A geographer in New York...

Back in Feburary, at half-term, it was far colder than it is now, and I was standing in a [very long] queue with a bunch of sixth form historians to go through super-sensitive metal detectors to get on a ferry to Ellis Island (woohoo - it must be named after you Miss!) and the Statue of Liberty. Partly, I was concerned about whether a certain student would be allowed through security with her very attractive leg splint and walking stick, but mostly I was hoping that the Battery Park Busker would not pick on me next... Luckily, he didn't - that leg splint and walking stick were far more interesting topics for the next song.

Several months later, I had some nice memories of the USA trip, and am hoping to go and visit again soon, but had forgotten all about the Battery Park Busker until I heard he'd been tracked down on YouTube and identified as Freddy Harrington. There are various videos of Freddy and his songs on YouTube, but I was particulary interested to find this one, in which he is interviewed, and he talks about the fact that he is a teacher, and about teaching his daughter about USA geography, and about our increasing connections with the rest of the world... If I go to New York again, and Freddy is there, I'll be sure to have a chat to him about some geography!

How big is the oil spill?

Attempts to manage the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico are still ongoing and, in amongst all the election talk, there are various news articles about the impacts of the oil spill and the consequences for BP. The BBC's coverage is here.

Below is a screenshot from a nice Google Earth interactive map that allows you to compare the extent of the oil spill (which might not look that big when it's in the sea) to various cities around the world. Click on the picture to link to the site.

US oil spill

The situation in the Gulf of Mexico and on the south coast of the USA continues to worsen following the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

11 workers were killed when the oil rig exploded on 22nd April, and it is thought that upto 5000 barrels of oil a day are continuing to pour into the Gulf of Mexico. The map below (from the New York Times) shows the extent of the oil spill which has been described as a "true catastrophe", and which has caused a state of emergency to be declared in Louisiana. Click on the map to link to the interactive version on the NY Times site, and here to link to the coverage of the disaster from the Guardian.

Hurricane Dean

People in the Caribbean are preparing themselves at the moment for the arrival of Hurricane Dean - a Category 4 hurricane (5 is the most severe) which has already claimed three lives.

The BBC have more information here, together with video clips and links to coverage of the story on other news sites.

You can also visit the National Hurricane Center website and follow the progress of the hurricane.

More USA tornadoes...

Yesterday saw 65 tornadoes "rip" through several US states. The picture below shows what one of the storms did to an electricity pylon in Oklahoma City.

Clicking on the picture will take you to the Newsround website where there are other photographs of some of the tornadoes and the damage they caused.

Incredible Icicles!

One of the BBC's "In Pictures" today has some amazing images of the ice storms that are currently causing power cuts and a range of other difficulties in the US.

What causes these ice storms? What conditions are needed for them to occur? What other effects do they have?