Once upon a time, a hunter shot and wounded a bird. The bird begged him not to kill her but to take her home, and when she went to sleep, strike her head. The hunter did exactly like that and the bird transformed into a beautiful woman. She proposed to the hunter for marriage, and […]
Mount Etna is the world’s one of the most active and iconic stratovolcanos. It is located on the central-northern side of Sicily, Italy and is 2,700 years old. This volcanic mountain spreads in an area of 1,190 km2. It looks like a gigantic cone in shape. It is a continuously erupting volcano with fairly frequent
Caves of Aggtelek and Slovak are located on the north-eastern border of Hungary and the south-eastern border of Slovakia. They are about 2 million years old and spread in an area of 600 km2. These caves topographically comprise limestone plateaus dissected by deep river valleys. It is a rare combination of karst formation due to
South China Karsts are unique landforms made up of limestone (chalk and calcium carbonate). These karsts are 270 million years old. They spread in about 550,000 km2 area. These rocks are carved naturally as needles. They have caves, underground streams and sinkholes on the surface; steep rocky cliffs that stand tall and emerge vertically. Geologically,
Door to hell is a 69-metre wide and 39-metre deep burning natural gas field, which has been burning for 5 decades. It is located in Darvaza, desert of north Turkmenistan. This area housed a substantial oil field. A drilling rig was set up to store the gas. However, the ground beneath the drilling rig soon
Ocean power is divided into three categories: tidal, wave and ocean thermal energy. Tidal energy is produced by the sudden powerful movement of ocean waters during the rise and fall of tides. Wave energy is generated by the kinetic energy possessed by the huge ocean waves. Ocean thermal energy is based on the difference in
The word ‘Geo’ means Earth and ‘thermal’ means heat. Deep inside the Earth, the temperature is very high. Due to this high temperature, the rocks are in molten state. When water present under the ground comes in contact with these hot molten rock spots, it gets converted into steam. And hot springs are formed. This
The word hydro means water and power means energy, hence hydropower is power generated by water. The main components of a hydropower plant are: water reservoir, turbine blades and generator. Water from height is made to fall through pipes on turbine blades. The blades then move and turn the generator. And the generator generates electricity.
Biomass is biological or organic material. The common biomass materials are the remains of dead plants and animals, animal dung and kitchen waste. The biomass contains energy absorbed by the Sun which can be harnessed. The steps are: firstly, organic waste is collected in a biogas digester, where bacteria decompose the matter and produce biogas
Moving wind has an enormous amount of energy in it. Energy produced by moving air can be used and converted into electricity. Wind mills or wind turbines are used for converted wind energy into electrical energy. These turbines are long tubular towers that have rotating blades at the top. The blades are turned when wind
Renewable Energy Sources: Renewable energy is the energy that can be replenished. Some of the renewable energy sources are solar energy, wind energy, geothermal (Earth’s natural hot spots) energy and biomass energy. These resources can be utilised to generate electricity. The energy produced by these sources is also termed as non-conventional energy. These resources are
Pollution means an undesirable change in the environment. The word pollution is derived from a Latin word pollure, meaning making unclean. There are two types of pollutants: natural pollutants (volcanic ash, forest fire) and man-made pollutants (trash or runoff produced by factories, automobiles, etc). Pollution is classified into: air, water and soil pollution.
Greenhouse effect is the naturally occurring heating of the Earth’s surface. The sun’s radiation enters the Earth’s surface; 1/4th is reflected by clouds and rest falls on the Earth. The surface re-emits the heat in form of infrared radiations. Some infrared radiations are absorbed by atmospheric gases or greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4 etc.). These gases
Ozone is a gas present in the upper part of the stratosphere. The ozone layer is a belt of ozone gas, which absorbs about 98% of the devastating ultraviolet (UV) radiation. It absorbs these rays like a sponge. There exists a balance between conversion of oxygen to ozone and ozone to oxygen in the stratosphere.
Environment is everything that surrounds a living organism and affects it during its lifetime. It is a sum of physical, biological and chemical factors present on the Earth. Environment can be classified into three broad types: biotic, abiotic and cultural. Biotic factors include biological components of the ecosystem, such as plants, animals, micro-organisms, etc. Abiotic