AAG 2007: SF

Please feel free to use this blog as a forum to discuss upcoming events in the Dept. and the AAG in San Francisco.

Farmers use as much pesticide with GM crops, US study finds
By Steve Connor, Science Editor Published: 27 July 2006

One of the major arguments in favour of growing GM crops has been undermined by a study showing that the benefits are short-lived because farmers quickly resort to spraying their fields with harmful pesticides.

Supporters of genetically modified crops claim the technique saves money and provides environmental benefits because farmers need to spray their fields fewer times with chemicals.

However, a detailed survey of 481 cotton growers in China found that, although they did use fewer pesticides in the first few years of adopting GM plants, after seven years they had to use just as much pesticide as they did with conventional crops.

The study found that after three years, the GM farmers had cut pesticide use by 70 per cent and were earning over a third more than conventional farmers.

But, by 2004, the GM cotton farmers were using just as much pesticide as their conventional counterparts and were spending far more because GM cotton seed is three times the price of conventional cotton seed.

The findings will undermine claims by the biotechnology industry that GM technology can boost food production without necessarily damaging the environment with pesticides.

Scientists from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, carried out the study which involved interviews with hundreds of Chinese farmers who had switched to cotton that had been genetically modified with a gene for a bacterial toxin.

The toxin - known as Bt - is secreted by the GM cotton plant and is highly effective at stopping the growth of bollworm, a major pest of the crop that can cause millions of pounds worth of damage.

Major cotton producers, the United States, China, India and Argentina, quickly adopted Bt cotton after it was introduced in 1996 by Monsanto, the American biotechnology company.

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1199339.ece

Olympic Partying.

"Me, it's been an awesome two weeks," Bode Miller said. "I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level."

Angelino Ozone in Tibet

This article claims that ozone levels around the Tibetan Plateau are as high as dense urban areas. Perhaps our resident climatologists can help us interpret this news.

Ranking places in terms of reading

From Netscape.com . . . This study came out a year ago, but given the dearth of postings here, I figured that I'd post it.

The Best City If You Love to Read Is...
...Minneapolis, Minnesota, which has been ranked the No. 1 city for literacy.
This ranking has a twist. Instead of measuring how many residents in the 79 largest U.S. cities know HOW to read, researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater measured how many residents actually DO read. How many read the newspaper? How many check out books from the library or buy them from a bookstore? Twenty-two variables are included, drawing from U.S. Census and Education Department data, newspaper circulation rates, library resources, magazine and journal publishers and other public documents.
By these measures of literacy, Minneapolis, Seattle, and Pittsburgh are the three most literate cities, while El Paso is the least literate, reports USA Today. The similarities and differences are easy to spot. The top-ranked cities are home to some of the country's most highly-educated and affluent people, while the lower-ranked cities are home to recent immigrants who are more likely to be poor and have less schooling. In the bottom 10 cities, all but one are in California or Texas.

The most literate U.S. cities:
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Seattle, Washington
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Madison, Wisconsin
Cincinnati, Ohio
Washington, D.C.
Denver, Colorado
Boston, Massachusetts
Portland, Oregon
San Francisco, California

The least literate U.S. cities:
Garland, Texas
Fresno, California
Arlington, Texas
Long Beach, California
Anaheim, California
San Antonio, Texas
Santa Ana, California
Corpus Christi, Texas
Hialeah, Florida
El Paso, Texas

"Everybody, when they think of literacy, thinks of in-school test scores," says the study's author, Jack Miller, a longtime education researcher and chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, told USA Today. "I think there has been way too much focus on the test-score part of it, and not enough on whether or not people behave in literate ways. And that's the real goal of an education."

Other ways cities ranked No. 1 for specific measurements of literacy:
Reading newspapers: Washington, D.C. (No. 6 overall) Publishing magazines: Washington, D.C. Using the library: Akron, Ohio, (No. 26 overall) Buying books: San Francisco (No. 10 overall)Going to school: Plano, Texas (No. 59 overall)

Expert: Taiwan Skyscraper May Cause Quakes

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - The weight of the world's tallest skyscraper - specially built to withstand Taiwan's frequent earthquakes - could be causing a rise in the number of tremors beneath it, a professor from the island wrote in a scientific journal. Lin Cheng-horng, an earthquake specialist at the National Taiwan Normal University in the capital, Taipei, says the 1,679-foot Taipei 101 building - named for the number of floors - might rest on an earthquake fault line. In the scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters, Lin wrote that the pressure of the building's 700,000 tons on the ground may be leading to increased seismic activity. The tremors ``could be a direct result of the loading of the mega-structure,'' said an abstract of Lin's article, published on the American Geophysical Union's Web site.
However, Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau said on Friday that the one year since the building's completion was too short a time in which to evaluate its effect on tremors.
Taipei 101, which looks like a giant steel-and-glass bamboo shoot, is equipped with a 733-ton ball suspended near the top that moves to counter the force of earthquakes or strong winds.
Earthquakes are frequent in Taiwan. Most cause no casualties or damage, but in September 1999 a magnitude 7.6 quake in central Taiwan killed more than 2,300 people.
On the Web:
American Geophysical Union: http://www.agu.org/

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Taiwan_Tallest_Skyscraper.html

Values reflected in holy waters?

You may want to visit the NPR series in progress called "The Geography of Heaven". The last one posted brings up a issue that geographer's struggle to understand: how some of the most beautiful or holy places on earth are also the most polluted/crowded/violent. Examples: Washington DC (cultural icon but crowded/violent) and Vatican City (religious center but violent Crusades). Why do these places tend to reflect the values--the worst and the best--of the people that enshrine them?

Name change?

I would like to suggest a possible name-change of the blog. It's a fabulous idea, but in the case that we ever get any outside readers, I wouldn't want them to think that we are platially restricted to Wisconsin and the events and processes therein. Just a simple name change may be in order, like "Geography From Wisconsin," or maybe something more creative like "Isthmus Space?" Any thoughts?