|
Liquifying natural gas is a more expensive, energy-intense alternative to pipelines in the delivery of natural gas. Several European countries are trying to bring more liquified natural gas (LNG) capacity online as quickly as possible to replace Russian, pipeline-delivered gas. This geo-graphic from Statista looks at which countries are currently the biggest suppliers of LNG: www.statista.com/chart/27839/biggest-liquefied-natural-gas-exporters
0 Comments
Because inexpensive armed drones, including Turkey's TB2 drones, proved decisive in the 2020 conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, other countries have been looking to add them to their arsenals. This map, from ProPublica, shows which countries have used TB2s, purchased TB2s, or are trying to purchase TB2s: assets-c3.propublica.org/images/articles/Screen-Shot-2022-07-15-at-5.48.51-PM.png
A viral hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola -- Marburg virus -- has recently been confirmed in Ghana for the first time, in the southern Ashanti region highlighted on this map. Unlike Ebola, Marburg has no vaccine. The Ashanti region is home to Ghana's second largest city, Kumasi. ghananursing2014.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/ashanti-region.jpg
According to a new report from the United Nations, global population is projected to hit 8 billion on November 15 of this year, India is expected to surpass China as the world's most populous country in 2023, and more than half of global population growth between now and 2050 will be concentrated in just 8 countries (alphabetically): the DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Tanzania. For all the details, you can download the report here: www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/wpp2022_summary_of_results.pdf
In 2021, the European Union exported 33 million tonnes of waste to non-EU countries, a 77% increase in exported waste since 2004. Where did it go? This geo-graphic from Statista shows the top eight destinations for EU waste in 2021: cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/24716.jpeg (China which, as recently as 2009 received more than 10 million tonnes of EU waste, now takes virtually none.)
World Refugee Day was earlier this week. Although Ukrainian refugees -- now numbering 5.2 million -- have dominated the news this year, this map from Statista is a reminder that Ukrainians are just a fraction of the world's refugees: www.statista.com/chart/18436/total-number-of-refugees-by-origin-country
This article from Geographical (UK) profiles the world's 10 fastest-growing cities -- chances are you've heard of relatively few of them -- and looks at new additions to the list of the world's megacities (population 10M+): geographical.co.uk/culture/the-fastest-growing-cities?
Although Russia has been the focus of the world's liberal democracies for the last several months, countering China remains the long-term project. In the wake of a recent security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands, The Economist (UK) looked at other countries in Asia, Africa, and Oceania in which China either already has a military base or likely has an interest in establishing a military base: www.economist.com/img/b/640/356/90/sites/default/files/images/print-edition/20220507_CNM979.png (Map from www.economist.com/china/2022/05/05/china-wants-to-increase-its-military-presence-abroad.)
The war in Ukraine is bottling up wheat exports and, especially in the southern and eastern parts of the country, damaging winter wheat fields planted last fall and interfering with spring planting. This geo-graphic from Statista highlights the countries most dependent on Ukrainian and Russian wheat: www.statista.com/chart/27181/least-developed-countries-dependent-on-wheat-from-russia-ukraine
Data collected by the Pacific Group and analyzed by Statista finds that water-related conflicts have escalated sharply in the last decade, particularly in Asia and Africa, as this geo-graphic shows: www.statista.com/chart/27272/water-conflicts/ (The full data set is worth exploring to understand the growing range of ways in which water is being weaponized or spurring violence: www.worldwater.org/conflict/list/)
In the last two years, extremist violence in West Africa has increased significantly in frequency and spread out from its original geographic flashpoints in northeastern Nigeria and central Mali. This map shows the location of 2021 attacks by extremist groups operating in West Africa. The U.S. military and others have observed that "[t]he Islamist militants who have rampaged through the heart of West Africa in recent years are now spreading toward the Gulf of Guinea coast, including some of the continent’s most stable and prosperous countries, ... [with] militant cells infiltrating as far as Ghana and Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producers." [Quote and map from www.wsj.com/articles/sahel-based-militants-edging-south-toward-west-africas-most-stable-and-prosperous-states-11646221800.]
As of late last month, an estimated 4 million people had left Ukraine, 9% of the population. This geo-graphic from Statista, based on data from the UN High Commissioner on Refugees, puts Ukraine in the context of previous refugee crises since 1960: www.statista.com/chart/27151/largest-refugee-crises-since-1960-by-peak-number-of-refugees
The demand for cacti, which tend to be slow growing, and succulents used in xeriscaping has created a huge uptick in plant poaching. This article from Geographical (UK) looks at what is being described as an "epidemic" of poaching of rare succulents in South Africa, a country that, previously, has been better known for animal poaching: geographical.co.uk/nature/wildlife/item/4287-south-africa-s-new-plant-poaching-epidemic
This pair of maps, prepared by Statista based on World Bank data, shows the impact of smartphones on internet access in Africa: www.statista.com/chart/26781/internet-penetration-africa-progress/
As the world looks for oil and gas options to replace Russia's, Africa's petroleum-producing capacity comes to the fore. This map from Statista shows the continent's major oil-producing countries: cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/26878.jpeg (Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, and Libya are also significant producers of natural gas.)
The Winter Olympics have not been the only major sporting event this month: soccer's Africa Cup of Nations recently came to a close, with Senegal winning its first Africa Cup trophy, beating Egypt on penalty kicks. This map shows Senegal and the countries that have won the Africa Cup at least twice. cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/26680.jpeg
The Islamic State has achieved the most notoriety in the Middle East, but some of its fastest-growing and most lethal affiliates are in Africa. The Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist insurgency affiliated with IS, began in Uganda but now operates primarily in the area of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo shown on this map. According to a recent United Nations report, the ADF killed more than 1,200 people in the eastern DRC in 2021, an increase of at least 50% over 2020. www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/DRC-ITURI-NORTH-KIVU-1000x562-1.jpg (Map from Al-Jazeera)
Roughly 70% of Zimbabwe's population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods. Persistent droughts have already forced tens of thousands from their homes to rainier areas within the country, creating new domestic competition for water resources. By 2050, the World Bank expects climate change will produce 86 million internal migrants in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. This article from MIT Technology Review looks at Zimbabwe as a case study in climate migration: www.technologyreview.com/2021/12/17/1041315/climate-migration-africa-zimbabwe/
Egypt's Wadi Al-Assiut protectorate (just west of the Nile, roughly half way between Cairo and Luxor) is home to many rare plants and animals, including the last hives of an Egyptian bee whose honey and venom have been used therapeutically since pharaonic times. www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/11/neglected-egyptian-nature-reserve-home-last-pharaonic-honey-bees
Dwindling water levels in Lake Chad are exacerbating long-standing conflicts between farmers, herders, and fishermen in northern Cameroon, creating a humanitarian crisis that has displaced more than 100,000 Cameroonians in recent weeks. This series of maps based on satellite images illustrate the shrinking of Lake Chad: www.researchgate.net/profile/Babagana-Abubakar-2/publication/309648345/figure/fig5/AS:668253131132949@1536335370991/Satellite-imagery-showing-the-map-of-the-drying-Lake-Chad-at-its-various-stages-since.ppm
Researchers have "mapped the location and density of Earth’s irrecoverable carbon — carbon locked in ecosystems that is potentially vulnerable to release from human development and, if lost, could not be restored to those ecosystems by 2050." This irrecoverable carbon, mostly residing in forests, peatlands, mangroves, and other natural areas, has been described as "the carbon we must protect to avert climate catastrophe." www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/111821_jl_carbon_inline_desktop_rev.png (Map and quotes from www.sciencenews.org/article/climate-change-natural-carbon-stores-new-map)
To the extent that Americans know anything about Nigeria's security problems, it tends to be awareness of Boko Haram, which has been in decline. For Nigerians, though, the security situation is far more complex, as this map from The Economist (UK) shows. www.economist.com/img/b/640/547/90/sites/default/files/20211023_MAM996_0.png (Map from www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/how-kidnappers-zealots-and-rebels-are-making-nigeria-ungovernable/21805737)
Although Barbados achieved independence in 1966, the island elected to remain a constitutional monarchy with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as its titular head. Only recently, 55 years later, did Barbados choose to become an independent republic (while remaining part of the Commonwealth). This map from Statista shows countries that used to be part of the British Empire: www.statista.com/chart/26297/countries-gained-independence-from-the-uk/
Although the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 might be the newest threat to public health in southern Africa, it is far from the most serious. Even before the pandemic, roughly one-third of the ~25 million people with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa were not receiving anti-retroviral therapy. A recent study mapped out distance to the nearest health care facility, finding that more than one-third of HIV patients live more than a 60-minute walk to the nearest healthcare facility. medicalxpress.com/news/2021-11-access-hiv.html
Stronger-than-usual trade winds are shifting water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, creating a La Niña effect that is expected to influence weather patterns through the winter and into the spring. Because La Niña impacts vary with the location, check out the maps in this article to see what might be in store for you: www.wsj.com/articles/la-nina-is-coming-to-shape-winter-forecasts-what-to-know-11636666122
|
Blog sharing news about geography, philosophy, world affairs, and outside-the-box learning
Archives
August 2022
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed