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World

Global Water Balance.

State of Global Water Resources 2022. An excellent story map about the state of global water resources. Be sure at least to scroll down to “State of the Snow Cover and Glaciers”. The glaciers in Asia (Himalaya, Georgia) in particular are a major storage of water all year. In Georgia, glaciers have declined 29% since the 1960’s.

River Discharge Status In 2022 (Based on the observed data).


Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) or Extreme Solar Storms

Evidence now shows nine extreme solar storms in the last 15,000 years. This would indicate that Miyake Events or CME (Coronal Mass Ejection), are more frequent than known previously. Significantly more intense than the relatively mild historic event known as the Carrington event which disrupted telegraph lines. A CME has major implications and would cause mass disruption on the area of the earth facing the sun at the time of the event. No electricity, all electronics fried, no supply chain, no deliveries. This would not be an extinction event, but you could bet there would be starvation, warlord-ism, chaos, and destruction. For months. All for a longer duration than your quake kit will sustain. Maybe the preppers are right?

Wildlife Corridors

Part of Rewilding is to open corridors between wildlife habitat. Animals need to migrate, when they move to find new or seasonal food, they need to move to find mates. We need to open a helluva lot more corridors between habitats.

China's Deep-Water Fishing

Great article from the New Yorker about China’s expanding deep water fishing fleet and the Southeast Asian workers who suffer on them for your seafood. “The Crimes Behind the Seafood You Eat”. The story map format is true art as well. Check it out, you’ll enjoy it.

Israel and Gaza.

What happens next? Think Mosul and the Iraqi fight against ISIS. It took 9 months to clear Mosul of ISIS fighters. The two following NYT articles make the most sense to me about what lies ahead for the IDF vs. Hamas. Mosul, by contrast, was largely fought in and around the civilian population and was at the time quite possibly the largest and deadliest urban battle since the end of World War II. Iraqi soldiers — supported by American air power — assaulted a city of more than one million people. The resulting battle took nine months to complete; killed thousands of ISIS fighters, by most estimates; cost the Iraqi security forces thousands of casualties; and, despite considerable efforts to protect noncombatants, killed up to 11,000 civilians. But Iraq won, ISIS lost, and ISIS no longer controls Mosul.

  • Treating Hamas like ISIS: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/12/opinion/israel-hamas-isis-gaza.html
  • Before and after satellite images that show the destruction after clearing Mosul of ISIS fighters: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/07/15/world/middleeast/mosul-before-after.html
  • FT - The War in Maps: https://on.ft.com/3Fap7Kx

North & South America

In honor of last week’s US Federal holiday Indigenous Peoples Day (fka Columbus Day), A bit of de-colonial Geographic Information. Columbus was not the first to North America, nor the first mariner to explore distant lands. Check out the related historical geography topic that’s covered in the following book. Three hundred years before Captain Cook, China had a vast fleet for trading and exploring with ships far more advanced than the Europeans “Age of Discovery” ships. When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne, 1405–1433

“When we celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day in place of Columbus Day, it shows a victory for Indigenous people,” he said. “It represents how we won’t be erased, how we still stand in our power, no matter what they did to try to kill us off and steal our land.”

Amazon

Pretty shocking drought in the Amazon. Have a look at the photos at least.