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Mexico
Hurricane Roslyn Makes Landfall
Hurricane Roslyn made landfall yesterday on the west coast of Mexico, bringing harsh winds, a dangerous storm surge, and flash flooding. The U.S. National Hurricane Center reported the Category 3 storm first landed in west-central Mexico near Santa Cruz in Nayarit state, bringing with it an estimated maximum sustained wind speed of 120 miles (195 km) per hour. Two people were killed in Nayarit state from collapsing structures. Roslyn lost strength quickly after landfall, with winds slowing to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) by evening. While the National Hurricane Center still warns of inland flooding and potential landslides, the storm is anticipated to be dissipated by the time it reaches Texas.
This map depicts the path and severity of Hurricane Roslyn since it made landfall on the western coast of Mexico. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Barron’s
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North Korea-South Korea
Koreas Exchange Warning Shots
North and South Korea exchanged warning shots off the western coast of the Korean Peninsula on Monday morning, accusing each other of breaching the maritime Northern Limit Line (NLL) separating their territorial waters. North Korea claims to have ordered a countermeasure to expel an enemy warship that had entered their waters while South Korea claims to have fired off warning shots to a North Korean merchant vessel that crossed the boundary around 3:40 AM local time. The South’s Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) called the North’s move a violation of the 2018 bilateral military pact banning “hostile acts” in the border regions. Since the 1990s, North Korea has been arguing the NLL boundary should lie further south than agreed upon at the end of the Korean War. South Korea is still going forward with the annual Hoguk defense drills with the United States, which kicked off last week, angering North Korean authorities who called them provocations and are threatening more countermeasures.
This map depicts the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a de facto international maritime boundary established in 1953 at the end of the Korean War. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Barron’s
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World
Plague-Caused Mutations Studied
A recent study published in the journal Nature, led by international researchers from McMaster University, the University of Chicago, the Pasteur Institute, and others, revealed the genetic mutations originating in plague survivors from the Middle Ages still affect people’s health today. In the mid-1300s, plague, called the “Black Death,” killed around 200 million people, roughly half of Europe’s population at the time. The study analyzed DNA from the teeth of 206 ancient skeletons dated to before, during, and after the strongest wave of plague, as well as from contemporary blood samples. Mutations which encouraged resilience against Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes plague, offered a 40% higher chance of surviving the disease, meaning it was carried over to future generations as survivors reproduced. However, the researchers found the same protective genes also make people more susceptible to inflammatory auto-immune diseases such as Crohn’s disease.
This map depicts archeological sites where samples from Denmark and London were extracted to compare the genetics of humans from the time of the Black Death to today. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the most southeastern region of Italy, known for occupying the country’s “heel” of the “boot?”
A: Puglia
Puglia, or Apulia, is the least mountainous region of Italy, with low-lying hills and broad plains. The hot and dry region borders the Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and Basilicata in the southwest. Across the Ionian Sea is neighboring Greece and across the Adriatic Sea sits Albania. The few rivers that run through Puglia, found on the “Tavoliere delle Puglie” in the north of the region, produce one of the largest and most productive plains in Italy, known for both wine and olive oil production. While Bari is Puglia’s capital city, the historic town of Lecce is considered the region’s cultural capital. Lecce is often referred to as “the Florence of the South” for its baroque buildings, churches, and monuments, all built from the distinct Lecce stone – the city’s main export. Also found in Puglia is the town of Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, protected for its traditional and unique conical houses known as “Trulli” houses. Puglia’s geography, situated between two coastlines, with miles of intact beaches, scenic cliffs, rocky coves, and grottos makes it a popular tourist destination spot in the south of Italy.
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Q: Situated in the middle of West Africa, what landlocked country is home to three main rivers, the Mouhoun, the Nazinon, and the Nakembé, which eventually converge to form the Volta River?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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