Travel and Tourism News Stories for the Travelography World Travel and Tourism News Podcast on the PodcasterNews network (PCN) http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.info?_id=AkcosKL43BGPPAlExQnzeQ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:03:57 -0800 http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/ http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/405-scroll-britannia-the-uks-first-road-map/ ...dating from 1675, details The Road From LONDON to the LANDS END Comencing at the Standard in Cornhill and Extending to Senan in Cornwall. It was made by IOHN OGILBY Esq[ui]r[e] his Ma[jes]ties Cosmographer and covers 308 miles and 3 furlongs (almost 500 km). http://delicious.com/url/d8cd5e542af2ae18df7905794264f364#alanalew Sat, 08 Aug 2009 08:56:34 -0700 http://breathedreamgo.wordpress.com/ “Turban spotting” is a favourite tourist activity. It is said that in Rajasthan turbans change styles every 15 kilometres. They also change with the season and for various festivals. Saffron-coloured turbans are worn for weddings, white for funerals, tie-dyed black-and-red turbans are worn at the time of Diwali – the Hindu festival of lights – and green-and-pink striped turbans are worn during the monsoon. http://delicious.com/url/fe67314f5fd4aeb5dee3ecb2110794de#alanalew Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:23:30 -0700 http://geography.about.com/od/politicalgeography/a/unmembercountries.htm - a list of the 192 member countries of the United Nations with their date of admission. Kosovo, Taiwan and the Vatican City are the only "countries" that are not members of the United Nations. The admission date of October 24, 1945 is the founding day the U.N http://delicious.com/url/19432f2da41f028b0512fc5b0b2143c8#alanalew Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:14:09 -0700 http://www.earthportal.org/news/?p=2570 South America is the world’s most species-rich area. There have been many theories as to why, ranging from animals and plants accompanying the continent when it broke loose from Africa to variations in the extent of the rainforests over millions of years creating new species. A thesis from Gothenburg University supports a different theory: that the formation of the Andes was a species pump which spread animals and plants across the continent. http://delicious.com/url/8209b097a3f2980cf66a28310e429179#alanalew Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:24:24 -0700 http://www.miamiherald.com/505/story/1118712.html Despite being called 'ground zero' for sea-level rise in the United States, the Florida Keys have lagged behind the rest of South Florida in planning for the potentially massive problem. http://delicious.com/url/22ef268f9d2a7c0345def43a1e3754e1#alanalew Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:55:04 -0700 http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE55T18S20090630?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews A global study of seagrass, which can absorb large amounts of planet-warming carbon dioxide, found that 29 percent of the world's known seagrass had disappeared since 1879 and the losses were accelerating. ... seagrass meadows were "among the most threatened ecosystems on earth" due to population growth, development, climate change and ecological degradation. ... The study said the loss of seagrass was comparable to losses in coral reefs, tropical rainforests and mangroves. http://delicious.com/url/56f3c5ba68dceee425693670b8b4ad66#alanalew Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:52:08 -0700 http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory?id=7966944 The Saudi kingdom invited experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and others to a four-day meeting in the western seaport city of Jiddah to examine Saudi measures to prevent the spread of swine flu during the Muslim pilgrimage. http://delicious.com/url/cfc1a386ab1d651cc195a9db88a59c65#alanalew Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:41:20 -0700 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060525194257.htm The atmosphere is warming faster in subtropical areas, around 30 degrees north and south latitude, than it is elsewhere, University of Washington-led research shows. But scientists examining more than 25 years of satellite data also found that each hemisphere's jet stream has moved toward the pole by about 1 degree of latitude, or 70 miles. http://delicious.com/url/6acaa7bcd95a58cd2d965ea01d2aba33#alanalew Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:49:00 -0700 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090701135535.htm The rain band near the equator [the ITCZ] that determines the supply of freshwater to nearly a billion people throughout the tropics and subtropics has been creeping north for more than 300 years, probably because of a warmer world, http://delicious.com/url/328175e85beaffd5421222a35533b8c3#alanalew Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:47:53 -0700 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/39000/39014/wafrica_tmo_2009173_lrg.jpg Satellite image - also showing the Cape Verde islands http://delicious.com/url/ea6e8b561f14036e5fba2b461a271aa7#alanalew Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:38:52 -0700 http://thefutureisred.typepad.com/onedayatatime/2009/06/last-week-i-wrote-about-scams-and-how-to-avoid-them-based-on-an-experience-i-had-with-a-cab-driver-in-buenos-aires-response.html Locals often assume that travelers are loaded, and most of the time, it's comparatively true. Backpackers tend to carry a lot of cash. Bloggers stash laptops and cameras in their specialized padded backpacks, also not cheap. Even the most frugal will usually have an ipod. Imagine that your third-hand beaten down ipod costs more than a month's even a year's salary to many people across this planet. But just because a traveler has more money than a local, does that mean we should necessarily pay a higher price for the exact same service? On the one hand: What difference does that fifty cents make to you? How much more would it mean to your boat driver and the family he supports? http://delicious.com/url/0d13f95df1c5462c09a34ba59d02214b#alanalew Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:56:10 -0700 http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2009/06/08/389-americas-mean-streak/ The mean centre of US population is “the point at which an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the US would balance perfectly if weights of identical value were placed on it so that each weight represented the location of one person on the date of the census”, in the definition of the US Census Bureau itself. That bureau has been holding censuses every decade since 1790; these censuses form the backdrop for this string of mean centres of population in the US. The map shows an ever westward shift of that centre, obviously in parallel with the westward expansion of the US and its citizenry. http://delicious.com/url/51950727fd8e5f6c6c08b1b6d8a10041#alanalew Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:51:52 -0700 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExB7-xzAVLc&feature=channel Going Places with Geography is the new progression and careers video from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Geography Ambassador Project. http://delicious.com/url/c6ec62a021bb837579ac0a40a2bd020e#alanalew Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:47:30 -0700 http://www.umapper.com/blog/?p=1251 This week’s featured map shows an amazing journey of one man’s unsupported bike ride from London to Cape Town, stopping to deliver £100,000 of sponsorship directly to orphanages en route. http://delicious.com/url/cd0981273e4964f4e4280478bd1abc68#alanalew Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:45:43 -0700 http://freegeographytools.com/ Exploring the world of free tools for GIS, GPS, Google Earth, neogeography, and more. http://delicious.com/url/39c2b554a95f0f488489b497fc4c9bb0#alanalew Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:43:16 -0700 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27p2k1oot80&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fgeographile%2Eblogspot%2Ecom%2F2009%2F06%2Fcareers%2Din%2Dgeography%2Ehtml&feature=player_embedded Going Places with Geography is the new progression and careers video from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)'s Geography Ambassador Project. http://delicious.com/url/1e79c0e579ea831156ddebc920932a71#alanalew Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:36:50 -0700 http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/Story?id=7905384&page=1 With So Many Places in the World Worth Seeing, Avoid These Danger Zones [or not - if you are into Extreme Tourism] - Travel Warnings for Iran, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Lebanon, Mali, Chad, Nepal, Yemen, Georgia, Sudan http://delicious.com/url/807739527b002053f549d54657a603d8#alanalew Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:51:38 -0700 http://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory?id=7937013 He has had to flee his palace, with its Graceland-meets-the-Himalayas decor, and decamp to a house up the hill. His only son, the hard-living former crown prince, has moved to Singapore. And now, in a crowning indignity, tourists are traipsing through what was once a private world sealed off by soldiers and tall brick walls. http://delicious.com/url/81f401788df10641f99d3f722e21afe6#alanalew Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:46:41 -0700 http://wetravelworld.com/2009/06/25/europe-u002639s-poorest-country-p12462/ Moldova, once part of Romania, has the unhappy distinction of being Europe’s poorest country. Historically, due to its strategic location on a route between Asia and Europe, Moldova was repeatedly invaded: Bastarns, Sarmatians, Goths, Huns, Avars, Magyars and the Mongols all fought over this small country. Recently, the 1998 financial crisis in Russia, (Moldova’s main economic partner at the time) produced an economic crisis in the country. The standard of living plunged, with 75% of population living below the poverty line, while the economic disaster caused 600,000 people to eventually leave the country. The remaining population is mostly the very old and the very young, with few in between. http://delicious.com/url/717d31a0beec5c4ae330686e0b0168fd#alanalew Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:40:31 -0700 http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090623090707.htm “Local people participated in mapping some of these trails with GPS and a video camera. These films and maps are being used on GoogleEarth and YouTube to show the world some of the issues facing the Tugen people and as a possible way forward for encouraging ecotourism development and conservation alike.” http://delicious.com/url/d01fdc84c44d0689225bd67e4e656fa6#alanalew Tue, 23 Jun 2009 23:50:36 -0700 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=38963&src=eoa-iotd Fogo ("fire") is an apt name for this imposing volcanic island. One of the Cape Verde Islands located roughly 640 kilometers off the westernmost tip of Africa, Fogo received its name from Portuguese colonists around 1500 AD. The volcano was almost continuously active from that time until about 1760, http://delicious.com/url/ebaf8d0d5251df4d9f470747840121e9#alanalew Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:34:19 -0700 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=38978&src=eoa-iotd On June 5, 2009, a mountainside collapsed in the Chongqing region of southern China. The landslide dropped some 12 million cubic meters (420 million cubic feet) onto several homes and an iron ore mine, trapping dozens of people. According to a June 18 report from Xinhua News Agency, 64 people remained missing. http://delicious.com/url/e5c83a594a760b7ead6cbdd14511ab57#alanalew Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:32:17 -0700 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=38985&src=eoa-iotd A fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station allowed the astronauts this striking view of Sarychev Volcano (Kuril Islands, northeast of Japan) in an early stage of eruption on June 12, 2009. Sarychev Peak is one of the most active volcanoes in the Kuril Island chain, and it is located on the northwestern end of Matua Island. Prior to June 12, the last explosive eruption occurred in 1989, http://delicious.com/url/cc4dc49ce172b553901ec8765b5c6201#alanalew Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:30:42 -0700 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=38994&src=eoa-iotd Shallow water covers most of the lake bed. The water is colorful, tinted green and blue by sediment and algae. The southwestern lobe of the lake is darkest in color. According to the Lake Eyre Yacht Club, it is also the deepest portion of the lake at 1.4 meters (4.6 feet). When it fills, Lake Eyre and the wetlands in the basin provide an important habitat for birds and fish. Birds flocked to the lake when it began to fill in 2009. http://delicious.com/url/06aecd259fd1af61f196e87951298598#alanalew Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:28:01 -0700 http://www.dirjournal.com/info/abandoned-places-in-the-world/ Visiting abandoned places is getting more and more popular these days and many tourist agencies offer special tours where people can meet the ghost cities and villages face to face. I have never been to any of these and frankly speaking I don’t want to. I thinks we should leave the ghosts in peace, especially in the places like Pripyat where the horrible tragedy took place. Still hobbies differ and surfing online we can find photographer’s websites fully devoted to abandoned places like this one www.abandoned-places.com or Lost America photo stream. http://delicious.com/url/088662954032cdddc03fef931247f417#alanalew Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:16:24 -0700 http://consumerist.com/5288625/gps-blamed-after-crew-demolishes-the-wrong-house One Georgia family is understandably distraught after the house their father built by hand was demolished without warning by a crew that says they were given GPS coordinates rather than an address. The home was currently empty — but contained irreplaceable heirlooms. http://delicious.com/url/69365addf6e0f51aea5cd82e1cc614c1#alanalew Sun, 14 Jun 2009 12:20:57 -0700 http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=38766&src=eoa-iotd Plumes continued to rise from Kilauea Volcano on Hawaii’s big island in late May 2009. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 satellite captured this true-color image on May 24, 2009. http://delicious.com/url/ea10bbf2761cca069f2faabddfda9ef7#alanalew Sun, 07 Jun 2009 19:09:52 -0700 http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~twp/americatour/downtown.html http://delicious.com/url/05ccfc063b8d4ceca758a36c03f5712d#alanalew Thu, 14 May 2009 20:25:01 -0700 http://www.jetpunk.com/categories/geography.php http://delicious.com/url/cb0fe5b549e01dc1f28a1656e1fe894f#alanalew Thu, 14 May 2009 20:24:38 -0700 http://kathika.com/information/20070917-00185/ With thousands of waterfalls across the world, it is difficult to choose the best - but our list contains what we believe are 29 of the world’s most amazing and beautiful ones! http://delicious.com/url/e567618afdbbb6683d7db30174d03173#alanalew Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:59:28 -0700 http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2009/04/27/20090427mexicoquake.html?source=nletter-news The quake rattled nerves in a city already tense from a swine flu outbreak suspected of killing as many as 149 people nationwide. “I'm scared,” ... “We Mexicans are not used to living with so much fear, but all that is happening — the economic crisis, the illnesses and now this — it feels like the Apocalypse.” http://delicious.com/url/ffef777bf7f08b7f3dc707883ddda85f#alanalew Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:21:49 -0700 http://www.freemaptools.com/ A place to find free tools to allow you to measure, save and send maps to other people. Click on one of the Map Tools below to find out more. Free Map Tools will make use of the Google Maps API, PHP and Ajax. http://delicious.com/url/cfb50911f2cba56ea750d8d5227a7abd#alanalew Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:22:28 -0700 http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/04/24/climate.change.eskimos/index.html Warming temperatures are melting coastal ice shelves and frozen sub-soils, which act as natural barriers to protect the village against summer deluges from ocean storm surges. #geog "We are seeing the erosion, flooding and sinking of our village right now," http://delicious.com/url/f58b441d0a57b67cad03273827cd0e65#alanalew Fri, 24 Apr 2009 22:08:42 -0700 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7974995.stm Current world population - 6.8bn; Net growth per day - 218,030 ; Forecast made for 2040 - 9bn http://delicious.com/url/956d680e14d79ed0c38c86e1630f0af6#alanalew Fri, 24 Apr 2009 19:13:50 -0700 http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705299160,00.html But, "once a boundary monument has been set and accepted, it generally does define the forever, even if later found to be not located where originally intended." geography http://delicious.com/url/5c7fe0b716e7901fa5f2b0c2fa578f39#alanalew Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:18:18 -0700 http://www.wikihow.com/Reduce-Your-Greenhouse-Gas-Emissions Great Tips for Earth Day! - RT @GeographyFacts http://delicious.com/url/6d194b872add8eba0c62c29869c7fe66#alanalew Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:41:36 -0700 http://blog.hotelclub.com/worlds-top-10-national-parks/ Kruger NP, South Africa; Machu Picchu Historic Sanctuary, Peru; Sagarmatha NP, Nepal; Fiordland NP, New Zealand; Galapagos NP, Ecuador; [and 5 more - But not the Grand Canyon N.P. !?!?] http://delicious.com/url/a7f56dd3c5950bf67e7a2a390b4f23b6#alanalew Wed, 22 Apr 2009 18:33:33 -0700 http://www.flickr.com/photos/planeta/3457478536 We ask photographers to share photos of eco-friendly practices as part of this year's celebration of Earth Day. #geography #learn http://delicious.com/url/b7ddfdceff33cfe22b240909411f36c2#alanalew Tue, 21 Apr 2009 08:16:10 -0700 http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/mg20227041.500/mg20227041.500-1_1000.jpg Map: http://snipr.com/gbrg7 - Story: http://snipr.com/gbret (RT @kenradio) #geog http://delicious.com/url/99b8fb70466a15cccb3d6d0f3aa001e5#alanalew Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:44:15 -0700 http://www.tourismconsumption.org/index.htm The purpose of the Journal of Tourism Consumption and Practice is to publish original, peer reviewed articles, shorter discussion pieces, book reviews and conference reports which advance the field of tourism studies and which broadly address forms of tourism as modes of consumption and practice. http://delicious.com/url/c7295c6df7ad69447eed65aa50bd8139#alanalew Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:59:57 -0700 http://www.eturbonews.com/8744/20-best-views-world 1. The Grand Canyon from the South Rim; 2. Hong Kong Island from Kowloon; 3. Phang Nga Bay, Thailand; 4. Manhattan from the top of Rockefeller Plaza; 5. Istanbul skyline from the Bosphorus strait, Turkey http://delicious.com/url/6535637359d6bd3ca02976f4f30c49e9#alanalew Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:36:56 -0700 http://www.gunaxin.com/the-mclobster-sandwich-and-other-mcmenu-madness/14255 McDonalds around the world: McRice and McFill, Location: Sri Lanka, The McRice is a combination of rice, salad, chicken and a spicy curry sauce, while the McFill is like a pita. McRice is also available in other nations as straight white steamed rice. http://delicious.com/url/0a2fb3b3591f9f8ed742aac8d4366920#alanalew Sat, 28 Mar 2009 14:42:06 -0700 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/GAM.20090326.BORDER26/TPStory/TPComment The days when Canadians and Americans moved back and forth across the border - "it's as though there's not a border at all," as she put it - are over. "It's a real border, and we need to address it as a real border," Ms. Napolitano said, calling on both Americans and Canadians to accept this "change of culture." http://delicious.com/url/a3ad883f264667ddff6a700294ec3b78#alanalew Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:43:54 -0700 http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/11/asia/expat.php?WT.mc_id=travelalert Singapore was ranked the best location for the 10th straight year, followed by the Japanese cities Kobe, Yokohama and Tokyo, according to the survey by the London-based company ECA, which ranks cities by climate, air quality, health services, housing and personal safety, among other categories. http://delicious.com/url/9241ca6be591987756b851e8715cd1bf#alanalew Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:24:08 -0700 http://www.travelweekly.com/article3_ektid190824.aspx "In a year when flat is the new up, South America is actually up," said Melissa Snape, vice president of product at Collette Vacations, whose 2009 bookings for the continent are trending 30% ahead of last year. http://delicious.com/url/6eeb8696f622de92a8a2f57e81502217#alanalew Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:40:04 -0700 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/03/us/20090303_LEONHARDT.html?ref=business Job losses have been most severe in the areas that experienced a big boom in housing, those that depend on manufacturing and those that already had the highest unemployment rates. http://delicious.com/url/17cd4f637a0b9cb1046d5252d3c75227#alanalew Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:49:03 -0700 http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insightb/articles/eav030609.shtml "It is true that insecurity is a problem in Afghanistan now. But three years is enough for the international community and the Afghan government to think about security. We are optimistic that things will change positively in three years and that security will be better," http://delicious.com/url/6a405283fe929d59b7c0613bfdbe82d7#alanalew Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:20:46 -0700 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/travel/08pracvisa.html?ref=travel Anyone with a criminal record, including a drunken-driving conviction, may be turned away at the Canadian border. Several countries ban H.I.V.-positive visitors, including Brunei, China and the United States, though exceptions may be granted in certain circumstances for visitors to the States. And some places in the Middle East, including Syria, Lebanon and Libya, rigidly enforce restrictions on prior travel to Israel and do not allow people with passports bearing Israeli visa or entry and exit stamps to enter. http://delicious.com/url/e659211cd4f62cc81390b442892e3314#alanalew Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:30:40 -0700 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28390664/displaymode/1107/s/2/framenumber/1/ Amazing photos from Harbin, China's Ice Festival. http://delicious.com/url/1b422223dc373fba0419ad1374a6bb6d#alanalew Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:55:17 -0800 http://www.earthtv.com/en Live webcams from around the world, along with a Google Map, live weather, and geographic background information. http://delicious.com/url/d1fb40a36816c594b823c899062fd6bd#alanalew Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:14:26 -0800 http://www.sporcle.com/games/world.php (Sporcle.com mind games) http://delicious.com/url/1d9b0ea66ad4ab76860bea4d7c6d9d86#alanalew Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:36:43 -0800 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101024305 A new kind of tourist package is being offered in China. Call it the "U.S. Real Estate Bottom-Fishing Tour." The first of 40 Chinese real estate shoppers are looking in the U.S. this week to buy for foreclosure properties and other housing bargains. http://delicious.com/url/1c8e13ba9764aa52b0c785c91663ddb4#alanalew Mon, 23 Feb 2009 19:29:40 -0800 http://uk.green.yahoo.com/blog/environmentalgraffiti/167/seven-highest-cities-in-the-world.html 1. The Bolivian city of Potosí is reportedly the highest city in the world, sitting at 4,090 m (13,420 ft) above sea level. The peak of Cerro de Potosí, or Cerro Rico - Rich Mountain, dominates the city’s skyline, and towers a further 800 m above the rooftops. http://delicious.com/url/e3e85c4ba3611e2577038104dd1f4432#alanalew Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:33:38 -0800 http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/feb/22/marine-archaeology-sunken-ships Britain's love of seafood is helping to destroy the nation's maritime heritage. That is the stark warning of marine archaeologists who say hundreds of sunken ships, from Elizabethan warships to second world war submarines, are being torn apart by trawlers - fishing for scallops and flatfish - dragging chains and cables across the seabed. http://delicious.com/url/4b652bbf3c1343b832e35ac1d576c4dc#alanalew Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:31:24 -0800 http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009448.html Alternative transportation services will be plentiful: free bikes, electric vehicles that connect to the smart grid, a biofuel filling station, plug-in hybrid carshare, and carpool concierge services. Thanks in part to lobbying by Codding, a commuter rail line linking the suburb to nearby cities has also been approved, and will be a ten-minute walk from the community. http://delicious.com/url/5f3b594f50c365db870136fcdd91c879#alanalew Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:41:13 -0800 http://www.grist.org/news/2009/02/17/beijingcars/index.html?source=daily Nearly 1,500 cars a day have been added to Beijing's streets since the start of the year, state media said on Tuesday, indicating new curbs on driving had not dampened the desire for automobiles. http://delicious.com/url/628c626595b9a43d2852228552fa04e1#alanalew Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:39:09 -0800 http://www.earthportal.org/news/?p=2183 But Beijing still has a long way to go toward cleaning up its air, the report warns. Perhaps the biggest challenge facing authorities is how to maintain the gains they have made on air quality improvement despite the estimated 1,000 new vehicles registered in the city each day. http://delicious.com/url/487591b022fe7df2099d761d57996503#alanalew Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:38:29 -0800 http://abcnews.go.com/International/AroundTheWorld/wireStory?id=6911262 The snow that began early Tuesday was a product of cloud-seeding, Chinese officials have claimed. It is a method used by the government to induce precipitation to end a three-month drought that has gripped at least 12 Chinese provinces. #geography #china http://delicious.com/url/c04326c14d7da9a0d2d219e3e8e45c3a#alanalew Fri, 20 Feb 2009 22:37:16 -0800 http://acediscovery.blogspot.com/2009/02/cabo-da-roca-europes-most-westerly.html Well, Cabo da Roca is continental Europe's most westerly point. Europe's most westerly point is in Ireland, Iceland, the Azores or French Guiana - depending on perspective. http://delicious.com/url/ce62fe840855a3c0de72d3e32f268b42#alanalew Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:59:39 -0800