ABSTRACT The Andes are the world’s most climatically and environmentally diverse mountain range and harbour a significant portion of its terrestrial ice reserves. Since the end of the Little Ice Age (∼1850), Andean glaciers have undergone a prolonged period of retreat and thinning, the rate of which has generally accelerated over recent decades in response to human-induced climate change. However, not all Andean glaciers are responding in the same way, and in some instances are undergoing changes that seem to contradict our understanding of glacier-climate relationships. This article summarises the extent of glacier change across the Andes, highlighting not only its overall magnitude but also its spatial variability. To illustrate this variability, this article also examines the curious behaviour of three prominent Chilean glaciers, case studies that will highlight the importance of understanding both the climatic and non-climatic factors driving glacier change in the Andes.

ABSTRACT Like many university subjects, geography degrees have quantitative elements that build on students’ prior mathematical competence. Although much work has been done to ensure that relevant mathematical skills are embedded in the curriculum for A-level geography, less attention has been given to the role played by other A-level subjects. Using national higher education data for undergraduate students enrolled on geography degrees in England and Wales in the academic year 2021/22, alongside a framework of general mathematical competences, this paper argues that students’ other A-level subjects provide important opportunities for mathematical development, particularly for students without A-level geography and for mathematical competences not included in the A-level geography curriculum. There are therefore opportunities for greater recognition of the breadth of geography undergraduates’ prior mathematical experience, as well as for more deliberate curriculum connections at A-level and beyond.

ABSTRACT This paper provides a critical review of the different approaches that geographers have taken to understanding crime. It outlines how the study of crime has changed, placing particular emphasis on critical approaches that seek to explain, rather than just map, where and why crime occurs. It draws attention to new types of crime that are emerging and the ways in which geographers can engage with them, and concludes by outlining how the study of crime might change in the future.

ABSTRACT This paper questions how competent physical and human geographers are at handling religion when they encounter it in passing. It specifically asks whether religious illiteracy is a problem in geographical education in the UK. It suggests that, despite significant advances in geographical scholarship on religion this century, this progress is yet to translate routinely into textbooks. These tend to repeat outdated claims about a supposed conflict between science and religion, and hinder the creation of inclusive and diverse classrooms by implying that students who belong to faith communities cannot be serious geographers. Using the example of water management in the Columbia River catchment/watershed and Indigenous communities and religious beliefs, the paper goes on to show why this matters in geographical education.

ABSTRACT This study offers a comprehensive and empirical analysis of geographical discourses embedded in the official national anthems of 71 countries through the theoretical lenses of sonic geopolitics, affective atmospheres and the geo-body. Using qualitative document review and directed content analysis, the findings demonstrate that anthems are not merely lyrical texts; they are strategic instruments that acoustically outline the spatial boundaries of the nation-state and indoctrinate citizens within a particular ‘affective regime’. Through maximum variation purposeful sampling and qualitative saturation protocols, this study maps both manifest geographical terminology and latent affective contexts. The results indicate that Asian anthems are dominated by elements of physical geography such as mountains and rivers (51.8%), whereas anthems from the Americas and Europe foreground political and human-geographical motifs such as ‘victory’, ‘war’ and ‘homeland’. Taking indicative findings from lyrical evidence – ranging from the military defence of borders in the Americas to the cosmological elevation of mountains in Asia – this study argues that national anthems operate as ‘acoustic maps’, and discusses in depth the importance of space in the construction of national identity.

ABSTRACT The growing literature on methodology for qualitative geography research has tended to focus on research methods and techniques, with limited attention paid to the challenges inherent in the data collection process. Yet methodological reflections on the data collection process are crucial to understanding how qualitative geography research is conducted. This paper discusses the data collection process for a qualitative geography case study on the migration experiences of Nigerian Commonwealth Scholars (NCS), conducted in Nigeria in 2020. Focusing on a range of methodological approaches to participant recruitment, research interactions and interview method implementation, the analysis unpacks both the methodological challenges that impact the data collection process and the mitigations to address these challenges. Viewed within the wider context of methodological approaches, rather than techniques, the paper offers a broader analytical framework that reveals the interplay of flexibility and adaptability in dealing with the messiness and reality of conducting qualitative geography research. Crucially, this paper offers valuable insights that will help geography educators, researchers and students learning about qualitative geography research in action reflect on method implementation and adaptation and innovate new methodological approaches to data collection.

ABSTRACT Global disparities in COVID-19 vaccination and health outcomes underscore substantial inequalities in protection and disease burden. Using World Health Organization (WHO) data, this study employs continuous area cartograms to visualise cross-national differences in vaccination coverage, infection rates, mortality rates and case fatality rates. Countries with limited vaccine access – particularly in Africa – faced disproportionately severe outcomes, not because infection levels were higher but due to systemic vulnerabilities in healthcare capacity, surveillance infrastructure and reporting systems. By rescaling national boundaries according to epidemiological burden rather than territorial area, the cartograms expose inequalities that conventional choropleth maps often obscure. This study demonstrates how alternative geovisualisation techniques can challenge intuitive readings of global health statistics and sharpen geographical understanding of uneven protection and unequal burdens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT This paper challenges the common assumption that globalisation increases resilience to climate change. Using the double exposure framework, it shows how market-led (neoliberal) development increases vulnerability through market-driven adaptation and systemic exclusion. Rather than adapting to harmful systems, it argues for redistributive, locally led strategies rooted in justice, community care and democratic transformation. The paper draws on critical geography and emerging alternatives worldwide.