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Vietnam
Typhoon Yagi Devastates Vietnam
Following landfall in Hainan, China, and the Philippines, Typhoon Yagi hit Vietnam, causing extreme residential and infrastructure damage. Factories and industrial parks have flooded, leading to building collapses alongside severe traffic flow disruptions, and power and telecommunication outages. Although the Vietnam meteorological agency downgraded the typhoon as it weakens on its path to the west, it warned of the ongoing risks of flooding and landslides. Yagi has taken the lives of 21 people in Vietnam, leaving 229 injured, as well as four dead in Hainan, and 20 in the Philippines. The search for missing persons continues as citizens work on rebuilding.
This map depicts the predicted path of Typhoon Yagi, which made landfall in China on September 6. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Reuters
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Sudan
Famine Reaches Historic Mark
The United Nations recently officially declared a famine in the Zamzam camp in North Darfur, Sudan. This is only the third time in the last 20 years that the UN has officially declared a famine. While the declaration is limited to the North Darfur region, this is only because it is one of the very few areas of Sudan where the UN can make a reasonably complete assessment. In reality, famine conditions are widespread throughout the country, but Sudan’s instability means data cannot be gathered. The main driver of the crisis is a civil war between the country’s army and the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces, but this past summer has seen torrential rains and widespread flooding that has driven away agricultural workers, inundated fields, and washed away crops. Many analysts to believe this event is already worse than the Ethiopia famine of the 1980’s, and potentially the worst since millions died of starvation in China’s Great Leap Forward.
This map depicts food emergency areas in Sudan since June, and confirmed presence of fires caused by the fighting since civil war broke out in April, 2023. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: The Economist
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United States
AI Algorithms to Predict Quakes
Researchers at the University of Berkeley in collaboration with the California Governor’s Office have developed an app to warn Californians about impending earthquakes. While the system can only predict a quake a few seconds before it hits, the method of data collection and even the small lead time still constitutes a breakthrough for seismology. The app is called “MyShake” and it works by collecting crowdsourced motion detection data from users’ mobile phones. Other researchers developing AI algorithms to predict earthquakes include a team at the University of Texas at Austin, whose algorithm correctly predicted 70% of earthquakes a week before they happened during a seven-month trial in China. While in infancy, the use of machine learning for earthquake prediction is a revolutionary shift in seismological research.
This map depicts the seismic activity months before the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquakes. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: What North American river connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean?
A: St. Lawrence River
The St. Lawrence River is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, traversing Ontario and Quebec in Canada and New York in the United States. A section of the river demarcates the Canada–U.S. border. Bedded in an ancient geologic depression, it drains the heart of a continent, opening much of the interior of the North America. As the basis for the St. Lawrence Seaway, which extends some 4,000 km (2,500 miles), it is of vital geographic, hydrologic, and economic importance to the United States and Canada.
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Q: What is the only land bridge between North and South America?
Stay tuned for the answer to today’s question in tomorrow’s DailyGeo.
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