Author Archives: dbursell

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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/17/world/asia/11-filipino-soldiers-are-killed-trying-to-track-an-isis-leader.html

Since January of last year, troops from the Philippines have been trailing and trying to track down Islamic state leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan. While patrolling in Patikul, Philippine troops came in contact with 40 heavily armed Abu Sayyaf militants which caused an hour long firefight. This firefight resulted in 11 of the Philippine troops to be killed in action. It is unknown if Mr. Sawadjaan was with the militants during the firefight, but General Arevalo stated that the search for him will go on even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some geographical concepts to note is that this happened in the Philippines which is in Southeast Asia. Patikul, where the troops patrolled, is a jungle-dense island in the extreme southern province of Sulu. Sulu is one of the islands that make up the Sulu Archipelago and it is surrounded by the Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea. Abu Sayyaf is an extremist group that pledges their allegiance to the Islamic state (ISIS).

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I chose to compare Iraq and Iran.

Iraq:

Males per 100 Females: 101.4

People per square kilometer: 87.0

Number of children per woman: 3.5

Current Population: 38.0 Million

Estimated Population 2050: 63.0 Million

Iran:

Males per 100 Females: 102.8

People per square kilometer: 54.8

Number of children per woman: 1.9

Current Population: 84.0 Million

Estimated Population 2050: 98.6 Million

Iraq's population pyramid looks like an actual pyramid ranging from most percentage of the population is 0-4 years old and least percent is 85 years old and up. This type of pyramid shows that the birth rate is higher than the death rate and indicates population growth. While Iran's population pyramid is smaller at the younger and older ages and bigger at the middle ages. This type of pyramid indicates that there are fewer females at the childbearing age having children and is slowing the population growth.

Although Iran will continue to have a higher population than Iraq in 2050, the graphs show that over time Iraq could pass Iran in population by having a faster rate of population growth.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-51750809

On March 5, 2020, a truck crashed into a sacred stone, known as moai, on Easter island off the coast of Chile. The crash was defined as "incalculable" due to how much value and meaning are behind those stones. The Chilean man who caused the incident was arrested and charged with damaging a national monument. The mayor of Easter Island is calling for motor vehicle restrictions in the area of the stones due to the incident. There are about 1,000 of these stones and they were created by the indigenous Rapa Nui people.

There is a geographical concept and the geography of the placement of these stones to consider in this event. The term indigenous is used to describe the Rapa Nui people and to help us understand that the aboriginal people of this island created these sacred stones that we see as a national monument. These stones are an important and vital piece of their culture. Geographically, the moai are placed on an island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51182331

I came upon this article on BBC world news about a bomb hoax in Moscow. The article explains that after receiving the bomb threats, all the Moscow metro stations, more than 100 schools and nurseries, and 20 shopping centers were checked for bombs. As a result of these threats, there has been mass evacuations out of the largest populated city, Moscow. The main places being evacuated are hospitals, courts, railway stations, and administrative buildings. The threats have not been traced back to whoever sent them and the article states that other major cities have also been targeted. These major cities, which are mostly in the Russian plains, are already being affected by losing important workers and having to shut down some city operations and that can affect the flow of resources in and out of these cities. Also, if there were bombs and they were to go off in Moscow, it could affect a major gas pipeline that runs through Russia's capital making them turn to other energy reserves.

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Hello, my name is Dylan Bursell. I am a sophomore here at UAF and I am working towards my bachelors in biology. This is a general education requirement for my degree. The last time I took a geography class was sometime in high school. I am from Long Beach, MS ,but moved to Fairbanks, AK after joining the Army. I chose Sydney, Australia as the place I would like to go because I would like to visit the beaches along the coast and also to be able to explore a different part of the world.