WWF: Risky Seafood Business Report

'The ocean is the blue heart of our planet and we ignore its health at our peril. Protecting this precious resource should be the top priority of every single fishery around the world, yet for too long unsustainable practices have gone unchecked, draining the ocean of life.' 

Kate Norgrove, Executive Director of Advocacy and Campaigns at WWF 

My favourite meal is fish and chips (with mushy peas), from a decent chippy, of which there are several close to where I live in Norfolk.

We like fish and chips as a nation too.

The recent WWF Risky Seafood Business report says that a total of 887,000 tonnes of seafood was eaten by people in 2019 - the equivalent to 5.2 billion portions of fish and chips. The report can be downloaded from this link (PDF)

It goes into detail on the impacts of seafood extraction on other aspects of marine ecosystems, including the impact on endangered species.

There is also a good range of useful images that would find their way into lessons on the oceans, food production, fisheries and sustainability.

Image source: WWF Risky Seafood Business Report

Updated Gapminder World Health Chart

The first Gapminder graphic that many people will see is the classic world health chart, with a bubble for each country showing where it sits on the graph of life expectancy against income. Mind the gap.

That has now been updated for the most up to date figures (2021) and the new version can now be viewed or downloaded as a PDF from this page.

Image copyright: Gapminder, but they kindly share resources under CC license.

StoryMap Exercise on Tornadoes in the USA

 

Fast Fashion on Radio 4

A BBC Radio 4 programme which explores the area of fast fashion, which is something we explore with Year 8 students.

People online are debating whether contestants from ITV’s Love Island should be signing mega-bucks deals with clothes companies that sell people stuff cheaply and often - so-called fast fashion. Others claim it's a bit rich for the well-off to lecture everyone else about what's in their wardrobe? We’ll look at how fast fashion got turbo-charged, see if the stats on climate change and fashion add up, explore how fashion and social class have interacted over the years, and ask if “sustainable fashion” is an oxymoron.

Thanks to the Dress Code shirt team for the tipoff here.

Really interesting conversations on @BBCRadio4 #antisocial with @adamfleming examining the facts of fast fashion, environment and class. Well worth a listen. 🌍👍 pic.twitter.com/qFrISCTXZl

— dresscode (@dresscodeshirts) August 19, 2022

There's also a Radio 4 Bottom Line programme on the same issue. 

From the design desk to the shop window, how do fast fashion brands deliver the latest trends in double-quick time? Evan Davis and guests discuss fabric, factories and a nimble supply chain.

Yi Fu Tuan - RIP

Cross posting from LivingGeography blog. 

Very sad news of the passing yesterday of Yi-Fu Tuan, at 92. Such an important scholar in so many fields, from geography to Sherlock Holmes studies. pic.twitter.com/nk5wutDvCh

— matthew edney (@mhedney) August 11, 2022

Sad news yesterday of the passing of geographer Yi Fu Tuan, whose work will be familiar to many, and who inspired some of our thinking around Mission:Explore and other work on place, and the idea of topophilia.

I wasn't able to confirm the news, but it appears it is now confirmed.

We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Yi-Fu Tuan.

His work has had a profound influence on the way in which we all think about key geographical concepts. He will be sorely missed both by those that knew him well and by the discipline as a whole. pic.twitter.com/zdndOzMCgk

— Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) (@RGS_IBG) August 12, 2022

His work has been influential for many - particularly in the area of place and other conceptual thinking.