Syria
Escalating Tension
Tensions continue to rise between Syria and Turkey, with Syria threatening to destroy any Turkish warplanes that fly into its territory. On Friday, Turkey launched a cross-border military operation to wipe out the Syrian-Kurd militia known as the YPG – which they consider to be “terrorists” in the district of Afrin. Turkey’s decision comes on the heels of what US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson calls a “misportrayed” statement that the US would support and train YPG forces to be part of a 30,000-strong “border force”. The US did, however, state that they will maintain an open-ended military presence in Syria to ensure the defeat of Islamic State jihadist groups, counter Iranian influence, and help end the civil war. The US is calling on Turkey to focus on the fight against Islamic State militants and not take military action in Afrin.
This map depicts which groups control the different regions in Syria as of January 2018. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: BBC (1)
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United States
Possible Headquarters
Amazon announced 20 possible cities that may become home to their second headquarters (HQ2). The cities were selected based on based on several criteria such as proximity to a major airport, ability to attract tech talent, and an area with more than a million people. For the new facility, Amazon is projected to invest $5 billion in construction and hopes it will help create an estimated 50,000 jobs. Amazon stated HQ2 will be “fully equal” to its current headquarters in Seattle.
This map depicts the 20 possible locations for Amazon HQ2. Click on the map to enlarge.
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Graphic Source: AGS
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World
Heating Up
Climate experts determined that in 2017, the Earth reached a point in which the impact of human activities, namely CO2 emissions, exceeded the biggest natural influencer on the climate – El Niño. Models show that El Niño contributed around 0.2°C to the annual average temperature of 2016, but this natural phenomenon (El Niño) was not present in 2017. To put into context, 2017 was substantially warmer than 1998, which experienced a large El Niño event. According to scientists, 2017 was about 1°C above pre-industrial levels (averaged over the period 1850-1900). 2017 was ranked as the second-warmest year by NASA and the third-warmest by NOAA. 2016 holds the recorded for being the warmest so far.
This map depicts average global temperatures from 2013-2017. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Which country is home to the world’s highest active volcano??
A: Chile/Argentina border
Ojos del Salado, located in the Andes on the Chile/Argentina border, is considered to be the world’s highest active volcano. It towers over the Altiplano at an estimated 22,595 ft (6887 m).
Source
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Q: Where is the world’s deepest underwater sinkhole?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in Monday’s DailyGeo.
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