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Czechia
Train Crash Kills Four
At least four people are dead and over 20 injured in a train collision in the Czech city of Pardubice. A passenger train carrying over 300 people bound for Ukraine ran head-on into a freight train yesterday evening. Transportation authorities have already determined the passenger train failed to stop at a red light, though it could take months to determine whether that was caused by human error or a technical fault. At least one passenger wagon was derailed and seriously mangled in the accident, making the rescue of its occupants particularly challenging. Pardubice sits on one of Czechia and Europe’s most critical east-west rail corridors. The corridor is predicted to remain shut down for at least one more day to allow for clean-up and investigation of the accident.
This map depicts the Czech city of Pardubice (Pardubitz in German), where a passenger train bound for Ukraine collided head-on with a freight train yesterday evening. Click on the map to learn more.
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Mexico
Mexico City Reservoir Dries
After a longer-than-usual dry season, an important reservoir for Mexico City is now at 28% of its normal capacity. Valle de Bravo, a man-made lagoon in the forests about 85 miles west of Mexico City, has long served as a lake getaway for the wealthy and a vital water source for 20 million city dwellers downstream. The lake’s shoreline has receded 18% over the past two years. Rain is the lake’s primary source of water, but the Cuenca Amanalco-Valle de Bravo region has seen 25% less rain than the annual average of the past two decades. The city stopped extracting water from the lake in April due to its low water levels. Reduced rain from climate change and the El Niño climate pattern, a population surge, and extensive leaking from faulty infrastructure have all taken a significant toll on the water levels. Experts predict Mexico City’s 8.8 million people could run out of drinking water this month, a date referred to as “Day Zero.”
This map depicts Valle de Bravo, a man-made lagoon near Mexico City which serves as a vital water source for over 20 million people. The lake’s shoreline has receded 18% over the last two years. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Bloomberg
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Greenland
Giant Viruses Found in Ice Sheet
A recent study from Aarhus University has found giant viruses living alongside algae in the Greenland ice sheet, marking the first time the viruses have been detected on surface ice and snow. After analyzing samples from dark ice, red and green snow, and melting holes, researchers found that the viruses were hosted by pigmented microalgae. These kinds of algal blooms can decrease the albedo of the ice sheet’s surface, which contributes to accelerated ice melting. When the viruses infect algae, they provide a biological control on algal blooms. Giant viruses, first discovered infecting ocean algae in 1981, differ from normal viruses in that they have active genes that enable them to repair, replicate, transcribe and translate DNA. Scientists are continuing to research the viruses’ role in terrestrial icy habitats to learn how efficient they are in minimizing ice melt.
This map depicts the location, type, and depth of samples used in the study on the south side of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Sample types included cryoconite sediment, ice core, dark surface ice, and green and red snow. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What is the world’s largest inland brackish sea?
A: Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, and Sweden. It is a marginal sea of the Atlantic with limited water exchange between the two, making it an inland sea. The Baltic Sea is the largest brackish inland sea by area (149,000 square miles or 386,000 square km). and occupies a basin formed by glacial erosion during the last few ice ages. The Baltic Sea is so nearly landlocked (and its outlet so shallow) that its waters are remarkably fresh. The Baltic Sea’s salinity (which averages 0.6%) is much lower than that of ocean water (which averages 3.5%), as a result of abundant freshwater runoff from the surrounding land by rivers and streams, combined with the shallowness of the sea itself.
Source
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Q: What is the most extensive highland region between the Appalachians and Rockies in the US?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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