#Environment
Impact of climate change on India
✅India especially will be vulnerable to climate change due to its diverse terrain, rapid use of natural resources due to the current trend of precipitous urbanisation, industrialisation and economic growth.
✅Water and air quality are worsening each day due to environmental pollution.
✅Those that are especially susceptible to climate change are the country’s coastal ecosystems, biodiversity and agricultural productivity.
✅The natural disasters’ increasing frequency and intensity are causing negative effects to the already struggling Indian economy.
✅The adverse effects of such disasters range from poverty, vulnerability to diseases, loss of income and livelihoods.
✅According to the World Bank, an increase of 2°C in the world’s average temperature in the next few decades will only make India’s monsoon more unpredictable.
✅The changing rain patterns in India are predicted to leave many areas flooded and others without water scarcity.
✅More than 60% of India’s agriculture is dependent on rain and the majority of the population are dependent on the agriculture sector for survival. This makes India more vulnerable to climate change.
✅It is estimated that by the 2050s, with a temperature increase of 2-2.5°C, water in the river basins of Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra will be reduced. This may threaten the food security of about 63 million people.
Impact of climate change in
The Indian Himalayan region:-
✅The Himalayas, which represent about 16.2 per cent of the total area of the country, are not only a key watershed of India but also play a crucial role in the monsoon system. Climate change impacts on the mountain range can affect the entire sub-continent.
✅The mean temperature of the Himalayas has gone up by 0.6°C in the past 30 years; the frequency of warmer days is also increasing.
✅The northeastern states of India,. particularly parts of Assam and Manipur, are vulnerable.
✅Flash flood due to glacial lake outbursts may lead to landslides and affect large-scale food security.
✅Himalayan glaciers melting faster than others elsewhere in the world.
✅Productivity of apple has decreased by 2-3% over the past few years. This will go down further.
✅Projected increase in intensity of rainy days is 2-12% in the Himalayan region.
Some Facts and Datas
#ClimateChange
🍄 20 out of 23 major cyclone disasters in the world in the past have occurred around the Bay of Bengal region.
Radioactive Pollution
✅Radioactive Pollution is defined as the increase in the natural radiation levels in the environment that pose a serious threat to humans and other life forms.
✅Radioactive contamination is the deposition of or presence of radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids or gases (including the human body), where their presence is unintended or undesirable (International Atomic Energy Agency definition).
Artificial Sources of Radioactive pollution
✅Accidents in nuclear power plants and nuclear waste.
✅Nuclear weapon testing and explosion (Nuclear fallout). The fall Out contains radioactive substances such as strontium-90, caesium-137, iodine-131, etc.
✅Uranium mining and mining of other radioactive material like thorium
✅Radiation therapy and direct exposures to radiation for diagnostic purposes (e.g. X-rays), chemotherapy etc.
✅The slow nuclear radiations can emanate from a variety of sources viz. nuclear reactors, laboratories, etc.
Causes of radioactive pollution
✅Dumping of Radioactive Waste:
The application of radioactive elements in nuclear weapons, X-rays, MRI and other medical equipment causes their exposure to human beings. Dumping of these radioactive wastes in surface water bodies causes water pollution.
✅Mining:
Mining activities of radioactive elements like uranium and thorium also pollute surface and groundwater.
✅Nuclear Accidents:
Radioactive pollution due to nuclear submarine accidents and sinking have been reported.
The Rocky Flats plant in Colorado, Fukushima and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster are some examples of such nuclear accidents.
