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Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 9th Jan 2021
Today's Must Read Articles :American rivers has changed colour
HEADLINES:
One in three large American rivers has changed colour in the last 34 years: Study
WHY IN NEWS:
One-third of rivers in the United States have changed colour in the last three-and-a-half decades, a study published recently in the journal Geophysical Research Letters has shown.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Ecology
ISSUE:
RIVERS CHANGING COLOUR
- They have changed from appearing blue to appearing yellow and green, indicating the presence of sediments and algae, likely caused by anthropogenic activities.
- The study analysed nearly 235,000 satellite images covering 67,000 miles of large rivers taken from 1984 to 2018 by NASA and the US Geological Survey.
PIGMENTATION AND REASONS
- Fifty-six per cent of rivers appeared yellow instead of blue and 38 per cent appeared green.
- In one-third of the rivers studied, the change in colour from blue to green or yellow was a long-term change, not tied to seasonal variation.
- The yellow colour usually appears due to high levels of sediment in the water.
- Sedimentation can be caused by human activities like dredging or construction or natural causes like heavy rainfall.
A map made by the Gardner Hydrology Lab, University of Pittsburgh, showing the colours of rivers in the US
- Just eight per cent of the satellite images showed rivers as blue.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The United States has over 250,000 rivers, with a total of about 3,500,000 miles of rivers.
- But the biggest in terms of water volume is the deeper Mississippi river.
SOURCES: DownToEarth | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 9th Jan 2021
Mollusc species
HEADLINES:
Mollusc species collapsing in eastern Mediterranean, finds study
WHY IN NEWS:
The study was published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences and published January 6, 2021.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Conservation of flora and fauna
ISSUE:
GLOBAL WARMING
- As water turns warmer due to global warming, marine organisms that cannot adapt to changing temperature migrate to cooler water areas or die.
Current Affairs News Analysis
KEY POINTS
- They surveyed the Israeli shelves in the eastern Mediterranean, which is one of the warmest areas in the Mediterranean Sea.
- It records an average temperature of 32 degrees Celsius in the summer.
- Only around 12 per cent of the shallow-sediment molluscs noted in the historical records are still present today.
- On rocky reefs, that number is only five per cent.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- While the mollusc species originally native to the eastern Mediterranean are on the decline, tropical invaders have increased significantly.
- There are several other factors contributing to the collapse of the species, most notably pollution and the pressures from invasive species.
SOURCES: DownToEarth | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 9th Jan 2021
ARMY PERSONNEL : STRESS MANAGEMENT
HEADLINES:
Over half of Army personnel under severe stress, says study
WHY IN NEWS:
This is according to the findings of a study by United Service Institution of India (USI), a Service think tank.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3: Defence
ISSUE:
ARMY PERSONNEL : STRESS MANAGEMENT
- More than half of Indian Army personnel seem to be under severe stress.
- There has been a significant increase in stress levels amongst Indian Army personnel during approximately last two decades due to operational and non-operational stressors.
- Officers experience comparatively much higher cumulative stress levels, compared to the Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) and the stress causative factors are also different.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The study observes that the overall job satisfaction and pride in uniform remains high amongst JCOs and ORs.
- Despite harsh and challenging service conditions, Indian Army personnel remain highly motivated to serve in CI/ CT areas voluntarily.
SOURCES: THE HINDU | Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 9th Jan 2021
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