In this podcast Klaus Dodds and I go back to a topic we discussed in the first series - how, when and where does geography matter. We start by arguing that everything that happens in the world happens in both time and space. In that sense geography is everywhere. But we argue that the role and importance of geography varies over time and across societies. In the Age of Discovery sailors from Western countries were exploring and opening up hitherto unknown parts of the world. Then in the mid- late C19th, geography was increasingly important for Western colonial powers as new parts of the world were incorporated into the growing international system. This period was associated with a set of some western views about the links between climate and economic and social development which tended to argue that western countries had developed rapidly because of their climatic and other advantages. From mid C20th onwards these views were questioned and economic and social development was increasingly seen to be linked to a wider set of economic and political factors. We discuss th difference between North and South Korea after the end of the Korean war in 1953, of East and West Germany and the rise of both the semi-conductor industry in Taiwan from the 1970s and the rapid economic growth of Singapore: an island with very few physical advantages. We conclude by looking at what has happened in recent years, and Klaus suggests that while in the 1990s some people argued that geographical location would become less important, in the last few years climate change, wars and political instability are pointing to the resurgent importance of place

Oceans are very important. They cover 71% of the worlds's surface and, as well as their importance for fishing, trade and transport they play a major role in climatic and environmental stability. They absorb a very high proportion of the C02 we produce and without their absorbtion capacity the world would be heating up much faster. They also transport the heat received from solar radiation from the equatorial belts towards the poles by a series of major currents. This is critical, otherwise there would be a global heat imbalance with equatorial regions heating up and the polar regions getting colder. Britain is a major beneficiary of this process via the Gulf Stream which flows up from the Gulf of Mexico, along the east coast of the USA, then across the Atlantic to the British Isles. This is why the Scilly Isles and Cornwall have Palm trees and other sub-tropical plants. But the Gulf Stream is part of a much bigger system known as the Atlantic conveyor system whereby the warm waters begin to cool and sink as they reach the North Atlantic and Iceland and are transported back at depth towards the equator. There are similar systems in the Pacific and in the Southern Hemisphere including the Humbolt current off Peru which is important for fishing. The Pacific also experiences an alternation of tropical warming and cooling every few years called El Nino and El Nina which causes major changes in weather systems across South america, South Africa, and Australia. In addition to these important climatic elements, warming of the oceans and the atmosphere means that much greater qualities of moisture are being absorbed into the atmosphere and generating more frequent and stronger tropical storms and hurricanes, the tail ends of which are hitting Britain and western Europe causing heavy rainfall and flooding. In addition to all this, seas and oceans support an estimated 60-70 million fishermen and women and the 200 million tons of fish caught annually provides the major source of protein for 2-3 billion people. Last but not least we discuss transport. Some 90% of world trade by weight, though only 70% by value goes by sea - oil and gas, ironore,wheat, soya, timber, cars and container ships. Only the lightest and most valuable cargoes go by air. And when major trade routes are blocked as the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormus, then the global economy feels the pinch. The oceans are important.