Dinner Topics » Geography

Earthquake in Japan fact

admin — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 21:47:10 +0000

You don’t need Dinner Topics to follow all that’s happening regarding the earthquake in Japan, but here’s at least one piece of information to take with you to put the size of the earthquake in perspective:

“The quake was 900 times stronger than the quake that hammered San Francisco in 1989.”¹

In the meantime, if you are wondering about the Richter Scale, don’t worry: we covered that over a year ago and you can find what you need right here.

Read on:

NYTimes.com – Devastation as Tsunami Crashes Into Japan

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Japan+earthquake+factbox+Entire+Japan+coast+shifted+metres+earth+axis+moves+inches/4425617/story.html ↩

Where is Bahrain?

admin — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 20:22:45 +0000

After all of the protesting in Egypt the past month and the successful end of Mubarak’s reign (from the protesters’ standpoint), pro-democracy protests have begun sprouting up everywhere, sometimes with violent results. The protests in the news now are taking place in Bahrain, a country not well known by many in the United States.

Bahrain is a very small country just off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia and northwest of Qatar. It’s population is similar in size to Fort Worth, Texas (700,000+), so what makes Bahrain so important to the United States that it’s headlining the major newspapers?

“Bahrain is one of the most politically volatile countries in the Gulf, and one of the most strategically important for the United States, which bases its Fifth Fleet there. It produces a notable amount of oil, and is a banking hub.”¹

The capital of Bahrain is Manama. Need more information about Bahrain or its politics? Just read on!

NYTimes.com – Bahrain’s Military Takes Control of Key Areas in Capital

CIA.gov – Bahrain

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/bahrain/index.html?inline=nyt-geo ↩

Indonesian, Mount Merapi Geography

admin — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:44:59 +0000

Mount Merapi - from Google Maps

The on and off again eruptions from a volcano on Mount Merapi have already killed over 100 people¹ in a village in Indonesia. It is a current event likely to be discussed in the coming days, so if you’re not familiar with Indonesia, here are a few pointers:

Indonesia is located in southeast Asia and consists of thousands of islands sprawling between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.
Malaysia is just north of several islands belonging to Indonesia.
Keep heading south to southeast and you’ll run into Australia.
The location and climate are ripe for many natural disasters other than just volcanoes (floods, droughts, earthquakes, etc.).
The village of Bronggang (which is the worst hit from Mount Merapi’s eruptions) is located in the middle of a series of narrow islands near the Bali Sea (see map).

Read on:

USAToday.com – Indonesian volcano erupts again; death toll surpasses 120

CIA.gov – The World Factbook (Indonesia)

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122 at the time of this post ↩

Where is Bermuda?

admin — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:50:30 +0000

The damage was small, but Hurricane Igor passed through Bermuda over the weekend. If you’re not familiar with Bermuda’s location, it’s a series of islands east (wayyyyy east) of South Carolina in the Atlantic Ocean. CIA.gov compares Bermuda’s size to about 1/3 of Washington, D.C., and the population sits at less than 70,000, so don’t expect a professional sports franchise to relocate there anytime soon.

Currently under the UK government, Bermuda is a country that would like its independence. As for the economy, international business has trumped tourism in the past decade.

Bonus: that annoying “jingle-y” tune you are likely to be singing that starts with “Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama” is a 1988 single recorded by the Beach Boys called “Kokomo.” It was released on the hugely popular soundtrack to Cocktail and has been embedded in everyone’s brain since.

Bonus #2: the so-called Bermuda Triangle consists of Bermuda, Puerto Rico, and Miami (see map).

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Read on:

Bermuda.com – Visitors

(image above from: http://www.pisceandelusions.org/reference/bermudatriangle/)

Why do they name hurricanes?

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:20:22 +0000

Besides the story about the man who showed up at Discovery Channel headquarters with a gun and explosives yesterday, the other newsworthy event is Hurricane Earl ripping through the entire East Coast. North Carolina is feeling the brunt of it right now (along with Virginia and Maryland), and Earl may head north toward Long Island and even Maine.

Earl, huh? Wondering how or why they pick a name for a storm? Our very detailed post from last year describes the process perfectly, but the basic purpose of naming tropical storms

“…began years ago in order to help in the quick identification of storms in warning messages because names are presumed to be far easier to remember that numbers and technical terms. Many agree that appending names to storms makes it easier for the media to report on tropical cyclones, heightens interest in warnings and increases community preparedness.”¹

Last year’s post lists the future storms’ names, but I’ll tell you now that the next few will be Fiona, Gaston, Hermine, and Igor.

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Read on:

Yahoo! News – Island evacuations start as Earl nears East Coast

(image above from NOAA.gov)

http://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/www/tcp/Storm-naming.html ↩

And you thought post-game traffic was brutal

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:59:04 +0000

After you return home from your mildly inconveniencing traffic jam tonight, here’s a Dinner Topic you can share with the family and make yourself feel good about being home: a 10-day traffic jam in China is finally easing up. Yes, you read that right: a traffic jam that lasted for 10 days! Some truck drivers were stuck on the 60-mile stretch for days at a time and were “greeted” by people selling water and other products at price gouging levels. The freeway is west of Beijing.

The traffic jam was a result of a combination of things, including road repair and tourist, but the biggest reason for congestion was the recent finding of coalfields in Mongolia, which has led to many additional trucks hauling coal to power plants in Beijing.

When this fascinating tale is brought up, you should know that Mongolia is the country sandwiched between Russia and China.

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Read on:

npr.org – China’s Massive Traffic Jam Could Last For Weeks

NYTimes.com – China’s 60-Mile Traffic Jam Is Breaking Up

Geography and notes on Dillingham, Alaska

admin — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:38:54 +0000

A small plane holding nine people crashed near Dillingham, Alaska yesterday evening. Details are still sketchy, but several reports are claiming at least five of the passengers died, including former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens. Follow the links below for the latest information, but in the meantime, you can expand your geographic knowledge and find out where Dillingham is located with the map below.

Dillingham is 325 southwest of Anchorage and, according to the City of Dillingham’s official website,

“Dillingham is the fastest growing city in the Bristol Bay area with a strong industrial base that has kept median incomes on the rise.”¹

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Read on:

USAToday.com – KTUU TV quotes former aide as saying Sen. Stevens died in plane crash

USAToday.com – Plane carrying at least 8 crashes in Alaska

http://www.ci.dillingham.ak.us/ ↩