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Subject: Environment

  • Person in news: Sunderlal Bahuguna

    Veteran environmentalist and architect of the Chipko Movement Sundarlal Bahuguna, 94 has succumbed to COVID.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.In India, the problem of soil erosion is associated with which of the following?

    1. Terrace cultivation
    2. Deforestation
    3. Tropical climate

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Sunderlal Bahuguna

    • Bahuguna was one of the leaders of the Chipko movement, fighting for the preservation of forests in the Himalayas.
    • Chipko means ‘embrace’ or ‘tree huggers’ and this vast movement was a decentralized one with many leaders usually being village women.
    • Often, they would chain themselves to trees so that loggers could not cut down forests.
    • These actions slowed down the destruction, but more importantly, they brought deforestation to the public’s attention.

    His contributions

    • From 1981-1983, Sundarlal Bahuguna led a 5,000-kilometre march across the Himalayas, ending with a meeting with late PM Indira Gandhi, to protect some areas of the Himalayan forests from tree-felling.
    • Sundarlal Bahuguna was also a leader in the movement to oppose the Tehri dam project and in defending India’s rivers.
    • He also worked for women’s rights and the rights of the poor.
    • His methods were Gandhian, making use of peaceful resistance and non-violence.
    • The Chipko Movement received the 1987 Right Livelihood Award, also referred to as the Alternative Nobel Prize.

  • World’s largest iceberg breaks off from Antarctica

    A huge ice block has broken off from western Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg in the world and earning the name A-76.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.On the planet earth, most of the freshwater exists as ice caps and glaciers. Out of the remaining freshwater, the largest proportion:

    (a) is found in the atmosphere as moisture and clouds

    (b) is found in freshwater lakes and rivers

    (c) exists as groundwater

    (d) exists as soil moisture

    A-76 Iceberg

    • A-76 is the latest in a series of large ice blocks to dislodge in a region acutely vulnerable to climate change, although scientists said in this case it appeared to be part of a natural polar cycle.
    • The iceberg, measuring around 170 km long and 25 km wide, with an area of 4,320 sq km is now floating in the Weddell Sea.
    • Slightly larger than the Spanish island of Majorca, A-76 had been monitored by scientists since it began to separate from the Ronne Ice Shelf.
    • It joins the previous world’s largest title holder A-23A — approximately 3,880 sq. km. in size — which has remained in the same area since 1986.
    • A-76 was originally spotted by the British Antarctic Survey and the calving — the term used when an iceberg breaks off — was confirmed using images from the Copernicus satellite.

    Note: An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water.

  • Places in news: Leang Sakapao Caves

    Researchers have reported that Pleistocene-era rock paintings dating back to 45,000-20,000 years ago in cave sites in southern Sulawesi, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, are weathering at an alarming rate.

    Have you ever found the mention of ‘Altamira Caves’ in your NCERTs?

    Leang Sakapao Caves

    • This cave art of Sulawesi is much older than the prehistoric cave art of Europe.
    • The artwork in the area includes what is believed to be the world’s oldest hand stencil (almost 40,000 years ago), created by pressing the hand on a cave wall and spraying wet red-mulberry pigments over it.
    • A nearby cave features the world’s oldest depiction of an animal, a warty pig painted on the wall 45,500 years ago.

    Impact of climate change

    • The artwork made with pigments was decaying due to a process known as haloclasty, which is triggered by the growth of salt crystals due to repeated changes in temperature and humidity.
    • This is caused by alternating wet and dry weather in the region.
    • Indonesia has also experienced several natural disasters in recent years, which have quickened the process of deterioration.

    Note:

    Mark all islands of the Indonesian Archipelago in your Atlas.

  • Cyclone Tauktae

    Cyclone Tauktae (pronounced Tau-Te), classified as a very severe cyclonic storm (VSCS) and developed in the Arabian Sea, is wreaking havoc all across the Indian Coast.

    Don’t you think?

     In recent years, strong cyclones have been developing in the Arabian Sea more frequently than earlier.

    Cyclone Tauktae

    • Tauktae is a currently active and strengthening tropical cyclone threatening the state of Gujarat in India and impacting the states Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.
    • It is the fourth cyclone in consecutive years to have developed in the Arabian Sea, that too in the pre-monsoon period (April to June).
    • All these cyclones since 2018 have been categorised as either ‘Severe Cyclone’ or above.
    • Once Tauktae makes its landfall, three of these will have hit either the Gujarat or Maharashtra coast.
    • After Cyclone Mekanu in 2018, which struck Oman, Cyclone Vayu in 2019 struck Gujarat, followed by Cyclone Nisarga in 2020 that struck Maharashtra.

    What is aiding such rapid intensification?

    • Any tropical cyclone requires energy to stay alive.
    • This energy is typically obtained from the warm water and humid air over the tropical ocean.
    • Currently, seawater up to depths of 50 metres has been very warm, supplying ample energy to enable the intensification of Cyclone Tauktae.
    • The more the heat released through condensation of water vapour, the steeper the drop in pressure.
    • A low-pressure system undergoes multiple stages of intensification to form cyclones.

    Not a rare phenomenon

    • Typically, tropical cyclones in the North Indian Ocean region (the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) develop during the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon (October to December) periods.
    • May-June and October-November are known to produce cyclones of severe intensity that affect the Indian coasts.

    Is the Arabian Sea becoming cyclone-friendly?

    • Annually, five cyclones on average form in the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea combined.
    • Of these, four developments in the Bay of Bengal, which is warmer than the Arabian Sea.
    • In the Arabian Sea, cyclones typically develop over the Lakshadweep area and largely traverse westwards, or away from India’s west coast.
    • However, in recent years, meteorologists have observed that the Arabian Sea, too, has been warming. This is a phenomenon associated with global warming.

    Back2Basics: Tropical Cyclone

    • A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure centre, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rains.
    • Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names, including hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply cyclone.
    • A hurricane is a tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and the northeastern Pacific Ocean, and a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
    • In the south Pacific or the Indian Ocean, comparable storms are referred to simply as “tropical cyclones” or “severe cyclonic storms”.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Tropical Cyclones and India

  • Native Indian turtles face U.S. slider threat across Northeast

    About red-eared slider

    • The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) derives its name from red stripes around the part where its ears would be and from its ability to slide quickly off any surface into the water.
    • Native to the U.S. and northern Mexico, this turtle is an extremely popular pet due to its small size, easy maintenance, and relatively low cost.

    Reports about threat

    • Between August 2018 and June 2019, a team of herpetologists from NGO Help Earth published the finding in ‘Reptiles & Amphibians’, journal of the U.S.-based International Reptile Conservation Foundation in August 2020.
    • But the alarm was raised experts from Mizoram University’s Department of Zoology published another report in the same journal in April this year.

    How is it a threat?

    • They grow fast and virtually leaves nothing for the native species to eat.
    •  People who keep it as pets become sensitive about turtle conservation but endanger the local ecosystem, probably unknowingly, by releasing them in natural water bodies after they outgrow an aquarium, tank or pool at home.
    • Much like the Burmese python that went to the U.S. as a pet to damage the South Florida Everglades ecosystem, the red-eared slider has already affected States such as Karnataka and Gujarat, where it has been found in 33 natural water bodies.
    • Preventing this invasive species from overtaking the Brahmaputra and other river ecosystems in the Northeast is crucial because the Northeast is home to more than 72% of the turtle and tortoise species in the country, all of them very rare.

    Way forward

    • Although the red-eared slider is traded legally, the time has come for the government to come up with regulations against keeping invasive as pets.
    • There is a need to create awareness among pet traders for maintaining a database of red-eared slider buyers.
    • They can be contacted to hand over the turtles to the repository insulated from any wetland or natural water body.

  • Environment Appraisal Committee allows Great Nicobar plan to advance

    About the Great Nicobar plan

    • The Environment Appraisal Committee (EAC) – Infrastructure I of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has flagged serious concerns about NITI Aayog’s ambitious project for Great Nicobar Island.
    • The EAC was responding to ‘pre-feasibility’ report, ‘Holistic Development of Great Nicobar Island at Andaman and Nicobar Islands’.
    • The report is prepared for the NITI Aayog by the Gurugram-based consulting agency.
    • The proposal includes an international container transshipment terminal, a greenfield international airport, a power plant and a township complex spread over 166 sq. km. and is estimated to cost â‚č75,000 crore.
    • The committee has, however, removed the first hurdle faced by the project.
    • It has recommended it “for grant of terms of reference (TOR)” for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies, which in the first instance will include baseline studies over three months.

    What the EAC said

    • The committee noted that the site selection for the port had been done mainly on technical and financial criteria, ignoring the environmental aspects.
    • It has now asked for an independent study/ evaluation for the suitability of the proposed port site with specific focus on Leatherback Turtle, Nicobar Magapode and Dugong.
    • It highlighted the need for an independent assessment of terrestrial and marine biodiversity, a study on the impact of dredging, reclamation and port operations, including oil spills.
    • It has also highlighted the need for studies of alternative sites for the port with a focus on environmental and ecological impact,  analysis of risk-handling capabilities, a seismic and tsunami hazard map, a disaster management plan, an assessment of the cumulative impact, and a hydro-geological study to assess impact on round and surface water regimes.
    • The committee has also asked for details of the corporate environment policy of the implementing agency — whether the company has an environment policy, a prescribed standard operating procedure to deal with environmental and forest violations, and a compliance management system.

  • Climate change causing a shift in Earth’s axis, finds new study

    About the study

    • A study is published in Geophysical Research Letters of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).
    • The study has added yet another impact of climate change on the earth – marked shifts in the axis along which the Earth rotates.
    • It says that due to the significant melting of glaciers because of global temperature rise, our planet’s axis of rotation has been moving more than usual since the 1990s.

    How the earth’s axis shifts

    • The Earth’s axis of rotation is the line along which it spins around itself as it revolves around the Sun.
    • The points on which the axis intersects the planet’s surface are the geographical north and south poles.
    • The location of the poles is not fixed, however, as the axis moves due to changes in how the Earth’s mass is distributed around the planet.
    • Thus, the poles move when the axis moves, and the movement is called “polar motion”.
    • Generally, polar motion is caused by changes in the hydrosphere, atmosphere, oceans, or solid Earth.
    • But now, climate change is adding to the degree with which the poles wander.

    What the study says

    • As per the study, the north pole has shifted in a new eastward direction since the 1990s, because of changes in the hydrosphere (meaning the way in which water is stored on Earth).
    • From 1995 to 2020, the average speed of drift was 17 times faster than from 1981 to 1995.
    • The faster ice melting under global warming was the most likely cause of the directional change of the polar drift in the 1990s, the study says.
    • The other possible causes are terrestrial water storage change in non‐glacial regions due to climate change and unsustainable consumption of groundwater.

  • Melting of Glaciers

    Glaciers shrinking faster than before

    • A new study by ETH Zurich and University of Toulouse researchers finds that the world’s glaciers are shrinking at a faster rate than before.
    •  If the trend continues this will put the densely-populated parts of Asia at risk of flood and water shortages.
    • The study found the world’s ice fields lost 298 gigatons of ice per year from 2015 to 2019, a 30% increase in the rate of retreat compared with the previous five years.
    • Glaciers in Alaska, the Alps and Iceland are among those disappearing at the fastest pace.
    • The scientists used images from a special camera aboard NASA’s Terra satellite, which has circled the Earth every 100 minutes since its launch in 1999.

    Impact

    • The situation in the Himalayas is particularly worrying.
    • Swathes of India and Bangladesh could face water stress during dry periods when major rivers like the Ganges and Indus are mainly fed by glacial runoff.
    • Glaciers typically accumulate ice in the winter, but a warming climate means summer melting has outstripped those gains and caused a net loss of ice in mountain regions.
    • The melting in turn contributes to global warming and indirectly accelerates sea level rise, raising the risk of flooding faced by coastal communities.

  • Rare white-bellied heron spotted in Arunachal Pradesh

    About the bird

    • The white-bellied heron is categorised as ‘critically endangered’ in International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Data Book.
    • It is listed in Schedule IV in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
    • It is one of the rarest birds in the world and is found only in Bhutan, Myanmar and the Namdapha Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh.
    • It had also been recorded in the adjacent Kamlang Tiger Reserve in Lohit district in camera trap images.

    Significance of recent sighting

    • The recent sighting at a height of 1,200 metres above sea level is a first at such a higher elevation in India.
    • The presence of nesting sites within this area is a positive sign for the future habitat as the breeding season of the white-bellied heron starts in February and lasts till June.
    • It is great news that the critically endangered bird is establishing new habitat beyond its traditional range.

  • Delhi’s air quality deteriorates, again

    Air quality to oscillate between poor to very poor

    • Delhi’s air quality deteriorated from ‘moderate’ to ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ on April 29.
    • It will be oscillating between ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ for the next three days, according to the SAFAR-System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research.
    • Delhi’s air typically worsens in October-November and improves by March-April.

    What is the cause

    • Current weather conditions are not unfavourable, unlike in winter.
    • Hence, apart from local emissions, the deterioration in air quality is being attributed to an increase in fire counts, mostly due to burning of wheat crop stubble in northern India.
    • Deteriorating air quality is worrying amid an increasing number of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and deaths.

    Quality classification

    • An AQI between 0-50 is considered ‘good.
    • An AQI between 51-100 is considered satisfactory.
    • An AQI between 101-200 is considered moderate.
    • An AQI between 201-300 is considered poor.
    • An AQI between 301-400 is considered very poor.
    • An AQI between 401-500 is considered severe.
    • Above 500 is the ‘severe-plus’ or ‘emergency’ category.