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World
International Displacement Grows
Last week, the International Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reported nearly 60 million people had been internally displaced worldwide at the end of 2021, with 38 million of those people being reported during 2021 alone. The internally displaced are people who have been forced from their homes but remain within their own countries for a variety of reasons including conflict and natural disasters. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) released a report today estimating 100 million people are currently forcibly displaced within and outside of their countries, or around 1% of the world’s population. The forcibly displaced includes people escaping conflict, violence, persecution, and human rights violations, with the war in Ukraine and conflict in places such as Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo driving a major part of the total. In 2012, this figure was 41 million people, and in 2020 more than 82 million people were forcibly displaced, with the COVID-19 pandemic amplifying pre-existing factors.
This map depicts the 60 million internally displaced people worldwide. Click on the map to learn more.
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Philippines
Seven Dead in Ferry Fire
At least seven people were killed and 120 people were rescued from a Philippine passenger ferry after it caught fire. The incident took place on the Mercraft 2 ferry around 6:30am Sunday while carrying 124 passengers and 10 crew members from Polillo Island to Real, in the Quezon province on the main island of Luzon. According to the Coast Guard, five women and two men lost their lives in the accident, with 23 of the 120 people rescued requiring medical attention. The reason for the blaze has yet to be determined. Maritime accidents are common in the Philippines, where traveling by sea is the most accessible mode of transportation in the archipelago of more than 7,000 islands. In 2017, a vessel named Mercraft 3 sank off the coast of Infanta, costing four lives.
This map depicts the location of ferry fire in Philippines where seven people were killed. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: AFP
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Australia
2022’s Wettest Town Revealed
Australia has had an exceptionally wet year, with record-breaking rainfall across the continent. A new study released by Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology suggests the town of Yarras, on the northern coast of New South Wales, has only seen 14 days without rainfall in 2022. Residents have reported some business operations have ceased due to rain and flooding, and farmers have reported extensive crop loss due to water damage. For most of the country, rain is expected to continue due to a weather pattern known as La Niña, which brings stronger than usual rain to Australia’s eastern coast. Although it typically occurs every 3-5 years, Australia has now had three La Niña years in a row. Such an extreme period of rain makes this Australia’s wettest period in almost 50 years.
This map depicts rainfall in millimeters from January to May 2022. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: The Hawaii island chain is made up of about 132 volcanic islands. Which main Hawaiian island is considered the oldest?
A: Kaua’i
The Hawaiian islands (that we know) are part of the Hawaiian Ridge chain and connects to the Emperor Seamount Chain of some 132 volcanoes, both above and below sea level, stretching for 3,800 miles (6,100 km) in the north Pacific Ocean. The ages of the volcanoes get younger as the chain bends southeast. The oldest volcano near the northern end of the Emperor Seamount Chain is 81 million years old. The bend of the two chains is dated at 43 million years old. Out of the eight main Hawaiian islands, Kaua’i is considered the oldest, with volcanic activity ending on the island about 3.8 million years ago. The volcanoes were formed due to tectonic plate motion and hotspots. Deep below the earth’s surface, hot spots promote melting of the mantle rock which produces magma on top of the Pacific Plate. As the plate moves, the new born volcanoes move with it and grow as the plate shifts. The bend between the two chains evidences a dramatic shift in the direction of the plate movement.
Source
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Q: Which Canadian national park is home to ancient Canadian Rocky Mountains dating 45 – 120 million years old and the highest town in Canada?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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