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Syria
Attack on Damascus Airport
The Syrian army reported Israeli missiles struck Damascus, Syria’s capital city, killing two soldiers, injuring two others, and temporarily putting Damascus International Airport out of service for the second time in a year. The air raid came from Lake Tiberias in Israel at around 2:00am local time on Monday, targeting the Damascus airport and the surrounding area. Syria’s transport ministry later announced the airport had been reopened and flights would resume by 9:00am after workers removed debris from the strikes. The Israeli Defense Force has not commented on the attack, however it has previously targeted Syria’s airports in an effort to prevent arms shipments smuggled into the country via Iranian cargo flights.
This map depicts the Damascus International Airport in southern Syria where Israeli missiles temporarily put the airport out of service. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Al-Monitor
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Russia
Sanctions Send Oil to China, India
European sanctions have caused Russia to send more oil to China and India, and at a greater discount. The final week of 2022 saw the lowest oil exports from Russia for the entire year, as European buyers sought to shut out purchases of fossil fuels from Russia in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russian oil sellers have been forced to sell crude oil at prices below the cap imposed by Western countries, while the sellers have also had to absorb higher costs to transport the crude from Arctic ports to buyers on the opposite end of the Asian continent. The cap on Russian oil prices not only limited purchases by energy companies in Western countries, but also limited shipping and maritime insurance companies from servicing oil sales over the price cap to third-party countries.
This map depicts the route of oil being transported from the port of Murmansk, Russia to India, as European sanctions have forced the country to pivot oil sales to the east. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Reuters
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Space
Earth At Closest Point to the Sun
Yesterday morning, the Earth reached the closest point to the Sun in its yearly orbit, a point known as the perihelion. The Earth’s orbit is not a circle, but an imperfect ellipse, and for many years now the perihelion has followed the northern hemisphere’s winter solstice. At the perihelion, Earth is 91,527,976 miles (147,300,000 km) from the Sun, while at the aphelion, the most distant point from the Sun in its orbit, due to occur around July 6, Earth will be 94,510,558 miles (152,100,000 km) away. Given the proportionally small differences, the change in distance has no significant impact on the Earth’s climate, with seasonal variations being a product of the tilt of Earth’s axis in relation to the Sun.
This map depicts the Earth’s orbit around the Sun, noting the distances of the Earth at its closest point (perihelion) and its furthest point (aphelion). Earth reached perihelion yesterday morning. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Tropical Cyclones, also known as Typhoons or Hurricanes, are the world’s largest and most destructive storms. Which country is most prone to getting hit by these kinds of storms?
A: China
With a huge tropical and sub-tropical coastline facing the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea, it should come as no surprise that China is the most typhoon-prone country in the world. China’s tropical storm season is considered to be year-round. “Typhoon” is the label given to the type of storm otherwise known more technically as a “tropical cyclone” in the Indian Ocean and as a “hurricane” in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific. Typhoons in the western Pacific tend to pack the biggest punch of all thanks to the combination of wide-open waters for storm formation and warmer water temperatures that give these storms their energy.
Source
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Q: In what city can you find the world’s largest urban forest?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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