This year marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo’s landing on the moon! NASA is celebrating this event that changed science and history forever with a host of new materials on their website. In an effort to help our readers navigate through all the great resources offered, we checked out the site and came up with a list of our favorites. Our Top Picks 1) Apollo in … Continue reading My Wonderful World Celebrates Apollo’s 40th!
Greenland, the largest non-continental island in the world, is culturally and politically 
unknown to most foreigners, but on June 21, that began to change. Following a vote in which 76% voted in favor of self-rule, Greenlandic citizens, along with diplomatic representatives from 17 countries, met at the harbor in capital city Nuuk to declare Greenland’s first step in gaining its independence from Denmark and achieving world recognition as the new nation of Naalakkersuisut, its Inuit name.
Home to one of the harshest environments in the world–85% of the landmass is covered by glacier–Greenland has a long history as part of Scandinavia, dating back to 982 A.D. when Viking explorer Erik the Red discovered the island and established a settlement on its eastern coast, after having been exiled from Iceland. Erik’s son, Leif, used the eastern settlement as a base for exploration to lands west, and in 1000 A.D. he became the first European to set foot on North America. Before the 12th century, Greenland thrived as a trading post for rare goods like walrus tusk and polar bear fur and was an established Christian nation. In 1261, the settlements became part of the 
Norwegian Kingdom and forfeited their autonomy to Scandinavia, a subjugation that would last for nearly 800 years. After the Norwegian takeover, people began to leave Greenland to return to Europe, and by the 1400s there is no information about Norse inhabitants on the Island.
Since 1721, Greenland has been under Danish rule. At that time, the people of the island were mostly of Inuit descent, along with some Danish settlers. From this past, modern Greenland was born. Today, eighty percent of Greenland’s 58,000 denizens are of mixed Inuit and Danish heritage (cite). Although a great majority of citizens practice the Lutheran faith as members of Denmark’s People’s Church, they also pass on the history of their Inuit ancestors through their strong oral tradition. As citizens of Denmark, and therefore the European Union, it is not uncommon for young Greenlandic citizens to seek better opportunities abroad and to
leave their homeland, which suffers from many of the same problems as other colonized nations. Today, few Greenlandic students (can you find a %?) attend university, and there are many cases of domestic violence, unemployment and alcoholism. The new Greenlandic government hopes to solve these problems internally. At the ceremony establishing independence, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen described the event as “giving [Greenlandic people] the right to decide their own destiny.”
Striking actress Angelina Jolie and silky-voiced NBC anchor Ann Curry visited National Geographic yesterday to participate in World Refugee Day events, as reported by NatGeo News Watch’s David Braun.
Joining a number of NG employees watching the proceedings via close-circuit television in our cafeteria, I was humbled by the genuine sentiments and stalwart calls to action offered by the two women. The real show-stealer, however, was Rose Mapendo, the 2009 recipient of the Humanitarian of the Year award. Through tears punctuated with an endearing wit, the Tutsi survivor of violence in the Rwanda/Congo African region shared details of her harrowing journey from refugee to international advocate.
Rose Mapendo accepts the Humanitarian of the Year award from UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterrez.
As she told her story of flight from oppressive forces, captivity, and eventual salvation through international assistance, I reflected on the many geographic aspects associated with refugee crises. Here are five:
1) Circumstances producing refugees
The circumstances forcing citizens into refugee status frequently have geographic underpinnings. Civil war and government-sponsored brutality often emerge out of conflicts over natural resources (physical geography) and ethnic tensions (cultural geography). In Africa especially, these circumstances are largely the result of post-colonial power dynamics.
2) International awareness and recognition
The extent to which state governments, international organizations, and members of the public are aware of humanitarian crises and the plight of refugees is contingent upon multiple factors; including governmental transparency, freedom of the press, victims’ access to communications, geopolitics, etc. Increasingly, new technologies are providing deeper insights into conflicts occurring in remote areas of the world. Through Google Earth, for example, international audiences can view satellite images and photographs of events on the ground in places like Darfur.
Continue reading “Five for Friday: World Refugee Day at National Geographic”
A few months back we wrote about Guantanamo Bay resettlement issues when President Barack Obama announced his plan to close the high-security prison by January 2010. We asked you, our readers, how a geographic perspective could help U.S. decision makers solve the problem of what to do with Guantánamo prisoners…and now it seems that a “geographic perspective” played a key role in the resettlement of a number of Uighur detainees currently being held at Guantánamo Bay.
The 17 prisoners are all members of the oppressed Uighur ethnic minority in western China and have been detained by the U.S. military for seven years. The Uighurs were captured after September 11th, but were determined not to be enemy combatants dangerous to the U.S. Finding a suitable destination to resettle the Uighurs proved difficult: the United States feared they would be tortured or executed at the hands of the Communist government if sent back to China.
However, last week, to the great relief of the Obama administration, the South Pacific island nation of Palau agreed to host the 17 Muslim Uighurs for temporary resettlement.
Geographically speaking …. Palau is an archipelago of eight main islands plus more than 250 islets located about 500 miles east of the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean. With a tiny population of about 20,000, it is best known as a tourism hot-spot.
Disclaimer: OK, so this post is 2 weeks late as a result of my temporarily misplacing my thumbdrive and getting caught up with other work. Sincerest apologies! The good news is, it’s still plenty relevant, because BioBlitz is a year-round initiative. And in fact, planning is already underway for the 2010 signature event in Biscayne Bay, Florida. Look for more BioBlitz news in upcoming months here on the blog!
This past weekend [er, May 15], I trekked out to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (INDU) to take part in the 3rd annual BioBlitz, a 24 hour species inventory hosted by National Geographic and the National Park Service. While not quite as sunny as last year’s event at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA or “SAMO”), it was no less rich of a scientific endeavor. At SAMO, I was primarily occupied with public outreach, manning an activities booth. This year, my focus was a citizen science collaborative mapping project. Along with a few other staffers, I led four groups of local students using National Geographic Education’s new Fieldscope tool to track ecological succession along the dunes. But that was just one of the activities taking place at the park. Here are some highlights, in the spirit of “Five for Friday.”
5 Favorite Blog Posts
For the past two years, National Geographic’s Ford Cochran and Emily Landis have braved extreme temperatures and sleep deprivation to bring round-the-clock coverage of the Blitz. Here are my five favorite posts from this year’s Blog:
Born of Nature and Industry
An intro to INDU.
Where the Wild Things Are
BioBlitz kickoff.
I Love Everything About this Event!
Students and teachers sound off about WHY they decided to participate in the BioBlitz.
Are You Recycling Tonight?
“Green-E,” the Environmental Elvis, made a special appearance at INDU. He did not disappoint.
Fair Warning
Enough said.
5 Favorite INDU Memories
