Birth of an Ocean, 62m in the UK, Eigg on Toast

My colleagues have come up trumps by passing on links to these interesting items for featuring on the Collins Maps blog.

All come from the BBC News website ...

Africa 'witnessing birth of a new ocean'
A 60 km long crack opened in Ethiopia in 2005 and has been expanding ever since. Dr James Hammond, a seismologist who has been working in Afar - says that parts of the region are below sea level and the ocean is only cut off by about a 20-metre block of land. "Eventually this will drift apart," he told the BBC World Service. "The sea will flood in and will start to create this new ocean.

UK population rises to almost 62m, ONS says
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of people in the UK rose from 61,398,000 in mid-2008 to 61,792,000 in mid-2009. 55% of the rise was caused by "natural change" - more births than deaths and 45% was made up by migration.

No rain puts Eigg on toast watch
Residents on the Isle of Eigg have been trying to use household appliances less after a lack of rain affected its hydro power schemes. The island has championed the use of renewable power schemes. Eigg Heritage Trust secretary Maggie Fyffe said islanders were using items such as toasters as little as possible.

... and of course, other news providers are available.

See A Majority of the World’s People Now Live in Cities