Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [geography]

The science that studies the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of the Earth.

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When did people first know the Earth was a sphere?

I've heard it numerous times, that in the old days people thought that the world was flat. Most commonly I heard this in connection with the voyage of Columbus, that he believed the earth to be a sphere while most other people thought he must fail…
Mad Scientist
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Are some oceans so remote that the closest person is in the space station?

I was listening to BBC news radio last night - 18th day of May 2017 and I heard this guest who was campaigning for people to stop dumping trash in the oceans. Probably not the same very words but the meaning is the same: "... some oceans are so…
Gandalf
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Do 10 Asian and African rivers generate 90% of plastic trash in the ocean?

I found this image shared on Facebook [Warning: image contains a bleeding turtle.] with the following text: Your Straws Did NOT Do This [image of turtle with foreign body in nostril] Americans are being told we must risk our health with expensive,…
Tom M
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Have there been unusual disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle?

An unusual number of ships and planes are said to have disappeared without a trace in the area called the Bermuda Triangle. This has caused some people to claim supernatural causes for these mysterious disappearances. Are there more ships and planes…
Mad Scientist
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Is there a place in the world where two oceans meet and they don't mix?

This picture is currently being spread virally: Some Muslims were saying that this is mentioned in the Quran where it is said: He has set free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier between them. They do not transgress. (Quran,…
TheTechGuy
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Is Spain ”the second most mountainous country in Europe”?

One hiking book my family owns described Spain as the second most mountainous country in Europe. Several online sources claim the same: Spain then and now: After Switzerland, Spain is the most mountainous country in Europe. Sustainable event…
gerrit
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Does Kasardevi, India, have an enormous geomagnetic field because of the Van Allen Belt?

An online magazine says this about Kasardevi: What makes the place what it is, is its positioning on the earth’s Van Allen Belt. Simply put, the region surrounding the Kasar Devi Temple has an enormous geomagnetic field, thanks to gaps in bands of…
nic
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Are Americans ignorant of geography and the world?

The meme of American ignorance in geography and world affairs seems to be pretty common in my experience. But, how much truth is there in it? While I'm inclined to believe that the US population is generally less informed than its counterparts of…
CircleSquared
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Are Americans ignorant about the geography of the world?

Jenny Jinx tweeted (244 retweets, 31 favorites) Seriously, the Czech Republic released a statement to correct stupid Americans. I am so ashamed. Good grief. http://bit.ly/11mROu5 The linked press release states that the Czech Republic is not the…
Andrew Grimm
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Does Texas have the right to secede from the United States?

There's a common folklore among Texans that Texas was the only state to specifically have it written that Texas may secede, although I've heard that other states have that right as well. In 2009, Gov Rick Perry of Texas also made that threat at a…
Chad Harrison
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Is Mecca at a special place on the earth's surface, dictated by the Golden Mean?

Mecca considered by Muslims to be the holiest city of Islam. This video about the Mecca makes the following claims: Mecca is at a special point on the Earth's surface in the sense that its proportion in distance to the South and North pole, and…
Jose Luis
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Is Rub' al Khali the largest sand desert in the world?

This sentence appears in the Wikipedia article on Rub' al Khali. The Rub' al Khali desert [note 1] (Arabic: الربع الخالي‎, i.e., "the Empty Quarter") is the largest continuous sand desert (erg) in the world (...) I was wondering how this sentence…
trejder
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Is it theoretically possible to sail from north east Russia to Pakistan in a straight line?

I found this map from this substack, World in motion: Rohan Chabukswar and Kushal Mukherjee, a pair of researchers at the United Technologies Research Center in Cork, plotted the route in 2018 in response to a question posed by Live Science. They…
Gandalf
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Can one estimate accurately the time until sunset using the width of one's fingers?

I've now heard from a friend and read about a claim online, which I find unlikely: You can estimate the time until the sun sets by using your fingers. By extending your arm fully and placing your hand above the horizon, you can count the number of…
PenumbraBrah
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Can Polaris be seen from the Australian tropics?

According to The Flat-Earth Conspiracy By Eric Dubay , Polaris can be seen, up to approximately 23.5 degrees South latitude. That latitude is the Tropic of Capricorn which crosses through (the Northern part of) Australia. Setting aside the bigger…
Salim Djerbouh
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