Australia Is Not as Down Under as Everyone Thinks It Is
The New York Times
September 30, 2016  |  Unit 1: Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives

Synopsis

Australia's longitude and latitude coordinates need to be updated. This is because the plate tectonics that the continent is situated on has been moving about 2.7 inches north per year. The change is needed due to new technology. With technologies such as driverless cars being produced that rely heavily on GPS in order to determine where the object is, extreme precision is needed so that people are not in the wrong place. If the coordinates are updated, then the GPS will correctly read where an object is.

Analysis

This story is an interesting one. Even though the change of 2.7 inches per year seems minimal, overtime it adds up. If the longitude and latitude aren't updated, then a GPS will read incorrectly because the point you are trying to find will have shifted. This means that something as simple as trying to find a place to eat will be more difficult because the GPS will appear to be reading wrong, when it isn't. The place has just shifted location while the longitude and latitude haven't.

This relates to what is being learned in class because it involves longitude, latitude and GPS. The article is about geography because it describes how Australia is not exactly where people think it is.