World Book Blog

March For Our Lives

2018-03-28T09:25:00-05:00

On Saturday, March 24, more than a million people around the world participated in March For Our Lives protests against gun violence, mass shootings, and school shootings in the United States. The U.S. protests centered on Washington, D.C., where people called on lawmakers to pass gun control legislation. The protests were planned and led by students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) High School in the Miami, Florida, suburb of Parkland, where a mass shooting killed 17 students and faculty on February 14.

MSD students and other gun crime survivors from across the country spoke to hundreds of thousands of people along Pennsylvania Avenue, with the White House and the U.S. Capitol looming in the background. The emotional speeches were punctuated with cheers, tears, and chants of “no more guns” and “no more NRA,” a reference to the powerful pro-gun group, the National Rifle Association. The NRA has been effective at persuading members of Congress to block the passage of gun control bills, arguing that such bills violate the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. “Vote them out!” was another protesters’ chant aimed squarely at those NRA-influenced members of Congress. Many hand-painted signs carried among the crowds read “Graduations, not funerals,” “Protect kids not guns,” and “Am I next?”

The most stirring moment came when 18-year old MSD student Emma González named her dead classmates and teachers and then paused in silence until she had used up 6 minutes and 20 seconds—the amount of time it took for the gunman to take 17 lives at her high school. Naomi Wadler, an 11-year-old speaker from Virginia, declared “Never again!” on behalf of black women and girl victims of gun violence. Never Again is the name of another student-led movement pushing for tighter gun regulations. Singers Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, and Lin-Manuel Miranda performed at the Washington rally, which was also attended and supported by thousands of parents and teachers as well as numerous Democratic politicians and entertainment celebrities.

“Sibling” March For Our Lives protests took place throughout the United States, with large events in such cities as Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City. The nationwide rallies also encouraged voter registration, particularly for students about to turn 18 and vote for the fist time. Former president Barack Obama voiced his support for the protesters and the voting drive, saying “You’re leading us forward. Nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change.” Solidarity events also took place in such world cities as Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, Sydney, and Tokyo.

Saturday’s March For Our Lives followed a 17-minute school walkout (one minute for each MSD shooting victim) that took nearly a million U.S. high school students briefly out of classes on March 14. The massacre at MSD High School was the most recent in a long line of school shootings in the United States. The worst came at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut in 2012, when 26 people were killed. Another national school walkout is planned for April 20 to commemorate the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in which 13 people died.

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Image 1: Hundreds of thousands of people crowd Washington, D.C., streets during the March For Our Lives protest against gun violence on March 24, 2018. Credit: © Nicole S. Glass, Shutterstock

Image 2: Credit: © March For Our Lives

The Fight for Marawi City

2017-10-24T11:45:00-05:00

Yesterday, October 23, the Philippine military announced the end of a bloody five-month campaign to oust Abu Sayyaf and Maute Islamic rebels from Marawi City on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. Filipino soldiers had been clearing the last rebels from the battered city since President Rodrigo Duterte declared Marawi “liberated from terrorist influence” on October 17. Duterte’s declaration came the day after the killing of the rebels’ main leaders, Isnilon Hapilon and Omarkhayam Maute. The Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups both have close ties to the Islamic State terror organization.

Marawi is the capital and only city in the province of Lanao del Sur on Mindanao. The city, officially known as the Islamic City of Marawi, and surrounding province have long been home to a significant Muslim community (most Filipinos are Roman Catholic). Marawi’s religious roots go back some 500 years, when the area was part of a sultanate linked to Islamic areas in nearby Indonesia and Malaysia.

Marawi, a city of 200,000 people, and Lanao del Sur are part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, the nation’s only self-governing region. However, Abu Sayyaf, meaning father of the swordsman in Arabic, has been in conflict with the national government since 1991 when it was part of an armed movement vying for complete independence. Abu Sayyaf has fought pitched battles against Philippine soldiers, and the group is notorious for bombings, kidnappings, and high-profile executions.

In late May 2017, Philippine security forces tried to capture Hapilon, the Abu Sayyaf leader, in Marawi, and a protracted gun battle erupted with Hapilon’s followers. Allying with the Maute group, a newer Islamic armed faction fed by extremists from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, Abu Sayyaf seized control of government buildings and other key points in Marawi. President Duterte responded by ordering a full-scale military campaign to reclaim Marawi from the Islamic rebels. He later declared martial law in all Mindanao.

Fighting began immediately as Philippine troops arrived to retake the city, which was emptied of its civilian population by mass evacuations. Street fighting slowly went the government’s way as air strikes pulverized rebel positions—along with much of the city. Block by block, rebels were rooted out and killed or captured. As rebel control shrank to a few isolated buildings, government troops finally cornered Hapilon, along with Maute, and killed them both in a gunfight on October 16. A week later, the military announced the end of 154 days of fighting that killed more than 900 rebels and some 300 troops and civilians.

The rebel hold on Marawi has ended, but much of the city is in ruins, and both the Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups maintain a strong following in much of Lanao del Sur. The long fight against Islamic rebels in Mindanao may be long from over.

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Image: Filipino soldiers walk through the ruins of Marawi City on Oct. 17, 2017, the day President Rodrigo Duterte declared the city liberated from Islamic militant rebels. Credit: © Ted Aljibe, AFP/Getty Images

The Fall of Raqqa

2017-10-19T09:42:00-05:00

As Islamic State terrorist forces lost ground in Iraq in 2017, the terror group was also losing ground in neighboring Syria, a country torn apart by civil war since 2011. At times, the Islamic State has controlled large parts of Syria, but its grip has recently shrunk to areas along the Euphrates River in the nation’s sparsely populated east. In 2014, the terror group took control of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa (also spelled Ar Raqqah), proclaiming it a regional capital within its so-called caliphate. The group’s main capital was Mosul, Iraq, which fell in July. Other names for the Islamic State have included the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The Islamic State staged euphoric parades—as well as numerous atrocities—in Raqqa, a city that once numbered 300,000 people. Most of Raqqa’s residents fled, but those who could not were forced to watch as Islamic State executioners murdered dozens of people daily. Mass executions took place regularly at the city’s main Clock Tower Square, grisly killings of people who stepped out of line with the terror group’s extreme interpretation of Islam.

In 2017, however, the suffering people of Raqqa witnessed a turnaround. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish and Arab militia group, chased Islamic State fighters away from areas surrounding Raqqa, leaving the city an isolated Islamic State stronghold. On June 6, SDF troops—supplied and supported by the United States-led coalition also fighting the Islamic State—entered Raqqa. Heavy fighting erupted as Islamic State militants battled invading SDF troops. Throughout June, July, and August, the SDF advanced street-by-street against stiff Islamic State resistance.

By September 1, Islamic State control was reduced to several neighborhoods in the city’s north and in the central area around the killing ground of Clock Tower Square. By early October, the battered ruins of Raqqa were firmly in SDF hands, and only scattered pockets of the most fanatic Islamic State fighters remained (thousands of fighters had fled or surrendered). At last, on October 17, the SDF declared Raqqa secured: the last Islamic State fighters in the city had fled or been killed or captured.

Like the fall of Mosul in July, the fall of Raqqa was a significant moment in the fight against the Islamic State, but the fight continues. Also in October, Syrian government forces—who are at war with rebels as well as the Islamic State (but not the SDF)—took control of the eastern town of al Mayadin in Deir al-Zor province, the Islamic State’s last Syrian stronghold.

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Image 1: Raqqa, Syria, lies in ruins on Aug. 1, 2017. Fighting to oust Islamic State militants destroyed much of the city in 2017. Credit: Mahmoud Bali, Voice of America

Image 2: Raqqa (here spelled Ar Raqqah) lies on the Euphrates River in northern Syria. Al Mayadin is down river in eastern Syria. Both cities were liberated from Islamic State control in October 2017. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Recovering Puerto Rico

2017-10-18T10:02:00-05:00

On the heels of Harvey, Irma, Jose, and Katia, Hurricane Maria churned through the Caribbean Sea in mid-September 2017. The storm hit the islands of the Lesser Antilles hard, but Maria saved its worst for Puerto Rico, a commonwealth of the United States.

Hurricane Irma skirted Puerto Rico on September 6, causing minor damage and an electric power outage. As Maria approached two weeks later, Puerto Ricans once again took cover—but Maria proved far worse than its sister hurricane. On September 20, Maria struck the island with torrential rains and winds well over 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour. In a matter of hours, record rainfalls drenched the island, with the east-central city of Caguas topping the gauges at nearly 40 inches (100 centimeters). Storm surges and flash flooding submerged large parts of the island, including neighborhoods of San Juan, the capital. Reservoirs and rivers overflowed and dams threatened to burst. Electric power went out—and stayed out—throughout Puerto Rico. Cellular phone service vanished, banks ceased functioning, roads became impassable, and television and radio stations went silent. “Everything collapsed,” said Héctor Pesquera, Puerto Rico’s commissioner of safety and public protection. “Everything collapsed simultaneously.”

Maria left Puerto Rico as quickly as it came, and as the skies cleared, the devastation was evident. Houses and trees were reduced to splinters; cars were scattered and half-buried in water and mud; farm crops lay shredded; and everywhere were broken windows, chunks of rooftops, and street signs twisted into knots.

Tens of thousands of people were stranded, and recovery efforts began immediately. The Puerto Rico National Guard rescued more than 2,000 people in the first 24 hours, and thousands of others found help in the days to come. But for many people, it was already too late. Drowned bodies began appearing, and as of October 18, the death toll on Puerto Rico stands at 48. Many people remain missing, however, and the number could still rise. Weeks after the storm, many areas still lack electric power and phone service, and there is still not enough food, water, medicine, and fuel to help people who have lost everything.

Lagging relief efforts from the mainland United States were heavily criticized, and there was a noted lack of urgency in the reaction of President Donald Trump, who downplayed the seriousness of the disaster. U.S. government aid for its Puerto Rican citizens did eventually kick into high gear, but only after several days of wrangling and indecisiveness on the part of administration officials.

Individual charities and international organizations have brought in millions of dollars worth of aid to Puerto Rico, as have such Puerto Rican celebrities as Marc Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, Ricky Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Daddy Yankee. Former baseball star Alex Rodriguez, rapper Pitbull, and Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias have also helped significantly.

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Image 1: A Puerto Rican coastal community lies in pieces on Oct. 2, 2017, nearly two weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Credit: Mani Albrecht, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Image 2: Puerto Rican civilians pass cases of fresh water delivered by a Puerto Rico National Guard helicopter on Oct. 4, 2017. Credit: Spc. Agustin Montanez, The National Guard (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

California Wildfires

2017-10-11T09:47:00-05:00

On Monday, October 9, multiple wildfires swept across northern California, destroying some 2,000 homes and other buildings, killing 17 people and displacing tens of thousands of others. California Governor Jerry Brown declared states of emergency in Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Sonoma, and Yuba counties, where the destruction is worst. Dozens of people remain missing as the fires continue to burn.

Unusually hot and dry weather this summer has created ideal conditions for wildfires across northern California. At least 15 separate blazes broke out over the weekend, and strong winds whipped the flames across some 114 square miles (295 square kilometers). Napa and Sonoma counties, the heart of California’s wine country, were hardest hit. The status of the grape harvest remains unclear, but damage from fire and smoke is almost certainly widespread. Fires devastated parts of the city of Santa Rosa, where entire neighborhoods have been left in ashes and cinders.

Skies from San Francisco to Sacramento to Eureka remain choked with smoke and haze, and an orange glow illuminates the night. Numerous roads, schools, and business are closed, and several hospitals in the fire zone have been evacuated. Thousands of firefighters and numerous firefighting aircraft—including the massive Global SuperTanker (a converted Boeing 747 airliner)—are battling the blazes. Amy Head, the fire captain spokesperson for Cal Fire, the state agency responsible for fire protection, said the fires were probably linked to a warming climate. “It has been hotter, it has been drier, our fire seasons have been longer, fires are burning more intensely, which is a direct correlation to the climate changing,” she said.

Another state of emergency was declared on Monday in southern California’s Orange County, where a wildfire destroyed several homes in the affluent Anaheim Hills neighborhood and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents.

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Image: Firefighters hose the flames of a burning home in the Napa wine region of California late on Oct. 9, 2017. Credit: © Josh Edelson, AFP/Getty Images

America’s Legal Epidemic

2017-09-28T09:40:00-05:00

An opioid drug crisis has swept parts of the United States in 2017 as unprecedented numbers of people became addicted—and many died. An opioid is any synthetic or semi-synthetic drug that resembles an opiate (drug that contains opium) in its effects. People most often take opioids—which are legally available by prescription—for pain, but the drugs are highly addictive. The opioid crisis has devastated thousands of families and communities.

Opioid overdose incidents have been widespread and often shocking. For example, a mother collapsed in the stands at a Little League Baseball game in Ohio; an Indiana couple was found unconscious in a running car with two young children in the backseat; and a child called 911 after finding her mother and three adults passed out from overdoses in Massachusetts.

Public health officials have called the current epidemic of opioid overdoses the worst drug crisis in American history. In 2015, the most recent year for which complete data are available, more than 50,000 people died from drug abuse and overdose. Opioids played a role in 33,000 of those deaths. For the first time, deaths from opiate overdose surpassed deaths from homicide with a gun, and overdose deaths were nearly equal to the number of deaths from car crashes. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show the current opioid epidemic has claimed an average of 142 lives each day in 2017.

In the United States, opioid-related visits to hospital emergency rooms have doubled since 2005, and admissions have increased 64 percent. According to a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, unit of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, American hospitals experienced an average of 3,500 visits per day for opioid-related issues in 2014, compared with 1,800 per day in 2005. While emergency room visits rose for all age groups, the largest increase was seen in adults age 25 to 44. Men and women were equally likely to seek medical care for opioid-related issues over that time.

Although the epidemic is nationwide, certain areas have been harder hit than others. The Appalachian and nearby regions of Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia have seen the highest rate of opioid overdose deaths, and parts of New England and the Southwest are also far above the national average.

Opioids are any drugs made from or containing opium and other synthetic drugs that have a similar molecular structure. Opium is a dried milky substance obtained from the opium poppy. Opioids have medicinal value as powerful analgesics (painkillers). Morphine and codeine are familiar medications traditionally made from the opium poppy. Heroin was originally developed by the Bayer pharmaceutical company as a replacement for morphine. Today, opioid drugs are available legally only with a prescription from a doctor, and they are meant to treat severe pain.

Today, most prescription opioid painkillers are partly or totally synthetic. These opioids include hydromorphone (sold under the name Dilaudid); hydrocodone (combined with acetaminophen under the brand name Vicodin); and oxycodone (combined with aspirin under the brand name Percodan). Oxycodone is an opioid drug made from a chemical in the opium poppy called thebaine. A popular slow-release form of the drug is sold under the brand name OxyContin. Like their chemical cousin heroin, synthetic opioids can cause people to become physically dependent or addicted.

For many people, addiction to opioids often begins at the doctor’s office or after a visit to the emergency room. When administered under a doctor’s care, opioids are safe and effective. But should patients continue using these powerful drugs, as they increasingly do for conditions that result in chronic pain, the risk of addiction becomes very real. The same chemistry by which prescription opioids dull severe pain can also lead to crippling addiction and drug abuse—and often overdose and death.

After prescriptions run out or become too expensive, addicted people may resort to buying heroin on the street. Despite being illegal, heroin is widely available and cheaper than prescription pills. Heroin is often mixed with other ingredients or spiked with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin.

Fentanyl overdoses have overtaken those caused by heroin in some regions of the United States, and the opioid has been increasingly found among drugs seized by law enforcement officers across the country. Fentanyl and other synthetics with a similar chemical structure, called fentanyl analogues, are so powerful that doses equal to the amount of a few grains of salt can be lethal.

A drug called naloxone, marketed under the brand name Narcan, is used to treat opioid overdose in emergency situations. The drug blocks or reverses the effects of opioids, which include extreme drowsiness, slowed breathing, and loss of consciousness. Naloxone is administered through an injection. However, emergency medical teams may be unable to revive people who overdose on fentanyl analogues even after multiple injections of naloxone.

As demand for naloxone has increased in response to the opioid epidemic, the price of the drug has followed suit. Many towns and counties burned through their annual budgets for the life-saving drug half way through 2017. Cash-strapped state and local emergency medical response teams are being pushed to the limit because of the crisis. This drain on resources prevents communities from dealing adequately with other medical care needs, further darkening the nation’s health care situation.

Opioid drugs remain an essential treatment for patients with severe pain, and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires all manufacturers of such drugs to demonstrate that they are both safe and effective. However, medical experts recognize that more needs to be done to prevent opioid treatment from escalating to addiction.

Medical experts believe that solving the current opioid crisis is more than a matter of law enforcement cutting off the supply of illegally obtained opioid drugs. Treatment for addicts and education programs that emphasize prevention and the seeking of help are also vitally important. Medical experts at the FDA have proposed a policy of “opioid exceptionalism” for prescribing pain medications. Before prescribing opioids to treat pain, doctors would be instructed to consider the risks that a patient might develop an opioid use disorder or become addicted. Doctors would also consider the risk of addicted patients making a transition to other opioids or turning to illicit drugs such as heroin.

In March 2017, President Donald Trump appointed a commission to investigate the opioid crisis. On July 31, the commission recommended that the president declare a national emergency to deal with the epidemic. Public health experts agreed that such bold action is necessary to help Americans understand the severity of the opioid epidemic and to recognize that it is an unparalleled crisis requiring urgent attention.

The opioid commission’s report called for increasing access to naloxone and other medications used to treat overdose or addiction and requiring opioid drug prescribers to receive more education about the proper use of these drugs. The commission also proposed waiving a federal rule that limits addiction treatment for people who receive health care from government-funded Medicaid.

The federal report echoed similar reports from state and local counterparts across the United States. Medical experts emphasized that federal actions to complement state and local efforts help reduce rates of opioid dependence, overdose, and deaths, giving communities the greatest chance of success for ending the current crisis. President Trump, however, dismissed many of the findings detailed in the commission’s report. Instead, he focused on issues unrelated to the opioid crisis, such as stopping the influx of illicit drugs at the border with Mexico. Trump’s insistence on repealing the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare) would risk making matters worse by stripping funding for Medicaid—so far the best source of government help for curbing the epidemic.

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Image 1: A pharmacist doles out a prescription of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid that is sometimes combined with heroin. Fentanyl overdoses have killed thousands of people. Credit: Dennis Yip, Fentanyl Safety

Image 2: Naloxone is a temporary antidote for opioid overdoses, including those caused by Fentanyl. When properly administered it can restore normal breathing and consciousness to opioid overdose victims. Credit: Dennis Yip, Fentanyl Safety

Plight of the Rohingya

2017-09-27T09:50:00-05:00

In recent weeks, violence and panic have gripped parts of the Southeast Asia nation of Myanmar (also called Burma). In late August, dozens of people were killed in clashes between Rohingya militants and government forces in western Myanmar. Since then, Rohingya villages have been attacked by the Myanmar military and local people hostile to the Rohingya. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been forced to flee to refugee camps in nearby Bangladesh. The violence has also displaced thousands of other people who live in the area of conflict. Refugee camps are filled beyond capacity, creating dangerously unsanitary conditions, and the camps lack enough food, water, and medicine.

Sometimes called “the world’s most persecuted minority,” the Rohingya are a Muslim-majority ethnic group in Buddhist-majority Myanmar. Rohingya have lived for centuries in Myanmar, where their community numbers some 1 million people. Most Rohingya live in the northern part of Rakhine State near the border with Bangladesh. Myanmar does not recognize the Rohingya as legal citizens. Instead, the government considers them to be illegal immigrants. Tensions and conflicts have occurred between Muslim Rohingya and Buddhist and Hindu Rakhine people for decades.

The Myanmar government blames the recent escalation of violence on rebels of the militant Arakan Salvation Rohingya Army (ARSA), who have attacked police posts and been accused—often without proof—of massacring Buddhists. Many outside observers, however, and the Rohingya themselves, say the ARSA attacks are largely a response to a government campaign to drive the minority group from the country. They accuse the military and Buddhist mobs of beating and killing Rohingya civilians and burning their villages. The government claims that it is targeting only ARSA militants—it even says the Rohingya are burning their own villages. A United Nations (UN) human rights official estimates that as many as 1,000 people have died in the recent violence, most of them Rohingya. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticized for her lack of response to the Rohingya crisis, and the truth behind the violence remains unclear.

After Burma won independence in 1948 (the nation changed its name to Myanmar in 1989), the government acknowledged the citizenship of the various Muslim groups living within the country. In 1962, however, a new military government took over, and it refused to recognize the Rohingya as citizens. Since then, Rohingya have consistently been denied many rights and services by the government. In 2012, rioting broke out between Rohingya and Rakhine Buddhists. More than 140,000 Rohingya fled that violence, and many thousands have since left each year, seeking refuge in Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, or Malaysia. The current plight of the Rohingya has sparked protests in many Muslim-majority nations and other places around the world.

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Image 1: Rohingya people who have fled Myanmar await food outside the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 20, 2017. Credit: © Sk Hsan Ali, Shutterstock

Image 2: Myanmar Rohingya refugees crowd a boat off the coast of Indonesia. Credit: AP Phot

Central Mexico Shakes

2017-09-21T11:18:00-05:00

Two days ago, on September 19, a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck central Mexico, collapsing buildings and killing more than 240 people in Mexico City, the capital, and in the states of Guerrero, México, Morelos, Oaxaca, and Puebla. The earthquake struck on the anniversary of a catastrophic 1985 earthquake that killed some 10,000 people in central Mexico. The quake followed another deadly temblor that hit southern Mexico earlier in September 2017.

The earthquake’s epicenter was near the small Puebla city of Atencingo, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southeast of Mexico City. The prolonged tremor hit at 1:14 p.m. local time—just two hours after an annual earthquake drill in Mexico City—shaking buildings and frightening people into the streets. Structures collapsed in several cities, obscuring the panicked survivors in dust clouds amid the blaring din of alarm sirens.

Emergency responders rushed to the first scenes of destruction. Unstable rubble and electric power outages hampered rescue efforts, and widespread damage meant many ravaged places went hours without help. Military personnel and civilian volunteers aided emergency workers as they searched through the night for survivors. Sniffer dogs followed human scents, and workers pleaded for silence, hoping to hear the calls of people trapped beneath the destruction. Many people were saved, but the body count rose quickly as splintered wood, shattered masonry, and chunks of concrete were frantically removed. Many people remain missing amid the devastation, and the disaster’s death toll—245 as of this morning—will almost certainly rise.

In Mexico City, more than 90 people have died, including 21 children and 5 adults killed when an elementary school collapsed in the city’s southern Coapa district. More than 70 people were killed in Morelos, just south of Mexico City, and more than 40 died in the epicenter state of Puebla. On the slopes of Popocatépetl volcano southeast of Mexico City, a church collapsed in the village of Atzitzihuacán, killing 15 people. Throughout the region, scores of buildings fell, ruptured gas lines sparked fires, and falling debris crushed cars on the streets.

Like the earthquake earlier in September in southern Mexico, Tuesday’s temblor struck near the Middle America Trench, a zone in the eastern Pacific Ocean where one slab of Earth’s crust, the Cocos Plate, is sliding beneath the North American Plate—a geological process called subduction. The Middle America Trench is part of the so-called Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic and volcanic activity that encircles the Pacific Ocean. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) issued an orange alert (the second-highest threat level) after Tuesday afternoon’s quake, warning of significant casualties and extensive and widespread damage. The alert was part of the USGS PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) system that informs emergency responders, the media, and government and aid agencies of the scope of a potential disaster.

On Sept. 19, 1985, an 8.0-magnitude temblor killed some 10,000 people in Mexico City and nearby areas. About 400 buildings in the capital were destroyed in that disaster, and thousands of others suffered damage. Since then, Mexico has enacted tougher building codes and safety standards—moves that no doubt saved many lives 32 years later.

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Image 1: Rescue workers call for quiet as they search a collapsed building in the Mexico City neighborhood of La Condesa following a powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake on Sept. 19, 2017. The earthquake toppled buildings and killed more than 240 people in the region. Credit: © Alejandro Cegarra, Bloomberg/Getty Images

Image 2: On Sept. 19, 2017, a powerful earthquake hit central Mexico, killing more than 240 people in the Federal District of Mexico City and in the states of Guerrero, México, Morelos, Oaxaca, and Puebla. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Irma’s Heavy Impact

2017-09-13T15:41:00-05:00

Last week, on September 6, the massive storm known as Hurricane Irma began ravaging the Leeward Islands of the eastern Caribbean Sea. The storm then roared over Puerto Rico and Cuba before reaching southern Florida on September 10. The storm has since weakened to a tropical depression and dissipated over land, but it continues to bring torrential rains as it passes up the southeastern coast of the United States. Irma’s week of havoc has killed 70 people, leaving a shattered landscape and record flooding in its wake.

Hurricanes are measured using the Saffir-Simpson scale of intensity. The scale is based on wind speed and the height of the resulting storm surge—that is, how much the sea level rises above normal high tide. The scale ranges from Category 1 (weak) to Category 5 (devastating). Irma formed as a low pressure and thunderstorm system over the Atlantic Ocean before consolidating into a massive storm in the eastern Caribbean Sea. As a Category 5 hurricane, Irma devastated parts of Antigua and Barbuda, the islands of Anguilla, St.-Barthélemy, and St.-Martin, and the British and U.S. Virgin Islands. Irma’s strength fluctuated as it roared over Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, the Turcs and Caicos Islands, and the Bahamas, alternating between categories 3 and 4 before reaching the Florida Keys. The storm weakened to a tropical storm over Florida, but still caused massive wind and water damage. Among the Caribbean Islands, Irma killed 43 people. Twenty-seven more people have died in the southeastern U.S. states of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. Those numbers will very likely rise.

In the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, hundreds of roads are still blocked by high water, and many airports, schools, and office buildings remain closed. Millions of people have been displaced, and many areas are without electric power or drinking water. Humanitarian and military aid is arriving in the areas hit by Irma, providing shelter, medicine, and food and water, and helping with the beginning of a colossal cleanup. Damage from Irma is expected to top $200 billion, and repairs and reconstruction after the storm could take years. Irma is the strongest storm to hit the region since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Irma followed closely on the heels of Hurricane Harvey, which flooded the Texas coast, and preceded the formation of Hurricane Katia, which hit southern Mexico last weekend. An astounding fourth hurricane, Jose, chased Irma into the Caribbean before spinning off into the western Atlantic Ocean. Water temperatures in the Atlantic and Caribbean Sea are well above average, and massive storms feed off those warm waters. The expansion of high pressure areas—as well as a superabundance of moisture in the air—are ripe conditions for hurricane creation. They are also consistent with the effects of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change.

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Image 1: The eye of Hurricane Irma centers on the island of Anguilla on Sept. 6, 2017. Emergency precautions on Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic (at left) prepared residents for the approaching storm. Credit: CIRA/NOAA

Image 2: On Sept. 11, 2017, the flattened devastation of Jost Van Dyke island in the British Virgin Islands reveals the destructive force of Hurricane Irma. Credit: UK Department for International Development (licensed under CC BY 2.0)

Image 3: Hurricane Irma roared from east to west through the Caribbean Islands. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Mexico’s Terrifying Temblor

2017-09-12T10:20:00-05:00

Just before midnight on Thursday, September 7, a powerful earthquake caused death and destruction in southern Mexico. The 8.1-magnitude quake, the strongest in the region in decades, centered just off the Pacific coast states of Chiapas and Oaxaca. The temblor (another word for earthquake in both English and Spanish) toppled numerous structures and killed 96 people. Many people remain missing, however, and the death toll will almost certainly rise.

The earthquake’s epicenter was in the Gulf of Tehuantepec just off the southern Mexican coast. The coastal city of Juchitán de Zaragoza bore the brunt of the earthquake’s destruction. Hundreds of buildings were destroyed there, and many thousands were damaged, including Juchitán’s historic palacio municipal (city hall). In the early hours of Friday, September 8, emergency crews, federal police, and soldiers began pulling the dead and the living from the rubble of wrecked buildings as aftershocks rocked the area, causing further damage and panic. Since then, many damaged buildings have been cleared, but strong aftershocks continue and many structures remain too unstable to enter. More than 160 area municipalities have declared states of emergency, and many thousands of people still lack electric power, running water, and phone service.

The quake struck near the Middle America Trench, a zone in the eastern Pacific Ocean where one slab of Earth’s crust, the Cocos Plate, is sliding beneath the North American Plate—a geological process called subduction. The Middle America Trench is part of the so-called Ring of Fire, an area of high seismic and volcanic activity that encircles the Pacific Ocean. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) issued a red alert (highest threat level) after Thursday night’s quake, warning: “High casualties and extensive damage are probable and the disaster is likely widespread.” The alert was part of the USGS PAGER (Prompt Assessment of Global Earthquakes for Response) system that informs emergency responders, the media, and government and aid agencies of the scope of a potential disaster.

Last week’s earthquake was felt throughout southern Mexico and neighboring Guatemala. Some 500 miles (800 kilometers) away in Mexico City, the capital, structures swayed and earthquake alarms caused a mild panic. Many of the city’s residents carry vivid memories of the deadliest quake in Mexican history, an 8.0-magnitude temblor in 1985 that killed some 10,000 people in the city and nearby areas. About 400 buildings in Mexico City were destroyed in that disaster, and thousands of others suffered damage. Since then, Mexico has enacted tougher building codes and safety standards.

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Image 1: Emergency crews search the collapsed ruins of buildings in Juchitán de Zaragoza, Mexico, after a powerful earthquake struck the area late on Sept. 7, 2017. At left stand the surviving white arches of the city’s damaged palacio municipal (city hall). Credit: © Pedro Pardo, AFP/Getty Images

Image 2: Late on Sept. 7, 2017, a powerful earthquake caused damage and killed people in the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, and Tabasco. Credit: WORLD BOOK map

Mudslide Disaster in Sierra Leone

2017-08-23T13:41:00-05:00

Wreckage is removed from the Freetown suburb of Regent in the days after a mudslide devastated the Sierra Leone hillside community on Aug. 14, 2017. Credit: © Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Last week, in the early hours of August 14, heavy rains and flooding caused a massive mudslide on the outskirts of Freetown, the capital city of the small west African nation of Sierra Leone. The mudslide buried parts of Regent, a settlement perched on the slopes of Mount Sugar Loaf overlooking Freetown. The mudslide destroyed or severely damaged hundreds of homes and other buildings and killed 499 people. The death toll is certain to rise, however, as some 600 people remain missing. Rescue efforts continue a week after the disaster, but there is little hope of finding anyone alive in the mud and destruction.

The population of Freetown and its outskirts has increased sharply in recent years, and makeshift shantytowns have sprung up in Regent and other areas. As land is cleared for homes, however, the deforestationweakens the soil—particularly on the slopes of Sugar Loaf—greatly increasing the risk of land- and mudslides. Environmental groups have planted many trees, trying to replenish parts of the forest, but they can not keep up with the pace of clearing and unregulated development. Climate change, too, is adding to the problem, as more severe and erratic weather patterns bring unusually heavy rains. This summer has been exceptionally wet in and around Freetown, and floodwaters further destabilized the Sugar Loaf hillsides. Torrential downpours saturated the area in the days preceding the mudslide.

The port city of Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, sits between hills and the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: © Shutterstock

Entire parts of Regent were buried in the mudslide, which sent mucky waters cascading through other settlements and into the streets of Freetown itself. Some 3,000 people have been left homeless by the disaster, another 10,000 people have been evacuated from areas at risk of further mudslides, and the Sierra Leone government is asking thousands more to leave potentially dangerous areas. Survivors face threats from cholera and other waterborne diseases as the many deaths and destruction have tainted the area’s water supplies. International aid is pouring into Freetown, however, providing clean water, food, shelter, and medical supplies.

Further rains have hampered rescue efforts in Regent, and there is a shortage of heavy equipment to dig through and remove the many tons of mud covering homes and streets. The day after the disaster, Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma declared seven days of mourning as bodies began being retrieved and buried—most of them unidentified—in mass graves at nearby cemeteries. Since then, many survivors have ignored warnings to keep away and returned to the devastation to search for missing family members and retrieve belongings.

On August 16, two days after the disaster in Sierra Leone, a similar mountain mudslide struck the fishing village of Tora on the banks of Lake Albert in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing more than 200 people. There, the disaster was also caused by unusually heavy rains and deforestation for the creation of makeshift housing.

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Moon, Sun, Eclipse

2017-08-22T10:49:00-05:00

This photograph, taken from Northern Cascades National Park in Washington, shows the moon passing before the sun during the solar eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017. Credit: Bill Ingalls, NASA

Yesterday, on August 21, huge crowds gathered across the United Statesto watch the solar eclipse within the path of totality, the 70-mile (113-kilometer) wide swath of land from Oregon to South Carolina where the moon completely covered the sun. In Newport, Oregon, throngs of sky watchers greeted the eclipse as it made first landfall at 10:15 a.m. local time. Many thousands of eclipse chasers filled the totality town of Carbondale, Illinois (where the eclipse was longest). Local merchants greeted the tourists with special jewelry, cookies, doughnuts, and other eclipse-themed goods. Across the country, roads toward the path of totality were jammed with traffic and hotels were booked solid—sometimes a year or more in advance of the big event.

A total solar eclipse can have a powerful psychological effect on people. Many people, especially in large urban areas, don’t often have reason to look toward the sky in the middle of the day. But, as the moon begins to move over the sun, people could not help but notice the odd darkening of the sky unlike anything they had ever seen. Many people reported feeling a profound sense of awe and a spiritual connection with other people. Others reported a tremendous feeling of unease as the sunlight dimmed and gradually faded completely. But, unlike the experience in ancient times, there were no reports of panic among the masses of eclipse watchers. Astronomers have long been able to precisely predict the time and place of such celestial events. Yesterday, people cheered and applauded the eclipse as they might ooh and aah at a fireworks show, and eclipse glasses (with lenses dark enough to safely view the sun) were passed from hand to hand.

The moon totally blocks the sun during the solar eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017, above Madras, Oregon. Only the sun’s corona is visible around the moon. Credit: Aubrey Gemignani, NASA

At peak totality, the bright disk of the sun was replaced by a dark spot, surrounded by a blazing ring–the sun’s outer atmosphere (called the corona) that is easily visible only during an eclipse. In some regions, people felt a noticeable temperature drop as day briefly turned to night. Stars and planets became visible in the midday sky. Crickets began chirping, thinking night had begun a bit early, and birds roosted and went silent. Some eclipse chasers were surprised and annoyed by mosquitoes, which were fooled into thinking dusk had arrived and went hunting a few hours early.

People gaze skyward wearing eclipse glasses during the solar eclipse of Aug. 21, 2017, on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis, Oregon. Credit: Mark Floyd, Oregon State University (licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)

The great solar eclipse of 2017 left the United States just north of Charlotte, South Carolina, at 4:10 p.m. local time. Peak totality ended at 2:49 p.m. at that location. Anyone who missed the eclipse this year will not have to wait long for another chance. The next total solar eclipse visible from a large portion of the United States will occur on April 8, 2024. And Carbondale, Illinois, will once more have a chance to shine. It is the only city that will be in the path of totality in both 2017 and 2024. It’s not too early to start planning!

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Coming Attraction: A Total Eclipse

2017-08-18T11:25:00-05:00

Get ready! On Monday, August 21, if you live in the United States from Oregon to South Carolina, you will be able to experience one of nature’s most impressive sights–a total eclipse of the sun. Across the United States, large crowds are expected in towns, cities, and campsites along the path of totality for the spectacular celestial show. The path of totality is the narrow swath, about 70 miles (110 kilometers) wide, along which the moon will completely blot out the sun.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the Earth, sun, and moon are in nearly a straight line and the moon’s shadow sweeps across the face of Earth. The dark moon appears on the edge of the sun and moves slowly across. At the moment of totality, a brilliant halo flashes into view around the darkened sun. This halo is the sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona. The sky remains blue but darkens dramatically. Some bright stars and planets will become visible and the temperature will noticeably drop. After a few minutes, the sun reappears as the moon continues on its orbit. The period when the sun is totally darkened may be as long as 7 minutes 40 seconds, but it averages about 2 1/2 minutes.

A total eclipse of the sun, as shown here, starts at the left. The moon gradually covers the sun, shown photographed through a filter. At the time of the total eclipse, photographed without a filter, the sun’s corona (outer atmosphere) flashes into view. The sun reappears as the moon moves on. Credit: © Atlas Photo Bank/ Photo Researchers

In the United States, the path of totality will cross 14 states: Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. This will be the first total solar eclipse to cross the United States from coast-to-coast since June 8, 1918, when a total solar eclipse darkened skies from Washington to Florida. The last total solar eclipse to be seen anywhere in the continental United States was in 1979.

Makanda, a village in southern Illinois just south of Carbondale, will see the longest duration of totality for the eclipse–about 2 minutes and 40 seconds. If you miss out, though, don’t worry. Another total solar eclipse will cross the same area in 2024!

If you are going to view the eclipse, be careful! Looking directly at the sun, even during an eclipse, can severely damage your eyes, even if you are wearing sunglasses. If you wish to look directly at the eclipse you will need “eclipse glasses” which have special solar filters. Make sure that your eclipse glasses are undamaged and meet safety standards. Be careful to look away from the sun when you put your eclipse glasses on and take them off. A total solar eclipse can be viewed safely without protection in the path of totality only during the brief time when the disk of the sun is completely hidden.

Ekka Time in Australia

2017-08-15T12:29:00-05:00

The sun sets over Sideshow Alley at the Royal Queensland Show, an event also known as the Ekka, in Brisbane, Australia. Credit: Cozzie 1996 (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

This week in Brisbane, a city in Australia’s northeastern state of Queensland, many thousands of people are crowding into the Queensland Ekka, an event officially known as the Royal Queensland Show. The Ekka (Queensland slang for exhibition) is a carnival-like atmosphere of food, drink, concerts, games, pageants, rides, shopping, and animal and other competitions. The Royal Queensland Show began mainly as an agricultural exhibition in 1876, and it has evolved and grown ever since. Queensland’s largest annual event, the one-of-a-kind Ekka runs this year from August 10 to August 20.

The first Ekka, known then as the Intercolonial Exhibition, was held in August 1876. The exhibition promoted the development of Queensland, a colony then just 17 years old. The event brought together the fast-growing and often-disparate urban and rural populations of Queensland, helping to create a sense of community. Held at Bowen Park (adjacent to the Ekka’s current home at Brisbane Showgrounds), the first exhibition’s attendance nearly equaled the entire population of Brisbane (about 22,000 at the time). The Ekka then grew in size and popularity to the extent that, in 1921, King George V of the United Kingdom allowed the addition of Royal to the exhibition’s name. The Ekka has been held every year since 1876 except in 1919, when it was canceled because of the Spanish flu epidemic, and in 1942, when the showgrounds were packed with troops during World War II.

Queenslanders parade their livestock during the Grand Parade in the main arena of Brisbane’s Ekka in 1948. Credit: State Library of Queensland

Today, the Ekka attracts about 500,000 visitors every August. Ekka is famous for its unusual mix of attractions, including a champion rooster show, a whip-cracking competition, and self-proclaimed “glamorous fashion parades.” Queenslanders have been entering the Ekka gates for generations now, and kids today still get their dagwood dogs (corn dogs) and showbags (themed gift bags), just as their grandparents did. Entertainment has modernized, of course, since the 1876 manurecompetition, as have the contents (and prices and varieties) of showbags. That first year, the lone showbag was a free sack of coal—reason enough for Queenslanders to attend.

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London’s Grenfell Tragedy

2017-07-20T10:42:00-05:00

The Grenfell Tower burns out of control as firefighters hose the building’s lower floors early on June 14, 2017, in London, England. Credit: Natalie Oxford (licensed under C BY 4.0)

Last month, on June 14, a fire destroyed much of Grenfell Tower, a 24-story apartment building in London, England. The fire, which took place in the city’s Kensington district, killed at least 80 people—the deadliest fire in London since World War II (1939-1945). The tragedy devastated many families and brought harsh criticism on local and national government as well as London’s fire safety laws and emergency response management.

The Grenfell fire started around midnight in a malfunctioning refrigerator freezer on the building’s fourth floor. That small fire ignited the building’s exterior cladding, a protective layer on the outside of the building’s structure. In this case, the cladding consisted of aluminumplates with a polyethylene core and polyisocyanurate insulation. Polyethylene and polyisocyanurate are types of plastic. The flammable cladding accelerated the fire, which quickly engulfed the building’s upper stories. The cladding—which also released deadly cyanide fumes—was blamed for the fire’s rapid outside-in path that trapped so many people, leading to the terrible death toll (people died from cyanide fumes as well as from flames and smoke). The fire burned intensely for many hours, and was not completely extinguished until June 16.

Some 250 firefighters responded to the Grenfell Tower fire, and they were credited with rescuing 65 people. Riot police worked alongside the firefighters, using their shields to protect firefighters from cascades of burning debris. Other police helped firefighters break down doors into locked apartments. Many people remained trapped in the building, however, as intense heat, flames, smoke, and toxic fumes continually forced rescuers to slow or alter their advance. Eighty people are known to have died in the fire. However, full analysis of remains will not be completed for some time, and the death toll is likely to rise.

This photo shows a devastated corner apartment in the burned-out Grenfell Tower on June 18, 2017. Credit: London Metropolitan Police

Grenfelll Tower was constructed in 1974. It had 129 apartments and space for some 600 residents. Grenfell had just one entrance and one staircase, and residents often complained that this could be a problem in an emergency evacuation. British regulations, however, require just one staircase in a building of that size, unlike rules in most countries that require two. Residents also complained of exposed natural gas pipes in the building, and the installation of fire-retardant boxing around the pipes had begun but was not yet completed at the time of the fire. (Several gas lines burst during the fire, which worsened the situation.)

In 2015 and 2016, Grenfell Tower—which also lacked a sprinkler system—was renovated and the new cladding was added to improve the tower’s exterior appearance. Fireproof zinc cladding was passed over in favor of much cheaper aluminum cladding. After the fire, the cladding used at Grenfell—which has long been banned on high-rise buildings in the United States and other countries—failed fire safety tests. The cladding was then banned in the United Kingdom and is in the process of being removed and replaced in hundreds of buildings throughout the country.

The local Kensington council was blamed for ignoring safety complaints from Grenfell, which was populated by largely poor, immigrant, and ethnic-minority tenants in an otherwise affluent area. The British government was blamed for deregulating the building industry and for cutting funding for fire prevention, as well as for its slow response in helping survivors of the fire. A public inquiry into the fire is scheduled to begin in September.

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Iraq’s Battle of Mosul

2017-07-19T09:41:00-05:00

An Iraqi federal policeman tries to draw fire from an Islamic State sniper in Mosul, Iraq, in April 2017. If the sniper fires, he may reveal his position. Credit: © Carl Court, Getty Images

On July 10, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory for government forces in their bloody battle with Islamic State militants for possession of the northern city of Mosul. One of Iraq’s largest cities, Mosul had been under Islamic State control since the terrorist group took it by force in June 2014. The government campaign to retake the city began in October 2016.

Islamic State is the name used by a radical militant Sunni Islamist group based in Iraq and Syria. The group is known for its ruthless violence and severe interpretation of the Shari`ah, the legal and moral code of Islam. In June 2014, Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the establishment of a caliphate from the steps of the Grand Mosque of al-Nuri in Mosul. A caliphate is a government ruled by a caliph, a leader with political and religious authority recognized by Muslims as a successor of the Prophet Muhammad. No one outside the Islamic State—which is merely a well-organized terrorist group—recognized the so-called caliphate, however, and it is often referred to as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or by the acronym DAESH, based on the group’s full Arabic name (al-Dawla al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham). For the past several years, the group has been fighting for control of parts of Iraq and Syria and has killed thousands of people in high-profile terror attacks in Europe and the Middle East.

Northeastern Iraq is largely Kurdish, and peshmerga (Kurdish for those who confront death) fighters led a first attempt to liberate Mosul in early 2015. Coinciding Islamic State assaults on the city of Ramadi—much closer to Baghdad, the Iraqi capital—prevented the Iraqi Army from supporting the Kurds in Mosul, however. The peshmerga pried several suburban villages from Islamic State control, but they lacked the numbers and firepower to free the city itself.

Iraqi soldiers and heavy vehicles head for the fighting in Mosul, Iraq, in November 2016. Credit: Mstyslav Chernov (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

Hard fighting around Mosul resumed in the spring of 2016 as the government worked to cut off Islamic State supply routes out of the city. Government-led forces slowly tightened the net around Mosul through the summer and into autumn. Civilians in the city, already suffering under Islamic State rule (there were numerous random killings and mass executions), fled Mosul in increasing numbers—as did many Islamic State fighters. By early October, the estimated number of Islamic State militants in Mosul had shrunk to between 3,000 and 5,000, down from roughly 20,000 earlier in 2016.

On October 16, some 100,000 troops—mostly from the Iraqi army but many from peshmerga, Shi`ite, and other local militias—gathered on the outskirts of Mosul. With close air and artillery support from a United States-led coalition, Iraqi forces entered eastern Mosul the next day. They advanced against fierce pockets of Islamic State resistance, rigged explosives, and other improvised defenses. Civilians were often caught in the crossfire, particularly as Islamic State fighters used them as human shields and deterrents against coalition air and artillery strikes. Still, eastern Mosul steadily fell to government troops through November and December as assaults from the north and west put further pressure on the city’s Islamic State defenders. On Jan. 24, 2017, Prime Minister al-Abadi announced the “full liberation” of eastern Mosul.

Burned out cars and rubble flank a deserted road in Mosul, Iraq, in November 2016. Fighting in Mosul left much of the city in ruins. Credit: Mstyslav Chernov (licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0)

The offensive to liberate Mosul’s western half (the city is divided by the Tigris River) began on February 19. Government forces advanced from neighborhood to neighborhood, fighting from building to building both on the streets and below them in tunnels. Islamic State forces dwindled but maintained fierce and often suicidal resistance. By April, their remaining numbers had gathered in western Mosul’s old city or retreated in small groups to the city’s outskirts. By June, resistance had shrunk to a few blocks surrounding the old city’s Grand Mosque of al-Nuri. As a last act of defiance before dying in battle, Islamic State fighters destroyed the 844-year-old Grand Mosque. Shocked, saddened, and exhausted government troops at last annihilated Islamic State resistance in early July, ending the battle.

The fight for Mosul destroyed large parts of the ancient and historic city. More than 2,000 Islamic State militants died in the battle. Reports that their leader, al-Baghdadi, was among the dead remain as-yet unproven. Roughly 1,000 soldiers of the Iraqi government coalition were killed. Civilian deaths are estimated at more than 8,000, and more than 1 million people had to flee their homes. The shell-shocked citizens that remain in Mosul are now in need of food and water, medicine, sanitation, and shelter. The families of slain or escaped Islamic State fighters face a similar crisis as they are gathered in temporary camps outside the city.

For the Islamic State, the loss of Mosul—the birthplace of its “caliphate” and its capital in Iraq—is a costly defeat. However, the war against the terrorist group is far from over. Islamic State militants who fled Mosul now hold nearby towns, and many thousands of other Islamic State fighters remain in Syria and other parts of Iraq.

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Ice Memory: A Glacier Archive

2017-07-12T11:36:00-05:00

On June 6, 2017, the Ice Memory team drills near their camp on the Illimani glacier in the Andes Mountains of Bolivia. Credit: © Sarah Del Ben, Wiltouch/Fondation UGA

Last month, in June, an international team of researchers and scientists braved heavy snows, freezing winds, and thin air to extract ice core samples from the Illimani glacier high in the Andes Mountains of Bolivia. The samples were the latest collected by teams from Ice Memory, a project aiming to gather ice samples from endangered glaciers around the world. The archive—which will be stored in a sanctuary in Antarctica—will allow future studies of glaciers that will soon fall victim to global warming. Ice Memory is managed by the University of Grenoble Alps Foundation in France and supported by the French and Italian national commissions for the United NationsEducational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

At 21,004 feet (6,402 meters), Illimani is the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real range of eastern Bolivia. Glaciers on Illimani have existed for many thousands of years, but they are rapidly melting and retreating as climate change increases Earth’s temperatures. Glacier ice reads like a historical record of climate and environment, preserving ancient animal, plant, and mineral samples as well as showing glacial growth over millennia. They also show variations in temperatures and more recent concentrations of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Saving Illimani cores will allow scientists to study the ice long after the host glaciers have disappeared.

Scientists remove ice from the drilling core on the Illimani glacier in Bolivia on June 9, 2017. Credit: © Sarah Del Ben, Wiltouch/Fondation UGA

It took several weeks for the Illimani team to drill through the ice and extract the core samples, both of which were more than 440 feet (135 meters) long. Dangerous weather forced the team to abandon the planned retrieval of a third sample. The glacier cores were then cut into smaller pieces, stored in tubes, and catalogued. The samples will eventually make their way to the archive at Concordia Station in Antarctica, where they will join the first core samples extracted from France’s Mont Blancin 2016. The Concordia glacier archive is meant to store hundreds of ice core samples in a protected snow cave at -65° Fahrenheit (-54° Celsius).

An Ice Memory researcher stacks tubed sections of ice core in an improvised snow cave on the Illimani glacier on June 5, 2017. The samples will eventually be stored in Antarctica. Credit: © Sarah Del Ben, Wiltouch/Fondation UGA

Future core extractions are planned for such threatened glacier areas as Mera Peak in Nepal, Mount Elbrus in Russia, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and sites in the Swiss Alps and the Altai Mountains in Asia. Ideally, three glacier samples from each area will provide one sample for immediate analysis and two for storage and archiving. Aside from providing clues about the past, the samples help scientists understand the current effects of climate change and predict future environmental events.

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Astana Expo 2017

2017-06-21T09:40:00-05:00

The sprawling Expo 2017 complex centers on the large sphere of the National Pavilion of Kazakhstan. The international exhibition runs from June into September in Astana, Kazakhstan. Credit: © Nick Melnichenko, Shutterstock

On June 10, the Expo 2017 international exhibition opened in Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, a country in west-central Asia. Expo 2017—like so many exhibitions and fairs before it—is a celebration of international commerce, industry, and science. The theme for Expo 2017 is “Future Energy,” concentrating on clean energy innovations as well as creative ideas for the future. The expo stresses the importance of moving from polluting fossil fuels to such green technologies as wind and solar power and providing “solutions for tackling humankind’s greatest challenge”—climate change.

Expo 2017 kicked off with elaborate opening ceremonies and a speech by longtime Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev. “The most advanced technologies in the field of clean energy will be showcased here,” he said. “And I hope that the results of the Astana Expo 2017 will bring tangible benefits to all.” The expo runs through the summer until September 10. More than 130 countries and numerous global organizations are taking part in the fair. Between 3 million and 5 million people are expected to visit the expo’s sprawling 430-acre (174-hectare) complex, a busy mix of international pavilions clustered around the giant sphere-shaped National Pavilion of Kazakhstan.

The expo’s Energy Best Practices Area Pavilion features innovative energy-related ideas and projects dealing with the creation, distribution, storage, and use of renewable and alternative energy. The new technologies include plant-powered biological fuel cells, the harnessing of bioluminescent microorganisms to produce light, inflatable solar collectors, the use of ice to power cooling and heating systems, and electric-powered zero-emission race cars and scooters. The expo also includes a full schedule of concerts and cultural programs, as well as food and drink from around the world and numerous shops and other diversions.

The Space Needle in Seattle is one of the most recognizable buildings in the United States. The 605-foot (184-meter) tower served as the centerpiece for a 1962 world’s fair called Century 21. Credit: © Shutterstock

World’s fairs and expositions have a long tradition dating back to London’s Great Exhibition of 1851. Over the years, world’s fairs have been a showcase for new inventions, unfamiliar peoples, and new kinds of art. The newly invented telephone wowed audiences at the Philadelphia exhibition in 1876, and the Eiffel Tower changed the skyline of Paris for the world’s fair of 1889. Automobiles impressed people and scared horses as they rumbled through the 1904 expo in St. Louis, and early television broadcasts showed the future of entertainment at the famous Century of Progress Exhibition in Chicago in 1933-1934. The 1962 Century 21 fair in Seattle introduced the Space Needle at the dawn of the space age.

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A New Champ in Indianapolis

2017-05-30T09:52:00-05:00

Takuma Sato of Japan celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 28, 2017. Credit: © Jamie Squire, Getty Images

On Sunday, May 28, 40-year-old Takuma Sato became the first Japanese race car driver to win the Indianapolis 500, the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Sato, a Tokyo-born veteran Formula One driver, took the checkered flag just 0.2011 seconds—faster than the blink of an eye—ahead of three-time Indianapolis 500 champion Hélio Castroneves, who made repeated attempts to pass Sato in the race’s closing laps. Castroneves, from Brazil, finished second and British rookie driver Ed Jones finished third. The Indianapolis 500 is the premier event of the Indy Racing League (IRL) and one of the world’s most famous and prestigious auto races.

Sato first raced at Indianapolis in 2010 and nearly won in 2012, when he crashed in the race’s final lap while trying to pass that year’s winner, Dario Franchitti (also a three-time champion). After winning on Sunday, Sato pulled into Victory Lane and stood overjoyed in the cockpit of his Honda race car. Looped in a wreath of flowers, Sato drank and drenched himself with the traditional bottle of milk. After posing with the giant Borg-Warner Trophy that will soon bear his likeness, Sato climbed down to reverently kiss the strip of bricks at the start/ finish line (a holdover from the track’s original surface). “It’s beautiful,” he beamed. “I dreamed of something like this since I was 12.”

The Indianapolis 500 (often shortened to Indy 500) takes place on the 2^½-mile (4.02-kilometer) oval track at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. There are 33 starting positions. Drivers with the highest average speeds in four qualifying laps earn the chance to race. The first driver to complete 200 laps around the track—a distance of 500 miles (805 kilometers)—wins the race.

Sato had good qualifying runs and began the race in the fourth position. New Zealander Scott Dixon (the 2008 Indy 500 champion) won the race’s coveted pole (first) position but was wiped out in a spectacular crash on lap 53. Dixon’s car was reduced to a scorched cockpit, but he walked away with only the jitters.

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The Last Greatest Show on Earth

2017-05-23T09:19:00-05:00

Ringmaster Johnathan Lee Iverson (in the multi-colored jacket) hosts the final performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on May 21, 2017, in Uniondale, New York. Credit: © Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

On Sunday, May 21, the iconic Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus gave its final performance at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The grand finale of the traveling circus, long billed as the “Greatest Show on Earth,” came after years of evolving cultural tastes, declining revenues, and increasing costs. The circus, famous for its numerous animal acts, had also come under increasing resistance from animal rights activists. The circus’s final three shows—played consecutively on Sunday with the space theme “Out of This World”—were sold out and streamed live over the Internet.

Showman P. T. Barnum started the circus—also known for its live music, acrobats, clowns, contortionists, dancers, trapeze artists, trick riders, and the famed human cannonball—in 1871. The circus traveled by railroad from town to town, operating beneath tents that included the iconic “big top” for the largest acts. Barnum died in 1891, but the circus continued under the management of Barnum’s business partner, James Bailey, until his death in 1906.

Emotional performers embrace during the final staging of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus on May 21, 2017, in Uniondale, New York. Credit: © Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

The Ringling brothers—who had run their own circus since 1884—purchased the Barnum & Bailey Circus in 1907. The two circuses ran separately until 1919, when they combined to form the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The circus remained in the Ringling family until 1967, when Feld Entertainment bought the traveling show but kept the name.

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus traveled by train—the last circus to do so—right up to the show’s final performances in May 2017. Credit: © Harvey Henkelman

The circus—which continued to travel by rail—retired its famous elephants in May 2016. The show continued to feature acts with camels, lions, snakes, and tigers, as well as numerous dog and horse performances. The human performers and crew of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will now disperse among other acts, circuses, and shows—or find different lines of work. The show’s remaining animals will retire to sanctuaries, zoos, or individual homes. Feld Entertainment had announced in January 2017 that this spring’s tour would be the show’s last.

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Glacier Park Losing its Glaciers

2017-05-18T10:54:00-05:00

Melt water from the Gem, Grinnell, and Salamander glaciers feeds the lakes of Grinnell Valley in Montana’s Glacier National Park. Credit: Tim Rains, National Park Service

Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana may soon be without any of its trademark glaciers. Many of the park’s largest glaciers have lost much of their former size in the last 50 years, according to surveys published by the United States Geological Service (USGS) and Portland State University in Oregon. Steadily rising temperatures have dramatically reduced 37 of the park’s glaciers that are large enough to have individual names. Some have lost as much as 85 percent of their bulk.

A glacier is a large mass of ice that flows slowly under the influence of gravity. Glaciers consist of packed snow that has built up over many years. The snow’s weight eventually compresses its lower layers into ice. Glaciers scrape the ground as they move over it, eroding old landforms and creating new ones. They range in thickness from several feet or meters to 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) or more.

The retreat of a mountain glacier can provide visible evidence of global warming. These photographs show two late-summer views of Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park, Montana. In the photo taken around 1940, top, Upper Grinnell Lake had only begun to form at the glacier’s end. By 2006, bottom, melting ice had caused the lake to swell in size. Researchers predict that warming will melt all of the park’s glaciers by 2030. Credit: Glacier National Park Archives, top,U.S. Geological Survey, photograph by Karen Holtzer, bottom

Glacier National Park was named for the large number of glaciers found there. In 1850, the area had about 150 glaciers. Large glaciers in the park today include the Grinnell and Blackfoot glaciers. Over the past 50 years, scientists used digital maps from aerial photography and satellites to measure the glaciers in late summer when seasonal snow has melted to reveal the boundaries of the glacial ice. Surveys were conducted in 1966, 1998, 2005, and 2016. Since the first survey in 1966, the glaciers have shrunk by an average of 39 percent. Today, the park has just 26 ice masses large enough to qualify as glaciers.

Scientists blame this dramatic glacier melt on global warming, and they predict Glacier National Park will be without any glaciers at all by 2030. This is troubling news for the state of Montana, where more than 2 million tourists take in the scenic views at Glacier National Park each year. Experts worry that the glacier loss will also have serious damaging effects on the ecosystems of the park and surrounding Rocky Mountain habitats.

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Hot Water in Icy Space

2017-05-17T11:56:00-05:00

Enceladus, a moon of Saturn, contains geysers at its south polar region that spray water vapor and grains of water ice into space. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Enceladus, an icy moon orbiting Saturn, is quickly becoming one of the hottest spots in the search for life beyond Earth. A group of scientists led by J. Hunter Waite of the Southwestern Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, has determined that hydrothermal vents (flows of heated water) likely exist in a global ocean beneath Enceladus’s icy crust. These vents could possibly be home to life forms. Waite and his team published their findings last month in the journal Science.

Enceladus is the sixth largest moon of Saturn. Its surface, made of bright ice, makes it the most reflective object in the solar system. Like only a few known satellites, Enceladus shows signs of ongoing geological activity. Scientists have observed a plume of particles erupting from Enceladus’s south polar region. The plume is fed by several individual jets on the surface of the moon that release mostly water vapor and grains of water ice. These jets are in turn fed by a global ocean of liquid water that exists deep beneath the moon’s surface. The jets spray material onto Enceladus’s surface and into space.

The icy surface of Enceladus, seen here in a Cassini probe image, is continually smoothed by active geysers and shows few craters. Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute

Much of what is known about the moon comes from data gathered by the Cassini spacecraft launched by the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1997. Cassini first visited Enceladus in 2005. The ship sampled Enceladus’s geysers in 2008 and again in 2015. It detected Enceladus’s global subsurface ocean in 2015.

This artist’s conception shows Cassini nearing the rings of Saturn. Credit: NASA/JPL

Waite and his coauthors analyzed the data obtained by Cassini and found molecular hydrogen (H₂) in Enceladus’s plumes. Such hydrogen is thought to be rare in planetary bodies as small as Enceladus, which has a circumference of roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers), making it less than 1/6th the size of Earth’s moon. Waite and his team determined that the hydrogen most likely came from hydrothermal vents on a sea floor within Enceladus. On Earth, hydrothermal vents are places where heated water flows from the ocean floor. Some deep-sea vents support diverse and exotic communities of marine life. Certain microbes can use the heat of the water to produce energy. These microbes are in turn consumed or harbored by larger organisms. Scientists suspect that life could flourish around such vents on other planets or moons.

Cassini has revealed tantalizing details about Enceladus, but it will not be able to determine if life exists beneath the moon’s icy surface. Cassini’s mission is coming to an end because the craft is running out of fuel. Cassini is now making a series of orbits between Saturn and its nearest ring. In September, when Cassini completes these orbits, it will crash into Saturn. Even if Cassini could continue its mission, it would be unable to gather more detailed information on the moon’s water jets. When the probe was launched 20 years ago, astronomers had not yet observed Enceladus’s polar plumes, so they could not have included instruments to study it specifically. Energized by these new findings, engineers are now working to design a probe that can sample Enceladus’s jets in greater detail. Such a probe would carry instruments designed to look for and study organic (carbon-containing) molecules in the plumes to determine if the molecules came from living things.

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Portugal Takes Eurovision 2017

2017-05-16T10:31:00-05:00

Portuguese artist Salvador Sobral performs the Eurovision-winning ballad, “Amar Pelos Dois,” at the Internatinal Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine, on May 13, 2017. Credit: © Review News/Shutterstock

On Saturday, May 13, Portugal’s Salvador Sobral won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song, “Amar Pelos Dois” (Love for Both of Us). The Portuguese-language ballad was written by Sobral’s sister, Luisa. Sobral is the first Portuguese artist to win the the hugely popular European contest. Held every year since 1956, Eurovision is the world’s largest and longest-running annual television song competition. This year’s contest took place at the International Exhibition Centre in Kiev, Ukraine. Each year’s winning nation hosts the following year’s contest. In 2016, Ukrainian singer Jamala won Eurovision with her song, “1944.”

Long before “American Idol,” “The Voice,” “The X Factor,” or even “Star Search,” there was Eurovision. The show began as the “Eurovision Grand Prix” in 1956 and became the “Eurovision Song Contest” in 1968. Each year, primarily European countries submit one entry—one artist with one new and original song—to the Eurovision contest. Despite the great variety of nations participating, most songs are in English. The songs are each performed live—often with elaborate stage shows—and votes from the television audience are combined with those of a professional international jury to gradually narrow the competition to the “Grand Final” round. The final songs are then performed and voting determines the overall winner, who performs again and receives the “glass microphone” trophy. This year’s competition began with 42 national entries; 26 took part in the Grand Final.

More than 50 nations have participated in Eurovision. All active members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) can take part in the contest. The EBU is a professional association of national broadcasters that negotiates and advocates on behalf of public broadcasters in Europe. The EBU also includes numerous non-European nations. It operates the Eurovision network, the world’s largest provider of international sports and news broadcasts.

Swedish group ABBA’s superstardom began with the 1974 Eurovision contest, and the show kick-started the career of French-Canadian star Céline Dion (singing for Switzerland) in 1988. Other Eurovision winners have included French singer France Gall (1965) and the British group Katrina and the Waves (1987). In 1958, Italy’s Domenico Modugno placed third at Eurovision with his song, “Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu,” better known as “Volare” (made famous by American singer Dean Martin). In 1994, Eurovision first presented the Irish dance production Riverdance to international audiences. Ireland has won Eurovision seven times, more than any other country.

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Record U.S. Space Time

2017-05-10T09:06:00-05:00

In April 2017, U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson set an American record with her 535th day in space. Credit: NASA

Last month, on April 24, United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut Peggy Whitson set a new record for cumulative time in space by an American astronaut as she began her 535^th day beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Currently on board the International Space Station (ISS), Whitson surpassed the previous record of 534 total space days set by astronaut Jeffrey Williams in 2016.

An astronaut is a person who pilots a spacecraft or works in space, particularly in the space program of the United States. In Russia and the other former republics of the Soviet Union, such men and women are called cosmonauts. Astronauts and cosmonauts operate spacecraft and space stations, launch and recapture artificial satellites, and conduct scientific experiments.

Peggy Whitson began her career at NASA in 1989, and she was selected to be an astronaut in 1996. In 2002, she spent six months aboard the ISS, performing several spacewalks to help assemble the station. During this time, NASA appointed her as the station’s science officer. She was the first person to serve in this position. In 2007, she embarked on another six-month mission to the ISS. Whitson served as the station’s first female commander, overseeing its further expansion. She began another tour at the station in November 2016, again serving as commander.

In addition to her new time-in-space record, Whitson has spent more than 53 hours on spacewalks outside the ISS. Whitson celebrated her 57^thbirthday on board the ISS in February 2017, making her the oldest American woman to spend time in space. By the time she returns to Earth in September, she will have logged 666 days in orbit over the course of three missions. The world record for the number of days in space is held by Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, who logged 879 days in orbit over several missions.

Among other duties on her current mission, Whitson is helping NASA identify some of the health problems that astronauts develop during extended stays in conditions of apparent weightlessness called microgravity. Such information will be useful in preparing for lengthy missions to Mars or for life at an extraterrestrial base.

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A Unique Martian Potato

2017-05-03T09:14:00-05:00

Scientists at the International Potato Center in Lima, Peru, grew a “Unique” potato in simulated Martian conditions within the container at left, called the “CubeSat.” Credit: © International Potato Center

In Andy Weir’s 2011 book The Martian and its 2015 film adaptation, botanist-astronaut Mark Watney manages to grow potatoes while marooned on Mars. Watney hauls Martian soil into a pressurized, climate-controlled base and harvests a crop that provides food while his other supplies run out. Today, a group of Peruvian scientists are working on transferring this fiction to reality. Agricultural researchers from the International Potato Center (called the Centro Internacional de la Papa in Spanish, or CIP) in Lima, the Peruvian capital, have grown some rather hardy potatoes in an even worse environment than Watney’s Martian garden. The scientists’ research, carried out in the Andes Mountains of South America (where potatoes originated), might make farming on Mars or other barren places possible.

Human exploration of Mars is one of the primary long-term goals of such space agencies as the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). But before people get there, scientists must solve a host of problems. First among them will be how to feed astronauts during an extended stay in the harsh environment of the Red Planet.

Potatoes originated in the often harsh environment of the Andean Highlands of South America. Credit: © Roux Frederic, Shutterstock

The ability to grow food during a space journey or while on the Martian surface has a number of benefits. Space could be saved in the spacecraft, allowing for other needed supplies, and instead of freeze-dried or tubular “astronaut food,” space explorers could eat a variety of freshly grown produce. But growing food on Mars—an extremely cold, dry, and nearly airless planet—will not be easy. Life as we know it cannot survive on its surface—yet.

The ability to grow food on Mars will greatly help in the planet’s exploration and possible settlement. Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems

In Peru, the CIP scientists wanted to see if certain hardy potatoes could be grown in conditions similar to those found on Mars. To do this, the scientists built a sealed growing chamber (a garden in a box they called a “CubeSat”) and layered it with nutrient-weak, sandy soil similar to that found on Mars. They installed low-powered lights on a longer-than-Earth day-night cycle, and created a low-temperature and low-atmospheric pressure environment. They then tried growing dozens of varieties of potatoes in the simulator, irrigating them with nutrient-rich water. Of all the tested varieties, one called “Unique” grew best under the extreme conditions.

The Unique potato is exceptionally hardy, but it could not possibly grow on the surface of Mars without human intervention. The scientists grew the potatoes at temperatures around freezing, but surface temperatures on Mars can dip below -150 °F (-100 °C) at night. They were able to achieve growth with somewhat reduced atmospheric pressure (like the thin air at the top of the Andes Mountains), but Mars’s atmospheric pressure is a mere 0.7 percent of the atmospheric pressure on Earth. And, as far as we know, there is no nutrient-rich water on Mars. Liquid water near the Martian surface is only present during the planet’s summer, and it is extremely salty.

Potatoes are one of the world’s most important crops. The ability to grow potatoes and other crops in harsh conditions could prove vastly important as climate change alters the global environment. Credit: © David R. Frazier

The CIS experiment provided scientists and engineers with useful information on the extreme limits of vegetable cultivation. With the use of extremely hardy plants like the Unique potato, astronaut greenhouses could be kept cooler than Earth spaces, saving valuable electricity for purposes other than heating. Because plants can survive on carbon dioxide concentrations, excess carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts could help provide the space garden’s protected atmosphere. If Martian soil could be manipulated for vegetable growth, it would negate the need to send bundles of Earth soil to the Red Planet.

Beyond its applications to space travel or Martian living, the CIS potato research has a more practical use here on Earth. As the climate changes from global warming, environmental conditions will become harsher in many places around the world. By studying how crops survive in extreme conditions, agricultural scientists may be able to discover and breed crops more resistant to the worst effects of climate change.

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