NewsTracker Answers for week of Sep. 07, 2020

Q: Migrants are increasingly crossing a treacherous part of the Atlantic Ocean to reach the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago near West Africa, in what has become one of the most dangerous routes to European territory. Where are the Canary Islands?

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Q: As an autonomous community of Spain, the Canary Islands are part of the European Union (EU). The increased traffic to the Canaries started after the EU last year started paying Morocco to block Europe-bound migrants from crossing the ...

A. Aegean Sea

B. Black Sea

C. Mediterranean Sea

D. Red Sea

C. Migrant arrivals to mainland Spain have decreased 50 percent under the EU program, while landings in the Canary Islands have increased by 550 percent. About 4,000 migrants survived the voyage to the Canaries so far this year, but more than 250 have died - more than those who died in the western Mediterranean in all of last year.

Q: The Canary Islands are 62 miles across the Atlantic from Morocco at the closest point. Mainland Spain is about 9 miles north of Morocco across which strait?

A. Bosporus

B. Gibraltar

C. Magellan

D. San Bernardino

B. Called the Pillars of Hercules in the ancient world, the Strait of Gibraltar separates Europe and Africa and connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. While it is 62 miles from Morocco, some African migrants have traveled to the Canaries as far as 1,000 miles across the Atlantic from points as far south as the The Gambia.

Q: Migrants who survived the voyage have not been allowed to leave the Canary Islands to go to Spain. In the last several years, Europe has been flooded with migrants from Africa and where else?

A. Caribbean

B. Eastern Asia

C. South America

D. Southwest Asia

D. War and famine have driven thousands of people from the Middle East and Africa to seek refuge in Europe. While many fleeing civil wars in Southwest Asia were welcomed into some EU nations, the wave caused a backlash and sparked the rise of nationalist, anti-immigrant political movements in Europe.

Q: Why are mass migrations expected to grow?

A. Climate change

B. Open borders

C. Religious persecution

D. UN rules

A. Rising seas, droughts and floods from climate change are expected to displace many millions of desperate and hungry people in the coming years. Military leaders have warned that the changing climate poses one of the biggest threats of war.