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United States
COVID-19 Relief Bill
Yesterday the U.S. House of Representatives passed President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, carrying a $1.9 trillion overall price tag that includes $350 billion in aid to help state and local governments pay employees, offsetting a drop in tax revenues during the pandemic. Unlike the federal CARES Act that passed last March under President Trump, most of the direct aid in President Biden’s bill will be allocated proportional to states’ unemployment rates, instead of strictly by population. Although under these criteria some states would receive more money per capita than others, the most populous states will still generally receive the most funding, with only small variances. For example, New York would receive the third most relief funds at $23.5 billion, even though Florida is the third largest state by population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2020 estimates. In December 2020, New York had an 8.2% unemployment rate, over 2 points higher than Florida’s rate of 6.1%.
This map depicts the estimated allocation of funds per each state under the American Rescue Plan. Click on map to learn more.
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Japan
Anniversary of Fukushima
Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. On March 11, 2011, a powerful 9.0-magnitude earthquake centered off the coast of the Oshika Peninsula triggered a deadly tsunami reaching a height of 124 feet (38 m). The tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing the cooling system to go offline and leading to a meltdown of several reactors. Approximately 18,500 people lost their lives or went missing, with most being swept away by the tsunami. Citizens and municipalities across Japan held a number of private and public ceremonies, with a nationwide minute of silence at 14:46 local time, the exact time the earthquake occurred.
This map depicts the nuclear disaster of Fukushima, Japan. For more visuals on the result of the disaster, visit the NDTV website. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Yahoo News
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World
Rising Sea Level
A new study from Nature Climate Change shows that populous coastal cities are the highest risk for flooding from rising sea levels. Many of the world’s largest cities are built on deltas of major rivers, where they face an increased flood risk from both the ocean and the river. The results of the study show the sea level is increasing by 2.5mm per year in the majority of coastal regions, but in large coastal cities, sea level rise is approximately four times higher, from 7.8 to 9.9mm per year. This increase is largely due to land subsidence of major cities which increases the impact of sea level rise on those coastal areas. In Asia, some cities are seeing subsidences of up to 10cm a year, making sea-level rise especially dangerous and impactful. While global coastal cities make up only 1% of the world’s coastline, they hold approximately 20% of the world’s population, making this issue a pressing global concern.
This map depicts the results of the study showing global coastal see level rise. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: Landlocked until the Early Miocene era, which disputedly-named sea experiences minimal tidal fluctuation of approximately 12 inches (30 cm) due to its narrow connections to the ocean?
A: Sea of Japan/East Sea
Blocked from the Pacific Ocean by the land bridge of East Asia until 16 – 23 million years ago, the Sea of Japan is connected to the Pacific Ocean through five narrow straits: the Strait of Tartary, La Pérouse Strait, Tsugaru Strait, Kanmon Strait, and the Korea Strait, limiting its overall tidal activity. While the United Nations and United States officially call the water body the Sea of Japan, South Korea disputes the designation and supports the name the East Sea.
Source
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Q: At 430 feet (130 m) above sea level, where can you find a memorial altar placed at the tip of a volcanic plug made of dolerite, the remnant of a volcano believed to have gone extinct millions of years ago?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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