Volcanoes In other planets

Volcanic features aren’t exclusive to our planet. Our satellite, the moon, exhibits volcanic features, as does Io, a Jovian satellite (one of the moons of the planet Jupiter). So do other planets in our solar system, most notably Mars and Venus.

The volcanic features on Mars are similar in shape to those on Earth. Scientists suspect that they were probably formed by similar processes, and that volcanism has been significant throughout Martian history. However, it is interesting to note that they also feel there is no geological evidence yet of recent plate tectonic motion such as that on Earth.

Scientists have identified more than 1700 volcanic centres on Venus. The craters vary greatly in size, shape, and eruptive activity.

Undoubtedly the most spectacularly volcanic planetary body is Io, the moon closest to the giant planet Jupiter. In 1979, images from the Voyager 1 spacecraft arrived on Earth. They showed active volcanic plumes rising up to 300 km above this tiny moon’s surface. The surface is pockmarked with volcanic centres, and at least around 70 of these are active.One of the foremost researchers in the field of planetary geology was Dr. Eugene Shoemaker. He helped map the surface of the moon. You can't beat a good euphonious

Tiger alert

A few years ago, the Sariska tiger reserve was faced with a great tragedy when the entire population of tigers was wiped out. This year, in a groundbreaking effort to preserve the species, an endangered Bengal tiger was relocated to the Sariska tiger reserve. The young male tiger was airlifted from the Ranthambore tiger reserve by the Government of Rajasthan and the Central Government with the help of WWF for Nature. The tiger is in good health and appears to be adapting to his new surroundings. More tigers are expected to be introduced in the near future.

“Tiger numbers are dwindling at an alarming rate and it is imperative we take action now to keep them from disappearing altogether,” said Sybille Klenzendorf, director of WWF’s Species Conservation Programme. There may be as few as 1,400 wild tigers remaining in India and fewer than 4,000 wild tigers left in the world.

Populations are fast declining due to poaching — killing for their skin and parts — and habitat loss. This relocation is the first of its kind in India and a testimony to the government’s intent to preserve the iconic species.

Ocean of garbage

September 20 was Coastal Clean-up Day. But, is one day enough to clean up our coastlines? Over 80 per cent of plastic that is found in the seas has been washed out from land. a visit to the coast will give you an idea of the scale of the crisis

A study conducted in the Netherlands found that 95 per cent of sea birds in the North Sea had plastic inside their stomachs; one bird in Belgium had 1600 pieces of plastic in its stomach. Nearly 600,000 tons of discarded plastic is believed to have settled at the bottom of the North Sea.

There is so much plastic waste that is floating on our seas that researchers, scientists and regular ocean travelers refer to these as continents of plastic; a single plastic continent could weigh over three million tons.

One only needs to do simple ‘garbage in oceans’ search on the Internet to actually find out the scale of the problem that we have created. Tens of thousands of pages of shocking information and pictures about the state of the oceans that cover 70 percent of this planet. It is important also to bear in mind that this is a problem that is essentially created by humans. Over 80 per cent of the plastic that is found in the seas has been washed out from land – from our landfills, from our garbage cans – the plastic that we use and carelessly throw away day after day.

All of us may not have the opportunity to see what is happening in the far away oceans, a visit to any of our coast lines that is piled up with waste of all kinds gives us a good idea of the scale of this crisis.

Coastal Clean up day was on September 20, and was one effort at dealing with the problem when a large number of organizations and volunteers all over the world came together to clean up the coasts. The magnitude is such, that efforts like this can only make a small dent. A much better and long term solution, experts point out, is to adopt the 3R principle – Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. That might be the only way out, because how much ever we clean up, the waste is not going away if we continue to generate it at the pace and quantities that we are presently doing.

Importance of Lake

There was a lake in pallikaranai. This is the largest natural rainwater harvesting system in the region which is linked to the Bay of Bengal through a network of backwaters and outlets. This lake serves two important function — flood control in the hinterland areas and ground water recharge.

We also came to know that this lake was once home to 45 species of fishes, 10 species of frogs, 21 species of reptiles, 110 species of birds and 10 species of mammals.

While testing the samples of soil, air and water, revealed that a total of nine dangerous chemicals in the ambient air exceeded permissible limits and they are known to cause dangerous diseases.
Then the village community was called out and a team of students had put up a street play on pollution telling them that the future of this lake is in their hands.

The play highlighted the uses of the lake, causes and effects of pollution to the environment and the preventive measures to be taken to put an end to it.