End-of-year chur-muri

Well, another year comes to an end. Time for you to relax and have some churmuri. Get away from the textbook geography and explore these links online. If possible, ask your parents to join you on this exploration.

International Map Year

2015–16 is International Map Year. It “is a worldwide celebration of maps and their unique role in our world. It’s organized by the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and supported by the United Nations (UN).” Maps are the most powerful graphic representations in geography. They can tell us stories, reveal truths, tell utter lies, make our lives better, or frustrate us (ever tried re-folding a road-map after use?).

Here is an online book you can at least skim through that tells you a lot about maps and their importance.

Chennai flood maps

Talking of use of maps, here is a map to which many people contributed from Chennai during the recent floods. Note that the map may not be there when you go to that link. Look at the importance of citizen participation in this effort. A geographically aware person can make such contributions in times of need.

Yes, you can, too. The Institute of Geographical Studies will offer a course on these kinds of tools in the near future, specifically for high school students. We want to encourage and help each of you to become a citizen geographer!

Mekong river story

Find the river called Mekong! Evidently, nearly 70 million people’s lives and livelihoods are tied to this river. Reporter “John Vidal journeys down south-east Asia’s vast waterway — a place that encapsulates some of the dilemmas they must solve. He meets people struggling to deal with the impacts of climate change as well as the ecological havoc created by giant dams, deforestation, coastal erosion and fast-growing cities.” As a geographer, look at the importance of one of the main concerns of geography: human-environment interaction. Consider the role we play in the environment and what consequences come from that.

Plastic nightmare

Continuing on the topic of human-environment interaction … one of the biggest impacts we have on the environment is in the way we use plastics. They don’t degrade, they just break up into smaller and smaller pieces. Ultimately so small that they enter plankton (microscopic aquatic organisms), which are eaten by fish, which are eaten by bigger fish, which are … and so on up the food chain. At every level, as the plastic travels up the food chain, more and more accumulates in the bodies of animals. We are pretty much on top of the food chain. When we eat fish … well, you can imagine all that plastic going into US! That plastic wrapper, bottle, or toy that we throw out, travels! Every little bit that we can do to help can actually help with the larger picture.

Age of the humans

Human beings have always interacted with the environment — just as all other living things have always done. We have had, and have been having, an increasingly strong impact on Earth’s environment. One of my friends once said, “It’s amazing what big brain box, opposable digits, and total arrogance can accomplish!”

The current geological epoch (epoch, pronounced E-poke: is “a particular period of time marked by distinctive features, events” — dictionary.com) is often called the anthropocene (pronounced an-THRO-po-seen). Dictionary.com also tells me that this word was coined in “2000 by chemist Paul Crutzen.” It tells me that the roots of the word are: anthropos — human and cene from kainos — recent. The definition is given as: “a proposed term for the present geological epoch (from the time of the Industrial Revolution onwards), during which humanity has begun to have a significant impact on the environment.”

Check out this site for a whole atlas of the anthropocene and the effects we have had on Earth.

Uruguay’s energy

Uruguay, a small country in … No, you find it! There, they have been working hard to move from petroleum-based energy sources to renewable energy sources. Nearly 95% of their electricity generation has moved to renewable technologies. What made this possible for them? Can India achieve this kind of change? If yes, how? If not, why not? Compare the two countries conditions and find out.

While we are on the topic of Uruguay, you must read about their president who recently retired. An amazing man! Check out: http://bit.ly/1OHA3Qh and http://bit.ly/1OHA4Un

Earliest map?

A recent discovery may be the first ever map drawn by a human being and may show us a brief glimpse of the geography of his/her settlement. It is said to be 13,800 years old! This is too cool! You have got to see it and read the article. From perhaps that point, we have come to the kinds of maps you can see in the previous links I have shared with you in this column.

A version of this article appears in the Deccan Herald Student Edition, 31 December 2015

Featured image, paleo-map, courtesy: Los Angeles Times.