Sick Earth Dying Geography?

Sad to say this - our earth is sick and we need everyone to make an effort to make it better again.

Just look at how our air is being polluted by the forest fires in Indonesia - if we don't do anything now - it would be worse in the future. Not only does it harm our health, it can be very damaging to our economy especially when we talk about its impact on tourism. A news article highlighted recently that air pollution could also affect our status in attracting foreign talents. The impact is simply far greater than what we could actually see.

Up till today there are still hotspots in Indonesia and the haze problem will continue to exist till end of next month. Just look at the smoke haze map today! Click on the map below for a bigger image.

You can also check out our air quality (PSI readings) on this website: http://app.nea.gov.sg/psi/

Check out this website on the 50 things you can do to help reduce air pollution: http://www.airinfonow.org/html/activities.html

Looking at the climatic history of Singapore, the air should be cleared by 25th Nov as the wind direction changes. Check it out at http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/48698.html

I am also quite saddened by the fact nobody opted for pure Geography for next year's Sec 3 level. Is Geography going to die out soon?

I still strongly believe in the importance of Geography and like what I had mentioned to my students "Geography is everything". In learning Geography, one acquires an investigative mind, looking at how the environment has affected us, as well as how we had affected the environment. For the thousands of students whom I had taught Geography to, I am sure you would have found it useful in your life. As you travel, you would have marvelled at the wonders of the Earth's natural landforms and with Geography you would have understood its formation better. Thinking of buying a bungalow near to a beach? Think twice as global warming would actually mean a rise in sea level and coastal flooding could actually mean the destruction of coastal settlements!

Though I was trained in both Economics and Geography, I had been teaching Geography all these years and had developed a stronger passion for Geography. I am simply reluctant to let it die out... but I am so helpless. No doubt, Economics is a very useful subject and I am sure it will benefit many students as half the A level student population in Singapore actually take Economics at A level. I am glad that it is introduced to the students at O level. I have even created a website for the teachers and students to share resources on O level Economics: http://geocities.com/olevelecons/

I will be preparing myself to teach the subject next year ( getting a bit rusty as I had not taught that subject since 1991 after my teaching practise!) There are actually certain parts in Economics that are very Geography based. In Geography, we learn about resources. In Economics, we actually learn how man make use of those limited resources. Certain topics such as the types of industries are similar in both Economics and Geography.