Panama canal, a discussion component of world geography is in news..
The Panama Canal Authority said that next month it will temporarily limit the size of ships using the waterway because drought has lowered water levels in Gatun and Alhajuela lakes.
The restriction, which is the first such hold-down because of weather in nearly 20 years, takes effect Sept. 8 and had been expected by shippers. Only a minority of ships now using the canal will be kept out, the authority said.
Rainfall over the watershed feeding the lakes at the midsection of the waterway has fallen sharply as a result of the El Nino weather phenomenon, lowering the lake levels. Similar problems occurred in 1997-98.
The authority said ships will be limited to a maximum draft of 39 feet (11.89 metres) beginning Sept. 8. It added that the limit might be further reduced to 38.5 feet (11.73 metres) on Sept. 16.
Only about five or six of the 36 ships now using the canal daily will be affected,
Monsoon has been playing a vital role in the economic well being of this country. A large proportion of population depend on it for direct & indirect employment and thus incomes. failure in the right amount of rain derails the life of a farmer beyond imagination as they invest on a variety of inputs and fail to reap harvest. the increased number of farm suicides in many states of India is an indicator of the distress in rural areas of our country. and long term approach to farming, living within ones means and not spending too excessively on social or other occasions, not depending on a single crop or type, focus on multiple incomes have etc been suggested for rural populace. . indian administrators should look into this major cause of concern and help the country and farmers come out of this complex scenario as this is also linked to indian economic growth and stability of society..
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Read Agriculture from Economy & Geography Text books,
read about Agrarian crisis from Society Text book for its implications on indian society.
read articles from newspapers/magazines like the one given below
Central India is the worst affected with a deficit of -5%. Rainfall here in the second half of June was so good that the region had recorded the highest surplus in comparison to other regions.
Other regions like east and northeast India and south peninsula have a -4% deficit. Northwest India currently has a surplus of 12%, India Meteorological Department (IMD) data shows.
In central India, all subdivisions have a deficit except Saurashtra and Kutch, Vidarbha and Chattisgarh. The maximum deficit of -32% has been recorded in Marathwada and Gujarat region.
A met department official told TOI that some rain can be expected in central India in the next few days, especially in parts of east central India like Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, east Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. However, Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada can only expect isolated rainfall in the next few days. "The offshore trough is not well manifested causing weak rainfall activity. This part of the monsoon generally has a well-established offshore trough along with other systems, which seems to be missing this time," the official said.
G P Sharma, vice-president, meteorology, at Skymet Weather Services, told TOI that though conditions may improve for other parts of the country in terms of rainfall activity over the next one week, south peninsula, Maharashtra and Gujarat may not see much rainfall at least during the first half of July.
"The southwest monsoon is going through a weak phase since the beginning of July, because of the typhoons in the western Pacific. They have a great bearing over the flow of the monsoon current over the Indian seas," he added. From July 8 to 14 however, monsoon will gain strength over coastal Maharashtra including Mumbai, Sharma said.
A met office forecast on Wednesday said the southwest monsoon has been active over Jharkhand and Bihar but subdued over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, west Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rayalaseema and interior Karnataka. A recent Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) extended range forecast said the forecast during July indicates that there will be absence of large scale monsoon system resulting in below normal rainfall.
Meanwhile, Pune received 1.1mm rainfall from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Wednesday, with IMD forecasting light rain or one or two spells of rain from Thursday till July 12.
This satellite image shows the first volcanic island that formed in December 2011 in the Red Sea near Yemen. NASA IMAGE BY ROBERT SIMMON, USING ALI DATA FROM THE EO-1 TEam
Two volcanic islands have emerged in the Red Sea, forming from undersea eruptions that sent towering plumes of gases and ash into the air.
The islands named Sholan and Jadid formed in what is known as the Zubair archipelago near Yemen in the southern Red Sea. They formed in 2001 and 2013. They grew quite quickly after forming but have since shrunk over time due to erosion, according to a study published in Nature Communications that used high-resolution satellite imagery to study their changing size over time.
Sholan Island - located between Haycock and Rugged islands - grew out of an eruption that lasted 25 days starting in December 2011. It reached a size of .52 kilometers wide and 0.77 kilometers long before shrinking 30 percent over the past two years. Wind and ocean currents also played a role in its size, according to the study, with the island growing the north in the winter and spring while deposits move back from the northern shore to the southern part of the island during the summer.
Jadid Island formed two years later between Saba and Saddle islands. The eruption lasted 54 days, forming a circular island about 0.9 kilometers in size. It, too, shrunk over time due to erosion, with the island reduced to 0.67 kilometers by February 2014.
It isn't a surprise that earthquake activity was found, since the Red Sea has been known to be seismically active for decades. But the emergence of the two islands, according to the study, would suggest the presence of a magmatically active zone that "had previously escaped notice."
The researchers from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia said these types of underwater eruptions are poorly understood. Few have been witnessed since Surtsey Island emerged south of Iceland in the 1960s.
A satellite photo of the 2011-12 eruption that created Sholan Island. It was taken by the worldview-2 satellite on 23 December 2011.
JÓNSSON ET AL., NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
But based on the persistence of Surtsey, the researchers said they expect these two islands will not disappear anytime soon.
"Similar to Surtsey Island, many of the older and smaller Zubair islands consist of tuff that has not easily eroded away," the researchers wrote. "This is likely also going to be the fate of the new Jadid and Sholan islands, that is, they are going to remain above the surface despite the fast erosion observed immediately after the eruptions."
Happy ugadi sir, this is a reminder for my optional as Geography. sir can you mail it's details. - Deevya
Phani Siddha
Super Sixty IAS Academy
hello divya, its a 20 chapter wonderful subject.. i teach in an interactive manner with
detailed discussions.. actually started one day back.. another batch in June/July.. till december..
Usually new batches start June and November every year.. admissions from April for June Batch Optional and Prelims Cum Mains Foundation Courses and from September for November Batch..
scoring as it is a mix of many general studies subjects in the new syllabus.. assured score
if you follow discussion with self study a bit at home..
students should have a bit of interest in geo to study it.. i think u said so...
