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Ethiopia
Clashes Erupt in Tigray
In Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, intense fighting between Ethiopian federal troops and Amharan forces versus Tigrayan armed militias has raised fears of a renewed civil war. The violence broke out in the west Tigray district of Tsemlet and has prompted Ethiopian Airlines to cancel all flights to the region. Lasting from 2020 to 2022, the Tigray War left an estimated number of hundreds of thousands dead and was ended by the signing of a peace deal with the Ethiopian federal government. In fear of living through the clashes once again, and without flights to catch, many are fleeing Tigray by car. The region is still devastated by the effects of the most recent war, and the end of aid from the United States Agency for International Development has reduced supplies for victims there.
This map depicts the northern Ethiopian regions of Tigray and Amhara, where new violence has broken out in recent days. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Barrons
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Mozambique-South Africa-Zimbabwe
Brutal Flooding in Southern Africa
Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe have suffered massive flooding not seen in a generation over the last month, with another month remaining in the region’s typical rainy season. Heavy rainfall began to fall continuously from December 26, but the worst came down from January 10-19, with some locations seeing almost 20 inches (50 cm) of rainfall over that span – the same amount they’d normally see over the course of a whole year. Mozambique is the hardest-hit of the three countries, with over 3,100 miles (5,000 km) of roads damaged by the floods, disrupting both the normal transportation of goods and the delivery of aid to people affected by the floods. The rainfall is being attributed to the increases typically expected during a La Niña year in the El Niño-Southern Oscillation combined with the building effects of ongoing climate change.
This map depicts rainfall totals over southern Africa from January 10 through 19, which brought amounts of rain typically seen by the region over the course of a whole year. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Carbon Brief
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Greece
Oldest-Ever Wooden Tools Found
The earliest known hand-held wooden tools, used by our early human ancestors around 430,000 years ago, have been uncovered by researchers at an archaeological site in Greece. One is made from the trunk of an alder tree and could have been used for digging, and the other is a small willow or poplar artifact that may have been used to shape stones, though its function isn’t fully understood. It is extremely rare to find intact wooden tools. They were well preserved because they were rapidly buried in sediment that remained wet. The tools were found at a site called the Megalopolis Basin in Marathousa. Once a lakeshore, it has provided evidence of other early human ancestors, including the making and use of stone and bone artifacts and the killing of elephants and other animals. The find highlights the importance of Greece and the Megalopolis Basin in particular for human evolution, and provides insight into early human ancestor activity that speaks to how our brains were developing in that time period.
This map depicts where the world’s oldest-known wooden tools were found in Greece. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What island possesses the world’s greatest concentration of unique, endemic mammal species?
A: Luzon, Philippines
Known as “Galapagos times ten,” Luzon is the largest and northernmost major island in the Philippines, located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is home to the most extensive rainforest ecoregion in the country. The vast rainforests of Luzon stretch some 36,900 square miles (95,600 sq km) and take up nearly 90 percent of the island. Around 15 million years ago, the Australian and Asian tectonic plates created frictions that resulted in volcanic activity, creating parts of the Luzon highlands. Because Luzon has never been connected to mainland Asia, this long period of isolation resulted in the immense biodiversity and endemism in the forests. Today, only 10 percent of the forests are protected, leaving many species vulnerable to deforestation.
Source
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Q: Which South Asian country is known for having six seasons instead of four, with its New Year beginning with summer?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in Monday’s DailyGeo.
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