With everything going on with the Coronavirus my min immediately went to China for this assignment. This is where the outbreak first happened, and with the time that has passed I was looking for an article to see how the country is doing now. Therefore I found an article on the New York Times entitled, "China Ends Wuhan Lockdown, but Normal Life Is a Distant Dream"

^This is the link to my article. However, I am not sure why it is showing a picture instead of just the plain link like it has before.

This article demonstrates how life in China is slowing going back to normal after the pandemic. On Wednesday the country ended is lockdown of Wuhan after more than 10 weeks. This was the city where the outbreak first occurred. This decision was made after only three new cases were reported in the city in the previous three weeks, including no new deaths as well. The people from the city can no leave after presenting to the authorities a government-sanctioned phone app. This exemplifies whether or not they are a contagion risk based on personal information. In addition across Wuhan, almost 94% of businesses have resumed operation and cautiously calling their employees back to work. Smaller and local businesses are also starting to reopen so that the people can buy fresh vegetables or alcohol for example.

When thinking about East Asia many of us, of course, think of China since it is East Asia's dominant country. In addition, it also contains 85% of the realm's population. This is why the outbreak of the virus was so huge there, simply because of its political geography. The virus also spread so quickly from this country to Europe because of the global connections it has. For example, thousands of flights leave China, going to Europe and places like New York City and the West Coast of the United States. Large cities in China have a very dense population. Wuhan is a city of 11.08 million people which is an average size for a Chinese city. When comparing this city to NYC, United States largest city, NYC is 3/4 of the size. Overall it is very simple for a highly contagious virus to spread from a Global superpower like China because it is so connected with the rest of the world in so many different aspects.

Taylor Lewis

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/thailand-mulls-emergency-decree-for-big-economic-stimulus

Thailand mulls emergency decree for 'big' economic stimulus

This article explains how the corona virus has badly damaged the tourism and domestic consumption in South-east Asia. Their economy is declining 5.3 per cent. When people stop coming to a certain place that has been visited for many years, the environment changes. The air pollution decreases due to less people on the streets driving. This causes less harmful gases into our atmosphere. Less people mean less chances getting the corona virus on the streets.

Kiara Kearns

February 14, 2020

Expedition Earth: Introduction to Geography

Blog: East Asia: Current Events in East and Southeast Asia

The first article I found was titled “7.0-Magnitude Quake Strikes off Japan's Hokkaido, Russia's Kuril Islands.' I chose this article because it was extremely current, taking place on February 13th. I also chose it because it had such a strong geographic aspect. Earthquakes greatly interest me personally and have a huge impact on our earth. They literally change the way the ground lays, take down buildings, cause tsunamis, and displace homes.

The second article I found was a little bit less recent but I still found it very intriguing. It was written by National Geographic and was titled “Southeast Asia May Be Building Too Many Dams Too Fast.' It was the impact the dams had that had the biggest geographic effects. One of the dams collapsed and caused places to flood, threatened fish, soil, and people. The article states, “A dam under construction some 155 miles (250 kilometers) upstream, in neighboring Laos, had collapsed the day before after heavy monsoon rains, sending a deluge of water down the already swollen, swirling Sekong. The floodwaters, villagers were told, could reach as far as Stung Treng, the provincial capital in northern Cambodia where the Sekong joins the even larger Mekong River.' I appreciated learning about these new rivers and the geographic effects of breaking dams, although the article was less recent than the first.  

 Huaxia. “7.0-Magnitude Quake Strikes off Japan's Hokkaido, Russia's Kuril Islands.' Xinhua, 13 Feb. 2020, www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-02/13/c_138780954.htm.

Guttenfelder, David, and Soe Zeya Tun. “Southeast Asia May Be Building Too Many Dams Too Fast.' Mekong River Dams Threaten Southeast Asia's Fish, Soil, and People, 23 Aug. 2018, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/08/news-southeast-asia-building-dams-floods-climate-change/.