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Ukraine
Russia Declares Kherson Retreat
In a televised announcement on Russian television yesterday, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Sergey Surovikin declared Russian forces would abandon the city of Kherson and all the territory west of the Dnipro River. This move comes as Ukrainian forces gradually chip away at the Russian army's hold on settlements surrounding Kherson, the only regional capital captured during Russia's invasion that began in late February. Russian forces will now take defensive positions on the east bank of the Dnipro, where Russia still holds a large portion of the Kherson Oblast (region). Ukrainian leaders remain cautious that Russia may be setting a trap for Ukrainian forces and might make a hurried advance into Kherson, but analysts consider it significant that Russia would so publicly withdraw from a city that it had ceremoniously declared to have annexed only a little over a month ago.
This map depicts the territory held by Russian and Ukrainian forces around Kherson, in southern Ukraine, as of November 9, with Russian military officials declaring a full retreat from the city and all territory west of the Dnipro River. Click on the map to learn more.
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Italy
Migrant Ship Forced to Move On
The migrant rescue ship, Ocean Viking, has been compelled to leave Italian waters after being refused permission to dock in Italy. Ocean Viking, operated by the charity SOS Mediteranee, has rescued 234 migrants from smaller, less sea-worthy vessels in the Mediterranean Sea over the past few weeks. The new Italian government, headed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, has taken a hard line on accepting migrants from Africa and the Middle East, citing failures by rescue organizations to follow security protocols. There is also an unwillingness to encourage what Italian officials characterize as "human trafficking," but did allow around 250 migrants deemed "vulnerable,' mostly women and children, to disembark from other rescue vessels this past Sunday. The Ocean Viking is now headed to France, where it has been given permission to dock.
This map depicts the timeline of the migrant rescue ship Ocean Viking's path, from its rescue missions in late October to its wait to dock off Italy's coast, to its current position en route to France. Click on the map to learn more.
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Graphic Source: Barron's
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Greenland
Study Shows Ice Melt Underrated
Yesterday, a new study was published in the journal Nature, showcasing how the rate of northeast Greenland’s glacial melting has been grossly underestimated. An international group of scientists from Denmark, the U.S., France, and Germany combined satellite data and numerical modeling to discover northeast Greenland will lose six times more ice during this century than previously forecasted. For this particular study, high-precision GPS data proved a more effective tool for recording subtle speed changes in ice melting. They also studied how ice loss accelerated inland, around 124 to 186 miles away from the coast. The researchers predict that Greenland’s accelerating ice loss will contribute to global rising sea levels six times greater than indicated by previous studies, adding about 0.53 to 0.61 inches more of sea level.
This map depicts satellite-derived surface speed of Greenland. Click on the map to learn more.
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Q: A UNESCO World Heritage Site, what island is the only island in the tropical east Pacific to have a tropical rainforest?
A: Cocos Island
Cocos Island National Park, also known as “Isla del Coco” or “Treasure Island,” is situated 342 miles (550 km) off the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. Its diverse interactions with the surrounding marine ecosystem make the island ideal for researchers to study its biological processes. The island is home to rare, complex land and sea environments, including forested mountains, waterfalls, rivers, cliffs, beaches, bays, and coral reefs. In its highest elevations, the island is blanketed by cloud forest. The underwater portion of this national park is a popular destination for divers, as it is one of the best places in the world to see pelagic species such as sharks, rays, and dolphins, and is home to the most diverse coral reefs in the entire Eastern Tropical Pacific. Its remote location, coupled with the conservation efforts of the island, makes Cocos Island's surrounding waters some of the world's best conserved tropical waters. The oceanic island, originally volcanic, is the first landmark met by the North Equatorial Countercurrent and is the point of confluence for other marine currents, making it a hotspot for diverse marine species from all over the Pacific Ocean. Its geographical position along with its global conservation efforts, shows us what some tropical oceans have historically looked like.
Source
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Q: What country has the most languages spoken in the world?
Stay tuned for the answer to today's question in tomorrow's DailyGeo.
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