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Switzerland
‘Board of Peace’ Forms
U.S. President Donald Trump spent a good portion of his time at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, touting his plans for a new ‘Board of Peace’ to supervise the ceasefire in Gaza and coordinate rebuilding efforts there. As of yesterday, around 20 countries had signed up to join the new supervisory body, but offers have been declined by traditional U.S. allies France, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, as well as Slovenia. President Trump also rescinded an offer to Canada following critical remarks by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney towards U.S. foreign policy. In declining to join the Board of Peace, both France and Slovenia noted the conflict between the Board’s charter and the charter of the United Nations.
This map depicts the countries that have accepted an invitation to join U.S. President Donald Trump’s newly formed ‘Board of Peace’ in blue, with non-committal states in orange and countries that have declined in red. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: CBC
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United States
4.7 Magnitude Quake Shakes Utah
Early on Thursday morning, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake caused tremors across the border of Utah and Wyoming. Its epicenter lay between Salt Lake City, UT, and Evanston, WY, where many people reported feeling shaking caused by the quake. No injuries or deaths were reported from the incident. Although the quake was a relatively moderate one, it occurred far from any major fault lines and in an area that rarely experiences earthquakes. The region feels earthquakes so infrequently that most seismometers near the epicenter had been removed after budget cuts, though experts are eagerly investigating this unusual occurrence.
This map depicts the shock intensity of the areas affected by the northern Utah earthquake. Click on the map to learn more.
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World
Tectonics & Carbon Emissions
A new study in Nature has found that carbon released from Earth’s spreading tectonic plates, not volcanoes, may have triggered major transitions between ancient ice ages and warm climates. Researchers reconstructed how carbon moved between volcanoes, oceans, and deep within Earth over the past half-billion years. The findings challenge a long-held view that chains of volcanoes, formed by colliding tectonic plates, were Earth’s main natural source of atmospheric carbon. They found that much of the carbon locked inside the planet was released along fissures in Earth’s crust in a process called rifting, the process by which continents are torn apart on geological timescales. The work provides the first clear long-term evidence that the global climate was shaped mainly by carbon released where tectonic plates pull apart, rather than where they collide. This adds to a large pool of evidence that the amount of carbon in Earth’s atmosphere is a key trigger to cause major swings in climate.
This map depicts the location of carbonate platform and carbon fluxes during key icehouse-greenhouse periods. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What country’s capital is the only one without traffic lights?
A: Bhutan
Thimpu, the Kingdom of Bhutan’s capital city, is located in the west central region of the country, in the Himalayan Mountains on the Wong RIver. Located about 7,000 ft (2,000 m) above sea level, Thimpu was decided as the official seat of government in 1962, in the same area where the king had formerly resided. It wasn’t until 1960 that Bhutan began construction on its very first road, and since then, over 930 miles (1,500 km) of roads have been paved in the country. However, due to the small population of drivers, roads are relatively empty. In 2016, Thimpu installed one traffic light, yet within 24 hours, it was removed and replaced with a manual traffic director to guide cars.
Source
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Q: In which country can you find the only desert oasis in South America?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in Monday’s DailyGeo.
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