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Iran
U.S. Attempt to Open Strait
The U.S. and Iran exchanged fire in the Persian Gulf on Monday, prompting calls for renewed strikes on Iranian targets and jolting a fragile four-week-old ceasefire. U.S. warships escorted two U.S.-flagged merchant ships through Hormuz in a bid to force open the Strait for commercial shipping. At the same time, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) blamed an Iranian drone strike for a large fire at its Fujairah port. The U.S. military said that as it transited with the merchant ships, it sank six small Iranian boats that were targeting shipping vessels. Iran responded to say the Americans struck two small civilian cargo boats, killing five civilians. Iran has called the new U.S. effort to open the strait a violation of the fragile ceasefire. However, the U.S. has stopped short of calling Iranian missile fire at the UAE a ceasefire violation. While the U.S. has enforced a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, it has advised ships to cross the strait in Oman’s waters, saying it had set up an “enhanced security area.”
This map depicts the Strait of Hormuz and its traditional shipping routes and northern routes that Iran has opened to vessels unaffiliated with the U.S. or Israel. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: NPR
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Canada
Alberta Separatists Hit Milestone
Advocates for Alberta’s secession from Canada have formally submitted almost 302,000 signatures to trigger a referendum on the province’s independence, more than the 178,000 necessary. The movement Stay Free Alberta presented the signatures at an election office yesterday. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has agreed to advance the question of independence to a referendum upon verification of the signatures. Still, that process has been put on hold as a judge in Edmonton evaluates a legal challenge to the petition by a group of Alberta First Nations that view the effort as a violation of standing treaties. Alberta has an abundance of oil, and supporters of independence have highlighted interference by Canada’s federal government in allowing its production and exportation. Current polls show support for Alberta’s secession at less than 30%.
This map depicts the Canadian province of Alberta and the historic treaty boundaries with Canadian First Nations, some of which would be affected in the event that Alberta formally attempts secession from Canada. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Economist
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World
Airborne Microplastics & Warming
According to a new study in the journal Nature Climate Change, a team of researchers from China and the United States examined the properties of airborne microplastics and nanoplastics, analyzing their color, size, and chemical composition to understand how they interact with sunlight. The study suggests that colored microplastic and nanoplastic particles could be contributing to climate change at a level equivalent to 16.2% of the effect of black carbon, or soot. Colored plastics, especially those in shades of red, yellow, blue, and black, absorb roughly 75 times more sunlight than clear particles. And because most plastics in the environment tend to darken over time as they age and degrade, leading to a net warming effect. Size plays a role, too. Nanoplastics, the ultra-tiny particles far smaller than a strand of human hair, linger in the atmosphere longer and absorb more sunlight per unit of mass than their slightly larger counterparts. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is considered a particularly significant source of these particles, but landfills, roadside litter, and car tire dust also contribute to what is becoming a global atmospheric concern.
This map depicts the annual mean global distribution of absorptive direct radiative forcing (DRF), which is the warming effect caused by particles (aerosols) or gases in the atmosphere absorbing incoming solar radiation and trapping heat. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: The Richat Structure, a 28-mile (45 km) wide circular geologic feature resembling a bull’s-eye that was used as a landmark for astronauts during early space missions, is located in which desert?
A: Sahara Desert
Also known as the “Eye of the Sahara, this geologic feature is located in the Sahara Desert in remote northwestern Mauritania on the Adrar Plateau. This circular geologic feature is thought to be caused by an uplifted dome—geologists would classify it as a domed anticline—that has been eroded to expose the originally flat rock layers. The 28-mile-wide (45 km) structure is made up of igneous and sedimentary rocks, and the rocks exposed in the center of the “bullseye” are older than the rocks forming the outer rings. French geographers first described the feature in the 1930s, calling it the Richat “buttonhole.” NASA astronauts Ed White and James McDivitt helped bring wider global attention to what became known as “The Eye of the Sahara” after photographing it during their history-making Gemini IV mission.
Source
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Q: Straddling the border between which two countries can you find Europe’s largest remaining lowland old-growth forest?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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