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Ukraine
Russia Attacks Ukraine
Russian forces officially invaded Ukraine early Thursday morning. Fighting between Ukraine and Russia is taking place along the border, with extensive fighting in the regions of Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odessa, and a military airport near Kyiv, according to a Ukraine presidential advisor. Explosions, gunfire, and sirens were heard before dawn in the capital Kyiv. The attack comes weeks after failed diplomatic efforts by Western nations to avoid violent conflict. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has declared martial law and called on Ukrainians to defend their country, with arms being given to anyone prepared to fight. US President Biden is expected to confer with Western leaders today to coordinate a response against Russia’s aggression. Commodities such as oil, gas, and wheat have surged as global stock markets tumbled at the onset of a new European war.
This map depicts the areas in which Russia has launched military attacks on multiple fronts in Ukraine. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: New York Times
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United States
Dakota Access Case Rejected
The United States Supreme Court announced it would not consider hearing a lawsuit appeal over the Dakota Access Pipeline, brought about by pipeline operator Energy Transfer. The pipeline will now have to continue undergoing an environmental review that was ordered by a lower court in 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must review the pipeline’s route underneath Lake Oahe, on the border of North Dakota and South Dakota. This lake is considered sacred by Indigenous communities and is a vital resource for food and drinking water. This pipeline has been long opposed by Indigenous tribes in the area including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, going back to 2017. The pipeline continues to carry 750,000 barrels of oil per day from North Dakota to Illinois.
This map depicts a section of the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. Click on the map to learn more.
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Chile
Ice sheets shrinking in Patagonia
Images captured by a European Space Agency satellite show Chile’s San Rafael glacier to be among the planet’s most actively calving glaciers, rapidly receding due to the heating effects of climate change and “flowing” at a speed of about 4.7 miles (7.6 kilometers) per year. San Rafael is one of 39 glaciers in the Northern Patagonia Ice Field, which along with the Southern Patagonian Ice Field in Chile’s Aysen region, forms the third largest ice mass in the world after Greenland and Antarctica. San Rafael currently covers an area of over 9,000 square miles (14,500 km2). Glacial thaw is a natural seasonal phenomenon that has accelerated due to climate change, according to researchers. As the planet’s ice-covered areas shrink, less radiation is reflected back to the atmosphere from the surface, reinforcing a cycle of rising temperatures.
This map depicts the glacial ice reserve in Chile’s Patagonia region. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Known for their autonomous community, which of the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain is the largest and relies mostly on an agriculture and tourist economy?
A: Mallorca
The Balearic Islands are an autonomous community off Spain’s eastern coast in the Balearic Sea. Mallorca (or Majorca) is the largest of these islands at 1,405 sq miles (3,640 sq km). It’s varied landscape of terraced slopes and fertile valleys give way to thriving pine forests, olive groves, almond trees, and special fruits. Prehistoric talayots (chambered towers of stone), temples, and burial caves are found throughout the island. Its rich history and beautiful topography attract tourists from all over the world, however, traditional farming communities are being displaced as the construction of hotels and demand for tourist housing increases.
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Q: Which mountainous country is completely surrounded by a whole other country?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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