Mains Ready By December. Smash Mains & Smash PYQ Admissions Open
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

GS Paper: GS1-14.Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.,

  • Why the Amazon forests are no longer acting as a carbon sink

    The Amazon forests in South America, which are the largest tropical forests in the world, have started emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) instead of absorbing carbon emissions.

    Note the countries bordered by the Amazon forests.

    Amazon forests

    • The Amazon rainforest is a moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America.
    • This basin encompasses 7,000,000 sq km of which 5,500,000 sq km are covered by the rainforest.
    • The majority of the forest is contained within Brazil, with 60% of the rainforest, followed by Peru with 13%, Colombia with 10%, and with minor amounts in Bolivia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela.
    • It represents over half of the planet’s remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most biodiverse tract of tropical rainforest in the world.

    Why in news?

    • A significant amount of deforestation in eastern and southeastern Brazil has turned the forest into a source of CO2 that has the ability to warm the planet.
    • Not only the Amazon rainforests, some forests in Southeast Asia have also turned into carbon sources in the last few years as a result of the formation of plantations and fires.

    What have the researchers found?

    • Over the years as fossil-fuel emissions across the world have increased, the Amazon forests have absorbed CO2 from the atmosphere, helping to moderate the global climate.
    • But researchers are not saying that because of significant levels of deforestation (over the course of 40 years) there has been a long-term decrease in rainfall and increase in temperatures during the dry season.
    • Because of these reasons the eastern Amazon forests are no longer carbon sinks, whereas the more intact and wetter forests in the central and western parts are neither carbon sinks nor are they emitters.
    • Another reason for the eastern region not being able to absorb as much CO2 as it did previously is the conversion of forests into agricultural land.

  • Arctic’s ‘Last Ice Area’

    A part of the Arctic’s ice called the “Last Ice Area”, located north of Greenland, has melted before expected. Scientists had believed this area was strong enough to withstand global warming.

    What is the Last Ice Area?

    • In an article published in 2015, National Geographic noted that climate projections forecast the total disappearance of summer ice in the Arctic by the year 2040.
    • However, the only place that would be able to withstand a warming climate would be this area of ice called the “Last Ice Area”.
    • But while this piece of ice above northern Canada and Greenland was expected to last the longest time, it is now showing signs of melting.
    • WWF claims that WWF-Canada was the first to call this area the‘ Last Ice Area’.

    Why is the area important?

    • The area is important because it was thought to be able to help ice-dependent species as ice in the surrounding areas melted away.
    • The area is used by polar bears to hunt for seals who use ice to build dens for their offspring.
    • Walruses too, use the surface of the ice for food search.

    When did the area start changing?

    • The first sign of change in LIA was observed in 2018.
    • Further, in August last year, sea ice showed its “vulnerability” to the long-term effects of climate change.
    • The ice in LIA has been thinning gradually over the years much like other parts of the Arctic Ocean.

    What are the reasons that explain the change?

    • About 80 per cent of thinning can be attributed to weather-related factors such as winds that break up and move the ice around.
    • The remaining 20 per cent can be attributed to the longer-term thinning of the ice due to global warming.

  • Are solar electricity and electric vehicles really ‘clean’

    It Matters How the Electricity Is Made

    • Among the many drivers of global warming, electricity generation/consumption and transportation of people and goods have been identified as two important drivers which contribute almost 50% to the emissions load.
    • Against this backdrop, two non-food or agriculture technologies that have been projected and implemented as ‘clean alternatives’ to mitigate the global warming phenomenon are:
    1. Solar photovoltaics for electricity generation
    2. Electrification of transport

    Cleanliness of these alternatives

    • There is a general propensity to push these two alternatives in terms of energy and financial return on investments but very little is being said upfront about environmental cost and effect.
    • Both these technologies indeed lead to significantly reduced emissions after they are implemented.
    • The catchphrase here, however, is after!
    • There is little information or discussion in the public domain about upfront environmental cost as it is an inconvenient truth that cannot be wished away.

    Why aren’t they clean

    • Prior to their implementation, a lot of different human-made materials have to be synthesized from naturally occurring raw materials.
    • Then, these have to be put together as a functioning unit or a device for a specific purpose.
    • These processes, unfortunately, are both energy- and emissions-intensive and to realise the extent of these intensities, one needs to go behind the scene.

    Critical analysis

    [1] Solar energy

    • The dominant market player in the field of solar energy conversion to electricity is silicon-based modules occupying more than 90 per cent of the installed capacity.
    • These modules are made of elements as well as inorganic and organic compounds such as silicon, aluminum, copper, silver, glass, epoxy, plastics and are generally installed using steel and concrete.
    • All these materials are human-made and hence need to be synthesized utilizing naturally occurring raw materials.
    • These synthesis processes are energy- and water-consuming and emit greenhouse gasses and pollutants into the atmosphere — dark horses in the chain of realization of solar energy conversion to electricity.
    • Information regarding the environmental costs of these processes is not extensively mentioned in the public domain except for a few occasional studies.
    • These studies indicate that the CO2(e) gasses emission due to solar panel manufacturing alone is about 2,560 kg per kilowatt of installed capacity, which is quite significant.

    [2] Electrification of transportation

    • This involves the substitution of current petrol, diesel and gas combustion-powered engines in automobiles with electric engines.
    • The two main components of such an automobile, therefore, are: the engine which converts electrical energy to propulsion and a battery.
    • The electric engine or motor has been known for a long time but for the above application, it needs to have high energy density along with being compact and lightweight.
    • This can be accomplished by using what is known as ‘rare earth’ magnets which require extensive mining and processing which are environmentally intensive activities.
    • A closer look at the Li-ion battery shows that it requires a 40-kilowatt-hour battery and putting together such a battery results in releasing about 3,000 Kg of CO2(e) gasses into the

    The Indian scenario

    After looking at the behind-the-scenes emissions scenario of the two technologies, let us put Indian goals into perspective with respect to these two technologies.

    Solar energy

    • It was recently announced that India will have an installed capacity of 100 gigawatt (GW) for electricity generation by solar photovoltaics by the year 2022.
    • This will mean gaseous emissions to the tune of 0.256 GTons of CO2(e) for manufacturing of solar panels, which is a staggering amount from this activity alone.
    • It should be noted here that installation of 100 GW electrical power generation plants will actually result in only 25 GW of usable electricity at best, assuming an efficiency of 25 per cent, which itself is quite high.
    • If, on the other hand, we would like to have 100 GW of usable electrical power being generated by solar photovoltaics, it will result in emissions to the tune of 1.024 GTons of CO2(e), which is enormous.
    • This is an upfront loading of the environment with greenhouse gasses gases and excludes the embodied carbon in batteries, inverters, junction boxes, wiring and so on.

    Electric automobiles

    • The Union transportation minister has recently announced that India will become the largest manufacturer of electric vehicles and Li-ion batteries will be manufactured in India within the next six months.
    • To replace about a million conventional fuel-based vehicles (a fraction of the existing vehicles), it will result in upfront loading to the tune of 3 MTons of CO2(e) greenhouse gasses, just due to the battery assembly process alone.
    • The environmental costs due to electric motor manufacturing, mining of raw materials required for the battery and generation of electricity to run these million electric automobiles will be additional.
    • In both cases, the water requirement and particulate emissions have not been included, both of which are strongly linked to ecology and the environment.

    Conclusion

    • It is very clear from the two technologies and the related national goals that huge environmental, human, as well as economic costs, need to be paid upfront to realise these goals.
    • The task becomes even more daunting as the infrastructure required to make either solar grade Si or for that matter put together a million Li-ion batteries is non-existent at present.
    • In light of these facts, it becomes imperative to realign goals and prioritize steps to be taken to alleviate the problem of emissions and the associated global warming.

    Way forward

    • It is important to try various less harmful alternatives.
    • On another note, it is time to legislate so that businesses will also include the costs of atmospheric pollution together with their profit and loss statements.

  • Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition

    At the recently concluded Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April 2021, the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition was announced.

    LEAF Coalition

    • LEAF Coalition is a collective of the US, UK and Norway governments.
    • It is a public-private effort, thus supported by transnational corporations (TNCs) like Unilever plc, Amazon, Nestle, Airbnb etc.
    • It came up with a $1 billion fund plan that shall be offered to countries committed to arresting the decline of their tropical forests by 2030.
    • The LEAF coalition initiative is a step towards concretizing the aims and objectives of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism.

    How does this coalition work?

    • The LEAF Coalition can help reverse the trend by providing unprecedented financial support to tropical forest governments implementing forest protection, contributing to green and resilient growth through sustainable investments.
    • It empowers tropical and subtropical forest countries to move more rapidly towards ending deforestation while supporting them in achieving their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
    • Reductions in emissions are made across entire countries or large states and provinces (“jurisdictions”) through programs that involve all key stakeholders, including Indigenous peoples and local communities.

    Why is it significant?

    • Financial impetus is crucial as it incentivizes developing countries to capture extensive deforestation and provide livelihood opportunities to forest-dependent populations.
    • The initiative comes at a crucial time when the tropics have lost close to 12.2 million hectares (mha) of tree cover year last year according to global estimates released by Global Forest Watch.
    • Most of these lost forests were located in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa and South Asia.
    • India’s estimated loss in 2020 stands at 20.8-kilo hectares due to forest fires

    What lies next?

    • Implementation of the LEAF Coalition will help pump in fresh rigour among developing countries like India, that are reluctant to recognize the contributions of their forest-dwelling populations in mitigating climate change.
    • With the deadline for proposal submission fast approaching, India needs to act swiftly on a revised strategy.
    • Although India has pledged to carry out its REDD+ commitments, it is impossible to do so without seeking knowledge from its forest-dwelling population.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    With reference to ‘Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’, which of the following statements is/ are correct?  (CSP 2013)

    1. It is a global partnership of governments, businesses, civil society and indigenous peoples.
    2. It provides financial aid to universities, individual scientists and institutions involved in scientific forestry research to develop eco-friendly and climate adaptation technologies for sustainable forest management.
    3. It assists the countries in their ‘REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation+)’ efforts by providing them with financial and technical assistance.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Back2Basics: REDD+

    • REDD+ is a mechanism developed by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
    • It creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests by offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.
    • Developing countries would receive results-based payments for results-based actions.
    • REDD+ goes beyond simply deforestation and forest degradation and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
    • It aims to create incentives for communities so that they stop forest degrading practices.

  • What is the ‘Heat Dome’ causing record temperatures in USA?

    A US city has recorded the highest temperatures as high as 46-degree Celsius part due to the historic heatwave that lasted as a result of a phenomenon referred to as a “heat dome”.

    What is a Heat Dome?

    • To understand what causes a heat dome, one should liken the Pacific Ocean to a large swimming pool in which the heater is turned on.
    • Once the heater is on, the portions of the pool close to the heating jets will warm up faster and therefore, the temperature in that area will be higher.
    • In the same way, the western Pacific ocean’s temperatures have increased in the past few decades and are relatively more than the temperature in the eastern Pacific.
    • This strong change in ocean temperature from the west to the east is what a team of scientists believe is the reason for the heat dome.
    • This occurs when the atmosphere traps heat at the surface, which encourages the formation of a heatwave.
    • To compare, the reason that the planet Venus is the hottest in the Solar System is that its thick, dense cloud cover traps the heat at the surface, leading to temperatures as high as 471 degrees Celsius.

    Is this heat wave a result of climate change?

    • It cannot be said for sure if the heatwave is a direct result of global warming.
    • Scientists are usually wary of linking climate change to any contemporary event mainly because of the difficulty in completely ruling out the possibility of the event having been caused by some other reason.
    • Similarly, scientists who have been studying the climate tend to agree that the heat waves occurring today are more likely to be a result of climate change for which humans are responsible.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. Jet streams occur in the Northern Hemisphere only.
    2. Only some cyclones develop an eye.
    3. The temperature inside the eye of a cyclone is nearly 100C lesser than that of the surroundings.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 2 only

    (d) 1 and 3 only

  • [pib] Glacial Lake Atlas of Ganga River Basin

    The Ministry of Jal Shakti has released the Glacial Lake Atlas of Ganga Basin.

    Glacial Lake Atlas

    • The atlas is based on the inventoried glacial lakes in part of the Ganga River basin from its origin to the foothills of the Himalayas covering a catchment area of 2,47,109 sq. km.
    • The study portion of the Ganga River basin covers part of India and the transboundary region.
    • The Atlas is available on National Hydrology Project or NHP-Bhuvan Portal.
    • It can be used by water resources professionals, researchers, disaster management authorities and other stakeholders for managing the glacial lakes as well as to mitigate the possible adverse impacts of GLOF and climate change.

    Expected utility of the atlas is:

    • The atlas provides a comprehensive and systematic glacial lake database for Ganga River basin with size > 0.25 ha
    • In the context of climate change impact analysis, the atlas can be used as reference data for carrying out change analysis, both with respect to historical and future time periods
    • The atlas also provides authentic database for regular or periodic monitoring changes in spatial extent (expansion/shrinkage), and formation of new lakes
    • The atlas can also be used in conjunction with glacier information for their retreat and climate impact studies.
    • The information on glacial lakes like their type, hydrological, topographical, and associated glaciers are useful in identifying the potential critical glacial lakes and consequent GLOF risk.
    • Central and State Disaster Management Authorities can make use of the atlas for disaster mitigation planning and related program.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Consider the following Pairs :

    Glacier: River

    1. Bandarpunch : Yamuna
    2. Bara Shigri : Chenab
    3. Milam : Mandakini
    4. Siachen : Nubra
    5. Zemu : Manas

    Which of the following pairs given above are correctly matched? (CSP 2019)

    (a) 1,2 and 4

    (b) 1,3 and 4

    (c) 2 and 5

    (d) 3 and 5

  • Places in news: Yellowstone National Park

    A new assessment of climate change in the Yellowstone National Park shows that it has lost a quarter of its annual snowfall.

    Yellowstone National Park

    • Yellowstone NP is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho.
    • Yellowstone was the first national park in the US and is also widely held to be the first national park in the world.
    • The park is known for its wildlife and its many geothermal features, especially Old Faithful geyser, one of its most popular.
    • While it represents many types of biomes, the subalpine forest is the most abundant. It is part of the South Central Rockies forests ecoregion.
    • The area also represents the one point where the three major river basins of the western U.S. converge.
    • The rivers of the Snake-Columbia basin, Green-Colorado basin, and Missouri River Basin all begin as snow on the Continental Divide as it weaves across Yellowstone’s peaks and plateaus.

    Impact of climate change

    • Since 1950, average temperatures in the Greater Yellowstone Area have risen 1.3°C and potentially, more importantly, the region has lost a quarter of its annual snowfall.
    • The loss of snow there has repercussions for a vast range of ecosystems and wildlife, as well as cities and farms downstream that rely on rivers that start in these mountains.
    • It is home to the southernmost range of grizzly bear populations in North America and some of the longest intact wildlife migrations, including the seasonal traverses of elk, pronghorn, mule deer and bison.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    River                              Flows into

    1. Mekong –                   Andaman Sea

    1. Thames –                     Irish Sea
    2. Volga –                     Caspian Sea
    3. Zambezi –                  Indian Ocean

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2020)

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 3 and 4 only

    (d) 1,2 and 4 only

  • Retreating Monsoon is a global phenomenon: Study

    Rainfall during retreating monsoon, which parts of South India experience every year, is not a local anomaly and is global in nature and scale, according to a recent study by the University of Sydney.

    What is Retreating Monsoon?

    • In India, retreating monsoon is the withdrawal of south-west monsoon winds from North India.
    • The withdrawal is gradual and takes about three months.
    • With the retreat of the monsoons, the clouds disappear and the sky becomes clear. The day temperature starts falling steeply.
    • Monsoon rains weaken all over India except few southeastern states.
    • It is helpful in Rabi crop cultivation.

    What has the research found?

    • The research has identified regions in the northern hemisphere that receive the bulk of the rainfall during September, October and November and southern hemisphere that receive most of the rainfall from March to August.
    • The discovery that these are part of a global pattern and not one-off occurrences means they can be systematically studied, which will help understand how these communities could be affected by climate change.
    • Peninsular India and parts of South-East Asia are among the eight regions examined in the study.

    Factors affecting the retreat

    • The eight global regions identified by the study that receive most of their rainfall after summer, have several things in common.
    • They lie on the eastern fringes of landmasses and are in close proximity to mountain ranges with modest heights.

    Two predominant factors cause the phenomenon:

    • First, the low mountain range in each region runs from north to south, shielding it from west-bound winds that trigger summer monsoon.
    • After summer, the range aids in the ‘orographic lift’ or rising of east-bound air mass from a lower to higher elevation, forming clouds and resulting in rain.
    • The second factor is atmospheric convection or vertical movement of air.
    • As the earth is heated by the sun, different surfaces absorb different amounts of energy and convection may occur where the surface heats up very rapidly.
    • As the surface warms, it heats the overlying air, which gradually becomes less dense than the surrounding air and begins to rise.
    • This condition is more favorable from September to February because of the role played by sea surface temperature or water temperature.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.The seasonal reversal of winds is the typical characteristic of:

    (a) Equatorial climate

    (b) Mediterranean climate

    (c) Monsoon climate

    (d) All of the above climates

  • NatGeo recognizes ‘Southern Ocean’ as globe’s fifth ocean

    The National Geographic magazine has recognized the ‘Southern Ocean’ as the world’s fifth ocean June 8, 2021 hoping others will soon follow suit.

    Answer this PYQ from CSP 2019 in the comment box:

    Q.The most important fishing grounds of the world are found in the regions where:

    (a) warm and cold atmospheric currents meet

    (b) rivers drain out large amounts of freshwater into the sea

    (c) warm and cold oceanic currents meet

    (d) continental shelf is undulating

    Southern Ocean

    • The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica.
    • As such, it is regarded as the second-smallest of the five principal oceanic divisions: smaller than the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans but larger than the Arctic Ocean.
    • Over the past 30 years, the Southern Ocean has been subject to rapid climate change, which has led to changes in the marine ecosystem.

    What has NatGeo attempted?

    • The magazine says the Southern Ocean is the only ocean ‘to touch three other oceans and to completely embrace a continent rather than being embraced by them’.
    • Its northern limit is a latitude of 60 degrees south.
    • It is also defined by its Antarctic Circumpolar Current that was formed 34 million years ago. The current flows from west to east around Antarctica.
    • The Southern Ocean is home to large populations of whales, penguins, and seals.

    Why such a move?

    • Usually, the magazine has followed the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) on marine names, it said in an article notifying the change.
    • The IHO too had recognized ‘Southern Ocean’ as a distinct body of water surrounding Antarctica in 1937 but had repealed the same in 1953.

  • [pib] Aerosol Nucleation

    Scientists tracing the concentration, size and evolution of aerosol particles smaller than 3 nanometers at an urban location in India have found the frequent formation of sub-3nm aerosol particles in the atmosphere.

    What is Aerosol Nucleation?

    • The formation of small molecular clusters of sub-3nm size is technically called aerosol nucleation, and subsequent growth of these newly formed clusters to the large sizes is called atmospheric new particle formation (NPF).
    • NPF occurs everywhere in the terrestrial troposphere, and therefore it is a large source of aerosol numbers to the atmosphere.
    • Though extensively studied globally using field observations, laboratory experiments and modelling approach, it is largely unexplored in India.

    What has the new research found?

    • The research showed that a pool of sub-3nm particles is often present in the atmosphere, but how fast these clusters grow depends on various factors.
    • The scientists observed that only half of these events showed newly formed molecular clusters growing past 10 nm size.
    • Thus particle size distributions display a conventional banana-shaped aerosol growth, which is indicative of regional NPF event.

    Role of Sulphur

    • The team found a strong positive correlation between sub-3nm particle concentrations and sulphuric acid concentrations, confirming the potential role of sulfuric acid in the formation of sub-3nm particles.
    • While NPF often starts with sulphuric acid in the atmosphere, sulphuric acid alone fails to explain observed particle formation and growth rates in the atmosphere.
    • Other vapours such as ammonia, amines and organics play a crucial role in the growth of newly formed particles.
    • This has critical importance as a major fraction of these newly formed particles can reach to sizes of cloud condensation nuclei where they have climatic impacts.