Category: Geography

Non-conventional sources of energy

Non Conventional sources of energy are the ones which are renewable, eco-friendly, pollution-free and they are alternative to conventional energy sources such as Coal, Petroleum etc. Examples are Wind, Solar, Hydro, Tidal-Wave, Biomass Energy etc.

Use of Non-conventional Sources of Energy

India heavily depends on Thermal Power, which uses Fossil fuels as its energy source. This creates huge environmental and as well as health effects to all the living beings.

The gases released by thermal power plant are Sulphur Dioxide (SO ), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and Ozone (O) and also Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), Lead and Non-Methane Hydrocarbons.

Also, Hydropower Power, even though its Non-conventional energy sources, still its largely affects the environment as Huge forest were destroyed for the construction of dams.

Due to such environmental effects, the need of hour is Non-Convention Sources of Energy.

Solar Power

Solar Power is produced by using solar panel, which is a large number of Photovoltaic cell or solar cell which are arranged in a particular manner to yield maximum power.

The Terrace of homes and offices can be effectively used to produce Solar energy using Solar Panels and Solar inverters. These systems designed to reduce the electricity bills and also one could earn money by giving the excess electricity produced at Home or Office to the Local Power Distribution Centre or EB.

Solar Power is the fast-growing sector in India as India has a huge advantage over it. Tamil Nadu state has the highest installed solar capacity in India. (Kindly Check the Latest One)

Tamil Nadu’s total installed solar energy is 1697 MW.

The Solar thermal energy programme is being implemented by the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Source (MNES) and its main objective is market development, commercialisation and utilisation of heat energy in Industries, Institutions and domestic applications.

Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are the major solar power producers.

Hydro power

Hydro Power is one, where the power is generated using the free-flowing water from the Hills, Dams etc. This is regarded as one of the most economical and environmentally friendly methods of power generation. Still it has its own disadvantages, as the construction of dams needs a large area and mostly forest is cleared build such reservoirs and also Hydropower is seasonal as most of the rivers in India are non-perennial.

This method contributes 7% of global power production and the cost of production is also relatively low which makes it a good renewable energy method.

In India, the nodal agency for Hydro Power production is NHPC Limited which is an Indian government hydropower board under the ownership of the Ministry of Power, Government of India that was incorporated in the year 1975 and the first hydroelectric power station in India is established in 1987 at Darjeeling.

Distribution of Hydro Electric Power

• River of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Tripura accounts for 30.4%
• Eastward flowing rivers of peninsular India – 20.9%,
• Westward flowing rivers of the Western Ghats (South of the Tapti) – 10.5%
• The Ganga Basin – 11.7%
• Indus Basin – 16%
• The rivers of central India – 10.5%

Wind Energy

Wind Mills are erected, to harvest the energy from the natural Air Flow using the Wind Turbines. It is a cheap source of power, plentiful, renewable, clean, eco-friendly and does not give out any unwanted gases such as greenhouse gas during its operation.

Apart from producing electricity, wind energy is used for pumping water and Sail propel ships.

As these Winds Mill occupy less space, a number of Wind Mill unit can be built in a small area. In India, Tamil Nadu has the largest installation, Muppandal-Perungudi area, near Kanniyakumari has the largest concentration of wind farm capacity in a single location in the world.

In 1986, development of wind power in India began. The first wind farm was set up in the coastal areas of Okha, Gujarat, Ratnagiri in Maharashtra and Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu with 55 KW Vestas Wind Turbines.

The wind energy production capacity has increased greatly in the past few years and currently, India is the fourth-largest producer of Wind Energy in the World. The National Institute of Wind Energy (NIWE), Chennai was established in Tamil Nadu in 1998 as an autonomous institution under the administrative control of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

CIWE main activities include resource assessment and testing & certification.

d) Biomass Energy

The Bioenergy are obtained by the bio-degradable materials such as Animal dung, Kitchen waste, Water Hyacinth, agricultural residue and other wastes etc. Biomass energy is a clean and cheap source of energy.

At the moment India has a high potential to obtain energy from biomass and it is estimated about 18 GW of power can be obtained from biomass in India. And Currently, 32% of the total primary energy used in India is obtained from Biomass.

Currently the energy derived from the biomass is mostly used for domestic purposes.

e) Tidal and wave Energy

Ocean tides and Ocean waves are the two main sources of Ocean energy and it is estimated that India has 8,000-9,000 MW potential on its coasts. The gulf of Cambay or Gulf of Khambhat in the Arabian Sea in Gujarat is the most suited area for tidal energy with a potential 7,000 MW.

And Followed by by the Gulf of Kachch with potential of 1,000MW and Sunderbans with the potential of 100MW.

At present, a 900mw tidal power plant is proposed to be set up in the Gulf of Kachch region. Also, Wave energy potential in India is estimated to be 40,000 MW. A wave energy power plant of 150 KW(maximum) has been installed at V-izhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram.

Information communication revolution

Evolution of communication technology

Production of and trade in commodities are the basis of the economy of any country. For these to go on, smoothly and with efficiency, the most basic need is information exchange.

The amount of information exchange depends very much on economic development. With the increase in demand for more information and exchange, the means of exchange also develop.

Letters are a vital element in the exchange of information for a long. The means of transport of letters depends on the distances to which they are transported. For short distances, they are sent through the roads. For distant places, they are sent by the railways. And for still farther distances, they are sent either by sea or by air.

Speed posts and the letters that should reach in a short while are being sent through the air. Until now, letters were carried in India by the Government Department alone.

Now, there are private courier services, too. The Government Postal Services have introduced ‘speed post’ to facilitate quick delivery of letters to distant places.

Information exchange is not only through letters but also through various other means such as the telephones, electronic equipment such as telefaxes. In sum, people, products, and information are transferred through roads, postal services, sea routes, and airways. The transfer is done through one or more of the transport modes.

Therefore, there is a competition between the carriers or interdependence among them. As such, development in one leads to developments in another. This is because there are merits and demerits to each of these transport modes and vehicles.

Information Explosion: Information explosion is very much like the population explosion of recent times. Several geographical information systems have been developed to store the data from the information explosion, index, and analyze them for development purposes.

It has become possible to handle different types of data easily through computers. Thus, there is no doubt now that the communication techniques and information revolution have acted in the union to prove the idea that ‘knowledge is power.

What are their impacts? How did they make for a change in geography? What developments occurred in geography as a result of these changes?

Technological, Technical Development: The world around us is changing fast. This change has made transformations on the earth possible. Methods have been devised in geographical science which analyses this change towards an understanding of the earth phenomena.

These have ushered in new perspectives and paradigmatic understanding of geography. In the 1950s, for example, number and quantity brought in a scientific revolution in geography.

Measurements and gathering of statistical data for understanding the world and to resolve problems that face the earth had become day-to-day activities. In course of time, mapping, cartographic research, and mathematical methods have come into use.

At the beginning of the 1960s, there were several descriptions and explanations which have now become established geographical ideas.

Continuous developments in information technologies increased field-based activities, voluminous data collected at the local and regional levels, the use of computers, and mathematical algorithms – all have impacted to increase the information manifold.

Information has multiplied ten times, hundreds of times, and million-fold. In order to take advantage of the exploding information, there came other, forward-looking developments during the 1970s and 1980s.

Although remotely sensed data have been received from the aerial photographs even before, satellite images have now supplemented even better information.

The traditional tool of cartography has now provided support in integrating human skills with the computing skills of computers and this has developed into modern geographical information systems.

Computers have now turned into devices, directly storing data from the fieldwork. They have now become not only the instant processors of arithmetic solutions and maps but also print them out as hard copies.

Space and satellite telecommunications, manual and computer mapping technology, and analytical mathematical algorithms have all been pooled to provide us with the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) that could accommodate and meet the challenges of information explosion in the world in the 1990s.

In several western countries, hundreds of the GISs have come into use. It is estimated that there is now a total of 2,000 such GISs in use in the world.

They have already been in intensive use in the departments of development and management. They have come into use, in our own country as well. The wings of the Survey of India and in the Departments of Universities, have now been used to the extent we could cope with the information explosion.

Importance of Information Technology: The developments in information technology have now paved the way for the new axiom ‘New scales, new worlds’.

Relations between data need, provision and handling have risen as a reflection of technological development. Nevertheless, the technology and the techniques are within certain limits, in operational terms.

Particularly, there is still a limit to the quantum of data that can be handled. The value of information technology depends upon the following is beginning to dawn in our midst:

Nature and type of sensing of information. Its spatial and temporal resolution. Our capability for processing data into information, storing and handling them in terms of computer facility.

The analytical capability with us and the corresponding interpretative capability amongst us. Classifying the conclusions and solutions from the information obtained by us and bringing them into use in a beneficial manner.

The five above, there is no doubt, will give us clarity of what we know of the world.

It is always a question in the area of communication as to how to deliver the news and ideas that arise from these to a majority. In today’s world, there are several communication types of equipment in daily use.

It is also true that some of them are still beyond the reach of a majority of people in this country because of their prices. For example, it is humanly impossible to make available newspapers to every citizen of India.

Similarly, radios and televisions cannot be made available to all of them, either. But there is no doubt that the impact of these media is widespread, throughout the world.

According to one source, radios provide vital information to 90 percent of the Indian population. Television acts in a way useful to 70 percent of the Indians.

They play a vital role in entertainment. Telephones have started functioning in remote villages, besides the towns and cities.

But in western countries, telecommunications have already become a basic need. The day is not far off for it to happen in India, as well. Let us now turn to learn the developments that have come about in the fields
of telecommunication and its technologies.

Communication Revolution: The world is under the grip of a ‘communication revolution’ that is seen in many ways. This revolution is considered the ‘third wave’ of global revolution. The ‘first wave’ of revolution is the ‘green revolution’ while the ‘second wave of revolution is that of the ‘industrial revolution.

The two revolutions (agricultural, industrial) have made a revolutionary change in the development of humankind.

It is expected that the third revolution of communication would bring about changes in the world that would surpass all changes that occurred in the earlier revolutions.

It has made possible the belief that it is ‘One World’.

It would also integrate people of all world, in all directions, is talked about throughout.

As the first impact of the appropriate activities of information technology, the world has begun to shrink. It has now become possible to send the information contained in ten books in a few seconds to a distant place: broadcasting has given way to narrow-casting.

How has this been possible? Let us now look at the historical developments in information and telecommunications, as they are useful to us.

Never before in human history has knowledge been so enormous. Also, we have never possessed such communication abilities as we do now.

We may consider these information and telecommunications technologies as problem-solving strategies and facilities.

It is even possible to integrate the wealthy North countries with the poverty-stricken South countries in the good cause of amenity expansion, catalyzing development, increasing literacy, alleviation of poverty through altruism, nature restoration, world management, promoting peace, and humanizing the world through these technologies.

Language and New Technologies: In human history, the languages were split and developed as the populations spread and multiplied.

Some cultures have gifted their cultures and languages to the outsiders and brought to themselves laurels.

Language has alone become the vehicle of communication. Some of these languages have now become the languages of law, administration, and official use through speech, writing, and printing.

Telecommunication Technologies

In some cultures, languages have been identified as ‘human identities’. English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Arabic is being used by the multitude. Similarly, some of the regional and local dialects are being used as the languages of communication among the peoples.

All of these languages offer information through newspapers, radios, and television. All new innovations in technology use languages as the interfaces in the information exchange.

Some signal languages are used in communication with computers.

Ancient Telecommunications:

In telecommunications, all information is conveyed through symbols. The African drummers communicated messages through sound. Smoke signals were in use among some tribes as a means of telecommunications.

Flags and pictorials were used as auxiliaries to telecommunications.

Printing Revolution:

Then came printing techniques. The machine-published books became the primary sources of information besides reaching most of the world population.

The 19th-century steam-driven printing press gave way to the machines which operated with electricity and depended on composing. Next came litho press.

Photocopying created a revolution in copying. This is even now in use. In this computer age, printing has become simple through desktop publication.

The book in your hands has been published using computer publishing.

Telegraph and Telephones

The first-ever electrically operated telegraphic equipment came into use in the year 1837. Subsequently, in 1867, the telephone was born.

These have served humankind for more than a century in the exchange of information. Joining with the computers and satellites in telecommunications, the telephones have revolutionized the internal and international information exchanges.

As a ‘two-way communication’ and a ‘communication without codes’, telephones have become a communication link with no match to its versatility.

Radio: Radio broadcasting –

Especially continuous one – came into vogue in the year 1922. Radio has acquired the epithet ‘the vehicle of social change’ in a few years’ time. It had a very distinctive role in the green revolution of the developing countries.

It is also being used as the primary communication link in population control. It is not only useful to the educated but even more so to the uneducated. But this is under Government control. In some western countries, it is also being used as the communication medium in the private sector radio broadcasting.

With the telephone, this has made history in individual-related communication, too.

Television

Sound and light-based communication was first begun in 1936. This is the television era, which has made possible a ‘reception room revolution’, using cinematographic techniques.

Yet, in some countries, it has earned the name ‘the idiot box, which it does not deserve. This is now an instrument changing the perception of the world population.

However, television has coverage of a mere 15 percent of the population in the poor South countries which hold 75 percent of the world population. In northern countries, it is rare to see a place or a home without television. In some countries, the telecast is through more than 100 channels.

The necessary information they provide, recreational and entertainment fares they offer, and the knowledge-based telecasts are numerous. Yet, where the cinema impacts more readily on the population as in the developing countries, the hold of the television on the population is minimal.

Deep-Sea Telegraphic Lines: These are a communication link among the many countries which have developed quite fast in both telegraphic and telephonic communication.

A deep-sea line in 1980 carried some 5,000 telephonic links. Now there have been several developments. Many countries are not only connected by the deep sea telegraphic lines but they use them in an important way, too.

The Satellite Power

The first-ever satellite is Sputnik 1. This was launched in 1957. It is estimated that over 15,000 satellites have orbited the earth in space. Some have burnt themselves while returning to the earth, in the atmosphere.

The 180 satellites sent up by the United States of America are all in use. The 100 satellites sent up by the former Soviet Union are still in operation. Among the 16 satellites launched by India, none failed.

They have completed successfully their mission, besides helping with the resources appraisal and in international communication. As for geography, the images received from these satellites play a vital role in the assessment of resources.

They form the spatial database for mapping through the GIS. It is not only easy to analyze the problems that the country faces but also develop solutions using the products of maps and their interpretations.

In the operation of satellites, computers have a significant role. It would be otherwise difficult to receive images from the satellites and process them in the lab was it not for the development of computers.

In resources appraisal, the images that we receive from the satellites have a large role to play. Generations of Computers: Computers have been developed in very rapid succession. Present-day computers are considered the Fifth Generation computers.

The first used simple valves. The second-generation computers used transistors. The third has been developed using integrated circuits. And the fourth uses microchips.

Microchips are still being used in fifth-generation computers; there are also other technologies in the field of computers.

Computers are useful in telecommunications in two important ways.

1. They act as storages and retrieval media when required.

2. They have a major role in international information exchange through Electronic Mail (E-mail) and international telecommunications.
   

Climate change Definition

Climate change in IPCC usage refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer.

Climate change definition by Ipcc

Climate change refers to seasonal changes over a long period with respect to the growing accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

Recent studies have shown that human activities since the beginning of the industrial revolution have contributed to an increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere by as much as 40%, from about 280 parts per million in the pre-industrial period, to 402 parts per million in 2016, which in turn has led to global warming.

Several parts of the world have already experienced the warming of coastal waters, high temperatures, a marked change in rainfall patterns, and increased intensity and frequency of storms. Sea levels and temperatures are expected to be rising.

Climate change and its consequences

Climate change and its consequences are nothing but the negative effects of climate changes, It includes the Failure of the Monsoons. In-country like India, where the majority of the population depend on the Monsoon rainfall for drinking and agriculture.

As most of the rivers in India are non-perennial, People always expects of Monsoon as a source of water. If one season is failed it will be a huge disaster in India. It results in the drying of rivers, lakes and putting a lot of pressure on the groundwater resources.

This in turn puts a lot of pressure on the groundwater. This results in excessive usage of groundwater for agriculture and drinking water that results in groundwater depletion.

Some crops which are planted in Tamil Nadu such as Paddy requires a lot of water to grow. When the monsoon fails it is difficult to depend on groundwater. When the groundwater depletes it results in crop failure.

The crop failure results in famine and diseases.

Another Climate change and its Consequences is an increase in the level of the sea. When the sea level increase just by one inch several Islands and low-lying cities such Chennai, or other coastal regions may submerge into the sea.

As we get news regarding rising sea level is submerging several Pacific Islands If cannot stop the climate change most part of Tamil Nadu might submerge into the sea.

Climate change and its Consequences on Biodiversity

The effects of climate change on Biodiversity is another important topic we need to address. The increase in atmospheric temperature increases the temperature of the sea. This affects the growth of Coral reefs and the breeding of fishes.

The coral reef needs water of temperature 23°–29°Celsius for its growth. When the temperature of seawater increases, it directly affects the growth of Coral. Thousand of species depend directly on the Coral reefs.

The increase in seawater temperature directly affects sea species.

It also affects several birds and animals. An increase in temperature affects Polar Ice Caps that affect Polar Bear, Penguin, etc. The Polar bear population is decreasing at a rapid rate.

The increase in temperature results in frequent forest fires, that kills a lot of wild animals and plants.

Climate change mitigation

Climate change mitigation is a set of activities that need to be taken to reduce the impact of climate change. These include using renewable energy sources such as Solar power plants, wind energy, etc.

Reducing the Co2 discharge, using public transport rather than using Individual vehicles such as Motor Bike, cars, etc.

The latest improvement in climate mitigation is the increased usage of E-Vehicles and Bio Fuels. These are some of the climate change solutions.

The latest climate change news is Treats to tropical forests, Melting glaciers, Global food shortage.

Climate change causes

• Global warming is the current increase in temperature of the Earth’s surface (both land and water) as well as its atmosphere.

• Average temperatures around the world have risen by 0.75ºC (1.4ºF) over the last 100 years.

• About two-thirds of this increase has occurred since 1975.

• Carbon dioxide, methane, Chlorofluoro Carbon, nitrous oxides are the greenhouse gases warming the earth’s surface. So it is also called the greenhouse effect.

• The CO2 is the most important of the greenhouse gases contributing to 50% of global warming.

• The burning of fossil fuel, and other biomass, deforestation result in CO2.

• In the past, when the Earth experienced increases in temperature it was the result of natural causes but today it is being caused by human activities.

Conclusion

Climate change and Global warming adversely affect agriculture, horticulture, and the ecosystem. Reduced rainfall, higher temperature, and increased pest/weed growth hamper farming.

Threats to health arise due to an increase in disease-carrying vectors such as mosquitoes resulting in malaria, dengue fever, encephalitis, and yellow fever.

An increase in the global average surface air temperature of such magnitude will bring about alarming changes in rainfall patterns and other climatic conditions, resulting in serious ecological disequilibrium.