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Chile
112 Dead In Wildfires
At least 112 people have been killed in wildfires in Chile, near the city of Quilpué, according to the country’s Forensic Medicine Service. The wildfires first gathered momentum on Friday near the cities of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. The fires began in the mountainous forested areas before moving down into populated, dense neighborhoods. The country’s Interior Ministry stated 40 fires are still burning around the country, and firefighters have continued rescue efforts in areas with collapsed homes. So far, 30 square miles of forests and urban areas have been scorched due to conditions marked by low humidity, high wind speeds, and unusually high temperatures for this time in the year.
This map depicts the areas of Chile burned by wildfires, situated near the city of Quilpué. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Barron’s
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Pakistan
Armed Group Kills 10
At least 10 policemen have been killed and six others injured in an attack in northern Pakistan as violence mounts in anticipation of national elections. Police reported attackers had targeted a police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail district with heavy weapons. The area has been cordoned off and a search operation to hunt down the attackers has been launched. Tehreek-e-Taliban (TBJ), an armed group believed to be an offshoot of the outlawed Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and seeking to overthrow the government to establish strict religious law, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack. The remote northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has experienced a rise in violence as Pakistan’s 128 million voters prepare for elections on February 8th.
This map depicts the frequency of attacks on political party members by armed groups since the beginning of 2023, showing a particularly high level of violence in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: ACLED
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Antartica
Sub Lost under Doomsday Glacier
A $3.6 million unmanned underwater vehicle (AUV) has been lost beneath Antartica’s Thwaites (“Doomsday”) Glacier. Search efforts have been unsuccessful as the sub’s battery is believed to be dead. One of only three vehicles of its kind in the world, the submersible, nicknamed “Ran,” is equipped with sensors and technology to monitor under-ice conditions and was part of a broader effort to understand the mechanisms of melting at the massive glacier. Larger than the US state of Florida, the Doomsday glacier is so thick that if it melted and collapsed, global sea level would rise by more than 2 feet. Ran had been used for ten expeditions over five years, and this was its second mission to explore under the Thwaites Glacier. The research team behind Ran intends to replace it.
This map depicts the location of the Thwaites (Doomsday) Glacier in Antartica, where an unmanned underwater vehicle collecting data on glacial melting has gone missing. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the region of the triple watershed of the Nile, Congo, and Zambezi rivers called?
A: African Great Lakes
The African Great Lakes consist of seven lakes that span countries in East, South and Central Africa. They are the source of the Nile and the watershed triple point between the rivers Nile, Congo and Zambezi. The region includes Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. The African Great Lakes hold almost one-third of the world’s fresh surface water, and include some of the largest, deepest, and oldest lakes on Earth, such as Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika. The lakes are home to a rich biodiversity of plants and animals, including many endemic and endangered species, such as the cichlid fish, the mountain gorilla, and the African elephant.
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Q: What desert is home to the Skeleton Coast?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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