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Syria
ISIL Leader Captured
A senior leader of the ISIL (ISIS) group has been captured in northwestern Syria during an early-morning raid on Thursday by forces from the U.S.-led coalition. A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces stated the raid took place in Al-Humaira (Hmeirah), just south of the Turkish border. According to the statement of ‘Operation Inherent Resolve,’ the detained individual is a qualified bomb maker and facilitator who became a top leader in Syria. Details of how the raid took place are still unclear. U.S.-led military on the ground in Syria have targeted ISIS leaders still operating since the group’s military defeat in 2019, leading to the deaths of such leaders as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi.
This map depicts the location of Hmeirah (Al-Humaira), in northern Syria, where US-led coalition force captured a senior leader of ISIS. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Barron’s
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United States
Heat Wave Hits Central U.S.
A heatwave has caused more than 20 states to see dangerously hot temperatures this week and had more than 100 million people under heat warnings and advisories on Wednesday. Some school districts have closed for a few days, citing the high heat index as the main reason. Excessive heat events are the greatest weather-related killer in the United States, with an estimated 600 to 1,300 Americans dying from excessive heat per year. These heat events can also strain the power grid, causing people to lose access to air conditioning and interrupting water supplies. The National Weather Service has advised people to stay indoors, stay hydrated, and avoid strenuous activities, as well as to check on relatives and neighbors.
This map depicts heat-related warnings in the Central U.S. on Wednesday. Click on the map to learn more.
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Canada & Greenland
Countries Settle 50-Year Dispute
Canada and Denmark have settled a long-running dispute over the ownership of Hans Island, located between Canada and Greenland, which is a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark. The tiny, barren, and uninhabited Arctic island has been a source of disagreement for over 50 years, in which time, the countries engaged in “Whiskey Wars,” where expeditions from each country took turns planting their flags and whiskey to claim ownership of the island. A maritime border between Canada and Greenland was initially established in 1973, but both sides had failed to reach an agreement on Hans Island, which has now been officially divided between the two with a new land border. Both countries praised the diplomatic solution, with Canada’s foreign minister describing it as “the friendliest of all wars.”
This map depicts uninhabited Hans Island in between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Greenland, a Denmark). The countries have recently settled a dispute over ownership of the island. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Covering approximately 63 million square miles and containing more than half of the water on Earth, can you name the oldest ocean basin on the planet?
A: Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest, deepest, and oldest of the world ocean basins. Its oldest rocks have been dated around 200 million years old. As the largest ocean basin in the world, all seven continents could fit within it. The Pacific basin is also referred to as the “Ring of Fire” thanks to an almost continuous series of ocean trenches, volcanic mountain ranges, and plate boundaries encircling the Pacific. This Ring of Fire, some 25,000 miles (40,000 km) long, is marked by intense earthquakes and volcanic activity near tectonic subduction zones, where one tectonic plate is forced under another. In terms of size, the next largest ocean basin is the Atlantic, followed by the Indian Ocean basin, the Southern Ocean basin, and at the smallest, the Arctic Ocean basin.
Source
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Q: Where is the world’s longest uninterrupted natural sea beach located?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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