UPSC Daily Current Affairs- 6th November 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-I

Context

Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano in the world, may erupt in the near future.

Where is Mauna Loa?

• Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii.
• It is the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago.
• It’s not the tallest (that title goes to Mauna Kea) but it’s the largest and makes up about half of the island’s land mass.
• It sits immediately north of Kilauea volcano, which is currently erupting from its summit crater.
• Kilauea is well-known for a 2018 eruption that destroyed 700 homes and sent rivers of lava spreading across farms and into the ocean.
• Mauna Loa last erupted 38 years ago.

What about the Other Volcanoes?

• Recently Erupted:
  • Sangay Volcano: Ecuador
  • Taal Volcano: Philippines
  • Mt. Sinabung, Merapi volcano, Semeru volcano (Indonesia)
• Volcanoes in India:
  • Barren Island, Andaman Islands (India's only active volcano)
  • Narcondam, Andaman Islands
  • Baratang, Andaman Islands
  • Deccan Traps, Maharashtra
  • Dhinodhar Hills, Gujarat
  • Dhosi Hill, Haryana

How are Volcanoes Distributed around the World?

• Volcanoes are distributed all around the world, mostly along the edges of Tectonic Plates, although there are intra-plate volcanoes that form from mantle Hotspots (e.g., Hawaii).
• Some volcanic regions, such as Iceland, happen to occur where there is both a hotspot and a plate boundary.

World Distribution of Volcano:

• Circum-Pacific Belt:
  • The Pacific "Ring of Fire" is a string of volcanoes and sites located on most of the Earth's subduction zones having high seismic activity, around the edges of the Pacific Ocean.
  • The Pacific Ring of Fire has a total of 452 volcanoes.
  • Most of the active volcanoes are found on its western edge, from the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, through the islands of Japan and Southeast Asia, to New Zealand.
• Mid-Continental Belt:
  • This volcanic belt extends along the Alpine Mountain system of Europe, north America, through Asia Minor, Caucasia, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Himalayan Mountain system, including Tibet, the pamir, Tien-Shan, altai, and the mountains of China, Myammar and eastern Siberia.
  • This belt includes the volcanoes of Alps mountains, Mediterranean Sea (Stromboli, Vesuvius, Etna, etc.), volcanoes of Aegean Sea, Mt. Ararat (Turkey), Elburz, Hindukush and Himalayas.
• Mid Atlantic Ridge:
  • The Mid-Atlantic Ridge separates the North and South American Plate from the Eurasian and African Plate.
  • Magma rises through the cracks and leaks out onto the ocean floor like a long, thin, undersea volcano. As magma meets the water, it cools and solidifies, adding to the edges of the sideways-moving plates.
  • This process along the divergent boundary has created the longest topographic feature in the form of Mid oceanic ridges under the Oceans of the world.
• Intra-Plate Volcanoes:
  • The 5% of known volcanoes in the world that are not closely related to plate margins are generally regarded as intraplate, or “hot-spot,” volcanoes.
  • A hot spot is believed to be related to the rising of a deep-mantle plume, which is caused by very slow convection of highly viscous material in Earth’s mantle.
  • It can be represented by a single oceanic volcano or lines of volcanoes such as the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chains.

Source: Indian Express

Context

The recent fires in Siberia have spewed some 150 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. Global warming is responsible for bigger and bigger fires in Siberia, and in the decades ahead they could release huge amounts of carbon now trapped in the soil, says a recently released report in Science journal (November 2022).

Findings of the report:

• In 2019 and 2020, fires in this remote part of the world destroyed a surface area equivalent to nearly half of that which burned in the previous 40 years, said this study.
• These recent fires themselves have spewed some 150 million tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, the scientists estimate, contributing to global warming in what researchers call a feedback loop (a vicious cycle of carbon emission and global warming).
• The area above the Arctic circle heats up four times faster than the rest of the planet and “it is this climate amplification which causes abnormal fire activity,” reports the study.
• Researchers concentrated on an area five and a half times the size of France and with satellite pictures observed the surface area burned each year from 1982 to 2020.
• In 2020, fire charred more than 2.5 million hectares (6.2 million acres) of land and released, in CO2 equivalent, as much as that emitted by Spain in one year, the scientists concluded.
• That year, summer in Siberia was on average three times hotter than it was in 1980. The Russian city of Verkhoyansk hit 38 degrees Celsius in summer, a record for the Arctic.

About Polar amplification:

• Polar amplification happens when changes to the earth’s atmosphere lead to a larger difference in temperature near the north and south poles than to the rest of the world.
• This phenomenon is measured against the average temperature change of the planet.
• These changes are more pronounced at the northern latitudes and are known as the Arctic amplification.
• It occurs when the atmosphere’s net radiation balance is affected by an increase in greenhouse gases (GHGs) .

Reasons for Polar Amplification:

• The ice-albedo feedback, lapse rate feedback, water vapour feedback (Change in Water Vapour amplify or weaken temperature range) and ocean heat transport are the primary causes.
• Sea ice and snow have high albedo (measure of reflectivity of the surface), implying that they are capable of reflecting most of the solar radiation as opposed to water and land.
• As the sea ice melts, the oceans surrounding poles will be more capable of absorbing solar radiation, thereby driving the amplification.
• The lapse rate or the rate at which the temperature drops with elevation decreases with warming.

The consequences of Arctic Warming/ Polar Amplification:

• Glacial retreat
• Thinning of Ice Sheet
• Rise in Sea Level
• Impact on Biodiversity: The warming of the poles and the seas in the region, the acidification of water, changes in the salinity levels, is impacting biodiversity, including the marine species and the dependent species.
• Thawing of Permafrost: it releases carbon and methane which are among the major greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
• Experts fear that the thaw and the melt will also release the long-dormant bacteria and viruses that were trapped in the permafrost and can potentially give rise to diseases.
• The best-known example of this is the permafrost thaw leading to an anthrax outbreak in Siberia in 2016, where nearly 2,00,000 reindeer succumbed.

Source of Permafrost:

• Arctic soils store huge amounts of organic carbon, much of it in peatlands. This is often frozen or marshy, but climate warming thaws and dries peatland soil, making large Arctic fires more likely.
• Fire damages frozen soil called permafrost, which releases even more carbon. In some cases, it has been trapped in ice for centuries or more. This means that carbon sinks are transformed into sources of carbon.
• An elevated amount of CO2 was released in 2020 but things “could be even more catastrophic than that in the future,” said the report.
• Higher temperatures have a variety of effects: more water vapor in the atmosphere, which causes more storms and thus more fire-sparking lightning. And vegetation grows more, providing more fuel for fire, but it also breathes more, which dries things out.

Way forward:

• N. Secretary-General warned recently that the planet is heading towards irreversible “climate chaos” and urged global leaders at the upcoming climate summit in Egypt (UNFCCC COP 27) to put the world back on track to cut emissions, keep promises on climate financing and help developing countries speed their transition to renewable energy.
• Indian Environment Minister says that clarity will be sought on climate finance and technology transfer from developed countries, while more support would be offered to developing countries.
• Our climate crisis is intertwined with other complex issues. This means that we must insist on multi-pronged, interconnected climate solutions.
• Forests are at the intersection of the climate change crisis and the biodiversity crisis. Forests, which are home to 80% of terrestrial wildlife, also absorb a net 7.6 billion metric tonnes of CO2 a year.
• A new study has found that their biophysical aspects tend to cool the earth by an additional 0.5%. The conservation of forests, along with other nature-based solutions, can provide up to 37% of the emissions reductions needed to tackle climate change.
• Hence, we need a forest-led climate action plan to prevent frequent forest fires caused by climate change and global warming.
• Climate change and related extreme weather events like forest fires, work in feedback loops that need to be broken. For this, we need concerted efforts by government, business sector, civil societies , NGOs and individuals.

Source: The Hindu

GS-II

Context

According to the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Adaptation Gap Report, 2022, global efforts in adaptation planning, financing and implementation are not enough to prepare vulnerable communities around the world to adapt to the rising risks from the impacts of climate change.

• The report found some progress on adaptation plans from national governments, but they are not backed by finance.

What are the Findings of the Report?

• A third of the 197 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have incorporated quantified and time-bound targets on adaptation. And 90% of them have considered gender and disadvantaged groups.
• International adaptation finance flows are 5-10 times lower than required and this gap continues to grow. Finance for adaptation increased to USD 29 billion in 2020, a 4% increase over 2019.
• This is when developing countries' estimated annual adaptation needs are USD 160-USD 340 billion by 2030 and USD 315-USD 565 billion by 2050.

What are the Steps Suggested by the Report?

• A Nature-based Approach: The report highlighted that the best way was to link actions on mitigation and adaptation in terms of planning, financing and implementation, which would provide co-benefits.
  • One example of this could be nature-based solutions.
• Climate Adaptation: Countries need to back the strong words in the Glasgow Climate Pact with strong action to increase adaptation investments and outcomes, starting at COP27.
• Other Strategies: The adaptation gap must be addressed in four critical ways:
• Increase Financing for Adaptation: There is a need for developed countries to provide a clear roadmap for their promise of doubling finance for adaptation to USD 40 billion, which was decided at COP 26 in Glasgow.
• A New Business Model: The world urgently needs a new business model for turning adaptation priorities into investable projects as there is a mismatch between what governments propose and what financiers consider investable.
• Need for Data Implementation: The availability of climate risk data and information, an issue for adaptation planning in many developing countries.
• Modified Warning Systems: The implementation and operationalisation of early warning systems against extreme weather events and slow onset changes such as sea level rise.

What are India’s Initiatives regarding Climate Finance?

• National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC):
  • It was established in 2015 to meet the cost of adaptation to climate change for the State and Union Territories of India that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
• National Clean Energy Fund:
  • The Fund was created to promote clean energy, and funded through an initial carbon tax on the use of coal by industries.
  • It is governed by an Inter-Ministerial Group with the Finance Secretary as the Chairman.
  • Its mandate is to fund research and development of innovative clean energy technology in the fossil and non-fossil fuel-based sectors.
• National Adaptation Fund:
  • The fund was established in 2014 with a corpus of Rs. 100 crores with the aim of bridging the gap between the need and the available funds.
  • The fund is operated under the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC).

What is United Nations Environment Programme?

• The UNEP is a leading global environmental authority established on 5th June 1972.
• Functions: It sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for global environment protection.
• Major Reports: Emission Gap Report, Global Environment Outlook, Frontiers, Invest into Healthy Planet.
• Major Campaigns: Beat Pollution, UN75, World Environment Day, Wild for Life.
• Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya.

What is United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)?

• UNFCCC was signed in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development also known as the Earth Summit, the Rio Summit or the Rio Conference.
• India is among the select few countries to have hosted the COP of all three Rio conventions on climate change (UNFCCC), biodiversity (CBD) and land (United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification).
• The UNFCCC entered into force in 1994 and has been ratified by 197 countries.
• It is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. It is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
• The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. It is located in Bonn, Germany.
• Its objective is to achieve stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous repercussions within a time frame so as to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally and enable sustainable development.

Source: DownToEarth

Context

Uttar Pradesh Government has decided to initiate a State-wide drive to free enemy properties from encroachment and prepare a report of the updated status of all such properties.

• After the 1965 India-Pakistan war, the Union government enacted the Enemy Property (Custody and Registration) Order and formed the Custodian of Enemy Property of India (CEPI) department to look after properties left behind by the people who migrated to Pakistan or other countries with whom India has hostilities.
• Uttar Pradesh has roughly 1,519 enemy properties out of which 936 belonged to Raja of Mahmudabad, whose descendants have moved to Pakistan.

About enemy property:

• In the wake of the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, there was migration of people from India to Pakistan.
• Under the Defence of India Rules framed under The Defence of India Act, 1962, the Government of India took over the properties and companies of those who took Pakistani nationality.
• These “enemy properties” were vested by the central government in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
• The same was done for property left behind by those who went to China after the 1962 Sino-Indian war.
• The Tashkent Declaration of January 10, 1966 included a clause that said India and Pakistan would discuss the return of the property and assets taken over by either side in connection with the conflict.
• However, the Government of Pakistan disposed of all such properties in their country in the year 1971 itself.

Regulation of Enemy properties in India:

• The Enemy Property Act, enacted in 1968, provided for the continuous vesting of enemy property in the Custodian of Enemy Property for India.
• Some movable properties too, are categorised as enemy properties.
• In 2017, Parliament passed The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2016, which amended The Enemy Property Act, 1968, and The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
• The amended Act expanded the definition of the term “enemy subject”, and “enemy firm” to include:
  • the legal heir and successor of an enemy, whether a citizen of India or a citizen of a country which is not an enemy; and
  • the succeeding firm of an enemy firm, irrespective of the nationality of its members or partners.
  • The amended law provided that enemy property shall continue to vest in the Custodian even if the enemy or enemy subject or enemy firm ceases to be an enemy due to death, extinction, winding up of business or change of nationality, or that the legal heir or successor is a citizen of India or a citizen of a country which is not an enemy.
  • The Custodian, with prior approval of the central government, may dispose of enemy properties vested in him in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and the government may issue directions to the Custodian for this purpose.

Source: The Hindu

GS-III

Context

On November 3, 1957, the Soviet Union launched ‘Sputnik 2’ and made history — for carrying the first-ever living creature to orbit the Earth, a dog named Laika. The flight, which was meant to test the safety of space travel for humans, ended up as a one-way trip for Laika.

Why was she chosen

• The dog was promoted to cosmonaut (a term referring to an astronaut in the Soviet or Russian space program) based on her ‘small’ size and ‘calm’ demeanour. The mission wanted female dogs as they were considered anatomically better suited for close confinement.

But why did the Soviet Union want to send animals to space?

• Before humans actually went to space, one of the theories was that humans might not be able to survive long periods of weightlessness.
• According to US space agency NASA, “American and Russian scientists utilised animals — mainly monkeys, chimps, and dogs — in order to test each country’s ability to launch a living organism into space and bring it back alive and unharmed.”
• Soviet rocket scientists wanted to send dogs to space to understand microgravity and other aspects of what spaceflight might do to a human body.
• According to Smithsonian Magazine, rocket engineers selected the animals most obedient and most tolerant of loud noises and air pressure changes for the experiment.
• 1^st Animal Experimentation done with: Some fruit flies that the US launched on a mission in February 1947. Before Laika, there were 36 dogs the Soviets sent into space.
• NOTE: First Human to Orbit Earth: Yuri Gagarin

About Sputnik 2:

• Sputnik 1, which launched on October 4, 1957, was a beach-ball-size sphere that just emitted beeps as it circled Earth.
• A month later, Sputnik 2 was launched.
• Sputnik 2, launched on November 3, 1957, carried the dog Laika, the first living creature to be shot into space and orbit Earth.
• It contained several compartments for radio transmitters, a telemetry system, a programming unit, a regeneration and temperature-control system for the cabin, and scientific instruments.
• Sputnik 2 re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on 14 April 1958.
• The satellite burned up in the atmosphere.

Source: Indian Express

Context

 Nagaland is undertaking the first avian documentation exercise to go beyond Amur falcons, the migratory raptor that put the State on the world birding map.

Amur Falcon:

• Amur falcon is a small raptor of the falcon family.
• It breeds in south-eastern Siberia and Northern China before migrating in large flocks across India and over the Arabian Sea to winter in Southern Africa.
• The raptor (bird of prey) — the size of a pigeon — makes its home in Nagaland, flying a staggering 22,000 km from there to South Africa, then onto Mongolia and back to Nagaland. The bird has one of the longest and most fascinating migratory paths in the avian world.
• The falcon breeds in south-eastern Siberia and north-eastern China, where the Amur River divides the Russian Far East and China.
• The Centre decided to develop Doyang Lake in Nagaland, famous as a roosting site for longest traveling raptors Amur Falcons, as an eco-tourism spot for bird-watchers.
• It is listed as Least Concern species under IUCN’s red data list . They are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• It is also listed in Appendix II of CITES ( The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Illegal trade and hunting :

• An estimated one lakh Amur Falcons were trapped and killed by villagers for the commercial meat trade in different years.
• Both the trade and the appetite for the Amur falcon seem to be growing: while some birds were transported in trucks for sale in places far from the trapping spot, others were discarded, simply because too many had been caught.
• According to conservation India , each bird is sold for a price between Rs. 16-25 (always sold as number of birds for Rs. 100 ($ 1.9 / £ 1.2).
• This sale usually happens door-to-door in Pangti village (where most hunters are from) as well as nearby Doyang and Wokha towns. Hunters (and sellers) know that Amur killing is illegal and banned by the Deputy Commissioner (Wokha district) since 2010.

Source: The Hindu

Context

Nagaland is undertaking four-day Tokhu Emong Bird Count (TEBC), the first avian documentation exercise to go beyond Amur falcons.

• The exercise has been timed with the post-harvest Tokhu Emong festival of the Lothas, the Naga community that dominates Wokha district of Nagaland.

What is Tokhu Emong Festival?

• A perfect blend of religion, culture and entertainment, ‘Tokhu Emong’ is widely celebrated in Wokha district.
• Celebrated on 7^th November every year, this color-filled festival stretches over to 9 days.
• ‘Tokhu’ means moving from house to house, collecting tokens and gifts in form of naturals resources and food. However, the meaning of ‘Emong’ is to put a halt for the appointed time.
• Significant attraction of this festival includes community songs, dances, feast, fun and frolic.
• Through the commencement of this festival, people relive the stories of their ancestors composed decades before.
• During the festival, gracious offerings are made to the ‘Sky God’ and ‘Earth God’ seeking for blessings.

What are Amur Falcons?

• Amur falcons, the world’s longest travelling raptors start travelling with the onset of winters.
• The raptors breed in southeastern Siberia and northern China, and migrate in millions across India and then over the Indian Ocean to southern Africa before returning to Mongolia and Siberia.
• Their 22,000-kilometre migratory route is one of the longest amongst all avian species.
• They get their name from the Amur River that forms the border between Russia and China.
• Doyang Lake in Wokha, Nagaland is better known as a stopover for the Amur falcons during their annual migration from their breeding grounds to warmer South Africa.
• Thus, Nagaland (Pangti Village) is also known as the "Falcon Capital of the World".
• The birds are the least concern under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, but the species is protected under the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and the Convention on Migratory Species, to which India is a signatory (which means it is mandatory to protect the birds).

Source: The Hindu