General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2018

Dec 2018

Oct 27, 2020

Suture Zone of the Himalayas is Tectonically Active

The study conducted by scientists from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology says that the suture zone of the Himalayas has become tectonically active.
The scientists have observed that the thrust is broken, sedimentary beds are tilted. Bedrocks are showing brittle deformation and the rivers are associated with the uplifted terraces. The scientists used the technique of Optically Stimulated Luminescence to make these observations.
The findings say that the Suture Zone of the Himalayas has been active in the recent years of the earth history. This is one of the several reasons for the recent frequent earthquakes in the northern India.
The scientists have estimated it as 78,000 to 58,000 years. According to them, the recent 2010 earthquake of low magnitude 4.0 in the village of Upshi was due to thrust rupture.
Himalayas are made of three thrusts namely Main Central Thrust, Main Frontal Thrust and Main Boundary Thrust. According to the study, Main Frontal Thrusts are locked and the overall deformation is occurring in the Main Frontal Thrust.
The study also says that there is a remote fault zone in the suture zone that is tectonically active.

Oct 26, 2020

Japan Set to Target Zero Emissions by 2050

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is set to bind Japan to a target for carbon neutrality by 2050, a shift in stance that will bring the country in line with the European Union and more than 60 other nations in efforts to combat climate change.
The move, if confirmed, would make the world's third-largest economy the second Asian country after South Korea to aim for the 2050 target that is considered the minimum needed to keep global average temperatures from rising by more than 1.5 Celsius.
Japan is the world's fifth-biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, the heat trapping gas that scientists say is already causing major heatwaves, bigger and more powerful cyclones and periods of drought around the world.

Oct 24, 2020

River Ran Through Thar Desert 172 Thousand Years Ago

Researchers from Anna University, IISER Kolkata and Max Planck Institute of Germany have found that the population of Stone Age lived in a different landscape in Thar Desert.
The researchers have found a lost river in the central Thar Desert. The river had supported human population in the region over 172 thousand years ago. The river would have supported populations of Paleolithic era.
The researchers have made the discovery using satellite images. The images from satellite show strong evidence of dense river channels crossing the desert.
The different phases of the river activity were deciphered by studying deep deposits of sands and gravels that were exposed during a quarrying activity in a nearby village.
The river activity in the region continued between 95,000 to 78,000 years ago. Later, there was only limited evidence for the presence of river. The river activity was at its strongest during weak monsoonal activity in the region. This might have enabled population to inhabit the Thar Desert.
Luni is the only inland drainage river in Rajasthan. The river rises on the western slopes of Aravalli range. It is also known as Sagarmati River. It flows southwestward and across the plains of the region.

Oct 22, 2020

State of Global Air Report 2020

The State of Global Air report 2020 was released by US based institutes. These institutes were Health Effects Institute and Institute for Health metrics and evaluation. The report has been created based on data from ground monitors and satellites
According to the report, India recorded the highest PM 2.5 exposure in the world in 2019. India was followed by Nepal and Niger.
India is one of the top 10 countries that has highest Ozone exposure. With the recorded the highest Ozone exposure followed by Nepal and India. In the past 10 years the Ozone concentration in India has increased by 17 %. Globally Ozone exposure has increased from 47.3 part per billion to 49.5 parts per billion.
India had the highest number of Infant deaths due to air pollution. India was followed by Nigeria, Pakistan and Ethiopia. In 2019, more than hundred and sixteen thousand children died within the month of their birth due to exposure to air pollution.
Around 1.67 million deaths occurred in India due to long term exposure of outdoor pollution. The total death in the world in this category was 6.7 million.
Air pollution is the fourth highest risk in creating death out of 87 health risk factors.
Out of the 20 most populous countries 14 had improved in air quality. However, countries such as India, Niger, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Japan recorded modest increase in pollution levels.

Oct 20, 2020

Paddy Stubble can Decompose in 25 Days with Microbial Solution: ICAR

Initial results from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) about trials on the effectiveness of a microbial consortium to decompose paddy stubble show that the latter can decompose within 25 days amid reports of Delhi-national capital region (NCR) and several other north-western states battling "poor" air quality index (AQI), which has become an annual phenomenon in the past few years around this time of the year.
Trials are in progress in up to 14,000 hectares (ha) of paddy farmland in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Delhi, said the ICAR chief.

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