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Subject: Geography

  • Compensation for Covid deaths

    The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict seeking compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of those who have died of Covid-19 or related complications.  The Centre has stated that state governments cannot afford to pay this, and had argued in favor of a broader approach including health interventions.

    Provisions for Compensation

    • Last year, the Centre declared Covid-19 as a notified disaster under the Disaster Management Act.
    • Section 12(iii) of the Act says the National Authority shall recommend guidelines for the minimum standards of relief to be provided to persons affected by disaster.
    • It includes “ex gratia assistance on account of loss of life as also assistance on account of damage to houses and for restoration of means of livelihood”.
    • The Centre revises this amount from time to time.

    What is the latest amount?

    • On April 8, 2015, the Disaster Management Division of the Home Ministry wrote to all state governments and attached a revised list of “norms of assistance”.
    • Under “ex gratia payment to families of deceased persons”, it specified: Rs 4 lakh per deceased person including those involved in relief operations or associated in preparedness activities.
    • This is subjected to certification regarding cause of death from appropriate authority.

    So, what about compensation for Covid?

    • Last year the Home Ministry wrote to state governments that the central government has decided to treat it (Covid-19) as a notified disaster for the purpose of providing assistance under SDRF.
    • It attached a partially modified list of items and norms of assistance.
    • It did not specify payment of ex gratia to families of deceased.
    • Some states have decided to pay, but not for all deaths.

    How has the government responded to the petition?

    • The Centre has submitted that ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh is beyond the affordability of state governments.
    • It argued that if Rs 4 lakh is paid to the kin of each, it “may possibly” consume the entire amount of the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF).
    • This would leave states with insufficient funds for organizing a response to the pandemic, or to take care of other disasters.
    • The centre argued that the term ex gratia itself means the amount is not based on legal entitlement.

    Way ahead

    • A broader approach, which involves health interventions, social protection, and economic recovery for the affected communities would be a more prudent, responsible, and sustainable approach.

  • [pib] Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM)

    The Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM) continues to pass through Diu, Surat, Nandurbar, Bhopal, Nowgong, Hamirpur, Barabanki, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Ambala & Amritsar.

    Try this question from CS Mains 2017:

    Q.What characteristics can be assigned to monsoon climate that succeeds in feeding more than 50 percent of the won population residing in Monsoon Asia?

    What is the Northern Limit of Monsoon?

    • NLM, is the northernmost boundary of India up to which monsoon rains have advanced on any given day.
    • So, it is a way of tracking the progress of monsoon clouds as they move over India’s landmass.
    • The India Meteorological Department (IMD) adds that the monsoon “advances northwards, usually in surges, and covers the entire country around July 15″.

    What are the Eastern and Western Arms?

    • It is the mountains of southern India that split the south-western winds, giving the Indian monsoon its ‘two arms.
    • The western arm of the monsoon is deflected northwards, by the Western Ghats, to (Mumbai) and then on to Pakistan.
    • The eastern arm travels up through the Bay of Bengal to (Kolkata) and Assam and is deflected north-westwards by the Himalayas.

    Also refer this link:

    Explain the formation of Indian monsoons. Highlight the link between monsoons and India’s cropping pattern. (15 marks)

  • Anti-hail guns to mitigate hailstorms crop damage

    To help out horticulturists who face crop damage due to hailstorms, the Himachal Pradesh government will be testing the use of indigenously developed ‘anti-hail guns’.

    What are anti-hail guns?

    • An anti-hail gun is a machine that generates shock waves to disrupt the growth of hailstones in clouds, according to its makers.
    • It comprises a tall, fixed structure somewhat resembling an inverted tower, several metres high, with a long and narrow cone opening towards the sky.
    • The gun is “fired” by feeding an explosive mixture of acetylene gas and air into its lower chamber, which releases a shock wave (waves that travel faster than the speed of sound, such as those produced by supersonic aircraft).
    • These shock waves supposedly stop water droplets in clouds from turning into hailstones, so that they fall simply as raindrops.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.During a thunderstorm, the thunder in the skies is produced by the

    1. meeting of cumulonimbus clouds in the sky
    2. lightning that separates the nimbus clouds
    3. violent upward movement of air and water particles

    Select the correct option using the codes given below:

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) None of the above

    How do they ‘prevent’ a hailstorm?

    • It is this hail formation process that the shock waves from anti-hail guns try to disrupt in a radius of 500 meters, so that the water droplets fall down before they can be lifted by the updrafts.
    • The machine is repeatedly fired every few seconds during an approaching thunderstorm.
    • However, the effectiveness of anti-hail guns has remained a contentious issue.

    How do Hailstorms occur?

    • Hail is produced by cumulonimbus clouds, which are generally large and dark and may cause thunder and lightning.
    • In such clouds, winds can blow up the water droplets to heights where they freeze into ice.
    • The frozen droplets begin to fall but are soon pushed back up by the winds and more droplets freeze onto them, resulting in multiple layers of ice on the hailstones.
    • This fall and rise is repeated several times, till the hailstones become too heavy and fall down.

  • Monsoon onset over Kerala delayed: IMD

    • The monsoon’s arrival over Kerala has been delayed to June 3, according to an update by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
    • Private weather forecast agency, Skymet, however, said that the monsoon had arrived.
    • This was because two of the three criteria — as defined by the IMD — had been met.
    • Currently, IMD’s own data indicated that except for the OLR, the other criteria were met. Thus, there is an element of subjectivity in arrival.

    What are those criterias defined by IMD?

    1. Rain-bearing westerlies being at a minimum depth and speed;
    2. At least 60% of the available 14 stations in Kerala and coastal Karnataka, reporting rainfall of 2.5 mm or more for two consecutive days after May 10;
    3. A certain degree of clouding, indicated by a parameter called ‘outgoing long wave radiation’ (OLR), being below 200 W/square meter.

    What is meant by ‘Outgoing Long Wave Radiation’ (OLR)?

    • Outgoing Long-wave Radiation (OLR) is electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths from 3–100 μm emitted from Earth and its atmosphere out to space in the form of thermal radiation.
    • It is also referred to as up-welling long-wave radiation and terrestrial long-wave flux, among others.
    • The flux of energy transported by outgoing long-wave radiation is measured in W/m.
    • In the Earth’s climate system, long-wave radiation involves processes of absorption, scattering, and emissions from atmospheric gases, aerosols, clouds and the surface.
    • Over 99% of outgoing long-wave radiation has wavelengths between 4 μm and 100 μm, in the thermal infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

    Factors responsible for south-west monsoon formation:

    1. Intense heating of Tibetan plateau during summer months.
    2. Permanent high pressure cell in the South Indian Ocean (east to north-east of Madagascar in summer).

    Factors that influence the onset of south-west monsoons:

    1. Above points +
    2. Subtropical Jet Stream (STJ).
    3. Tropical Easterly Jet (African Easterly Jet).
    4. Inter Tropical Convergence Zone.

    Factors that influence the intensity of south-west monsoons:

    1. Strengths of Low pressure over Tibet and high pressure over southern Indian Ocean.
    2. Somali Jet (Findlater Jet).
    3. Somali Current (Findlater Current).
    4. Indian Ocean branch of Walker Cell.
    5. Indian Ocean Dipole.

    Factors responsible for north-east monsoon formation:

    1. Formation and strengthening of high pressure cells over Tibetan plateau and Siberian Plateau in winter.
    2. Westward migration and subsequent weakening of high pressure cell in the Southern Indian Ocean.
    3. Migration of ITCZ to the south of India.

  • Data central to effective climate action

    Article highlights the importance of data driven approach in dealing with the future disruptions and suggests the reforms in the system.

    Managing the disruption through data-driven tools

    • The data-driven tools were used for managing pandemic induced disruption.
    • This offers an opportunity to restructure the data ecosystem for managing the disruptions of the future that are more likely to be driven by climate change.

    Policies for data sharing in India

    • The National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), 2012 recognises the importance of data.
    • NDSAP recognised the importance of data in improving decision making, meeting the needs of civil society and generating revenue by permitting access to datasets.
    • In 2012, a government portal, data.gov.in was also established as a unified platform to enable sharing of data available with ministries, departments and other public agencies for wider public use.
    • The sharing of data in this platform, apart from others, is further streamlined through the nodality of Chief Data Officer-CDO in respective ministries.

    Challenges

    • Challenge remains about whether the collected data is usable, accessible and if it captures the details that end users are interested in.
    • Even after years of the portal’s operationalisation, there are multiple data-sets that aren’t updated regularly.
    • Though NITI Aayog has brought indices to track climate actions such as under SDG-13 of SDG India Index, but it remains vague in tracking improvements in climate resilience, by solely using number of lives lost due to extreme weather events.

    Reforms needed in data-ecosystem

    • 1) Complete dataset: There is a need to collect complete datasets required to assess climate risks and vulnerabilities.
    • This involves collection of datasets that are sex-disaggregated and geo-spatial and collect more nuanced dimensions like disaster response capacities.
    • Targeted research: There is a requirement of targeted research for designing better questionnaires and identifying new nodes for data collection.
    • 2) Reliability of data: The data collected has to be made reliable and usable through an accountability framework.
    • Legislation: A separate legislation in this regard would bring in the much-needed consistency in periodic collection of identified datasets and their proactive sharing in designated platforms.
    • 3) Centralisation of data: There is a need for centralising public data that currently exists with different departments and public institutions.
    • The National Data Governance Centre was planned to be set up in 2019 for precisely this objective.
    • But it is yet to be operationalised.

    Consider the question “How data driven approach could help India deal with the future disruptions that are more likely to be from climate change? Suggest the reforms needed in India’s data ecosystem.”

    Conclusion

    It is time that India places itself on track to address the issues around the known unknowns of climate change through data driven apporach.

    Source:

    https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/data-central-to-effective-climate-action/2258964/

  • What is a Supermoon?

    The Moon will have the nearest approach to Earth on May 26, and therefore will appear to be the closest and largest Full Moon or “supermoon” of 2021.

    Tap here to read more about Solar and Lunar Eclipses

    What is a Supermoon?

    • A supermoon occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest to the Earth at the same time that the Moon is full.
    • As the Moon orbits the Earth, there is a point of time when the distance between the two is the least (called the perigee when the average distance is about 360,000 km from the Earth).
    • Also, there is a point of time when the distance is the most (called the apogee when the distance is about 405,000 km from the Earth).
    • Now, when a full moon appears at the point when the distance between the Earth and the Moon is the least, not only does it appear to be brighter but it is also larger than a regular full moon.
    • According to NASA, the term supermoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.
    • In a typical year, there may be two to four full supermoons and two to four new supermoons in a row.

    What is happening today?

    • Two celestial events will take place at the same time.
    • One is the supermoon and the other is a total lunar eclipse, which is when the Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth.
    • Because of the total lunar eclipse, the moon will also appear to be red.
    • This is because the Earth will block some of the light from the Sun from reaching the moon.
    • The Earth’s atmosphere filters the light, it will soften “the edge of our planet’s shadow” “giving the Moon a deep, rosy glow.”

  • Eruption of Mount Nyiragongo

    Thousands have fled a volcanic eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo from Mount Nyiragongo on the outskirts of Goma City.

    These were some volcanoes in news this year:

    Mount Vesuvius, Taal Volcano, La Soufriere

    Mount Nyiragongo

    • Mount Nyiragongo is an active stratovolcano with an elevation of 3,470 m (11,385 ft) in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine Rift.
    • The main crater is about 2km wide and usually contains a lava lake.
    • The crater presently has two distinct cooled lava benches within the crater walls.
    • It is one of the 16 Decade Volcanoes.
    • Nyiragongo’s lava lake has at times been the most voluminous known lava lake in recent history. The depth of the lava lake varies considerably.
    • Nyiragongo and nearby Nyamuragira are together responsible for 40 percent of Africa’s historical volcanic eruptions.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Which of the following adds/add carbon dioxide to the carbon cycle on the planet Earth?

    1. Volcanic action
    2. Respiration
    3. Photosynthesis
    4. Decay of organic matter

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 3 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1, 2 and 4 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

    What are Decade Volcanoes?

    • The Decade Volcanoes are 16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI).
    • They are considered worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to densely populated areas.
    • They are named Decade Volcanoes because the project was initiated in the 1990s as part of the United Nations-sponsored International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction.

  • 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

  • Major seismic hazard along Assam faultline

    Location of epicentre

    • An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale hit Assam around 8 am on Wednesday.
    • The primary earthquake had its epicentre at latitude 26.690 N and longitude 92.360 E, about 80 km northeast of Guwahati, and a focal depth of 17 km, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said.

    The faultline

    • The preliminary analysis shows that the events are located near to Kopili Fault closer to Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT).
    • The Kopili Fault is a 300-km northwest-southeast trending fault from the Bhutan Himalaya to the Burmese arc.
    • The fault is a fracture along which the blocks of crust on either side have moved relative to one another parallel to the fracture.
    • The area is seismically very active falling in the highest Seismic Hazard zone V associated with collisional tectonics where Indian plate sub-ducts beneath the Eurasian Plate the NCS report said.
    • HFT, also known as the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT), is a geological fault along the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

    Need for earthquake preparedness

    • The Northeast is located in the highest seismological zone, so we must have constant earthquake preparedness at all levels.
    • Continuous tectonic stress keeps building up particularly along the faultlines.
    • Today’s earthquake was an instance of accumulated stress release — probably, stress was constrained for a fairly long time at this epicentre, and hence the release was of relatively higher intensity.

  • [pib] Satellite-based real-time monitoring of Himalayan glacial catchments

    Melting of glaciers in Himalaya and GLOFs

    • The Himalayan region is home to the largest ice mass outside of the planet’s Polar Regions.
    • The glaciers in the Himalayas are melting at a faster rate creating new lakes and expanding the existing ones.
    • The rising temperatures and extreme precipitation events make the region increasingly prone to a variety of natural hazards, including devastating glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs).
    • GLOFs occur when either a natural dam containing a glacial lake bursts or when the lake’s level suddenly increases and overflows its banks, leading to catastrophic downstream destruction.
    • However, the remote, challenging Himalayan terrain and the overall lack of cellular connectivity throughout the region have made the development of early flood warning systems virtually impossible.
    • In their recent work the Scientists point out that the surge of meltwater in mountain streams is most commonly caused by cloud-burst events during the monsoon season (June–July–August) time frame.

    Satelitte-based real-time monitoring

    • Satellite-based real-time monitoring of Himalayan glacial catchments would improve understanding of flood risk in the region and help inform an early flood warning system that could help curb disaster and save human lives, says a recent study.
    • This should be the future strategy to reduce loss of human lives during glacial lake outburst floods (GLOF), said a study carried out by scientists from IIT Kanpur.
    • The IIT Kanpur team suggests that efforts to help mitigate GLOF events in the future should include the creation of a network of satellite-based monitoring stations that could provide in situ and real-time data on GLOF risk.
    • The integration of monitoring devices with satellite networks will not only provide telemetry support in remote locations that lack complete cellular connectivity but will also provide greater connectivity in coverage in the cellular dead zones in extreme topographies such as valleys, cliffs, and steep slopes.