Daily Current Capsules - 04^th May 2020

Focus Article / Environment Conservation
Closure of Ozone layer Hole Over The Arctic
Relevance IN - Prelims (all about Ozone layer + Montreal protocol + Kigali amendment ) + Mains (GS III Environment conservation + GS I geographical features and their location
What's the News

• Last week, the European Union's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) announced that a hole in the Arctic ozone layer, believed to be the biggest reported, has closed.

Know! More On The Ozone Layer

• Ozone (chemically, a molecule of three oxygen atoms) is found mainly in the upper atmosphere, an area called the stratosphere, between 10 and 50 km from the earth's surface.
• The ozone layer or ozone shield is a region of the Earth's stratosphere that absorbs most of the Sun's Ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
• It protects the earth from the Sun's harmful UV radiation. It absorbs 97 - 99% of the UV radiation from the Sun. UV rays can cause skin cancer and other diseases and deformities in plants and animals.
• Ozone layer depletion is the thinning of the ozone layer present in the atmosphere.
• This happens when the chlorine and bromine atoms in the atmosphere come in contact with ozone and destroy the ozone molecules.
• The ozone-depleting substances that contain chlorine include chlorofluorocarbon, carbon tetrachloride, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, and methyl chloroform. Whereas, the ozone-depleting substances that contain bromine are halons, methyl bromide, and hydrobromofluorocarbons.
• Chlorofluorocarbons are the most abundant ozone-depleting substance. It is only when the chlorine atom reacts with some other molecule, it does not react with ozone.

The ozone hole

• The ‘ozone hole' is not really a hole - it refers to a region in the stratosphere where the concentration of ozone becomes extremely low in certain months.
• The ‘ozone holes' most commonly talked about are the depletions over Antarctica, forming each year in the months of September, October and November, due to a set of special meteorological and chemical conditions that arise at the South Pole, and can reach sizes of around 20 to 25 million sq km.
• Such holes are also spotted over the North Pole, but owing to warmer temperatures than the South Pole, the depletions here are much smaller in size. Before this year, the last sizable Arctic ozone hole was reported in 2011.

Uniqueness of This Year's Ozone Layer

• This year, the ozone depletion over the Arctic was much larger. As per a European Space Agency report, cold temperatures (below -80°C), sunlight, wind fields and substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) were responsible for the degradation of the Arctic ozone layer.
• Although Arctic temperatures do not usually fall as low as in Antarctica, this year, powerful winds flowing around the North Pole trapped cold air within what is known as the polar vortex- a circling whirlpool of stratospheric winds.

Know! More on Polar Vortex

• A polar vortex is a low pressure area-a wide expanse of swirling cold air-that is parked in polar regions.
• During winter, the polar vortex at the North Pole expands, sending cold air southward. This happens fairly regularly and is often associated with outbreaks of cold temperatures in the United States.

Ozone Recovery

• Scientists believe that the closing of the hole is because of the same polar vortex and not because of the lower pollution levels during the coronavirus lockdown.
• As per the Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion data of 2018, the ozone layer in parts of the stratosphere has recovered at a rate of 1-3 per cent per decade since 2000.
• "At these projected rates, the Northern Hemisphere and mid-latitude ozone is predicted to recover by around 2030, followed by the Southern Hemisphere around 2050, and polar regions by 2060

Additional Relevant Information
Montreal Protocol

• By the late 1970s, scientists were able to prove that chemical substances that were used in air conditioners, refrigerators and aerosol cans were causing damage to the ozone layer.
• In 1985, a huge hole was discovered in the ozone layer over Antarctica. This hole allowed hazardous levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation to reach the earth's surface.
• The Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer was signed in 1985 under which UN member countries recognized the importance of curbing damage to the ozone layer.
• As per the Convention's provisions, countries agreed to adopt the Montreal Protocol to further the goals of the Vienna Convention.
• The Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987 and entered into force in January 1989. The protocol gives provisions to reduce the production and consumption of ODSs in order to protect the ozone layer.
• The Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol was set up in 1991 to help developing countries to comply with the provision of the Protocol. This is under Article 10 mentioned above.

Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol

• In the 28th meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol, negotiators from 197 nations have signed a historic agreement to amend the Montreal Protocol in Kigali, a capital city Rwanda on 15th October 2016.
• As per the agreement, these countries are expected to reduce the manufacture and use of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by roughly 80-85% from their respective baselines, till 2045.
• This phase down is expected to arrest the global average temperature rise up to 0.5o C by 2100. Kigali agreement is an amendment to Montreal Protocol.

Science & Technology
WIHG reveals 35 thousand-year history of river erosion in Ladakh Himalayas

Relevance IN - Prelims ( findings regarding the history of erosion + about Padam valley and Zanskar river + Indus water system and Indus water treaty) + Mains ( GS I geographical features and their location- changes in critical geographical features (including water bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes.
What's the NEWS

• Scientists and students from Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG), an autonomous institute under the Department of Science &Technology studied rivers in Ladakh Himalaya, bringing out 35 thousand-year history of river erosion and identified hotspots of erosion and wide valleys that act a buffer zones.

Benefits

• The study will help to understand river-borne erosion and sedimentation, which are the main drivers that make large riverine plains, terraces, and deltas that eventually become the cradle to evolving civilizations.

Know! about the study (important findings)

• The study showed how rivers in drier Ladakh Himalaya operated in longer time scales and how they responded to varying climate, an understanding of water and sediment routing
• The scientists have traced where the rivers draining Himalaya and its foreland erode the most and identify the zones that receive these eroded sediments and fill up.
• The Ladakh Himalaya forms a high altitude desert between Greater Himalayan ranges and Karakoram Ranges. The Indus and its tributaries are major rivers flowing through the terrain.
• The wide valley of Padam, with an area of 48 square km, in the upper Zanskar, has stored a vast amount of sediments in these landforms.
  
  

• Zanskar river makes a deep gorge in its lower reaches with the headwaters in upper Zanskar makes wide basin called as Padam.
• The basin stores large amount of sediments in form of fans and river terrace deposits

Zanskar River

• The Zanskar River is one of the largest tributaries of the upper Indus catchment, draining orthogonally through highly deformed Zanskar ranges.
• Two prominent tributaries of Zanskar River are the Doda and TsrapLingti Chu, which confluence at Padam village in the upper valley to form the Zanskar River.

Factors responsible for sediment erosion

• Deglaciation and Indian Summer Monsoon derived precipitation in the headwaters despite the presence of a geomorphic barrier (the deep, narrow gorge) between the upper and lower catchments of the river, and it remained connected throughout its aggradation history.

Know! about Indus Water System

• The Indus is one of the most important drainage systems of the subcontinent of India. It has a length of 2880 Km, of which 709Km lies in India.

• It is the western most River system in the subcontinent.
• Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Satluj are its main tributaries.
• The Indus originates from the Bokhar Chu (glacier) in northern slopes of Mt. Kailash (6714m).
• It drains the largest number of glaciers and mountain slopes of the Karakorum, Ladakh, Zaskarand Himalayan Ranges.
• Originating from the Kailash Mountain, it flows in a constricted valley north-westward through Tibet, where it is called as Singi Khamban or Lion's mouth.
• In ladakh it follows a long nearly straight course between the Ladakh range and the Zaskar range.
• It cuts across the Ladakh range, forming a spectacular gorge near Gilgit in Jammu and Kashmir. It enters into Pakistan near Chillar in the Dardistan region.

Know! about Indus Water Treaty

• The Indus system comprises of main Indus River, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.
• The basin is mainly shared by India and Pakistan with a small share for China and Afghanistan.
• Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed between India and Pakistan in 1960, all the waters of three rivers, namely Ravi,Sutlej and Beas ( Eastern Rivers) were allocated to India for exclusive use.
• The waters of Western rivers - Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab were allocated to Pakistan except for specified domestic , non-consumptive and agricultural use permitted to India as provided in the Treaty.
• India has also been given the right to generate hydroelectricity through run of the river(RoR) projects on the Western Rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation is unrestricted.
  
  

Additional info
Present Status Of Development In India

• To utilize the waters of the Eastern rivers which have been allocated to India for exclusive use, India has constructed Bhakra Dam on Satluj, Pong and Pandoh Dam on Beas and Thein (Ranjitsagar) on Ravi.
• These storage works, together with other works like Beas-Sutlej Link, Madhopur-Beas Link, Indira Gandhi Nahar Project etc has helped India utilize nearly entire share (95 %) of waters of Eastern rivers.
• However, about 2 MAF (5%) of water annually from Ravi is reported to be still flowing unutilized to Pakistan below Madhopur.

To stop the flow of these waters that belong to India for its utilization in India, following steps have been taken:
Resumption of Construction of Shahpurkandi project (J&K and Punjab)

• This project will help in utilizing the waters coming out from powerhouse of Thein dam to irrigate 37000 hectares of land in J&K and Punjab and generate 206 MW of power.

Construction of Ujh multipurpose project (J&K)

• This project will create a storage of about 781 million cu m of water on river Ujh , a tributary of Ravi for irrigation and power generation in India

The 2^nd Ravi Beas link below Ujh

• This project is being planned to tap excess water flowing down to Pakistan through river Ravi, even after construction of Thein Dam, by constructing a barrage across river Ravi for diverting water through a tunnel link to Beas basin.

The above three projects will help India to utilize its entire share of waters given under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960.

Prelims Factoids
Coswara - COVID-19 diagnosis based on cough, speech sounds
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Coswara)
What's the NEWS

• A team of researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, is working on a tool for diagnosis of COVID- 19 based on respiratory, cough and speech sounds.

Know! more about Coswara

• The tool, once validated, will offer a test which poses minimum risk of exposure to the healthcare professional and can give the results faster than the current testing method.
• The eight-member team, has named the project for speech and sound based diagnostics "Coswara", with an aim to detect and quantify biomarkers of the disease in the acoustics of these sounds.
• The project requires participants to perform a recording of breathing sounds, cough sounds, sustained phonation of vowel sounds and a counting exercise.

Bilateral Relations
India gets additional funds from the US to fight COVID-19
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about PAHAL project + about USAID + about IPE global + Mains ( GS II Bilateral relations + international organisations)
What's the NEWS

• The United States government, through its Agency for International Development (USAID), has announced an additional assistance of USD 3 million to India to mitigate the spread of COVID-19

Know! more about it

• The US Agency is providing these funds to the Partnerships for Affordable Healthcare Access and Longevity (PAHAL) project. This is an innovative financing platform of IPE Global.
• So far, the USAID has given India almost $ 5.9 million to help fight COVID-19 and these additional funds will help in strengthening case finding and surveillance, providing care and disseminating essential public health messages.
• Through the PAHAL project, the USAID is going to support the National Health Authority to establish a financing facility.
• This facility will mobilize resources from the private sector to assist over 20,000 health facilities which have been enrolled under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY).
• This is the government's health insurance scheme for more than 500 million poor and vulnerable people.

Know! about PAHAL

• PAHAL (Partnerships for Affordable Healthcare Access and Longevity) is USAID and IPE's flagship innovative financing platform to promote health financing models and provide catalytic support to social enterprises (IBMs) for improving access to affordable and quality healthcare solutions for the urban poor communities, with a with a focus on Tuberculosis, Maternal and Child Health and WASH.

OBJECTIVE

Know! about IPE Global

• IPE Global is an international development consulting company providing expert technical assistance and solutions for equitable development and sustainable growth in developing countries.

Know! about USAID

• The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.
• USAID is one of the largest official aid agencies in the world, and accounts for more than half of all U.S. foreign assistance

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