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Namibia
Drought Drives Wildlife Cull
As the nation struggles with its worst drought in a century, Namibia plans to cull more than 700 wild animals, including hippos, zebras, and elephants, and give the meat to those experiencing food poverty. Thirty-one hippos, sixty buffalo, fifty impalas, one hundred blue wildebeest, and three hundred zebras make up the animals scheduled for slaughter. Professional hunters will be hired to kill the animals, which will originate from national parks and public regions with “sustainable game numbers,” the ministry said. According to the ministry, the program’s goal is to lessen the effects of the drought. About half of the population, or 1.4 million people, are predicted to experience severe food insecurity. By eliminating wildlife in locations where their numbers exceed the amount of grazing and water available, the culling program will relieve pressure on water supplies. It also attempts to lessen the possibility of elephants and humans getting into clashes, which can happen more frequently during droughts.
This map depicts the drought in Southern Africa. Click on the map to learn more.
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 The effects of global climate change are far-reaching and potentially damaging to human and animal populations throughout the world. Join the American Geographical Society for our 2024 Fall Symposium, Geography 2050: Collaboration & Conflict in a Changing Climate, to discuss the ways nations can work together to mitigate the effects that threaten us all.__________________________________________
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United States
States Purging Voter Rolls
Several Republican-led states have touted efforts to remove non-citizens from voter rolls ahead of the November election. The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, announced his state’s recent removal of 1.1 million voters from the rolls, 6,500 of whom were non-citizens. Other states claiming to be taking additional measures include Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio, and Virginia. In all these states, there are questions about whether the recent removals would have been purged during routine oversight and clean-up of voter rolls, which are already in place to remove the deceased or former voters no longer living at their registered address, along with voters whose citizenship cannot be validated. Democrats in Texas claim the legal efforts to maintain voter rolls are being intermingled in a campaign to intimidate otherwise legal voters from participating in elections.
This map depicts the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia, where Republican leadership claims to be taking extra measures to protect the integrity of voter rolls from ineligible non-citizens. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Newsweek
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China
Ancient Viruses in Tibetan Glacier
Scientists have discovered remnants of more than 1,700 viruses deep inside a glacier in western China. Most of these viruses are new to science. With this discovery, the number of ancient viruses recovered from glaciers has grown fiftyfold. The viruses, gathered from a 1,000-foot ice core taken from the Guliya Glacier on the Tibetan Plateau, date back 41,000 years and span three major shifts from cold to warm. Researchers say the viruses differed markedly between colder and warmer eras, with a distinct community of viruses formed during the most dramatic of these climatic shifts, at the end of the last ice age around 11,500 years ago. Scientists say viruses recovered from glaciers could shed light on how life evolved through past changes in climate and help clarify whether ancient forests or wetlands were carbon sinks or sources. The study authors say the viruses found in the Guliya glacier pose no risk of infecting humans, and emphasized the importance of gathering more such viruses before glaciers melt away.
This map depicts the biogeography of the viruses discovered in an ice core from Guliya Glacier on the Tibetan Plateau. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What was the first sub-Saharan African country to gain its independence from European colonization?
A: Ghana
As the first sub-Saharan country to gain independence, Ghana’s precedent in 1957 inspired other countries to seek liberation and 17 African countries gained independence in 1960. Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first prime minister and later its first president, played a crucial role in the independence movement, advocating for Pan-Africanism and the liberation of African colonies. Known previously as the Gold Coast, this profitable British colony centered on the exploitation and export of natural resources like cocoa, ivory, diamonds, and gold. The local Ashanti and Fante people had resisted European colonialism throughout the previous centuries, but it was only in the wake of the end of the Second World War that Ghanaian leaders were finally successful in expelling the British.
Source
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Q: What is is the longest freshwater lake in the world?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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