Periglacial Landform: Pingos

I'd be surprised if you already knew this cold environment landform (including you upper sixth), pingos are found in periglacial conditions, meaning they are found around the edge of ice sheets. This means you can find pingos in located areas such as the largest, at 48m high, the Ibyuk pingo in Canada(above), but pingos are also recognisable on the surface of Mars, indicating periglacial conditions there. Clearly at this point we should discuss what a pingo is. A pingo in the simplest terms is a hill with a core of ice, it is formed when water often from lakes found above collects in a talik (basically a ball of underground water) and the freezes, as it freezes it expands pushing the ground above up into the characteristic dome shape. These domes can vary between 100m and 2km wide. They are commonly found in periglacial conditions in Siberia, Greenland, Alaska and Canada.

James Winder

---

This message has been sent through the Bedford School email Server, and is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender, or administrator@bedfordschool.org.uk, and delete the email. The views expressed are the views of the sender, and not necessarily the views of the School. The information in this message may be confidential and should not be read, copied, or otherwise distributed unless permission is given. Bedford School is part of The Harpur Trust: a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England: Company No. 3475202. Registered Office: Pilgrim Centre, Brickhill Drive, Bedford, MK41 7PZ. Registered Charity No. 1066861

Book Review: "A Short History of Nearly Everthing"

I highly recommend this book by Bill Bryson to anyone with an interest in geography, particularly if this is accompanied by any level of scientific curiosity. This book aims to complete the monumental task of informing a reader of all the main processes that have led to the formation of the earth we know and us as a species, referring to how these ideas have changed over time. The areas discussed rarely venture beyond GCSE level however explain any difficult areas in a simple, but neither patronising nor condescending, manor that has helped to improve my understanding of ideas I previously considered mastered. I particularly recommend this to my fellow year 12/13s as an ideal base from which to begin supercurricular reading, as the areas of topic could easily be discussed in interview and a good level of understanding prior can only be to your benefit.

James Winder

---

This message has been sent through the Bedford School email Server, and is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you have received this message in error, please contact the sender, or administrator@bedfordschool.org.uk, and delete the email. The views expressed are the views of the sender, and not necessarily the views of the School. The information in this message may be confidential and should not be read, copied, or otherwise distributed unless permission is given. Bedford School is part of The Harpur Trust: a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England: Company No. 3475202. Registered Office: Pilgrim Centre, Brickhill Drive, Bedford, MK41 7PZ. Registered Charity No. 1066861

Article Review - 8 Summer Miseries made worse by Global Warming

Some of the year 12 Students will be improving the breadth and depth of their reading in coming months. Some of them will also be sharing their reviews of it to try and help other Geographers engage with interesting material. Jack's review of a National Geographic article on potentially negative effects of global warming is below:

Review of ‘8 Summer Miseries Made

Worse by Global Warming’ - Jack.L

As you would expect from the title, this article published on the National Geographic website explains the worsening of many of the bad parts of summer ranging from decreasing air quality to the increased danger to swimming in rivers.

The author Brian Howard goes into detail about the following eight topics; heat waves, bad air, biting insects, poison ivy, hay fever, food-borne illnesses, dangerous swimming and the risk to national parks and landmarks. Howard goes into basic details about each of the items stated about how they would be made worse in the future due to the global warming. For example he states that global temperatures are likely to increase by up to 5°C by 2100, if emissions are not reduced. Also that increased temperatures will lead to increased ground-level ozone pollution; which will lead to increased respiratory diseases, such as asthma and currently 27 million people in the US suffer from asthma.

All in all, I found Brian Howard’s article interesting and would recommend it to anyone that is interested in the effects of global warming.

Here is a link to the article:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140701-global-warming-summer-climate-change-science/?rptregcta=reg_free_np&rptregcampaign=20131016_rw_membership_n1p_intl_se_w#

Tourists overlook Navajo Canyon in 1948 at Mesa Verde National Park, which is now vulnerable to increased flooding and more frequent wildfires.

PHOTOGRAPH BY WILLARD CULVER, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC