Facts Flashcards
Glaciologists once thought that ice motion in Antarctica’s interior was slow and relatively uniform, with just a few fast-moving glaciers and ice streams drawing ice from the interior down to the sea. Like rivers, coastal ice flows are fed by complex systems of tributaries that originate hundreds of mies upstream in major drainage basins.
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Ice cores preserve a record of past atmospheric composition, volcanic eruptions, and other environmental information. The ice sheets contains a climate record that extends back at least 200,000 years at some locations. French scientists who analyzed the cores found a correlation between rising temperatures and carbon dioxide levels in ancient times. Because the atmospheric C02 level has risen from 280 parts per million (ppm) at the start of the industrial revolution to more than 440 ppm today, the onset of the global warming cycles thought to be caused by increased burning of fossil fuels, which releases C02. Along with methane and other gases, C02 helps trap solar heat that would otherwise radiate back to space.
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While you might associate the history of wine with famous winemaking regions like France, Italy, or Napa, California, the earliest known winery was actually located in Armenia. In 2010, archaeologists discovered various equipment associated with winemaking - including a wine press, storage and fermentation containers, and traces of grapes - in a cave where the world’s oldest leather shoe (5,500 years old) was also found. The discovery that people in the Copper Age also liked relaxing with wine proved to be revolutionary in a number of ways: It gave archaeologists a full 6,100 year picture of how winemaking has evolved, and also serves as the earliest and most complete example of an ancient winery.
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While most people can wager what the world’s longest river is, it’s likely that far fewer can name the world’s longest lake. Located in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, Lake Tanganyika stretches for more than 420 miles and divides four countries — Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia. At 12,700 square miles in total size, Lake Tanganyika is Africa’s biggest freshwater reservoir and the second-largest in the world after Russia’s Lake Baikal. It is also one of the most biologically diverse lakes on the planet — upwards of 2,000 species call lake Tanganyika home, with over half of them endemic.
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If you find yourself standing atop the 4,413-foot summit of Ben Nevis, you’ll be looking out at the Scottish highlands. Its elevation is somewhat modest compared to the tallest peak in continental Europe — Mont Blanc in the Alps, at 15,771 feet — but Ben Nevis can claim the title of the highest peak in the British Isles. Part of the Grampian range, the mountain formed from the remnants of a once-active volcano that collapsed inward some 350 million years ago. Its name translates to either “mountain with its head in the clouds” or “venomous mountain” in Gaelic. More than 125,000 hikers arrive to “bag the Ben” (climb its peak) each year.
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The U.S.-Canada border is the longest international boundary in the word, stretching for 5,525 miles from one coast to the other. Thirteen states lie along the border, but none touches as many Canadian provinces as Montana. The Treasure State has British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan as its neighbors to the north. Several other states share a border with two provinces, while Alaska shares the longest border with Canada overall, at 1,538 miles. The border between Canada and the United States was established in 1783 by the Treaty of Paris and was meant to be a relatively straight line along the 49th parallel, although in truth it’s far more zig-zag.
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If you were expecting to see a neat Valentine-shaped heart on a map of southeast Europe, you might be disappointed. The shape of Bosnia and Herzegovina more closely resembles that of a human heart if you use your imagination, but “the heart-shaped land” may be more of a tourist slogan than a nickname based in reality. Nevertheless, the nickname suits this small country, which is opening its arms to tourists in recent years, following a bloody war after the country gained independence in the 1990s. It’s capital, Sarajevo, offers an enchanting mix of Ottoman-influenced architecture, and the countryside beckons with rugged mountains, ski slopes, and scenic waterfalls. Bosnia and Herzegovina is mostly landlocked, but it does have a short 12-mile coastline between Croatia called the Neum corridor - the second-shortest coastline in the world, the first prize going to the principality of Monaco in the French Riviera, only having 2.5 miles of shoreline.
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There is some debate as to whether Austin, Texas, deserves to be called the “City of the Violet Crown” instead, but the Greek capital’s claim to the sobriquet is certainly more ancient. It originates with the poet Pindar, who lived from 518 to 438 B.C. While much of Pindar’s poetry has been lost, one of his surviving fragments says of Athens: “City of Light, with your violet crown, beloved of poets, you are the Bulwark of Greece.” More than two millennia later, the legendary American short story writer O. Henry reiterated Pindar’s description to compare Austin to Athens.
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The city of Guilin is situated on the western bank of the Li River and is known for its beautiful karst topography, and as a result, is one of China’s most popular tourist destinations. It is considered a National Famous Historical and Cultural City and is in the northeastern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, whose capital is Nanning.
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Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and, after secession from Ukraine was approved in a disputed and boycotted referendum held in Crimea, the Russian parliament voted to annex Crimea into the Russian Federation. The United Nations General Assembly subsequently adopted a nonbinding resolution declaring the annexation invalid and affirming Ukraine’s territorial jurisdiction. As of 2021, Russia administers and controls all aspects of the peninsula, while Ukraine continues to maintain Crimea is its sovereign territory.
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Like Oxford, Bologna is home to an important and historic university, which was founded in 1088. Along with several Popes, many famous Italian scholars and writers - Nicolaus Copernicus, Dante Alighieri, and Petrarch among them - have studied at the University of Bologna, hence the first element of Bologna’s nickname, “The Learned” (La Dolta). If you’re a fan of Italian cuisine, “The Fat,” or La Grassa, will be pretty self-explanatory. Bologna is known as the country’s culinary capital, and classic dishes like tagliatelle al ragu (pasta bolognese) and tortellini in brodo (tortellini in broth) originated here. Finally, “The Red,” or La Rossa, has nothing to do with marinara or wine, and everything to do with the city’s historical connection to left-wing, anti-fascist politics.
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Spain’s Segovia aqueduct is still going strong after 19 centuries. Likely constructed in the first century A.D., the aqueduct carries water from the Fuente Fria River to the city of Segovia, a distance of more than 20 miles. As its tallest point, the bridge reaches more than 90 feet high. Almost every pillar and spandrel of the aqueduct has a different design. The granite blocks of the bridge section were made without mortar (likely due to a lock of local supplies), which made the bridge flexible enough to survive minor earthquakes and wind. It’s estimated that about 20,000 tons of granite were used to create the aqueduct.
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