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Colombia
Guerilla Border Violence Surges
A surge in guerrilla violence in Colombia which has left over 100 people dead, and displaced nearly 20,000 others, has forced authorities to announce a state of emergency. The conflict in the northeastern Catatumbo region and the southeastern Guaviare jungle, key cocaine production hubs, stemmed from battles over control of strategic drug trafficking routes between the left-wing rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) and factions from what was once the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The region is an important cocaine trafficking route into neighboring Venezuela, a long-time sanctuary for Colombian rebels. ELN, which Mr. Petro has accused of a “massacre” in Catatumbo, has expanded into Venezuela in recent years and found an ideological ally in leader Nicolas Maduro. Colombian President Gustavo Petro has vowed to respond to these attacks with military force, deploying over 5,000 troops to affected border regions.
This map depicts the presence of illegal groups on the Colombia-Venezuela border. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Insight Crime
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Turkey
Dozens Dead in Ski Resort Fire
At least 66 people have been killed by a fire that swept through a popular Turkish ski resort’s hotel. The fire is believed to have begun in the restaurant section on the fourth floor of the Grand Kartal Hotel before quickly spreading to higher floors. The hotel burned for around an hour before fire services could arrive from the closest town, Bolu, due to the hotel’s remote location and adverse weather conditions. Deaths from the blaze include at least two hotel guests who attempted to escape the fire by jumping from windows. It took a total of 12 hours to bring the blaze under control, with the hotel’s location on a cliff making it impossible for firefighters to attack the flames from all sides of the building. Further investigation into both the cause of the fire and the possible failure of safety measures in the hotel is underway.
This map depicts the location of the Grand Kartal Hotel, near the town of Bolu, Turkey, where a fire in a ski resort hotel has killed 66 people. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The US Sun
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Tanzania
Early Hominin Desert Dwellers
A new study in the journal Nature Communications details how paleoanthropologists have uncovered evidence that the ancient hominin Homo erectus may have found ways to survive in extreme desert environments over one million years ago. It had long been believed that only modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens, had the adaptability to adjust to living in such a challenging environment. At a site in northern Tanzania called Engaji Nanyori, the researchers discovered evidence of how Homo erectus managed to change survival strategies to thrive in an environment that abruptly changed from open forests to hot and dry scrubland. Researchers found evidence that Homo erectus changed hunting strategies and took more care in the design and preservation of tools in the unforgiving environment. It was this adaptability that made Homo erectus the first hominin species to venture out of Africa, making it as far as Indonesia before dying out around 100,000 years ago.
This map depicts the different vegetation biomes across East Africa around one million year ago, including the semidesert shrublands where the early hominin species Homo erectus managed to adapt to survive. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What country is home to Earth’s greatest vertical drop of 4,100 ft (1,200 m)?
A: Canada
Mount Thor in Nunavut, Canada, is a mountain with an elevation of 5,495 ft (1,675 m) located in Auyuittuq National Park, on Baffin Island. The mountain is located 29 mi (46 km) northeast of Pangnirtung and features Earth’s greatest vertical drop of 4,100 ft (1,200 m), with the cliff overhanging at an average angle of 105 degrees (15 degrees from vertical). Despite its remoteness, this feature makes the mountain a popular rock-climbing site. Mount Thor is part of the Baffin Mountains which in turn form part of the Arctic Cordillera mountain range. The Arctic Cordillera spans most of the eastern coast of Nunavut with high glaciated peaks rising through ice fields and some of Canada’s largest ice caps
Source
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Q: What country is home to the deepest cave in the world?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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