 years to meet the demand for seafood has left wild fish stocks nearly depleted.

A group of scientists published an article in the online journal PLoS ONE, which is part of the Public Library of Science, titled “The Spatial Expansion and Ecological Footprint of Fisheries (1950 to Present).” The article examines how ocean fishing has expanded geographically over time. In the article, the authors map a global trend that until now has mostly been detailed only qualitatively. The results may be particularly valuable in saving some of the world’s most vulnerable species.

According to the article, prior to 1880 only sail-powered vessels were used for fishing. Subsequently, fishing was limited to areas directly offshore. When the British began using steam trawlers in 1880, modern industrial fishing vessels using fossil fuels were adopted.

As fishing fleets rapidly became more powerful, they quickly depleted fish populations close to shore. Trawler captains soon found it necessary to expand operations into the entire northeastern Atlantic. At the same time, similar situations were occurring off the coasts of New England and Japan.

While the fish stocks in these areas appeared to recover following World War I and World War II, at the same time fishing boats equipped with diesel engines were emerging. Many of those also had electronic-locating devices used to find more fish and refrigeration systems allowing the boats to stay longer at sea.

The result was that the geographic ranges of global fisheries expanded rapidly. In fact, by studying the movements of fishing fleets between 1950 and 2005, the five co-authors of the article determined that fishing expanded southward at approximately one degree latitude each year over that period. Most of that expansion occurred in the 1980s and early 1990s.Each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles (111 km). This means that commercial fishing has expanded southward nearly 4,000 miles (6,000 km) in the Atlantic and Pacific since 1950.

The Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) compiles statistics on global fishing. Their data show that the world’s fish catch increased from 21 million tons (19 million metric tons) in 1950 to a peak of 99 million tons (90 million metric tons) in the late 1980s—a fivefold increase. By 2005, however, it had decreased to 96 million tons (87 million metric tons) and further to 87 million tons (79.5 million metric tons) in 2008, even though the fishing pressures had intensified.

According to co-author Daniel Pauly, the principal investigator of the Sea Around Us Project at the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre, the world’s fish catch is now in decline “because there’s essentially nowhere to go.” He goes on to say that fish catches rose for so many decades only because new fishing grounds were constantly being exploited. Simultaneously, technology made commercial fishing more efficient.

The authors believe that the era of great expansion of fishing grounds is over. The type of expansion of the past is not sustainable and the recent decline in fish catches indicates a global limit to growth. Eventually humans will run out of productive ocean to fish.

We may already be seeing this frightening situation becoming reality. The article states that our unyielding pursuit of seafood in the North Atlantic and Western Pacific has left “only unproductive waters of the high seas and relatively inaccessible waters in the Arctic and Antarctic as the last remaining ‘frontiers’” for commercial fishing.

The article only confirms what scientists, environmentalists and policymakers already know—we must lower the amount of fish taken from the world’s oceans in order to sustain global fisheries. This is the only way to ensure that seafood will still be available for human consumption in the future.

And that is Geography in the News.

Co-authors are Neal Lineback, Appalachian State University Professor Emeritus of Geography, and Geographer Mandy Lineback Gritzner. Former University News Director Jane Nicholson served as technical editor.

Sources: W Swartz, E Sala, S Tracey, R Watson, D Pauly - PloS one, 2010, The spatial expansion and ecological footprint of fisheries (1950 to present). PLoS ONE 5(12); and Eilperin, Juliet. “World is running out of places to catch wild fish, study finds,” Bend Bulletin (OR), Dec. 4, 2010.

Didjuno? Here is a great set of star gazing venues and sample of the heavens as seen from Texas. See:
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22 Most Peaceful Stargazing Locations in Texas Enjoy the majesty of the night sky at these picturesque spots

Didjuno? Hanukkah is an eight-day-long Jewish holiday that generally occurs in December. Many in the US don't know how Hanukkah originated or what it means. This GITN article provides the geographic and historical background. See: http://blog.education.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/17/geography-in-the-news-hanukkah-a-jewish-celebration/

Geography in the News: Hanukkah, A Jewish Celebration By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM Christians around the world celebrate Christmas on December 25, while Jews celebrate a holiday, Hanukkah, around the same time....

Didjuno? Rudolph and his reindeer relatives are in the news again as the holidays approach. This is a fascinating animal sharing a constricted environmental niche with the Laplanders (many of whom prefer their culture to be called "Sami"). To read the rewritten article on Rudolph and the other reindeer, see: http://blog.education.nationalgeographic.com/2014/12/10/geography-in-the-news-rudolph-and-the-other-reindeer/

Geography in the News: Rudolph and the Other Reindeer By Neal Lineback and Mandy Lineback Gritzner, Geography in the NewsTM Across the United States, children and adults alike recognize Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer as the leader of Santa Claus’ slei...