Category Environtal Studies

HOW MUCH OF THE WORLD IS COVERED BY ICE?

Almost 10 per cent of Earth’s total landmass is covered by ice. This includes glaciers, Ice caps and ice sheets. Glaciers cover 15 million km2. During the last ice age, 32 per cent of the total land area was covered by ice.

Most of the Earth’s ice that we see is to be found in large masses of “nearly” pure ice: ice-sheets and glaciers of various types, ice shelves and sea ice packs. It is quite easy to calculate the surface of the areas covered with ice: it has been calculated that this amounts to approximately 15 million km2, equal to one tenth of the surface of the Earth’s emersed land. It is more difficult, on the contrary, to calculate the volume of ice because the thickness of the entire covered area must be known: using special techniques it is possible to measure the ice thickness in various points of a glacier and therefore to estimate the volume. For example the average thickness of the Antarctic sheet is 2,100 m, with peaks of 4,800 m in Land of Wilkes, in the Eastern sector: with a surface of little less than 13,600,000 km2, the total volume of the Antarctic ice is 30 million km3.

Credit: Energy & environment

Picture credit: Google

 

DOES ANTARCTICA HOLD MOST OF THE WORLD’S FRESH WATER?

The Antarctic ice cap contains about 91% of all the ice in the world and about 86% of all freshwater that occurs in the form of ice. But despite all this freshwater, Antarctica is considered one of the most arid places on Earth.

Antarctica is the highest, coldest, driest, and windiest of the world’s continents. It is also “tallest” in terms of average height above sea level. Nearly 99% of this land mass is covered with an ice cap with an average altitude of around 2 200 metres above sea level. The area of this vast continent – some 14 million square kilometres – doubles in the winter, when sea ice can stretch as much as 1000 km outwards from the coastline.

Most of the continent of Antarctica lies south of 70°S, although the Antarctic Peninsula stretches northward as far as 60°S. The continent is surrounded by the Southern Ocean, a circumpolar sea that isolates Antarctica from the other continents.

Most of Antarctica is covered with ice, but in many places mountain peaks (nunataks) stick up out of the ice. The Vinson Massif in West Antarctica, with an elevation of 5 140 m, is the highest peak in Antarctica. In addition to the nunataks, there are large ice-free regions called oases where the ice has retreated and where melting outstrips accumulation of new snow. Other areas, known as dry valleys, are free of ice because essentially no precipitation falls there.

Picture credit: Google

Can reforestation alone save the Earth?

Trees are huge carbon sinks. They saok up the carbon. Planting trees will help mitigate the climate change and cool the planet to some extent. But that has to be combined with a dedicated effort to reduce carbon emission. Reforestation combined with the reduction of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide (CO2), is the need of the hour. It is these gases that warm the earth, leading to climate change which we have been witnessing in many forms such as the melting of ice sheets, rising of sea levels, wildfires, floods, droughts and other natural calamities. So the carbon emissions need to be reduced by nations, on an industrial scale as well as individual level.

Picture Credit : Google 

1000 trees are presently ‘walking’ down the streets of the Dutch city of Leeuwarden

1000 trees are presently walking down the streets of the city of Leeuwarden, Netherlands. Or rather, the indigenous trees planted in big wooden containers are being lugged around by volunteers. The idea is to let people experience a greener and cleaner alternative.

The unique initiative has been launched as part of the art project ‘Bosk, envisaged by architect Bruno Doedens and his collaborator, the late Joop Mulder.

The trees will keep moving around the city till August 14, after which they will be planted across the city. The idea emerged from Doedens 2021 essay Planet Paradise. The essay questions the relationship of humans with the natural world.

Bosk means forest in the local Frisian language. The move is an attempt to raise awareness about climate change. The trees are being moved by thousands of volunteers and roads are closed when the trees are walking. The trees rest on the weekend.

It all started in the month of May, when volunteers started moving the trees in huge wooden containers. After starting their journey, the trees first stopped at Stationsplein. outside Leeuwarden’s train station.

Whilst the trees aren’t moving, seating areas are provided between the trees to let the people experience life when there is more green cover. Around 60-70 varieties of native trees such as maple, oak, elm, willow, alder, and ash are planted in the wooden containers.

QR codes have been given which lets one know the details such as the species name, its lifespan, soil type, and so on. The city gardening team gets an alert whenever water is required by the tree. A soil sensor alert has been provided for this.

 The trees will get their permanent home in the city after 100 days. The trees will trundle down these roads until August 14 and will later be planted across the city where the greenery is limited.

Picture Credit : Google 

Nature’s theatrics

The universe has always been an enigma. There is so much to learn and experience from nature. Sometimes, nature delights us with some breathtaking spectacles of hers. We take you through some of these wow moments.

MOONBOW

You have seen a rainbow. Have you seen a moonbow? This is a light show like no other. The moonbow is a very rare optical phenomenon. It occurs when the light from the moon gets reflected and refracted through water droplets in the air at a certain angle. Much like how a rainbow forms. But moonbows are faint as the amount of light from the moon, which is reflected sunlight, is less. It is said that the first mention of moonbows was by Aristotle back in 350BC. As there is more light during the full moon phase, the likelihood of seeing a moonbow is more at this time.

Every year, during spring and autumn, the Denmark skies become a canvas of sorts as starling birds whiz through the skies in millions. The birds flock together in large numbers and even the sun gets partially blocked by them. This has earned the phenomenon the name Sort Sol meaning Black Sun in Danish. This spectacle across the skies occurs because of the migrating starlings as they head to their breeding grounds. This can be seen only in Denmark.

SKY MIRROR – BOLIVIA

This is akin to a mirror on the floor. The Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the world’s largest salt flat. When the lake water flows onto the flat, the water reflects the sky above, just like a mirror. These salt flats are vast and endless and the waters create a reflection that makes for an extremely enigmatic sight.

NORTHERN LIGHTS ICELAND

Sometime between September and April, the skies in Iceland turn theatrical as they put on a spellbinding show of colours. Awe-inspiring patterns form in the sky in hues of green, red and blue. This natural phenomenon is called the Aurora Borealis or the northern lights. They form when the charged particles of the sun interact with atmospheric atoms.

BIOLUMINESCENT SHORES – MALDIVES

Picture this. A beach glowing neon blue at night. If you were to go to the Vaadhoo Island of the Maldives between the months of June and December, you will get to witness a glorious abstract art painted by nature herself on the sea. The waters appear soaked in a blue hue because of the phenomenon called bioluminescence as light gets emitted by a microorganism called phytoplankton present in the sea.

LIQUID RAINBOW-COLOMBIA

Imagine a river full of colours, more like a watercolour palette. The Caño Cristales river in La Macarena turns into a vibrant colourscape between the months of July and October. The river gets bathed in colours of red, yellow, green and blue as a result of the reproduction of the aquatic plant Macarenia clavigera, a species of the river weed family, during that time. The 62.1-mile-long river runs through the Serranía de la Macarena national park in Colombia.

Picture Credit : Google 

Nature’s masterstroke

Autumn showcases nature in all its splendour. How do the colours of leaves change during the season? Why do leaves fall? How do animals react to the change in season? Come, let’s find out

Autumn is a transitional period between summer and winter. It is one of the four seasons in the temperate zones. According to the Hindu calendar. Sharad ritu is synonymous with autumn. But autumn

is not very distinct in India, except in some parts of the Himalayas, especially the Kashmir Valley. In the northern hemisphere, autumn begins with the September equinox which occurs on September 22 or 23 each year. This is when the sun crosses the celestial equator and moves southward. During the equinox, the day and night are of nearly equal duration.

Fall colours

French littérateur Albert Camus has aptly described the season- “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower!” Indeed as the days grow shorter with a perceptible nip in the air, Mother Nature too begins to discard her universal green and sets the countryside on fire with gorgeous red, orange, yellow or brown.

The leaves of many deciduous plants change colour. A leaf contains three pigments-chlorophyll (green), carotenoid (yellow, orange and brown) and anthocyanins (red). Of these, chlorophyll and carotenoid are present in leaf cells during the growth period. But the chlorophyll covers the carotenoid and hence we see only the green colour. Anthocyanins are produced only in autumn under certain conditions in some trees.

During winter, there is not much sunlight for photosynthesis to take place. Trees begin to temporarily shut down their food factory. The green chlorophyll begins to disappear from the leaves and the vivid colours of the carotenoid come alive.

The eastern parts of the U.S. and Canada, Scandinavia, western parts of Europe, China, Korea and Japan are famous for the spectacular fall foliage. Thousands of tourists flock to these places to soak in the flamboyance of nature before everything gets covered by a white blanket of snow!

Why do leaves fall?

The root, stem and branches of trees are able to withstand the harsh winter but not so the tender leaves- they freeze in winter. Therefore, the leaves are shed to ensure the tree’s survival. With the onset of autumn, a layer of cells called the ‘separation layer forms at the base of each leaf. When this layer is complete, the leaf is separated and it falls.

Trivia

*As the mercury begins to drop in the late fall season, people look forward to the ‘Indian Summer’. It is an unusually warm, dry spell which follows frosty weather.

*Autumn is associated with a sense of melancholy, especially by poets. “To Autumn” by well-known English poet John Keats is an ode to the season.

*Chinar, the signature tree of Kashmir, paints the entire valley in gold and crimson red during autumn.

* In the West, the new academic year in schools and colleges coincides with the fall season.

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Come autumn and animals know instinctively that the fun and frolic of summer is over and it’s time for hard work! The falling temperature and reducing daylight trigger hormonal changes in animals. Many birds, animals and even insects begin their long, arduous journey to warmer places to escape the harsh weather ahead

Those who wish to stay put find their own ways to brave the winter. Furry animals grow a thicker coat, while birds grow extra feathers. As autumn gets underway, squirrels, beavers, rodents and even ants get busy gathering food for a snowy day. For those who plan to sleep through winter, autumn is feasting time! Bears chipmunks, hedgehogs, etc. consume excess food and store it as body fat to sustain them during hibernation.

Picture Credit : Google