Category Social Sciences

WHAT IS WATER SPOUT?

A waterspout is a column of cloud-filled wind rotating over a body of water. Despite its name, a waterspout is not filled with water from the ocean or lake. A waterspout descends from a cumulus cloud. It does not “spout” from the water. The water inside a waterspout is formed by condensation in the cloud. There are two major types of waterspouts: tornadic waterspouts and fair-weather waterspouts. Tornadic waterspouts get their start as true tornadoes. Influenced by winds associated with severe thunderstorms, air rises and rotates on a vertical axis. Tornadic waterspouts are the most powerful and destructive type of waterspout. Fair-weather waterspouts, however, are much more common. Fair-weather waterspouts are rarely dangerous. The clouds from which they descend are not fast-moving, so fair-weather waterspouts are often static. Fair-weather waterspouts are associated with developing storm systems, but not storms themselves. Both tornadic and fair-weather waterspouts require high levels of humidity and a relatively warm water temperature compared to the overlying air. Waterspouts are most common in tropical and subtropical waters, such as the Florida Keys, the islands of Greece, and off the east coast of Australia.

There are five stages of waterspout formation:

  1. Dark spot. The surface of the water takes on a dark appearance where the vortex, or column of rotating wind, reaches it.
  2.  Spiral pattern. Light and dark bands spiral out from the dark spot.
  3.  Spray ring. A swirling ring of sea spray called a cascade forms around the dark spot. It appears to have an eye at the center, similar to that seen in a hurricane.
  4.  Mature vortex. The waterspout is now at its most intense stage, visible from the surface of the water to the clouds overhead. It appears to have a hollow funnel and may be surrounded by vapor.
  5. Decay. When the flow of warm air into the vortex weakens, the waterspout collapses. The average spout is around 50 meters (165 feet) in diameter, with wind speeds of 80 kilometers per hour (50 miles per hour), corresponding to the weakest types of tornadoes on land. The largest waterspouts can have diameters of 100 meters (330 feet) and last for up to one hour, though the average lifetime is just 5 to 10 minutes. The National Weather Service recognizes the dangers posed by waterspouts as part of its “severe local storm” warning list. Waterspouts not only put swimmers and boaters at risk, they also pose a threat to aircraft. Helicopters flying near waterspouts can be damaged and thrown off-course by such intense winds.

Credit : National geographic society 

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT’S THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD MONSOON?

The word monsoon comes from the arabic word ‘mausim’ which means season.
In the context of india, monsoon refers to indian-asian monsoon which brings heavy rains during the summer months over widespread areas of india and southeast asia. These rains often lead to major flooding. On the other hand, they are vital to agriculture and the economy. As a lot of the world’s population lives in this region, a delayed or reduced rainfall season can have a devastating effect on the livelihood of a significant fraction of the world’s population.
Indian monsoon blows from the northeast during cooler months and reverses direction to blow from the southwest during the warmest months of the year in order to bring about crucial rains in the month of june and july.

There are three distinct areas of relative upper tropospheric warmth like above the southern bay of bengal, above the plateau of tibet, and across the trunks of the various peninsulas which are relatively dry during this time. They combine to form a vast heat-source region and the relatively warm area above the southern bay of bengal occurs mostly at the level of 500–100-millibar.

Credit : Vedantu

Picture Credit : Google 

WHICH ARE THE FABULOUS FORTS IN INDIA?

Standing tall as proof of a glorious past and skilled craftsmanship, here are some majestic forts that are steeped in historical and architectural importance.

AMER FORT, RAJASTHAN: Located in Amber, 11 kilometres north-east of Jaipur, the Amer or Amber Fort was the capital of the Kachhawa Rajputs before Jaipur was built. Built by Raja Man Singh sometime in the 17th Century, the most beautiful palace within the Fort is the Sheesh Mahal or the Palace of Mirrors.

AGRA FORT, UTTAR PRADESH: Constructed during 1565-1573 for Mughal Emperor Akbar, this magnificent fort was also known as the “Lal-Qila”, “Fort Rouge” or “Qila-i-Akbari”. It is among the first sites to be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

GWALIOR FORT, MADHYA PRADESH: One of India’s oldest, it is located atop the hilltop in Gwalior. During the Mughal rule, it was used as a prison and was continuously occupied by one ruler or the other until the British rule. A stone inscription found inside the temple is proof of the second oldest record of the numeric zero (0) symbol.

KANGRA FORT, HIMACHAL PRADESH: Nestled in the hills of Kangra, around 20 kilometres from Dharamshala, in Himachal Pradesh, this fort was built by the Kangra State’s Rajput family. The Fort, which has stood witness to many rulers, including the British, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1905. However, it still remains a popular tourist destination.

CHITRADURGA FORT, KARNATAKA:  It was built in stages between the 11th and 13th centuries by rulers, including the Chalukyas and Hoysalas, and later, the Nayakas of Chitradurga of the Vijayanagar Empire. It was taken by Hyder Ali in 1779, captured by British forces, only to be later reclaimed by Hyder Ali’s son, Tipu Sultan.

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT IS SOIL DEGRADATION ?

Soil degradation refers to the decline of soil quality due to its improper use, usually for agriculture, industry, and urban activity. Degraded soil can have lower amount of fertility and organic matter, and be high in salinity, acidity, and toxicity. Since soil is inevitable for all life forms on our planet, the continuous decline in soil quality can have disastrous results such as desertification, flooding, landslides, loss of wildlife, etc.

Various Causes of Soil Degradation

1. Physical Factors

There are several physical factors contributing to soil degradation distinguished by the manners in which they change the natural composition and structure of the soil. Rainfall, surface runoff, floods, wind erosion, tillage, and mass movements result in the loss of fertile top spoil thereby declining soil quality.

2. Biological Factors

Biological factors refer to the human and plant activities that tend to reduce the quality of the soil. Some bacteria and fungi overgrowth in an area can highly impact the microbial activity of the soil through biochemical reactions, which reduces crop yield and the suitability of soil productivity capacity.

Human activities such as poor farming practices may also deplete soil nutrients thus diminishing soil fertility. The biological factors affect mainly lessens the microbial activity of the soil.

3. Chemical Factors

The reduction of soil nutrients because of alkalinity or acidity or waterlogging are all categorized under the chemical components of soil degradation. In the broadest sense, it comprises alterations in the soil’s chemical property that determine nutrient availability.

4. Deforestation

Deforestation causes soil degradation on the account of exposing soil minerals by removing trees and crop cover, which support the availability of humus and litter layers on the surface of the soil.

5. Misuse or excess use of fertilizers

The excessive use and the misuse of pesticides and chemical fertilizers kill organisms that assist in binding the soil together. Most agricultural practices involving the use of fertilizers and pesticides often entail misuse or excessive application, thereby contributing to the killing of soil’s beneficial bacteria and other micro-organisms that help in soil formation.

6. Industrial and Mining activities

Soil is chiefly polluted by industrial and mining activities. As an example, mining destroys crop cover and releases a myriad of toxic chemicals such as mercury into the soil thereby poisoning it and rendering it unproductive for any other purpose.

7. Improper cultivation practices

There are certain agricultural practices that are environmentally unsustainable and at the same time, they are the single biggest contributor to the worldwide increase in soil quality decline. The tillage on agricultural lands is one of the main factors since it breaks up the soil into finer particles, which increase erosion rates.

8. Urbanization

Urbanization has major implications on the soil degradation process. Foremost of all, it denudates the soil’s vegetation cover, compacts soil during construction, and alters the drainage pattern.

9. Overgrazing

The rates of soil erosion and the loss of soil nutrients, as well as the topsoil, are highly contributed by overgrazing. Overgrazing destroys surface crop cover and breaks down soil particles, increasing the rates of soil erosion. As a result, soil quality and agricultural productivity are greatly affected.

Fatal Effects of Soil Degradation

1. Land degradation

Soil quality decline is one of the main causes of land degradation and is considered to be responsible for 84% of the ever-diminishing acreage. Year after year, huge acres of land lost due to soil erosion, contamination, and pollution.

2. Drought and aridity

Drought and aridity are problems highly influenced and amplified by soil degradation. As much as it’s a concern associated with natural environments in arid and semi-arid areas, the UN recognizes the fact that drought and aridity are anthropogenic induced factors especially as an outcome of soil degradation.

3. Loss of arable land

Because soil degradation contributes to land degradation, it also means that it creates a significant loss of arable land. As stated earlier, about 40% of the world’s agricultural land is lost on the account of soil quality depreciation caused by agrochemicals and soil erosion.

4. Increased flooding

The land is commonly altered from its natural landscape when it rids its physical composition from soil degradation. For this reason, the transformed land is unable to soak up water, making flooding more frequent.

5. Pollution and clogging of waterways

Most of the soil eroded from the land together with the chemical fertilizers and pesticides utilized in agricultural fields are discharged into waterways and streams. With time, the sedimentation process can clog waterways, resulting in water scarcity.

SOLUTIONS : There are many solutions to soil degradation, which include: practicing responsible farming techniques, active forestation, as well as preventing soil erosion and pollution. In addition, soil degradation can be avoided through responsible developments in urban and residential environments.

WHAT IS PERMAFROST AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?

Permafrost is permanently frozen ground comprising soil, rocks, and sand, and often spans the Arctic regions. Found both on land and below the ocean floor, it covers vast expanses, and is a habitat for several animals and plants. Melting permafrost is a concern because it releases vast amounts of trapped greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

What is Permafrost Made Of?

Permafrost is made of a combination of soil, rocks and sand that are held together by ice. The soil and ice in permafrost stay frozen all year long.

Near the surface, permafrost soils also contain large quantities of organic carbon—a material leftover from dead plants that couldn’t decompose, or rot away, due to the cold. Lower permafrost layers contain soils made mostly of minerals.

A layer of soil on top of permafrost does not stay frozen all year. This layer, called the active layer, thaws during the warm summer months and freezes again in the fall. In colder regions, the ground rarely thaws—even in the summer. There, the active layer is very thin—only 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters). In warmer permafrost regions, the active layer can be several meters thick.

How Does Climate Change Affect Permafrost?

As Earth’s climate warms, the permafrost is thawing. That means the ice inside the permafrost melts, leaving behind water and soil.

Thawing permafrost can have dramatic impacts on our planet and the things living on it. For example:

  1. Many northern villages are built on permafrost. When permafrost is frozen, it’s harder than concrete. However, thawing permafrost can destroy houses, roads and other infrastructure.
  2. When permafrost is frozen, plant material in the soil—called organic carbon—can’t decompose, or rot away. As permafrost thaws, microbes begin decomposing this material. This process releases greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane to the atmosphere.
  3. When permafrost thaws, so do ancient bacteria and viruses in the ice and soil. These newly-unfrozen microbes could make humans and animals very sick. Scientists have discovered microbes more than 400,000 years old in thawed permafrost.
  4. Because of these dangers, scientists are closely monitoring Earth’s permafrost. Scientists use satellite observations from space to look at large regions of permafrost that would be difficult to study from the ground.

Credit : Climate kids

Picture Credit : Google 

WHAT IS OZONE LAYER AND ITS IMPORTANCE?

About 15 to 35 km above the Earth’s surface is gas called Ozone that surrounds the planet. This layer shields the Earth from the UV radiation from the sun However, pollution has caused this layer to thin exposing life on the planet to harmful radiation. The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer (which was adopted on September 15, 1987) is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer from depletion by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.

How is Ozone created?

When the sun’s rays split oxygen molecules into single atoms, Ozone is created in the atmosphere. These single atoms combine with nearby oxygen to form a three-oxygen molecule — Ozone.

Who discovered the Ozone Layer?

The Ozone Layer was discovered by the French physicists Charles Fabry and Henri Buisson in 1913.

Why is Ozone Layer important?

Ozone protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays from the Sun. Without the Ozone layer in the atmosphere, life on Earth would be very difficult. Plants cannot live and grow in heavy ultraviolet radiation, nor can the planktons that serve as food for most of the ocean life. With a weakening of the Ozone Layer shield, humans would be more susceptible to skin cancer, cataracts and impaired immune systems.

Is Ozone harmful?

Ozone can both protect and harm the Earth — it all depends on where it resides. For instance, if Ozone is present in the stratosphere of the atmosphere, it will act as a shield. However, if it is in the troposphere (about 10 km from the Earth’s surface), Ozone is harmful. It is a pollutant that can cause damage to lung tissues and plants. Hence, an upset in the ozone balance can have serious consequences.

Disruption of Ozone Balance in the atmosphere

Since the 1970s scientists have observed human activities to be disrupting the ozone balance. Production of chlorine-containing chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), have added to depletion of the Ozone Layer.

What is ‘Ozone Layer depletion’?

Chemicals containing chlorine and bromine atoms are released in the atmosphere through human activities. These chemicals combine with certain weather conditions to cause reactions in the Ozone Layer, leading to ozone molecules getting destroyed. Depletion of the Ozone Layer occurs globally, but the severe depletion of the Ozone Layer over the Antarctic is often referred to as the ‘Ozone Hole’. Increased depletion has recently started occurring over the Arctic as well.

Credit : Business standard

Picture Credit : Google