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United States
Ohio Toss-Up
In yesterday’s primary elections five states went to the voting polls – Ohio, Missouri, Kansas, Michigan, and Washington. In an expected, yet surprisingly close result for Ohio’s 12th Congressional District, Republican Troy Balderson leads by 0.9% against Democratic opposition, Danny O’Connor. Votes are currently being recounted because the race is too close to call. Ohio’s 12th district, the wealthiest district in the state, has been a reliable Republican stronghold for the past 35 years. This map depicts the vote share in Ohio’s 12th district of yesterday’s primary elections. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: NY Times
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Australia
Intense Drought
Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW), is listed as “100% in drought” on Wednesday. Southern Australia has just experienced their second-driest autumn on record, where less than 10 millimeters of rainfall has been recorded in the 800,000 square kilometer state over the past month. Officials say 23% of NSW is classified as being in “intense drought,” with the remainder classified as experiencing drought or affected by drought. Dry weather conditions are forecasted to continue through the Spring (September-November). The government relaxed restrictions on shooting kangaroos and opened funding for farmers to offset losses from crops and livestock.This map depicts the drought intensity throughout New South Wales. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: BBC
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Estonia
Accidental Missile Launch
A Spanish jet accidentally fired a missile carrying a 10kg explosive over Estonia, a NATO ally, during an air-policing mission. The air-to-air missile has a built-in self destruct system for such incidences but NATO believes it has landed on the ground some 40 miles from the Russian border without detonating. Officials have launched an investigation to locate the missile and warn others to be on the lookout for rocket parts as the missile may still be armed. It was last seen about 25 miles north of Tartu. This map depicts the location where the missile was accidentally fired. Click on the map to expand.
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The Handmaid’s Tale is a critically acclaimed television series, based on a dystopian novel by author Margaret Atwood, about a near-future when the continental United States has been taken over by an extremist totalitarian regime. The show has won over a dozen awards, including multiple Emmys and Golden Globes, and has thrilled audiences around the world with its signature disturbingly plausible vision of the future. The Hulu series and original novel by Margaret Atwood are set in North America, but in this twisted dystopia, it is easy to forget the characters are still in what would be the former U.S.
Since the original novel’s release in 1986, numerous maps have been created in an attempt to understand what’s really going on in this dystopian world. This map comes from Alternate History, a website that theorizes about what the world would look like if events in history happened differently. The map is based primarily on the book rather than the television series, but so far the series has remained, for the most part, geographically true to Ms. Atwood’s work. On this map, Canada and Mexico both remain independent, and the Western U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii all remain free from Gilead. The Southeastern U.S. has been designated “the Colonies,” and is shown here as being riddled with pockets of nuclear radiation. We can see here that Gilead’s influence is strongest in the Northeast, with former Massachusetts serving as the new Gilead capital, since DC was destroyed. The numeric list on the right points out major details, mentioning baptist rebellion forces in the south and Mexican-American forces in southern Texas. It also mentions many events that the show has yet to mention. Fear not however, the descriptions are intentionally vague and shouldn’t spoil too much.
In The Handmaid’s Tale, the world is suffering a crisis in which fertility rates have dropped, and women have suddenly become infertile. An extremist group called the Sons of Jacob, who adhere to a twisted and cruel interpretation of the Old Testament, use this chaos and uncertainty to launch a series of terrorist attacks on the American government, taking over the Northeastern United States and eventually the rest of the country. The series begins after this takeover, somewhere near former Boston in the new nation of Gilead, which is ruled by a council of Commanders. Gilead oppresses women, using mass infertility as a justification for the subjugation of women, forcing certain women to be ‘Handmaids’ and bear children against their will for the Commanders and their wives. In general, it is illegal for women to read or write, drive, disobey men, use the money, or be anything besides a wife, handmaid, or housekeeper (a ‘Martha’). Rulebreakers and women deemed unfit for the new society are either executed or exiled to the “colonies” where they are worked to death cleaning up radioactive waste.
Somewhat intentionally, the viewer is kept unaware of the actual geographic setup of Gilead. The show revolves around Offred (Elisabeth Moss), a young woman forced to be a handmaid for a powerful Commander with little knowledge of what is going on outside of what she is allowed to know. The show hints at what’s happening around Gilead. In season 1, there are mentions of “fighting in Florida,” and of rebel forces in “the remains of Chicago.” In season 2, we learn more about the geography of Gilead – Canada is still independent and is taking in refugees from the former U.S., and that the U.S. is still in control of Alaska and Hawaii. Colonies seem to be somewhere in the former southeastern U.S.. Viewers also learn that there are pockets of rebellions all around Gilead; the original book goes further into this subject. However, the true geography of Gilead remains a mystery to fans. The Handmaid’s Tale is a fascinating example of an alternative world and the way that maps can help us visualize ideas far beyond numbers and data.
Click on the map to expand and read the key.
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Q: What is the longest commercial flight route available to the public?
A: Dubai and Auckland
Flying with Emirates, the longest commercial flight route is between Dubai and Auckland with a distance of 14,200 kilometers. The Boeing 777-200LR carries 266 passengers daily, a single flight takes around 16 hours.
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Q: What is the location of the most biodiverse area, as rated by National Geographic?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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