Hindu Notes from General Studies-01

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India shrouded in toxic air

News

• Twenty-two of the world’s 30 most polluted cities are in India, according to a report compiled by IQAir Group.
• The report is based on 2018 air quality data from 3,000 cities around the world, where air quality monitoring stations are in place.

Findings

• Gurugram, in Haryana, tops the list with an average annual PM2.5 (particulate matter 2.5) concentration of 135 μg/m3 (micrograms/cubic metre). Delhi is at number 11. The other Indian cities that figured in the list of top 30 are Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Bhiwadi, Noida, Patna, Lucknow, Jodhpur, Muzaffarpur, Varanasi, Moradabad, Agra, Gaya, Jind, Kanpur, Singrauli, Kolkata, Pali, Rohtak, Mandi and Ahmedabad.
• At a country level, Bangladesh emerges as the most-polluted country on average, closely followed by Pakistan and India, with Middle-Eastern countries Afghanistan and Mongolia also within the top 10. Iceland has emerged as the one with the cleanest air.
• The report also highlights how Beijing, once considered the most polluted city in the world, has shown remarkable improvement. Beijing ranks 122.
• Of the 3,000 cities measured in the report, 64 % exceeded the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) annual exposure guidelines for PM2.5.
• Every city included in the report in the Middle East and Africa exceeded WHO guidelines for PM2.5, as did 99% of cities in South Asia, 95% in Southeast Asia, and 89% in East Asia. The WHO guideline says that PM2.5 should not exceed 10 μg/m3 annual mean to avoid the risk of cardiopulmonary issues due to the inhalation of fine particulate matter.

PM 2.5

• 5 is particulate matter that has a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, which is about three % the diameter of a human hair. This include microscopic solid or liquid matter suspended in the earth’s atmosphere.
• Some particulates occur naturally, originating from volcanoes, dust storms and fires, while others have their origin in human activities such as burning of fossil fuel, stubble burning and industrial and vehicular emissions.
• 5 is widely regarded as the pollutant with the most health impact of all commonly measured air pollutants. Due to its small size, PM2.5 is able to penetrate deep into the human respiratory system and from there to the entire body, causing a wide range of short- and long-term health effects.

 AQI (Air Quality Index)

• Air Quality Index (AQI) is used by government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted the air is. It could also be a forecast of future air quality.
• The Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, launched ‘The National Air Quality Index’ in 2014. The Index is centred around five chief pollutants particulate matter with a diameter less than 10 micrometres (PM10), particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and carbon monoxide (CO).
• Monitoring stations set up at different places in India study the concentration of a particular pollutant at that moment in time and its average over a period of time. For CO and O3, the average is taken over eight hours, while for the other three, it is a 24-hour average.
• The unit of measurement is microgram (or milligram in the case of CO) per cubic metre. The Index is colour-coded for easy recognition of the quality and health impact of the concentration.
• For instance, when the concentration is 0-50 μg/m3, it is coded in green, referred to as ‘Good’ and sub-index indicates Minimal Impact. For concentration 401 to 500μg/m3, AQI is coded in red, referred to as ‘severe’ and sub-index states ‘May cause respiratory impact even on healthy people, and serious health impacts on people with lung/heart disease. The health impacts may be experienced even during light physical activity.’

Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

China destroys 30,000 ‘incorrect’ world maps

News

• Customs officials in China have destroyed 30,000 world maps printed in the country for not mentioning Arunachal Pradesh and Taiwan as part of its territory.

Beyond News

• China claims the north-eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradeshas part of South Tibet. The country also routinely objects to Indian leaders visiting Arunachal Pradesh to highlight its stand.
• India maintains that the State of Arunachal Pradesh is integral and inalienable part of the country and Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, just as they visit other parts of the country.
• The two countries have so far held 21 rounds of talks to resolve the border dispute covering 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC).
• China also claims the estranged island of Taiwan as its part.

Water scaling project to be implemented in Kannur

News

• Ponds in the Kannur district in Kerala will be closely monitored as the water-scaling project successfully implemented at Kattakada in Thiruvananthapuram is now being extended to the district jointly by the Haritha Keralam Mission and the Water Resources Department.
• The Kattakkada model in water conservation activities has involved revival of ponds and recharging of groundwater as also introduction of measuring scales for monitoring and maintenance of water level in the ponds.

Beyond News

• In the first phase, water-scaling project will be implemented in the ponds in the Edakkad block.
• Facilities for testing water quality will also be introduced in the ponds where the scales are being installed. Plans are also afoot to install water scales in abandoned quarries.
• The Mission has already begun a survey of ponds and abandoned quarries in the district.
• The district is estimated to have over 200 abandoned quarries. The scales will be installed when the water level is low.
• The Mission has already initiated steps to test quality of water in abandoned quarries to know whether it could be used during drought situations.
• Also being started is a project to locate water bodies using GPS system.
• Elaborate arrangements are under way for constructing impromptu check dams under the aegis of local bodies in the district to ensure maximum conservation of summer showers.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Hubble Space Telescope captures birth of giant storm on Neptune

News

• In a first, the Hubble Space Telescope has beamed back images documenting the birth of a giant storm on Neptune, a finding that may reveal insights on the inner workings of the poorly-understood ice giant planets.

Beyond News

• Like Jupiter’s Great Red Spot, Neptune’s Great Dark Spots are storms that form from areas of high atmospheric pressure. In contrast, storms on Earth form around areas of low pressure.
• Scientists have seen a total of six dark spots on Neptune over the years. Voyager 2 identified two storms in 1989. Since Hubble launched in 1990, it has viewed four more of these storms.
• Researchers analysed Hubble’s photos of the ice giant taken over the past several years and chronicled the growth of a new Great Dark Spot that became visible in 2018.
• By studying companion clouds that showed up two years before the new Great Dark Spot, the researchers conclude dark spots originate much deeper in Neptune’s atmosphere than previously thought.
• The Hubble images also helped the researchers pinpoint how often Neptune gets dark spots and how long they last.
• The findings not only give scientists insights on the inner workings of the ice giant planets but also have implications for studying exoplanets of similar size and composition.
• Scientists first saw a Great Dark Spot on Neptune in 1989, when NASA’s Voyager 2 probe flew past the mysterious blue planet. As the spacecraft zoomed by, it snapped pictures of two giant storms brewing in Neptune’s southern hemisphere.
• Just five years later, the Hubble Space Telescope took sharp images of Neptune, which revealed that both the Earth-sized Great Dark Spot and the smaller Dark Spot 2 had vanished.
• A new Great Dark Spot appeared on Neptune in 2018, nearly identical in size and shape to the one Voyager saw in 1989.
• Researchers were analysing Hubble images of a smaller dark spot that appeared in 2015 when they discovered small, bright white clouds in the region where the 2018 Great Dark Spot would later appear.
• The high-altitude clouds are made up of methane ice crystals, which give them their characteristic bright white colour.

As heat soars, Health dept. issues alert

News

• The Health Department has sounded caution that the current heat wave across districts in Kerala and the sudden increase in ambient temperature can result in extreme heat stress or heat exhaustion and in worst cases, heat stroke, which could be a medical emergency.

Beyond News

• With deaths attributed to heat stroke and dehydration being reported from several districts, experts point out that the sudden spike in atmospheric temperature has left people vulnerable due to the lack of climatic acclimatisation, which can upset all natural defence mechanisms of the body for heat dissipation.
• Heat acclimatisation can take time and varies from person to person. The human body sweats out to cool the body and maintain the core temperature at about 36.7 degree C. But excessive sweating, especially when one has not been drinking enough water, can lead to dehydration and heavy loss of electrolytes. Consequently, internal temperature rises and this can at times prove fatal.
• Athletes, agricultural labourers, construction workers, coastal community dwellers, those with mostly outdoor occupations such as traffic cops as well as the children and elderly with various co-morbid conditions are at serious risk of suffering heat exhaustion/ heat stroke.
• Heat exhaustion occurs because of water depletion or sodium depletion and can present as fatigue, nausea, anxiety, confusion or cardiac arrhythmias. The elderly with co-morbid conditions and who are on medication might be at risk of dehydration in extreme heat even when they are indoors. They have to keep themselves hydrated at regular intervals
• In extreme heat conditions, the natural decline in renal function in the elderly, salt loss, reduced intake of salt and increased water ingestion could contribute to the development of hyponatremia in elderly.

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