Somalia
Millions at Risk of Famine
Following one of Somalia’s driest seasons in over 35 years, the U.N. humanitarian chief has warned that over 2 million people are at risk of reaching a critical level of food insecurity before the end of the summer. A widespread drought across the Horn of Africa, marked by shortages of food, clean drinking water, and other basic necessities, has damaged crops and killed livestock, driving up food prices and increasing the risk of waterborne illnesses. The U.N. already regards much of the northern half of Somalia at a “crisis” level of food insecurity, and if calls for international aid go unheeded, they predict those same regions to deteriorate even further over the coming months.
This map from the Famine Early Warning System depicts food insecurity throughout Somalia in May 2019 as well as predictions for the upcoming summer. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: UN Dispatch
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Cameroon
North-West and South-West Crisis
A report released this week by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) names Cameroon as the world’s most neglected displacement crisis, followed closely by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, and Burundi. “Internally displaced persons” are forced from their homes but remain within their country’s legal borders and are distinguished from refugees. In Cameroon, large-scale displacement stems from sectarian violence in the country’s English-speaking South-West, which escalated in 2016 when activists protested the official use of French in the region. Tens of thousands have been forced from their homes, as factories shutter, schools close, and truck drivers are kidnapped for ransom. The conflict is rooted in Cameroon’s colonial past, when the former German colony was divided between France and Great Britain after the First World War.
This map depicts where food security crises and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are concentrated in Cameroon as of May 2019. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Reliefweb (2)
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United States
Heat Wave Threat
New research published in the journal Science Advances revealed that if the 195 countries under the Paris Agreement are able to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5° C (2.7° F) instead of the promised 2° C (3.6° F), thousands of lives could be saved in 15 major cities in the United States. In New York City, 2,716 heat-related deaths could be avoided under a 1.5° C increase compared with 2° C heating. However, under a 2° C increase compared with 3° C heating, 1,980 lives could be saved. Scientists are saying that the world is close to passing the 1.5° C mark, and even if Paris Agreement pledges are met, average global temperatures are on course to rise by 3° C by 2100.
This map depicts the estimated number of deaths in major U.S. cities from rising global temperatures. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Off which Caribbean island is the “Dragon’s Mouth” channel located?
A: Trinidad
Also known as Bocas del Dragón, the channel got its name due to its many teethlike rocky islets. The channel is approximately 12 miles (20 km) wide and is one of two separating Trinidad from Venezuela; the other is the Serpent’s Mouth, off the island’s southwestern coast.
Source
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Q: Which state contains a 24-mile-wide crater caused by an asteroid impact so large that science writer Bill Bryson has called it “the biggest thing that has ever occurred on the mainland United States. Of any type. Ever.”?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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