Competitive World

Tag: Meteorology

  • India Plastics Pact (Need for Plastics Pact)

    In this article, we will discuss India Plastics Pact (Need for Plastics Pact). So, let’s get started.

    Need for Plastic Pacts:

    Indian Scenario:

    • India generates 9.46 million tonnes of plastic waste annually.
    • 40% plastic waste goes uncollected.
    • 43% of all plastics produced in India are used for packaging, majority of them being single-use.
    • However, viewed from the angle of livelihoods, post-consumer segregation, collection and disposal of plastics make up about half of the income of 1.5- 4 million waste-pickers in India.

    Global Scenario:

    • Mismanagement of more than 7.7 billion metric tonnes of plastic waste globally over the next 20 years is expected, which is equivalent to 16-times the weight of the human population.
    • Among the many applications of plastic, plastic packaging is the largest.
    • A 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law suggests that by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatonnes, 10-13% of the remaining carbon budget.

    Expected Outcome:

    • It can be expected to boost demand for recycled content, investments in recycling infrastructure, jobs in the waste sector, and beyond.
    • The Pact will support the Extended Producer Responsibility framework of the government and improve solid waste management as envisioned in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
    • Integral to the Pact’s framework is the involvement of the informal waste sector crucial to post-consumer segregation, collection and processing of plastic waste.
    • Apart from benefits to society and economy, delivering the targets will drive circularity of plastics and help tackle pollution.
    • They will lead to significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions

  • Thawing Permafrost

    In this article, we will discuss Thawing Permafrost (Short Note). So, let’s get started.

    Permafrost

    • Permafrost is any ground that remains completely frozen—32°F (0°C) or colder—for at least two years straight.
    • These permanently frozen grounds are most common in regions with high mountains and in Earth’s higher latitudes—near the North and South Poles.
    • Permafrost covers large regions of the Earth. Almost a quarter of the land area in the Northern Hemisphere has permafrost underneath. Although the ground is frozen, permafrost regions are not always covered in snow.

    Associated Issues With The Thawing of Permafrost

    • Accentuate Climate Change: In the Arctic, temperatures are rising twice as fast in other parts of the world. As a result, the permafrost that has remained frozen throughout the year is thawing.
    • The thawing of permafrost will worsen the effects of the climate crisis, because stored carbon is released in the process.
    • Likewise, the loss of sea ice and ice sheets covering land will accelerate the rise in temperatures (As Ice has more albedo than Water).
    • Tropical Challenges Spreading Up Into Higher Latitudes: The diseases that have typically afflicted the equatorial belt are spreading up into higher latitudes. Mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects spread many of these diseases.
    • The West Nile virus causes hundreds of deaths every year in the United States, where it was first reported in 1999.
    • With rising temperatures, West Nile will become more prevalent in Canada, including parts of the Arctic.
    • Prevalence of Zoonotic Diseases: Warming temperatures are also causing changes in the habitats of wild birds such as ducks and geese that can carry avian flu.
    • Earlier, Russia has reported the first case of the H5N8 avian flu passing from birds to humans.
    • Changes in habitats of other wild animals such as foxes might also increase the geographic distribution of rabies.
    • Rise of Viruses And Bacteria: Scientists are also concerned about the rise of viruses and bacteria from thawing permafrost and ice. In the summer of 2016, there was an outbreak of anthrax in a remote part of Siberia.
    • Dozens of people were infected, and a young boy was killed. Around 2,300 reindeer perished in the outbreak.
    • Spread:
    • Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by bacteria that can remain dormant as spores.
    • Spores of anthrax can remain viable for at least a few decades in frozen soil and ice.
    • As carcasses of infected animals (including those of extinct mammoths) thaw, there can be more disease outbreaks.
    • Epidemic And Pandemic: Another concern is the emergence of viruses and bacteria with the potential to cause epidemics. These disease-causing microbes might be dormant for hundreds or even thousands of years.
    • Genetic material from the H1N1 influenza virus that caused the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, as well as that of smallpox have been recovered from permafrost.
    • The reemergence of a virus like smallpox (which have been eradicated) would be disturbing since humans are no longer routinely vaccinated.
    • Virus Samples From Tibetan Plateau: These conditions are not restricted to the Arctic alone. Glacial ice that has persisted for thousands of years is melting.
    • Recently, 15,000-year-old-viruses (including 28 different kinds identified for the first time) were found in glacial ice from the Tibetan Plateau

  • Global Climate Change (India and Climate Change)

    In this article, we will discuss Global Climate Change (India and Climate Change). So, let’s get started.

    India and Climate Change

    • One of the Largest Emitters: For India, the third-largest carbon emitter after China and the United States, a decisive switch is needed from highly polluting coal and petroleum to cleaner and renewable power sources.
    • China has announced carbon neutrality by 2060, Japan and South Korea by 2050, but India is yet to announce a target.
    • Global Rankings and Estimates: The HSBC ranks India at the top among 67 nations in climate vulnerability (2018),
    • Germanwatch ranks India fifth among 181 nations in terms of climate risks (2020).
    • The World Bank has warned that climate change could sharply diminish living conditions for up to 800 million people in South Asia.
    • As per the Emissions Gap Report 2020, over the last decade, China, USA, EU27+UK and India combined, have contributed to 55% of the total GHG emissions.

  • Global Climate Change

    In this article, we will discuss Global Climate Change (Important Facts). So, let’s get started.

    The Climate Change

    • Floods in the Himalayan Region: The Himalayan region has about 15,000 glaciers, which are retreating at a rate of 100 to 200 feet per decade.
    • The melting of the Himalayan glaciers that prompted the floods and landslides in Chamoli district of Uttarakhand have the fingerprints of global warming.
    • In 2013, glacial flooding in Kedarnath caused over 6,000 deaths during the monsoon months.
    • Other Events: In 2003, the European heat wave killed over 70,000 people.
    • The years 2015-19 have globally been the warmest years on record.
    • The Amazon fire of 2019, the bush fires of 2019-20 in Australia are some of the most dangerous impacts of changing climate.
    • Global Emission: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report 2020 showed that the year 2020 set new records in terms of rise in extreme weather events, including wildfires and hurricanes, and in the melting of glaciers and ice at both poles.
    • According to the report, despite a brief dip in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused by the Pandemic, the world is still heading for a temperature rise in excess of 3°C this century; far beyond the 2015 Paris Agreement goals.
    • Recently, Texas, US has been hit by extremely cold weather leading to strong wind storms in the state.
    • The winter storm has killed 21 people and left around 4.4 million without power.
    • The brutal cold has engulfed vast swaths of the United States, shuttering Covid-19 inoculation centers and hindering vaccine supplies.
    • The double-digit negative temperatures (temperatures have fallen as low as -14°C) are connected to Arctic-peninsula warming.
    • Usually, there is a collection of winds around the Arctic keeping the cold locked far to the north, known as Polar Vortex.
    • But global warming has caused gaps in these protective winds, allowing intensely cold air to move south: the phenomenon is accelerating.

  • Net Zero Carbon Emissions

    In this article, we will discuss Net Zero Carbon Emissions (Definition). So, let’s get started.

    ‘Net zero emissions’ refers to achieving an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. Think of it like a set of scales: producing greenhouse gas emissions tips the scales, and we want to get those scales back into balance with no new greenhouse gas being added to the atmosphere in any given year. Eventually, we will probably need to tip them the other way to repair past harm. Once we stop emitting greenhouse gases from fossil fuels, we still need to deal with all the emissions we’ve already pumped into the atmosphere over the years. That’s the difference between zero and net zero.

    Getting to net zero means we can still produce some emissions, as long as they are offset by processes that reduce greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. For example, these could be things like planting new forests, or or drawdown technologies like direct air capture. The more emissions that are produced, the more carbon dioxide we will eventually need to remove from the atmosphere (this is called sequestration) to reach net zero.

    However, to meet the goal of net zero, new emissions of greenhouse gas must be as low as possible. This means that we need to rapidly phase out fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – and transition to renewable energy.