What important event happened in 2022 in all over world?

1. Russia-Ukraine war

Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the invasion a "special military operation" rather than a full-scale war. While sending troops into Ukraine from the north, south, and east, he told the Russian people his goal was to "demilitarise and de-Nazify Ukraine". On February 28, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to the U.N., a third of the population has fled Ukraine since the invasion started. Meanwhile, over 17,000 confirmed civilian casualties in Ukraine were reported till December.

2. Death of Queen Elizabeth II

Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, 2022 in Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. She was the queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from February 6, 1952, to September 8, 2022. In 2015, she surpassed Victoria to become the longest-reigning monarch in British history. Her eldest son Prince Charles, who was the Prince of Wales, became the proclaimed King in September following the Queen's death. He is now known as King Charles III. He has become head of the Commonwealth, an association of 56 independent countries including Australia, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, and Canada.

3. Rishi Sunak becomes UK's PM

The year 2022 saw an early end to the Prime Ministership of Boris Johnson, resignation of a newly-elected PM in 45 days, and the UK getting an Indian-origin PM for the first time. In the face of scandals such as partygate and rising inflation, Johnson was forced to resign in July. During the prime ministerial election, Mary Elizabeth Truss defeated rival Rishi Sunak with 81,326 to 60,399 votes among party members. However, she quit after 45 tumultuous days in office, and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak became the third leader to enter London's 10 Downing Street in a year- in October 2022.

4. Sweden, Finland rush to join NATO

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland petitioned to join NATO in May 2022. Finland shares a long border with Russia, and Sweden is just across the Baltic Sea from Russia. While Sweden's application has been approved by 28 of the alliance's 30 members. Turkey and Hungary are yet to ratify Nordic nations membership in the alliance. However, Hungary has signalled it could approve Finland's and Sweden's bids in early 2023. Turkey said the countries need to take more concrete steps to cut ties with Kurdish militant groups such as Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) before approving the nations' entry into NATO.

5. China in lockdown

Since the beginning of the pandemic, China has been one of the toughest anti-Covid regimes in the world. The government had followed the zero-Covid policy wherein the local authorities were ordered to impose strict lockdowns even if a handful of cases were reported. People had been protesting against the strict lockdown rules for months. However, public anger increased when the lockdown rules hampered the rescue efforts during a fire incident in Urumqi. After nearly three years of snap lockdowns, border closures and financial hardship, the government in December 2022 began easing some of its lockdown measures such as allowing home quarantine.

6. Iran protests

Iran witnessed the biggest protest in years following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. The country's morality police had arrested Amini for not wearing her hijab properly and sporting skinny jeans. Iranians irrespective of age, ethnicity and gender are protesting against the strict law. Meanwhile, the security forces cracked down on protesters ruthlessly. A number of journalists, lawyers, celebrities, sports stars and civil society figures have been put behind bars for supporting the protesters. By December, about 458 people, including 63 children, were killed. While two people were executed, two teenagers are facing death penalty.

7. Biden's mid-term poll win

The year 2022 was a test for U.S. President Joe Biden. The mid-term elections are held every two years for the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives has 435 members, and the Senate (upper house) has 100. The 2022 election saw a fierce contest between the Democrats and the Republicans. President Biden's Democratic Party now holds the upper chamber of Congress by 51-49. Democrats retained control of the Senate by winning the state of Pennsylvania in November 2022. Meanwhile, the Republicans gained a stronghold over the House of Representatives by winning 221 seats.

8. Pakistan: Sharif succeeds Khan

Pakistan saw the end of the rule of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was ousted in March 2022. Khan, the first Pakistani PM to lose a no-confidence vote, had attempted to block a no-confidence motion against him by dissolving parliament and calling for snap polls. However, Pakistan's top court ordered the motion to be held following which parliament elected Shehbaz Sharif as the new PM in April. Meanwhile, Khan blamed "foreign conspiracy" for his removal. In the by-elections held in October in three provinces, Khan won six National Assembly seats. Sharif, who succeeded him, is from the Pakistan Muslim League.

9. North Korea missiles

There was a significant rise in the number of missile tests conducted by North Korea, including one with a range long enough to hit the U.S. The country tested a variety of ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles. Hypersonic missiles have the capacity to fly at several times the speed of sound and at low altitudes to escape radar detection. North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan for the first time in five years in October 2022. In November, one of its intercontinental ballistic missiles landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone.

10. Kazakhstan protest

Several cities in Kazakhstan witnessed unrest as thousands of protesters in January 2022 took to the streets against a sharp hike in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and rising inflation, which was closing in on 9% year-on-year the highest in more than five years. As many as 225 people were killed and many more were injured as per the official records. The Kazakh authorities imposed a nationwide state of emergency and sent military units to fight the "terrorists". President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had ordered the security forces and the army to open fire with lethal force against the protesters.

11. Chinese missile attack in Taiwan

On August 4, 2022, China fired ballistic missiles near Taiwan as part of huge military drills to show its opposition to a visit by senior US politician Nancy Pelosi to the island. According to Taiwanese officials, China launched 11 ballistic missiles into waters around Taiwan's northeast and southwest coasts. Beijing saw Pelosi's visit as a challenge to its claims of Sovereignty over Taiwan. She was the most senior US politician to visit the island in 25 years. In September, the U.S. State Department approved $1.1 billion sale of military equipment to Taiwan, including 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles.

12. Brazil: Bolsonaro out, Lula in

Jair Bolsonaro became the first sitting President in Brazil to lose a re-election. He lost to leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva by a thin margin, garnering 49.1% of the vote to da Silva's 50.9% in October 2022. However, former army captain Bolsonaro did not concede the election. He argued that votes from some machines should be "invalidated" in a complaint that election authorities met with scepticism. Meanwhile, his supporters continued demonstrations and torched cars and buses and tried to storm the federal police headquarters in the country's capital. They camped outside army bases for weeks, urging the military to overturn the victory of Lula.

13. Sri Lanka in crisis

Sri Lanka faced its worst economic crisis in March 2022 since its independence in 1948. The country had also defaulted on international loans. Protesters in large numbers took to the streets in the face of severe economic hardships marked by power blackouts, and shortages of fuel, cooking oil and food. They demanded the resignation of the Rajapaksa-led government. To launch a crackdown on the anti-government protests, the government imposed a state of emergency. Following months of protests and the resignation of then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on May 9, his brother and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country on July 13.

14. Israel election: Netanyahu - again!

After five elections in three years, Israel's longest-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu re-entered office after winning a majority in Israel's Knesset, or parliament. After the 2021 general election, Naftali Bennett joined a coalition with Yair Lapid, leader of the centrist party Yesh Atid. The coalition allowed Bennett to become Israel's Prime Minister in a two-year rotation with Lapid. However, Lapid's term, which began on July 1, 2022, was a short one as the November 2022 election brought Netanyahu once again to office. Netanyahu is the prime minister of the country's most right-wing government in history.-

15. Gorbachev, Abe no more

The year 2022 witnessed the death of the last leader of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev and former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. Gorbachev was the President of the Soviet Union from 1990-91. His efforts to democratise Soviet Union's political system and decentralise the economy led to the downfall of communism and the breakup of the U.S.S.R. in 1991. However, his role in bringing an end to the Soviet Union's post-war domination of eastern Europe earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. Meanwhile, Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving Prime Minister, was assassinated while campaigning in Nara for a parliamentary election on July 8, 2022.

16. Philippines: Marcos Jr makes it

In the Philippines, Marcos Jr became the country's President, capping off his family's decades-long quest to regain power after it was driven out in the 1986 uprising. His father, Ferdinand Marcos Sr, had ruled the country for two decades under the martial law. In May 2022, Marcos Jr won 31.63 million votes, or 58.8% of the ballots cast, the highest among the six presidents elected since the People Power revolution of 1986. Sara Duterte, daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, garnered 61.5% of the ballots in the vice-president or vice-president elected in the past 36 years.

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When was the Mediterranean a dry basin?



We know the Mediterranean today as a huge sea off the coast of Europe. However, the Mediterranean was not always like that. Approximately 5 million years ago, the Mediterranean was a dry basin. Movements in the Earth’s crust opened up the Gibraltar Straits between the continental areas which are now Africa and Europe. The Atlantic Ocean would have poured through this new opening into the dry basin. The result would have been an enormous waterfall, nearly 800 metres high. So much water poured in from the Atlantic that the Mediterranean Sea was created in only a few years.










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Of course, through time the shape of the continents will continue to change, and new seas will form; some could even join together. 




 



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When was the earth formed?



No one knows for certain when the Earth was formed exactly. However, scientists have reasoned that it probably formed about 6,000 million years ago.



The most scientific reasoning for the creation of Earth is that it began as a huge ball of hot gases which cooled to form the planet. Seas of dissolved chemicals would have covered the land, and the air would have been an atmosphere of different gases. The atmosphere was thought to have consisted of swirling gaseous clouds which most likely caused huge electrical storms.



The poisonous gases in the atmosphere must have reacted to produce oxygen, which triggered off the first beginnings of life on Earth.










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As Earth cooled down, it gave off clouds of steam and gas. The moisture in these clouds eventually turned to rain, which formed the first seas.




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When does the snow line move?



Snow lines are clearly visible on mountains. They mark out the area above which a mountain is permanently covered in snow.



The highest points of a mountain are much colder than the lower points. The snow which falls on the higher regions never thaws because it is so cold. In the summer, however, the warmer weather begins to melt some of the snow. This causes the snow line to move up the mountain.



As the summer months pass by and the winter months return, the snow line moves further down the mountain once again.



In colder regions, the snow line is close to ground level, but where the air is warmer, the snow line is closer to the Equator.










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Mountains such as the Rockies in South America, do not see a dramatic movement in the snow line. This is because they are so high up. The climate is very cold in winter and the summers are short-lived.




 



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When does water turn into snow?



Water turns into snow at temperature above -40 . Snow forms when water in clouds freezes into tiny ice crystals. This moist air freezes around minute dust particles or chemical substances floating in the clouds. These particles become the core, or the nucleus, of each crystal. Snow crystals grow in size when more water crystallizes around a particular nucleus. This happens more if the air is humid.



Snowflakes are formed when a number of crystals join together in clusters. The structure of snowflakes is often a beautiful, hexagonal form. It is believed that no two snowflakes can be identical. These fall from the clouds onto land as snow.










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Eskimos live in houses made completely of snow called igloos. The Eskimos cut away blocks of snow and build the igloo as though they are bricks. Because where they are built is so cold, the igloos do not melt.




 



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When is climax vegetation achieved?



When vegetation first starts growing in newly formed soil, it is disadvantage because the soil will not be nutrient-rich. As the plants die, they enrich the soil, allowing more plants to take advantage of this. As the soil gets older, it has gleaned more and more nutrients from dead plants – and more and more plants are able to grow successfully in the soil. Climax vegetation occurs when the vegetation is totally suited to soil. In reality, this can never last permanently due to the ever-changing environment.










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Rainforests have developed in areas where the soil is very fertile and where there is a great deal of rainfall. The varied vegetation suggests the soil is extremely nutrient-rich.




 



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When does the appearance of soil change?



Soil changes its appearance when the biological or chemical make-up of it varies. For example, red soil is found in areas where there is a high content of iron compounds. Oxisol is a good example of this; it is found in tropical regions where both chemical and biological activities are high.



If you thought that all soils are brown, think again. Soil colours range from black to red to white. Sometimes it can even be blue! Soil colour mostly comes from organic matter and iron. Topsoil is often dark because of organic matter. An even, single colour indicates the soil is well drained. In contrast, rusty spots and grey patches (sometimes even a light blue in colour) indicate poor drainage.










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Soil is not just a single, consistent layer of material.




 



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When do rivers begin?



There are two main ways in which rivers begin. Some rivers start when a natural spring releases water from underground. These are often small trickles of water which develop into small streams. In turn these streams increase in size until they are acknowledged as rivers.



Other rivers begin when persistent rain makes a groove or a channel in a piece of land. As more and more rain falls into this channel, a flow of water slowly begins. Just like the springs, a stream can soon develop into a river.










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When rivers reach land close to sea level, they begin to meander, forming a snake-like shape on the land. This is caused by the gradual dropping of the sediment it carries where the flow is weak.




 



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When does the water cycle stop?



Water cycles demonstrate how water evaporates from the oceans then rises in the air to form clouds. In areas of low pressure, the clouds release the water as rain. This falls into the oceans again, or falls onto the land where it gradually works its way back into the oceans via streams and rivers. This is a continual, cyclical process.



However, in some areas of the world where there is no rainfall for long periods of time, local water cycles do stop. When one event in the cycle fails to happen, the cycle breaks down.



But water can neither be created nor destroyed – it will always exist in some form. If you consider the world as a whole, with one big water cycle, the processes involved are always occurring somewhere: this cycle never stops.










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Too much rainwater can have disastrous effects on the land. Flooding washes away fertile soil, and begins eroding the land.




 



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When was the longest drought?



The longest drought in recorded history took place in Calama, in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile.  For four centuries, beginning in 1571, no rain fell in the area. It was not until 1971 that rainfall was first recorded again. The Atacama desert, which lies between the Andes and the Pacific ocean, is recognized as the driest place in the world.



The Atacama desert remains so dry because it lies in a region where there is constant high air pressure, with little air movement, and with few clouds overhead.










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Some people believe that animals are good predictors of weather. One such belief is that if cows are standing in their field, then dry weather is expected. If they are lying down, however, rain is expected.




 



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When does water become salty?



Water becomes salty when minerals (including salts) dissolve into it. This process begins when rainwater falls on the land and erodes rock. The minerals found in rock are dissolved into the rainwater.



These dissolved minerals in the rainwater enter streams and rivers, gradually working their way into the seas and oceans.



This is a process which is constantly taking place, so the level and concentration of salt in the oceans and seas is always increasing. Some of the minerals are consumed by organisms in the water, but the vast majority of them make up the saltiness of the water.










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Lighthouses were built to worn ships at sea that they were approaching land and rocky water. Their beam of light across the waves made travelling by boat much safer.




 



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When was the longest heatwave?



The longest heatwave ever recorded was in Marble Bar, Australia when the temperature stayed above 38 . It lasted for 162 days from 23 October 1923 to 7 April 1924.



The highest average annual temperature recorded is 34.4  in Dallol, Ethiopia.



The lowest recorded temperature (outside of the poles) was -68  in Verkhoyansk, Siberia, on 6 February 1933.



The lowest average annual temperature of -56.6  was recorded at the Plateau Station, Antarctica.










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Some living things have adapted to survive long periods of time without water. Plants such as cacti have the ability to conserve water. They also minimize water loss as they have no leaves, and photosynthesis takes place in the stem. They have roots which reach deep into the ground for water.




 



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When does the sun stop shining?



The Sun is our nearest star. Stars are massive reactors generating energy in their cores. It is the heat and light from the Sun that makes life on earth possible. The Sun for us is a pretty steady and dependable thing. Whether we can see it or not, we know it is always there, and the answer to this question is – the Sun NEVER stops shining.



As the Earth spins on its axis, the Sun always shines on one side giving us daylight. Another time when the sun is not visible is during a solar eclipse. This is when the Moon blocks the Sun’s light from the Earth, so that the Sun seems to disappear.










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The direction of the Earth’s rotation means that the Sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west. The Earth rotates towards the east, so the Sun first becomes visible from that direction.




 



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When are deserts cold?



About one-third of the world’s land surface is covered by desert. Not all these deserts are hot and arid.



Antarctica is the biggest cold desert in the world. The blanket of two-km-thick ice covering the Tundra, howling winds and freezing temperatures stop plants and land-living animals from surviving. But the ocean around this frozen desert is full of fish and krill, so the coasts are home to millions of birds. Once the Antarctic winter sun sets, it is dark for more than two months.



The Gobi desert in Mongolia and western China is also very cold in the winter, when temperatures drop below freezing. However, the temperature in the summer is hot.










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One of the animals that has survived the Arctic conditions is the polar bear. In very cold climates, animals need excellent insulation to stop their body heat from escaping. This can be in the form of dense hair, fur or feathers, or on the inside, in the form of a thick layer of fat or blubber.




 



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When do we see mirages?



Mirages form in hot deserts where the air is so hot it bends and distorts light rays. The shimmering images that a mirage produces have often tricked travellers in deserts. People think that they can see an oasis or town on the horizon, but in reality it is not there.



Under certain conditions, such as a stretch of pavement or desert air heated by intense sunshine, the air rapidly cools with elevation and therefore increases in density and refractive power. Sunlight reflected downward from the top of an object. When the sky is the object of the mirage, the land is mistaken for a lake or sheet of water.










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About one-third of the world’s land surface is covered by desert. Deserts are found wherever there is too little water to allow much plant life to grow. Salt deserts form when shallow seas and lakes dry up, leaving a deposit of smooth salt.




 



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