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Pakistan
BLA Separatists Hijack Train
A train in Pakistan carrying around 400 passengers has been attacked by separatist militants of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). The group claims they have taken hostages, including security forces, and threatened to execute them if their demands are not met. The Jaffar Express was trapped inside a tunnel after the attack, as security forces said an explosion was heard before it came under fire, wounding the driver. The hijacking took place in a mountainous region near the city of Sibi, in the province of Balochistan. Pakistani authorities said the government would not negotiate with “beasts who fire on innocent passengers”.
This map depicts the route of a passenger train that was hijacked by separatists in Pakistan. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: NBC News
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World
Air Quality Report for Cities
IQAir released its 7th annual World Air Quality Report in 2024, identifying the most polluted countries and cities in the world and marking alarming trends. Using data collected from over 40,000 air quality monitoring stations across 8,954 locations across the globe, IQAir reported that only 17% of cities meet WHO air pollution guidelines. Moreover, only 7 countries met the WHO’s air quality standards. The report found the most polluted countries to be, in order, Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and India. In 2024, Byrnihat, India, recorded the highest pollution levels among metropolitan areas. Central and South Asia dominated the list of the world’s most polluted cities, with the region accounting for the top seven. India alone was home to six of the nine most polluted cities globally.
This map depicts the air pollution in major cities around the globe. Click on the map to learn more.
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United States
Encouragement to Eat Invasives
Wildlife officials are encouraging US residents to add a rodent to their daily diet as part of efforts to control the invasive species’ population. The nutria, native to South America, is threatening marsh and swamp ecosystems by destroying habitats and outcompeting native wildlife. The nutria’s harmful impacts have prompted wildlife officials to promote hunting and consumption as possible solutions. The rodents can grow up to 40 inches (102cm), which is nearly as large as a beaver or a small dog. The call to eat nutrias came during National Invasive Species Awareness Week in late February, which spotlights the ecological and economic harm of invasive species. Some other species wildlife officials encouraged residents to hunt, catch, and cook were the northern snakehead fish, the green iguana, several species of carp, and wild boars.
This map depicts the presence of non-native semi-acuatic rodents, known as nutria, in continental U.S. watersheds. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What mountain range is home to the world’s fastest evolving plants?
A: Andes Mountains
Plants are constantly evolving via genetic mutations driven by environmental changes and interactions with other organisms. The páramos of the South American Andes host the richest tropical mountain flora in the world, home to an estimated 5,000 species—3,000 of which live nowhere else on Earth. Páramos are high-mountain grasslands that extend between the upper tree-line and the perennial snow-border, representing a type of island archipelago. A 2013 study found that the Páramo is the fastest evolving and coolest biodiversity hotspot. This ecosystem acts like a sponge, collecting water from fog, drizzle, and melting mountaintop glaciers, storing it, and then releasing it into the lowlands. Páramo plants are a product of unique adaptations to an extreme environment during the Andes mountain-building process of the last three to five million years – a short timeframe, in evolutionary terms, within which the plants were forced to adapt quickly to changing conditions.
Source
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Q: What is the only sovereign state entirely on the island of Borneo?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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