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Myanmar
Two Years Since Military Coup
Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar held a “silent” strike yesterday, recognizing the second anniversary of the military coup that removed the government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The military then had claimed Suu Kyi’s election victory in the fall of 2020 was fraudulent, a charge rejected by most international governments. Since that time, a coalition of civilian resistance groups and armed ethnic defense groups has maintained a resistance against the military government in spite of its brutal methods. A new report, released Tuesday from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, finds the conflict, particularly in rural areas, has reached a level of intensity to qualify as a civil war and is currently in a state of equilibrium, with neither side having an advantage over the other.
This map depicts locations and numbers of homes burned across Myanmar by the military junta government since it took power two years ago, which reached over 48,000 by the end of 2022. Click on the map to learn more.
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United States
Alaska Drilling Plan Advances
US President Joe Biden faces a critical decision on ConocoPhillips’ massive $8 billion proposed ‘Willow’ oil project in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve, which could unlock 600 million barrels of crude oil over the next 30 years. The Bureau of Land Management recommended a scaled-back version of the project after an environmental analysis, with a reduction of drilling sites, pipelines, and support infrastructure. The Biden administration is now tasked with balancing the economic benefits touted by private business and organized labor backing the project with the concerns of environmentalists, who have dubbed it a “carbon bomb.” Decisions will be released in a final environmental impact statement from President Biden and the Department of the Interior in the upcoming days.
This map depicts the location of the Willow project in relation to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Bloomberg
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China
Heating Controls Saving Lives
Yesterday, researchers from the University of Birmingham, England and Nankai University, China, published new findings in the journal, Environmental Science & Technology, noting air quality and health benefits from China’s stricter heating policies. Policies enacted by the Chinese government to reduce air pollution from winter heating may have saved over 23,000 lives in 2021. In 2017, a new heating plan was enacted to reduce the levels of particulate matter in the air, known as PM2.5 particles, by moving from coal to gas and other cleaner heating energy sources. This resulted in a 41 percent drop in PM2.5 pollution in Beijing from 2015 to 2021, and a 13 percent decrease in other cities. Premature deaths from respiratory ailments known to be exacerbated by PM2.5 pollution in the area under the new heating protocols fell from 169,016 deaths in 2015 to 145,460 in 2021.
This map depicts the 189 Chinese cities examined in a review of the 2017 government initiative to reduce PM2.5 pollution by switching to cleaner heating sources. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What Cambodian mountain range sees up to 200 inches (5,000 mm) of annual rainfall on its western slopes, but only up to 60 inches (1,500 mm) on its eastern slopes?
A: Cardamom Mountains
The Cardamom Mountains (or Krâvanh Mountains) is a mountain range in southwestern Cambodia that stretches into eastern Thailand. The range extends southeast-northwest, from Chanthaburi Province in Thailand to Koh Kong Province in Cambodia. Thick tropical rainforests thriving on the western slopes are fed by over triple the amount of rain seen on the wooded eastern slopes. This is due to the mountain’s rain shadow on the eastern slopes facing the interior plain – an area of significantly reduced rainfall in a mountainous region on the leeward side, the side that faces away from prevailing winds. A majority of the mountains within the range are dense wilderness that host almost no human population, however on the eastern slopes, cardamom and pepper are grown commercially, with large scale construction projects having started in the early 2000s. The highest peak of the Cardamom Mountains is Phnom Aural, which stands almost 6,000 ft (1,813 m) tall.
Source
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Q: Formed over millions of years in limestone rock, where can you find a special cave system that lights up thanks to the abundance of glowworms?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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