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Presents news briefs related to geography as of October 2005. Web site launched by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation in Great Britain; Amount set by the British government's Darwin Initiative to fund projects that involve experts from British universities working with local communities; Mini protest badge launched by Amnesty International.

Profiles Colonel John Blashford-Snell, founder of the Scientific Exploration Society. Involvement in exploration; Personal background of Blashford-Snell; Retirement of Blashford-Snell in 1991 from the army of Great Britain.

Presents news briefs on events and issues related to the environment as of November 1, 2004. Launch of an interactive Web site by the Woodland Trust in Great Britain; Development of a site in South Korea to replace Seoul as the capital; Construction of an ice palace ordered by the president of Turkmenistan.

Considers the views of travel writer William Dalrymple on Islam and India. Misinformation about Islam; Overview of his book "White Mughals," a true story set amid the power struggles between Great Britain and India; Reasons for his attraction to India. INSET: THE WRITER'S LIFE.

Presents news briefs related to environmental health as of April 2002. Significance of the green lanes or ancient footpaths in Great Britain; Possible impact of the growing scarcity in water to world peace; Effect of the El Nintildeo event to the coral reefs in the Indian Sea.

Presents news briefs on geography as of April 2002. Description of the tree canopy tour that has opened in Eastern Cape, South Africa; Information on the epidemic that has affected frogs in Great Britain; Techniques used by British and Australian scientists in redating the first human settlements in Australia.

Presents various news about the environment as of January 2002. Effect of logging on the wilderness in Russia; Cleanliness of rivers in Great Britain; Information on energy conservation in Great Britain.

This article presents an update on the plans to reintroduce bustards in the British landscape in November 2005. After more than 130 years, the great bustard--the world's heaviest flying bird--is making a comeback in Great Britain. Last recorded in Britain in Wiltshire in 1873, the bird is being reintroduced on the British Ministry of Defense's land on Salisbury Plain. Twenty-two chicks were released in Summer 2004 and another 30 joined them in August and September 2005. The chicks come from eggs rescued from agricultural programs in Russia. They are reared in isolation from humans until they are transported to Britain at around two months of age. On arrival, they are released into large open pens. With a natural mortality rate of 80 percent, the birds are especially vulnerable during their first year but, once past this, they can live up to 25 years. Each bird is fitted with a microchip and given a unique wing clip. Three quarters of them have also been radio tagged.

This article presents information on the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTM& H). Granted by Royal Favour, the society was founded in 1907. The first president was Sir Patrick Manson, who is today acknowledged as the father of tropical medicine. Ronald Ross, the discoverer of mosquito-malaria transmission, was the first vice-president. With more than 2,000 fellows worldwide, the focus of the society is to improve international health in the widest sense. Since its foundation in 1907, the RSTM& H has published The Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene which covers a broad range of topics, everything from developments in clinical care and disease control to the general biology of disease agents.

This article reports on the British government's initiative to protect the country's native and ancient woodlands and to remove non-native trees to become major priorities in 2005. According to Keepers of Time: A Statement of Policy for England's Ancient and Native Woodland, millions of conifers and other non-native trees will be felled over the next 20 years in order to regenerate indigenous trees, and more wooded areas will be created. England's woodland has a total area of 1.1 million hectares, of which ancient woodland covers 340,000 hectares. The British Forestry Commission intends to lead the way in implementing the new policy.

This article reports on the unveil of hydrogen vehicles in 2005. In Great Britain, Ech2o vehicle was launched by gas company BOC. This hydrogen-powered, which has a top speed of 50 kilometers per hour and whose only emission is water, has been designed to demonstrate fuel efficiency. It can travel around the world on less than the equivalent of 7.5 liters petrol, drawing just 25 watts of power. Meanwhile, California-based company AeroVironment has successfully completed test flights of its unmanned liquid-hydrogen-powered aircraft, Global Observer.

This article reports on the fifth Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy in Great Britain in 2005. Projects which aim to bring clean, sustainable energy to a wider public have been recognized during the awards. Indian DT Barki of Noble Energy Solar Technologies won the award in the Light category for developing the Aishwarya lantern. Meanwhile, two groundbreaking stove projects, one in India and the other in Central America, shared the Climate Care-funded Ashden award. In addition, four British projects won prizes, including Swift, which produces the world's first silent, rooftop-mounted wind turbine.

This article presents information on the Woodland Trust in Great Britain. Kenneth Watkins created the charity in 1972 with the help of three friends. They had two simple aims in mind--to acquire and care for threatened woods for the public to enjoy and to plant trees. What began as a small group of friends working to save a single ancient wood became the country's leading woodland conservation charity. Now, the charity has four key aims: no further loss of ancient woodland; restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; increasing new native woodland; and increasing people's understanding and enjoyment of woodland in general. The trust now has more than 1,200 sites in its care, covering approximately 20,000 hectares.

This article presents questions an answers regarding the truth in British weather lore. Weather lore is essentially the collection of sayings from the British countryside that were traditionally used days as a weather forecast by those dependant on the land and sea for their living. Some of these sayings are just that, but others are based on centuries of observation and do have a grain of truth, especially when it comes to predicting the weather for the following few hours. Keen weather watchers can observe changes in the sky and, making use of various forms of weather lore, come up with some fairly accurate predictions. The phrase rain before seven, fine before 11 will usually hold true--four hours or more of continuous rain does occasionally occur in Great Britain, when a weather front slows down, but rainy periods are usually shorter. There are also longer-term predictions such as the Saint Swithin's Day lore. Saint Swithin's Day lore claims that if it rains at a certain place on Saint Swithin's day, which falls on 15 July, it will rain there on the next 40 days. However, this lore does not hold true. There are also another long-term predictors such as the one established by Alexander Buchan in 1867.

Features the British Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Specialization of NERC in earth-system science; Background on its Climateprediction.net global experiment; Discovery of a hole in ozone layer by the council in 1980s.

Profiles Scottish geologist Roderick Impey Murchison. Development of his interest in geology; Information on a research he conducted regarding greywacke rocks in Welsh Borderland and South Wales; Affiliation with several geological societies and institutions.

Presents information on two articles that were published in the June 1935 issue of "The Geographical Magazine." Information on Hadji, annual pilgrimage of Muslims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, experienced by Englishwoman Lady Evelyn Cobbold; Administration of Basutoland protectorate by Great Britain.

Presents updates on environmental protection as of June 2005. Launch of a survey on ladybirds and harlequin in Great Britain; Anniversary of the first ascent on Kanchenjunga; Landmark agreement signed between the Canadian government and the local automobile industry for carbon emissions.

Presents information on an online carbon audit launched by the World Land Trust (WLT) in Great Britain in 2005 to allow companies to conduct an assessment of their emissions. Compositions of the audit; Remarks from Oliver Bateman of the WLT on the audit; Information on carbon sequestration.

Presents the results of a research on the movements of albatross by the New British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Use of logging devices attached to the birds by the researchers; Importance of understanding the location of birds when they are not breeding from professor John Croxall of the BAS.

Presents information on winds. Effect of winds on weather systems; Types of winds that affect Great Britain.

Features the "Tree of Life" sculpture made by Mozambican artists using guns collected through the Transforming Arms into Tools initiative, on display at the Great Court of the British Museum. Background on the initiative; Number of weapons that have been collected and dismantled through the initiative.

Reveals that the coastline of England and Wales has become steeper, according to a national study in 2004. Definition of coastal steepening; Possible cause of the steepening according to Nigel Pontee of the Halcrow Group.

Presents information on white Christmases in Great Britain. Origin; Rarity of snow at Christmas; Snow experienced in various states.

Presents information on the winners of the Geographical Photographer of the Year exhibition conducted by the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers in Great Britain on September 14, 2004.

Reports on the launch of Frozen Ark, a DNA data bank of endangered animal species in Great Britain in 2004. Associations that supported the launch of the DNA data bank; Purpose for the establishment of Frozen Ark; Species prioritized by the DNA bank.

Presents information on the types of fog in Great Britain. Formation of radiation fog; Fog caused by warm air crossing over a cooler sea surface; Condensation of moisture into fog over the hill tops; Source of steam fog.

Presents information on Project Serpent, a Great Britain-based multinational project founded by the Southampton Oceanography Centre, that will help scientists who are studying the deep-sea environment. Results of the increasing demand for fossil fuels; Remarks from project manager Doctor Ian Hudson.

Describes the weather in Great Britain in August 2003. Effect of a ridge of high pressure on conditions in Great Britain during the period; Strategy used in ensuring consistency in temperature data using thermometers; Reasons behind the development of a heat wave in August 2003.

Discusses the ratification of the global Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) in Great Britain as of July 2004. Reason the species of albatross and petrel are facing global extinction; Percentage of endangered black-browed albatross that live on the Falklands; Details of the ACAP measures in its commitment to the conservation of albatross and petrel species.

Discusses the project in Great Britain that aims to find ways to manage fish stocks and wider marine environment which involves all fishing interest groups including fishermen, anglers, scientist, retailers, restaurateurs and environmentalists as of July 2004. Series of scenarios modeled by the project; Duration of the project; Comment of Great Britain Fisheries Minister Ben Bradshaw concerning the project.

Features geographer Sir Lawrence Dudley Stamp, chief architect of a pioneering Land Utilisation Survey of Great Britain. Education and career background; Achievements in geography that made him famous; Personal characteristics and attitude of Stamp; Impact of Stamp on geography.

Deals with the findings of a study on barn owl deaths in roads conducted by the Barn Owl Trust in Great Britain. Remarks from David Ramsden, senior conservation officer of the trust, on the death of barn owls; Highway planning policies sought by the trust.

Reports on the Ice Age rock art found at Cresswell Crags caves in Great Britain. Stone engravings of a bison discovered by Archaeologist Sergio Ripoll; Remarks from Nigel Mills, manager of Cresswell Trust, on the rock art.

Reports on the logbooks examined by an international team of researchers in Great Britain to determine the world's oceans weather conditions between mid-18th and mid-19th centuries. Remarks from Dennis Wheeler, coordinator of the Climatological Database for the World's Oceans project, on the daily climate change for major oceans; Weather information instrument used during the mid-19th century; Compilation of the records in a meta-database.

Presents an update on travel as of February 2004. Guest accommodations of World Heritage hotel; Free entry offering of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust centers in Great Britain; Adventure and Travel Sports Show in London, England.

Provides information on the Cycleau European Union initiative aimed to protect River Dart in Great Britain. Improvement and protection of waterways; Budget allocated for the project; Intention of project manager Philip Moore to use a variety of methods for the project.

Reports on the completion of the Marine Conservation Society's survey of Great Britain's basking sharks in 2003. Areas in Great Britain where basking sharks are common; Concerns about the consistency on sharks' behavior; Actions taken by the British authority to protect basking sharks.

Reports that whole-waste vehicle tires will be barred from landfill sites in Great Britain as of October 2003. Annual production of waste vehicle tires in Great Britain; Estimated number of tires that are held in dumps in Great Britain.

Reports on the increase in light pollution in Great Britain in 2003 which inhibits the view of the cosmos. Effects of increased urban sprawl which decreased unimpeded celestial views; Limitations on the regular night viewing of the stars; Need for government policy on careless and wasteful lighting; Use of more uni-directional lights, beamed groundwards rather than skywards.

Reports on the comeback of otters in Great Britain cities after an absence of 30 years. Cities where otters have been monitored; Implications for wildlife conservation.

Reports on the celebration of the National Lift Share Day on June 14, 2002 to help reduce pollution and alleviate congestion on Great Britain's roads. Expected decline in the total number of cars making up the rush hour traffic if everyone shared just one journey to work each week; Annual cost of traffic delays; Popular communal system used in other European Union countries.

Focuses on Garden Butterflies Count, a project in Great Britain which aims to create data on the changes taking place among butterfly and moth populations. Way to participate in the project; Reasons behind the decline in moths and butterflies; Key to the success of species conservation. INSET: Act now.

Reports on the importance of nuclear power stations for combating global warming according to David King, Great Britain's chief scientific advisor. Problem posed by nuclear power stations; Comments from Matthew Spencer, Greenpeace Energy Campaign director.