Rhode Island Geography Education Alliance
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Rhode Island Geography Education Alliance
Rhode Island Geography Education Alliance
News, resources and professional development for the Rhode Island Geography Education Alliance http://rigea.org
Curated by Seth Dixon
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Water Is Life

Hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled South Sudan to escape the civil war. When they arrive in Uganda, water is what they need most. Without it, they will die.
Seth Dixon's insight:

Next to nothing in this video will make you happy about the way things operate for refugees in Northern Uganda who have fled from South Sudan.  We all know the about the dire conditions that refugees face, but knowing about the specifics, and hearing stories from the refugees about their lives and living conditions is powerful.  A huge influx of refugees can tax local resources, especially water.  Food can be shipped in, but water a much more locally variable resource.   The UN refugee camps recommend at least 15 liters of water per person be made available each day, but often it is more like 4-8 liters in these camps.  Dedicated wells (or boreholes) are more effective, but costly.  Trucking in water from the Nile River is the preferred method to simply keep these drowning people’s heads above water.    

 

Questions to Ponder: Consider how much water you drink, use for cooking, bathing, etc. per day in your household.  How difficult would it be to live on 4 liters of water a day?  What about your lifestyle would be changed? 

 

TagsAfrica, development, Uganda, South Sudan, migrationrefugees, environment, water,  environment depend, sustainability, resources.

Ivan Ius's curator insight, April 8, 2017 11:49 PM
Geographic Thinking Concepts: Interrelationships; Geographic Perspective;
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Images of Human/Environmental Interactions

Images of Human/Environmental Interactions | Rhode Island Geography Education Alliance | Scoop.it
The blizzard of 2015 blasted the region with wind-whipped snow that piled nearly 3-feet high in some places.


As of 1 p.m. Monday, Boston set a new record for snowiest seven-day period in the city's history with 34.2 inches.

Seth Dixon's insight:

Weather is one of the most tangible ways in which the physical environment impacts society.  We depend on sunlight and rainfall, we adapt our behaviors to harsh conditions and we are constantly modifying the our environments by heating and cooling our buildings.  This Henry David Thoreau quote reminds us to acknowledge the powerful influence of the environment and to recognize that technological fixes have their limitations.  “Live in each season as it passes...and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.” --Henry David Thoreau


Question to Ponder: In what ways does the weather shape and influence culture and spatial patterns in your region?  How can we make our communities more handicap accessible during winter storms and other extreme conditions?


Tags: environmentweather and climateenvironment depend, environment adapt, environment modify, disasters.

Paul Farias's curator insight, February 5, 2015 2:16 PM

Not to mention the snow drifts up to 10-12 feet!

Evan Margiotta's curator insight, March 21, 2015 6:39 PM

Human/Environment Interaction is one of the principles of Geography. Weather is about the simplest form of Human/Environment action there is. Weather and climate effect humans in may ways. Both of these have direct impact on agriculture and because of this the rise of civilization in the fertile crescent. But weather doesn't just dictate the rise of agriculture and civilization it effects us everyday. The picture shows Boston covered in record breaking snow fall. This altered many peoples schedules, closed businesses, canceled sporting events, forced people to spend time shoveling snow, gave work for snow plowers, and all in all effected the entirety of Boston.