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France
G7 Summit & China Shock 2.0
Leaders of the Group of 7 (G7), a forum of rich democracies, are meeting this week in France. The group has affirmed the peace deal between the U.S. and Iran, expected to be signed Friday, urging for unimpeded, fee-free passage through the Strait of Hormuz. They have also agreed to coordinate on sanctions against Russia for the war in Ukraine, AI regulations, and addressing “China Shock 2.0,” a massive wave of Chinese exports. China’s joining of the World Trade Organization in 2001 gave it low-tariff access to lucrative markets at a time when China accounted for about 4% of global goods exports. Today, its share is roughly 16%, dominating world trade and manufacturing. The European Union, whose leadership participates in the G7, is a major importer of Chinese electric vehicles, solar panels, and lithium-ion batteries, hitting manufacturing-heavy countries such as Germany hard. European officials are attempting to persuade the U.S. to work with its allies on a strategy to counter China rather than directing punitive tariffs at partners, like the EU and Canada.
This map depicts the increase in imports from China specifically impacting manufacturing industries in Europe between 2016 and 2024. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Economist
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World
Children’s Climate Risk Report
A new UNICEF report shows that nearly half of the world’s children are exposed to at least three climate-related hazards. Common threats include floods, extreme heat, poor air quality, and vector-borne diseases. Most of the hazards are overlapping, such as drought leading to wildfires and poor air quality, and extreme flooding leading to vector-borne disease risk. One of the hardest-hit regions is the Sahel in Africa, where more than four million children face the triple threat of heatwaves, extreme heat, and sand and dust storms. Meanwhile children in countries across Asia, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Pakistan are exposed to more climate hazards at once and at a higher intensity than anywhere else in the world. High-income countries are not immune. In Italy, more than six million children are exposed to prolonged heatwaves and drought. The report warned that without urgent efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, climate hazards will grow more frequent and severe, placing even greater strain on government budgets and systems while threatening children’s wellbeing.
This map depicts childrens’ vulnerability to climate-related hazards around the globe. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: UNICEF
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United States
San Andreas at Highest Stress
Stress on the San Andreas fault in Southern California has reached new critical levels, the highest in 1,000 years, according to a new report published by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. The research focused on the Cajon Pass, a junction where the San Jacinto fault branches from the San Andreas, which serves as an “earthquake gate” that can either halt or allow ruptures to pass between the two fault systems. While some earthquakes have only involved slip on a single fault, others have produced a so-called “double-fault rupture,” resulting in far greater seismic shocks. The study, which used computer modeling to simulate stress conditions, suggests that current stress levels across multiple fault segments are sufficient to trigger this double-fault rupture, a potentially catastrophic event.
The map depicts fault traces in Southern California overlaid on a heat map of stress accumulation. At the center of the map, the Cajon Pass marks the critical junction where the San Jacinto fault to the south meets the main San Andreas Fault System to the north. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What desert, known as the “Great Thirstland,” experiences dramatic wet and dry cycles?
A: Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large basinlike plain of the interior plateau of Southern Africa, covering around 350,000 square miles (900,000 sq km). Kalahari is derived from the Tswana word kgala, meaning “the great thirst,” or kgalagadi, meaning “a waterless place.” This vast semi-arid sandy savanna occupies almost all of Botswana, the eastern third of Namibia, and the northernmost part of Northern Cape province in South Africa. With huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains, the Kalahari is a semi-desert environment which supports more animals and plants than a true desert, such as the Namib Desert to the west, the coastal desert of Namibia. The Kalahari Thirstland, as the name implies – is the largest sand basin in the world. The Kalahari sand dunes, some of which stretch west to merge with the coastal dunes of the Namib Desert, compose the largest continuous expanse of sand on earth. Although the Sahara Desert is much larger than the Kalahari, it is far less sandy, with around 15% of its total area covered by sand dunes.
Source
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Q: What ocean current is responsible for one of the world’s top fishing grounds as well as the aridity of the Atacama Desert?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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