China
Ozone Depleting Emissions
A team of international researchers traced banned ozone-depleting gases to two provinces in north east China. The chemical, CFC-11, was once a common refrigerant and also used for building insulation, was to meant to be phased out by 2010 under the 1987 Montreal Protocol, which was signed by 46 countries including China. Researchers are now investigating which industries are contributing to the spike in CFC-11. CFCs function as greenhouse gases and contribute to rising temperatures as they deplete the ozone layer, a gaseous film which protects life from the powerful, and sometimes dangerous, effects of the sun.
This map depicts CFC emissions over China. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: BBC
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Britain
Hand Over Chagos
On Wednesday, United Nations member states voted 116-6 in favor (with 56 abstentions) that the Chagos islands be returned to Mauritius within six months. The U.N. General Assembly called for Britain to end its “colonial administration” of the islands, home to a U.S. air base on Diego Garcia island. The vote came three months after the International Court of Justice stated in a legal opinion that Britain had illegally split the islands and should return control to Mauritius. Mauritius, a former British colony, claims it was forced to give up Chagos Islands in 1965 in exchange for independence. The Chagos islands became known as the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) and Mauritius later gained independence in 1968.
This map depicts the location of the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean including the air base on Diego Garcia. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Inquirer
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United States
Clotilda Wreck Found
The last known ship to have smuggled African slaves to the United States was found at the bottom of the Mobile River in Alabama. The slave ship, Clotilda, illegally imported slaves in 1860 from Benin, Africa to Mobile, Alabama, decades after Congress banned the import of slaves in 1807. Researchers and archaeologists often hesitate to definitively name a shipwreck, but the team of researchers claim the physical and forensic evidence confirms the ship is indeed Clotilda. Clotilda was intentionally burned and sunk in the Mobile river to destroy evidence of illegal slave imports.
This map depicts Clotilda’s last voyage from Benin, Africa to Mobile, Alabama. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: The Kasai River, the largest tributary of the Congo River, originates in what country?
A: Angola
Also known as the Rio Cassai, the Kasai River is the main tributary for the southern area of the Congo River basin system. The Kasai River begins in the eastern slope of the Bíe Plateau of Angola and runs all the way to Kwamouth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Source
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Q: What UNESCO World Heritage site is famous for its tall, thin, needle-like limestone rock formations?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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