NewsTracker Answers for week of Nov. 06, 2023

Q: Four years of flooding have wiped out almost all other sources of food, forcing South Sudanese women to wading farther and farther through the floodwaters to find water lily bulbs – a bitter, hard to digest, and even harder to prepare meal to keep their families alive. Where is the East African country of South Sudan?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The situation in South Sudan is a long-term climate disaster, unlike flooding that has killed more than 7,000 people in Africa so far this year. Which African nation suffered the most deaths?

A. Ethiopia

B. Kenya

C. Libya

D. Malawi

C. More than 4,000 people died in Derna, Libya, after a Mediterranean cyclone brought torrential rains to the North African nation and led to the collapse of two dams in September. An Indian Ocean cyclone last March left more than 1,700 dead and missing in Malawi in southeast Africa. That was the second-highest death toll in flooding in 16 African nations.

Q: The persistent flooding in South Sudan is linked to major rainfalls flowing in from countries upstream including what nation to the east?

A. Ethiopia

B. Central African Republic

C. Kenya

D. Uganda

A. South Sudan is bordered by Ethiopia to the east; Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to the south; Central African Republic to the west; and Sudan to the north. Flooding this year killed and displaced hundreds of people in the upstream nations of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Q: Many of the world’s poorest nations like South Sudan are among the hardest hit by climate change and will be seeking more help from richer nations at a United Nations climate conference later this month in what Persian Gulf nation?

A. Egypt

B. Israel

C. Jordan

D. United Arab Emirates

D. The UN’s COP23 climate meeting runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12 in the United Arab Emirates, one of the most vulnerable to climate change countries in the world. Rising temperatures are already severely impacting daily life in the very hot and humid climate of the Persian Gulf. Egypt, Israel, and Jordan are all on the Gulf of Aqaba on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.

Q: South Sudan’s climate problems have been exacerbated by civil warfare during most of the nation’s existence. When did South Sudan gain independence?

A. 1961

B. 1971

C. 1991

D. 2011

D. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011, making it the most recent sovereign state or country with widespread recognition as of 2023.