When phytoplankton phosphoresce, that is, glow, whole swathes of sea water appear to be alight.

If this occurs near a beach, it looks even better.

The plankton left on the beach look like tiny stars.

There have been theories about ghosts, spirits and aliens being behind these waves, but really it's just another of nature's amazing phenomena!

The entire country of England is smaller than the state of Louisiana in the USA.

As part of our Geography A level course, we do a unit called Issues Evaluation (IE). This involves an exam about a specific issue that we have previously researched. The information pack is released in early November and the idea is that pupils take their own investigative slant on a topical issue.

This exam series, the IE topic is the Belo Monte dam in Brazil. As Brazil is fast developing (called the 'new China' by some people), its industry is increasing, along with its energy needs. It has been proposed that a dam be built across the Xingu River, a tributary of the Amazon. The dam would cut off a stretch of the river at the neck of a meander, and the resulting reservoir would flood parts of the rainforest. River water passing through the turbines in the dam would generate hydroelectric power. The dam would cost up to £11 billion and could be producing electricity from 2014.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belo_Monte_Dam

According to the Advance Information Booklet released by the exam board, this dam could generate enough electricity for 23 million homes. But during the three to four month dry season, output could decrease to less than a tenth of this, and the Belo Monte dam would become one of the most inefficient in the world.

The native people, the Kayapo, are strongly against this project. At a meeting between them and Electrobras, the state electricity company, in 2008, a group of people wearing traditional costumes and carrying machetes approached one of the company's engineers, who emerged shirtless and with a large machete wound on his shoulder.

The head of Brazil's environmental agency said that the dam would affect around 12,000 people, but that the conditions of the licence to build the dam would ensure that the quality of life was improved for these people. It is expected that most of the energy produced by the dam would go towards the development of mining and industry in the area, providing jobs.

On the one hand, the native people, who have lived in the area for hundreds of years, will be displaced and have their traditions and customs threatened. But on the other hand, sustainable energy produced by the dam will allow the development of the area and hopefully improve the lives of the people living there.

Which is more important? Is it possible to make that decision? And how could the disadvantages be mitigated by the planners of the dam?

While on a recent school trip in the Bay of Naples (Bay of Naples, Italy), we went on a boat trip around the Isle of Capri to see the stunning limestone scenery. Capri is perhaps more famous for its designer shops than for the cliffs, caves and arches on its coastline, but a boat ride around the island to see them is definitely worth it.

This arch is supposed to be the most romantic place on the island. Our crazy Italian boat driver drove us straight through the arch, which was a rather terrifying experience.

Coastal arches form when the erosive power of waves starts to erode a crack in a cliff face. After years of hydraulic action and corrasion, the two dominant erosive processes, the crack has developed into a cave, which when eroded further may cut through the cliff or rock outcrop to form an arch. They are typically very stunning features which are instantly recognisable.

Other examples include a double arch just off Wharariki Beach in New Zealand, and the very well-known example of Durdle Door in Dorset.

Wharariki Beach (New Zealand)

Durdle Door (Lulworth Cove)

Hurricane Sandy is closing in on highly populated areas of the US east coast threatening storm surges and devastating flooding.

In New York City, thousands of people have been ordered to leave their homes and evacuation shelters have been set up in 76 schools. Public transport has been halted and the New York Stock Exchange closed for the first time since 9/11.

Forecasters fear Sandy will become a super-storm when it collides with cold weather fronts from the west and north. Sandy has already killed 60 people after sweeping through the Caribbean in the past week.

Campaigning for the US presidential election has also been disrupted, eight days ahead of election day.

At 05:00 EDT (09:00 GMT), Sandy was churning about 385 miles (615km) south-east of New York City, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.

Worryingly, forecasters said its maximum sustained winds had increased to 85mph (140km/h) from 75mph recorded hours earlier. The vast hurricane, about 520 miles (835km) across, is moving slowly north and could linger over as many as 12 states for 24-36 hours, bringing up to 25cm of rain, 60cm of snow, extreme storm surges and power cuts.

The eye of the storm is expected to barrel across the coast of mid-Atlantic states by Monday night, the NHC said. As it will hit the US East Coast just before Halloween, it is being dubbed a "Frankenstorm".

With emergencies declared in several east-coast states, many workers were staying at home on Monday.

New York City's subway, bus and train services were suspended from Sunday evening, and schools are shut. Taxi driver Peter Franklin told the BBC that the city was "shut down". "I feel like I am living in a science fiction movie," he said.

Hundreds of thousands of people from Maryland to Connecticut were ordered to leave low-lying coastal areas. They included about 375,000 in lower Manhattan and other areas of New York City and another 30,000 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Read more at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-20121811.

This is a humbling example of just how powerless we are when it comes to the forces of nature.

In 1811 and 1812, three earthquakes measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale caused the River Mississippi to flow backwards.

Recently I finished a book about the journey of one cyclist around the world, Moods of Future Joys by Alastair Humphreys. During the course of his four-year cycle ride he travelled through many countries, including Ethiopia, where he describes the mayhem that surrounded him whenever he entered a village:

'A crowd of kids ran around me, laughing and shouting incessantly, "YOU! YOU! YOU!" ... Of all the words in the English language, how had they come to know just 'you' and 'money'? Children, smaller and skinnier than they should have been, tried to pull things off my bike as they ran around me, shouted and jeered, and aggressively demanded money.'

Later, he writes that he noticed a direct correlation between the villages where he was treated in this way and the villages which bore signs announcing that that village had been helped by a particular charity.

Perhaps this is a cynical observation, but it definitely raises questions about aid and charity. Were those children being outrageously greedy or were they simply struggling for survival? How should charity money be spent - is it better to build infrastructure such as wells and schools or to educate the residents about a better life - and who should decide? How much should we interfere with the traditional way of life of those people - is our lifestyle necessarily better? Where is the line between the generous and the over-generous? And how do we separate need, want and greed?

Please email me your thoughts! geographyrocks@live.co.uk

Drumlins are a glacial depositional feature formed by mounds of glacial debris that are shaped by the glacier as it moves over them. They usually take the form of an egg-shaped hill, and often form in groups known as swarms, giving a 'basket of eggs' formation.

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Improve your vocabulary and earn rice to feed the hungry in the Third World at the same time!

FreeRice is a not-for-profit organisation that is owned by the United Nations World Food Programme.

The website gives you a word and four options for its meaning. Click on the right one and you earn 10 grains of rice. The more you play, the more rice you earn.

The rice that you have earned is then sent to countries that are suffering from hunger or famine. It's paid for by the advertisers on the site, so it doesn't cost you anything.

The website adjusts itself to your ability by making the word harder if you get the previous one right, and easier if you get the previous one wrong. By playing for around 10 minutes, you could easily earn more than 1000 grains of rice.

Since FreeRice launched in 2007, enough rice has been earned to feed 5 million people.

It really is a win-win situation. You get to donate to charity at no cost to yourself, by improving your vocabulary in an easy and interactive way; and people in the Third World get food to keep them alive!

Today, 26th September, is European Languages Day!

Celebrated every year since 2001, this event aims to spread awareness of languages and show that learning them can be fun, interesting and useful.

While many people can speak a little French, Spanish or German, here's how to say hello in some languages that are not as well known...

Hehe (spoken in south-eastern Tanzania) - Sawu
Xaasongaxango (spoken in Mali and Senegal) - I sooma
Q'eqchi' (spoken in Guatemala) - Sahil ch'oolex
Naskapi (spoken in Louisiana and Oklahoma, USA) - Waachiyaa
Adnyamathanha (spoken in southern Australia) - Nhangka