Category Geography

What is the first Wild River National Park in Europe?

Just a few months ago, the Albanian government declared the river Vjosa and its tributaries a national park. With that it became Europe’s first wild river national park, and it was called a “historic moment. Why so? Come, let’s find out.

Claimed to be “one of the last wild rivers in Europe”, Vjosa runs 270 km from Greece to Albania, and then joins the Adriatic Sea. It is said that the river became part of this significant move after nearly a decade-long campaign by environmental NGOS in the region, now placing the country “at the forefront of river protection”. Unlike many rivers in central Europe, Vjosa flows freely and is wild, in that, it is largely untouched by infrastructure projects. This makes it similar to a natural wildlife habitat on land, without any human interference. By becoming a national park, it can be compared to protected wildlife areas on land. The national park covers over 32,000 acres, including the 190-km-long Albanian part of the river, where more than 60,000 people live.

But why it truly needs to be protected is because of this – “The river and its surrounding areas are ecosystems of substantial biodiversity and home to over 1,100 species of animals. Two of the plant species and 13 of the animal species are assessed as globally threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature” (IUCN). Not just that. As a national park, the focus will be on concerns such as “water and land pollution, waste management”, etc. Further, it “will create economic opportunities for local communities through responsible tourism”.

It is noteworthy that the Albanian government ended plans to have eight hydropower stations on the river and its tributaries, which could “have caused serious damage to the river’.

Meanwhile, a half-built hydropower station on the river and a new, multimillion-euro international airport being built where Vjosa flows into the Adriatic are concerns, especially since the latter could cause “irreparable damage to the fragile ecosystems of protected lagoons that host flamingos, pelicans and millions of other migratory birds”.

While there are marine reserves globally and rivers flowing within national parks, instances of a wild river itself as a national park are not as common. As countries globally battle climate change and many other challenges, Albania’s move is perhaps a crucial necessity worthy of emulation.

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What is seismology?

You must have often read about earthquakes but do you know that the study of earthquake is called seismology?

Seismology is a scientific discipline to study earthquakes caused by the passage of seismic waves through Earth’s rocks.

Seismologists have studied quakes induced by human activities such as impounding water behind high dams and detonating underground nuclear explosions.

Earthquakes

Earthquakes occur most often where rock masses move in relation to one another. The major fault lines of the world are located at the fringes of the huge tectonic plates that make up Earth’s crust. Earthquakes are recorded by instruments called seismographs.

There are four seismic zones globally (an area where earthquakes tend to focus): Zone Il to V (of which Zone V is seismically the most active region and zone II is the least). As per the seismic zoning map of India, the total area is classified into four seismic zones.

The need for international exchange of readings on earthquakes was recognised by British geologist John Milne, whose work resulted in the International Seismological Summary (ISS) being set up immediately after the World War I.

In cooperation with the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Milne had set up a number of seismographic stations around the world.

At present there are several seismological centres across the world to study and inform about the intensity of earthquakes.

International Seismological Centre

International Seismological Centre was formed in Edinburgh in 1964 with the help of UNESCO. It was a successor to the ISS. In 1970, the Centre became an international non-governmental body, funded by institutions from across the world.

Global Seismographic Network

The Global Seismographic Network (GSN) is a digital seismic network that provides free, realtime, open access data through Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). It has over 150 modern seismic stations distributed globally.

National Center for Seismology

National Center for Seismology (NCS) is the nodal agency that monitors earthquake activity in the country. It maintains the National Seismological Network of more than 150 stations across the country.

It monitors earthquake swarm and aftershock by deploying a temporary observatory close to the affected region. It also monitors earthquake activity all across the country through its around-the-clock monitoring center.

The information of earthquakes reported by NCS is disseminated to the central and state disaster authorities concerned in the least possible time to initiate adequate mitigation measures.

NCS provides data on earthquake and seismicity reports of specific regions to even agencies such as insurance companies, industrial units, river valley projects, etc.

The first seismological observatory of the country was established at Alipore (Kolkata) on December 1, 1898, after the 1897 Shillong plateau earthquake.

Meanwhile, the occurrence of devastating earthquakes such as the 1905 Kangra earthquake and 1934 Nepal-Bihar demanded strengthening of the national seismological network progressively from a meagre six in 1940 to eight in 1950, 15 in 1960, and 18 in 1970.

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In which city was the world’s first public aquarium built in 1853?

On May 21, 1853, the first public aquarium was opened as part of the London Zoo. First called the "Fish House" in Regent's Park Zoological Gardens, it was made possible by English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse.

On any occasion when you’ve seen an aquarium, have you ever thought about how it came to be? No, not that particular aquarium that you visited or saw at someone's house. We are talking about the entire concept of aquariums as a vivarium of any size to house aquatic plants and animals.

The idea, in fact, is less than 200 years old. While a number of people were involved in the invention of the marine aquarium, English naturalist Philip Henry Gosse is credited with promoting the glass tank as a novel way of housing marine creatures. What's more, he was also responsible for using "aquarium" for this glass vessel, a term that still remains in use. 

Love for natural history

 Born in Worcester, England in 1810, Gosse was the son of Thomas and Hannah Gosse. Even as a boy, Gosse explored the sea life around Poole, a coastal town in southern England. His love for natural history awakened very early, he was encouraged by his aunt Susan Bell to observe and draw wildlife.

It was from his aunt Bell that Gosse learned about the metamorphosis of insects and the name of the common red sea anemone. Bell even suggested to Gosse that he should try to keep sea anemones alive in vessels of fresh seawater- an inception of sorts for an idea that he later championed. Gosse also took scientific inspiration from Bell's son Thomas, a naturalist who went on to become professor of zoology at King's College, London.

Finding his way across the Atlantic to Newfoundland, Canada, Gosse became a clerk in a seal-fishery at Carbonear harbour in 1827. In his early twenties, Gosse began to collect and document insects wholeheartedly in his spare time. When a couple of ventures he tried in Canada failed, he Books give him voice

Having received an invitation from a society to write An Introduction to Zoology, his research led him to write another, The Ocean. The unexpected success of his books earned him a fully-financed collecting expedition to Jamaica and his time there led to several more books. By this time, Gosse had not only developed the nuances of being a naturalist, but had also established himself as an important voice in the field.

By the 1840s, Gosse was collecting marine specimens in earnest, going about his business in two main fashions. As the eroding tides had created habitats for diverse lifeforms in the geologically varied shores of Dorset and Devon, Gosse explored these areas on foot. Additionally, he also collected marine species by coastal dredging from a boat.

By combining his love of observing with collecting, studying, drawing, and writing, Gosse became a Goliath in the field. He knew that in order to create reliable records that captured public imagination and led to scientific progress, he needed to keep his collection in good health and have a clear view of them. And so it was that Gosse became an authority in setting up a home-based aquarium, making artificial seawater, and even maintaining the set-up.

World's first public aquarium

It therefore comes as no surprise that Gosse was one of the most important people in setting up the first public aquarium in the world. Called the "Fish House", it was set up in Regent's Park Zoological Gardens as part of the London Zoo and thrown open to the public on May 21, 1853.

In his 1853 book A Naturalist's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast, the word "vivarium" was used interchangeably with "marine aquarium". A year later, however, Gosse firmly believed that "aquarium" best described it. He mentioned that the word should be "neat, easily pronounced and easily remembered" in his 1854 book The Aquarium: An Unveiling of the Wonders of the Deep Sea, thereby setting it stone.

Additionally, he also stated the following: "Let the word AQUARIUM then be the one selected to indicate these interesting collections of aquatic animals and plants, distinguishing it as Freshwater Aquarium, if the contents be fluviatile, or a Marine Aquarium, if [the contents are salt water-based]."

Against evolutionary concepts Gosse was a contemporary of celebrated English naturalist Charles Darwin and the latter even turned to Gosse when setting up an aquarium of his own. Even though a lot of their work actually overlapped, Gosse firmly rejected the evolutionary concepts proposed by Darwin owing to his own religious beliefs.

Even though his creationist theories marginalised him, Gosse spent his entire lifetime observing the world around him, until his death in 1888. His work and practical contributions to marine zoology were important to the scientific establishment of his times. And the aquariums that he envisioned still enable us to bring a tiny slice of ocean life home.

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Indonesia: the nation of 17,500 islands

The world’s largest island complex, which has been inhabited for about 1.7 million years, is now home to more than 300 different ethnic groups

Ranu Joardar

Indonesia is an archipelago comprising the Greater Sunda Islands of Sumatra (Sumatera), Java (Jawa), the southern extent of Borneo (Kalimantan), and Celebes (Sulawesi); the Lesser Sunda Islands (Nusa Tenggara) of Bali and a chain of islands that runs eastward through Timor, the Moluccas (Maluku) between Celebes and the island of New Guinea; and the western extent of New Guinea (generally known as Papua).

Indonesia is the largest and most populous country in Southeast Asia. The country is one of the founding members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which aims to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development and promote peace and security in Southeast Asia.

History

Formerly known as the Dutch East Indies or the Netherlands East Indies, the name ‘Indonesia’ was used as early as 1884 by a German geographer. It is believed that the name has derived from the Greek word ‘indos’, meaning ‘India’, and ‘nesos’, meaning ‘island’.

While records of foreign trade begin only in the early centuries, it is widely believed that people from the Indonesian archipelago were sailing to other parts of Asia much earlier. According to Roman historian Pliny the Elder’s encyclopaedic scientific work Natural History, the Indonesians used to trade with the east coast of Africa in the 1st Century AD.

The Indonesian written and oral sources suggest that the origins of kingdoms along the coasts of the Java Sea were related to the success of local heroes in using foreign trading treasure to their advantage.

Geography

Indonesia comprises about 17,500 islands, of which more than 7,000 are uninhabited. The Equator crosses Sumatra at its centre.

The remains of Homo erectus (originally known as Pithecanthropus or Java man) have revealed that the Java island was already inhabited about 1.7 million years ago, the time when most of the western archipelago was linked by land bridges. These bridges submerged about 6,000 years ago due to rapid postglacial rise in sea level.

Most of the Indonesian islands are densely forested volcanic mountains in the interior that slope down to coastal plains covered with thick alluvial swamps. These swamps dissolve into shallow seas and coral reefs. Underneath this surface is the junction of three major sections of the Earth’s crust.

Flora and fauna

The vegetation in Indonesia is similar to that of the Philippines, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea. It is home to about 40,000 species of flowering plants, including 5,000 species of orchids and Rafflesiaceae (the world’s largest flower).

There are over 3,000 tree species such as durian, sandalwood, and costly timber varieties such as teak and ironwood.

Here, mangrove forests can be seen in salty or brackish water along muddy shores. Most mangrove swamps are along the shallow seas in eastern Sumatra, southern Kalimantan, and the southeastern segment of western New Guinea.

Some of the islands of the archipelago are home to endemic species such as the Javanese peacock, Sumatran drongo, proboscis monkey in Kalimantan, and babirusa and tamarau in Celebes.

Most of the Javanese rhinoceroses can only be found on the western tip of Java. This species is one of the world’s most highly protected forms of wildlife. Another such endangered species is the orangutan. They are native to Borneo and Sumatra. To save the population from capture and slaughter, several orangutan rehabilitation centres and programmes have been established. These organisations also train orangutans who have been held captive to return to the wild.

People

Indonesia has been the middle point of two population groups – Asians in the west and Melanesians (indigenous peoples of Pacific Islands known as Melanesia) in the east.

Though the majority of the population is related to those from eastern Asia, there has been an influx of and mixing with Arabs, Indians, and Europeans in past centuries.

The eastern islands are dominated by people of Melanesian origin.

The country has more than 300 different ethnic groups, resulting in twice as many distinct languages and most of the major world religions.

Meanwhile, Bali, whose local religious practices are influenced by both Hinduism and Buddhism, has customs that are different from that of other parts of Indonesia.

About half of the country’s population lives in rural areas. Java, Madura, and Bali have a systemised rural structure that is based most on wet-rice cultivation (cultivating rice by planting on dry land then transferring the seedlings to a flooded field, and draining the field before harvesting).

Indonesia’s five largest cities are Jakarta, Surabaya, Bandung, Bekasi, and Medan. They are considered metropolitan areas as they have the most number of government, financial, and business offices.

Government

After the Japanese invasion (1942-45) during World War II, statesman Sukarno declared Indonesia’s independence in 1945 (though the Netherlands retained a large portion of the region).

However, the struggle for independence continued till 1949 when the Dutch officially recognised Indonesian Sovereignty. Sukarno became the country’s first President in 1949.

Till 2002, both the President and the Prime Minister were elected for a period of five years by the People’s Consultative Assembly. Since 2004, both leaders are being directly elected.

On August 8, 1967, five leaders – the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand- established the ASEAN.

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Why Hungary rich in culture?

Budapest, Hungary’s capital, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its rich architectural legacy.

Ranu Joardar

Hungary, one of the several landlocked countries in Europe, is unique in itself. Having a language that is not related to any European language, the country has felt isolated through much of its history. It has produced a number of scientists, mathematicians, economists, anthropologists, musicians, and artists.

History

Hungary is referred to as Magyarorszag or the land of Magyars’ by its citizens. Some believe that the country came into existence after the Magyars, a Finno-Ugric people, occupied the middle basin of the Danube River in the late 9th Century. However, archaeologist Gyula Laslo has opined that the country’s history dates back to 670 with the arrival of the Late Avars, who were the early Magyars. The Magyars had a thriving society till 1241 when the Mongols invaded the region. The Mongols were defeated by the Magyars twice. It later became a part of the Ottoman Empire and remained so for several years. From 1699 till the First World War, Hungary was part of Austria. During the Second World War, Hungary fought alongside the Axis powers – Germany, Italy and Japan.

Geography

Hungary is bordered by Slovakia and Austria to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Slovenia to the west, and Croatia and Serbia to the south.

The country is mostly flat and has a large lowland area known as the Great Hungarian Plain. The Danube River, the largest river in the country, cuts through the middle of the country. It crosses 10 countries on its way to the Black Sea. There are three key freshwater lakes including Lake Balaton, the largest in central Europe. Lake Balaton was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1989. Lake Heviz, which flows alongside the northern slope of Mount Keszthely, is one of the world’s largest thermal lakes. Near the Slovakia border is the Aggtelek National Park, which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the late 20th Century. Of eight World Heritage sites, the caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst, is a natural site.

Flora and fauna

While half of the land is used for farming, about one-sixth is used for non-agricultural purposes and the remainder comprises meadows, rough pasture, forests and woodland. The Great Hungarian Plain is the grasslands covering the central and eastern part of the country. In the north of the plains is a mountain range known as the Northern Hills. The hilly areas in the west of the Danube River are known as the Transdanube.

The Great Hungarian Plain is home to several species of animals such as roe deer, wild boars, red foxes, mouflon sheep, and birds such as the imperial eagle and great bustard. In 1999, the United Nations designated Hortobagy National Park, the largest of Hungary’s 10 national parks, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many threatened and endangered species of fish such as sturgeon and the Danube salmon are found in the Danube River.

People

Since the 10th Century, Hungary has been a multi-ethnic country with the Magyars as the dominant population. The Hungarian language, Magyar, is part of the Finno-Ugric group of the Uralic language. It is written in Latin alphabet, but has 44 letters in total.

Music is integral to the Hungarian culture. Their folk music is based on the daily experiences of peasants in the countryside with themes ranging from joy and sadness to weather and farming. The two greatest composers – Bela Bartok and Franz  Liszt – were from Hungary. It is the birthplace of many famous people such as Erno Rubik, inventor of the Rubik’s Cube.

Red meat forms an important part of their cuisine such as Gulyas (a thick beef soup cooked with onions and potatoes) and Hungarian sausage. Paprika is common in most Hungarian dishes. The Hungarian national anthem is based on the poem ‘Hymnusz’ written by Hungarian Romantic poet Ferenc Kolcsey in 1823. It was officially adopted in 1844.

The Hungarian capital Budapest has a rich architectural legacy from various periods that led to it being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Danube Banks and the Buda Castle District (having medieval and characteristically Baroque style) were the first sites in Budapest to have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987. Budapest has the remains of monuments such as the Roman city of Aquincum and the Gothic castle of Buda, which influenced the architecture of various periods.

Government

Hungary is one of the new democracies. Throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries, the country’s political system had elements of autocracy. While between 1867 and 1948, the country had a parliament with a multiparty system, in 1948 the communists took over and a Soviet-style political system was followed. In 1990, the country held its first democratic elections. It became a part of the European Union in 2004. The country is now a parliamentary republic, led by a President is elected by the public. The Prime Minister is the head of the government. The current President Katalin Novak is the first female President of Hungary.

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What are ice circles?

A rare natural phenomenon, ice circles are observed mainly in Scandinavia and North America.

Ice circles are thin, perfectly round discs of ice which float on slow flowing water. It is a rare natural phenomenon that is observed mainly in Scandinavia and North America. Ice circles were first mentioned in 1895 in Scientific American, a popular magazine.

Scientists are not yet clear as to how ice circles are formed. It is thought that they are formed on the outer bends in a river. The slow moving river currents create rotating eddies which grind a free piece of ice against the ice that is connected to shore. Due to the water’s swirling motion, the chunk of ice becomes perfectly circular in shape.

In May 2009, astronauts aboard the International Space Station noticed the formation of two ice circles in Lake Baikal, Russia.

UFO enthusiasts, however, like to think that like crop circles, they are the creations of visiting aliens!

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