UPSC Necessities | Mains reply apply — GS 3 : Questions on Devoted Freight Corridors and Arctic area (Week 82) | UPSC Present Affairs Information

QUESTION 2

“The Arctic Tundra, as soon as a carbon sink, is now turning right into a carbon supply.” Analyse the causes and penalties of this shift on the worldwide local weather system.

Basic factors on the construction of the solutions

Introduction

— The introduction of the reply is crucial and ought to be restricted to 3-5 traces. Bear in mind, a one-liner just isn’t an ordinary introduction.

— It could include primary info by giving some definitions from the trusted supply and genuine details.

Physique

— It’s the central a part of the reply and one ought to perceive the demand of the query to supply wealthy content material.

— The reply have to be ideally written as a mixture of factors and brief paragraphs quite than utilizing lengthy paragraphs or simply factors.

— Utilizing details from genuine authorities sources makes your reply extra complete. Evaluation is necessary primarily based on the demand of the query, however don’t over analyse.

QUESTION 1: “The Devoted Freight Corridors (DFCs) are a game-changer for India’s logistics sector.” Focus on the financial and environmental affect of DFCs in India.

Note: This isn’t a mannequin reply. It solely offers you with thought course of which you’ll incorporate into the solutions.

Introduction:

— The Devoted Freight Hall Company of India (DFCCIL) is a Particular Goal Automobile established below the executive management of the Ministry of Railways.

— Devoted Freight Corridors (DFCs) are particular freight transportation routes that present elevated transport capability on account of quicker freight prepare transit, the operation of double stack container trains, and heavy haul trains.

DFCCIL’s mission is:

— To create a hall with acceptable know-how that allows Indian Railways to revive its market share in freight transport by creating extra capability and making certain environment friendly, reliable, secure, and economical transportation choices for its prospects.

— Arrange multimodal logistic parks alongside the DFC to provide customers a whole transportation answer.

— To assist the federal government’s ecological sustainability goals by encouraging folks to decide on railroads as essentially the most environmentally helpful technique of transportation.

Physique:

It’s possible you’ll incorporate among the following factors in your reply:

— Based on a latest research by the College of New South Wales in Australia, devoted items corridors enhance India’s GDP and dramatically improve income for Indian Railways.

— Based on the report, the discount in freight prices and journey time owing to DFCs has helped decrease commodity costs by as much as 0.5%, and the corridors have contributed to 2.94% of the Railways’ income development between FY 2022-23 and FY 2018-19.

— The findings have been reported within the journal Elsevier. They examined the Western Devoted Freight Hall (WDFC) statistics for FY 2019-20 and arrived at their conclusions utilising a Computed Basic Equilibrium mannequin developed by the central authorities.

Want of DFCs

— The Devoted Freight Corridors have been deemed essential for 2 causes. The primary was the extreme use of the Railways’ golden quadrilateral, which connects the 4 metropolitan centres of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Howrah, in addition to its two diagonals. This stretch accounts for less than 16% of the route but carries greater than 52% of passenger visitors and 58% of revenue-generating freight visitors for the railways.

— One other trigger was the railways’ declining share of general freight visitors. This knowledge was produced as a part of the Nationwide Rail Plan, which aimed to extend rail’s share of freight visitors to 45% by 2030.

— At present, on common, 325 trains run day by day, which is 60% greater than the earlier yr. The products trains on DFC are quicker, heavier and safer. Since their starting, DFCs have carried about 232 billion Gross Tonne Kilometres (GTKMs) and 122 billion Internet Tonne Kilometres (NTKMs) of payload.

— Based on the DFCCIL, DFC presently handles greater than 10% of all freight on Indian Railways. A DFCCIL consultant acknowledged {that a} complete and holistic evaluation of the affect of DFCs on the Indian financial system is now ongoing, with conclusions due shortly.

Conclusion:

— There are 4 extra proposed corridors: the east coast hall from Kharagpur to Vijayawada (1115 km), the east-west sub-corridor-I from Palghar to Dankuni (2073 km), the east-west sub-corridor-II from Rajkharsawan to Andal (195 km), and the north-south sub-corridor from Vijayawada to Itarsi (975 km).

— Based on the report, the implementation of DFCs supplied important advantages in western areas by reducing freight prices. The information additionally revealed a’social-equalising impact’, with states with decrease per-capita GDP benefiting considerably.

(Supply: On the expansion observe: How Devoted Freight Corridors are including to GDP, boosting Rail revenues by Dheeraj Mishra, dfccil.com)

Factors to Ponder

Examine Devoted Freight Hall Company of India Restricted

Significance of DFCs

Associated Earlier Yr Query

Deliver out the socio-economic results of the introduction of railways in several nations of the world. (2023)

QUESTION 2: “The Arctic Tundra, as soon as a carbon sink, is now turning right into a carbon supply.” Analyse the causes and penalties of this shift on the worldwide local weather system.

Note: This isn’t a mannequin reply. It solely offers you with thought course of which you’ll incorporate into the solutions.

Introduction:

— Based on a brand new evaluation by the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Arctic tundra, a frozen treeless habitat that has saved carbon for 1000’s of years, is now a supply of heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHGs), that are the principal drivers of world warming.

— The evaluation, ‘Arctic evaluation Card’, a yearly evaluation, found that rising wildfires and intensely excessive temperatures are the first causes of the Arctic ecosystem’s drastic shift.

Physique:

It’s possible you’ll incorporate among the following factors in your reply:

— Arctic tundra spewing extra carbon than it shops would have worldwide ramifications since it might worsen local weather change, which is already having a detrimental affect all around the world.

— In a typical ecosystem, vegetation use photosynthesis to soak up carbon dioxide (CO2) from the ambiance. These vegetation develop, die, or are consumed by creatures that develop and die. After they die, the carbon of their corpse nourishes microbes like micro organism and fungi, which break down larger molecules and launch CO2 into the ambiance, finishing the carbon cycle.

— Nevertheless, the freezing setting of Arctic tundra considerably slows the decomposition of natural supplies. Plant and animal stays can stay trapped for 1000’s of years in a layer of permafrost – any floor that has been frozen for not less than two years — stopping CO2 from being launched again into the sky. Scientists estimate that Arctic soils retailer greater than 1.6 trillion metric tonnes of carbon all through the area. Based on Vox, that is roughly twice as a lot carbon within the ambiance.

Why is the Arctic tundra emitting extra carbon than absorbing it?

— Nevertheless, in recent times, the Arctic tundra’s potential to emit much less and soak up extra carbon has declined. The newest investigation, which included further knowledge and improved inspection methodologies, indicated that the ecosystem is now a supply of CO2 and methane (CH4) — a stronger GHG — emissions.

— This has occurred for 2 major causes. One is rising temperatures. Based on the report, the Arctic is warming 4 instances quicker than the remainder of the world, with annual floor air temperatures in 2024 being the second-warmest on document since 1900.

— Consequently, the Arctic permafrost is melting, which signifies that soil micro organism have gotten lively and breaking down natural matter, releasing CO2 and CH4 into the ambiance.

— Between 2001 and 2020, wildfires and rising temperatures brought about the Arctic tundra to launch extra carbon into the ambiance than its vegetation eliminated, more than likely for the primary time in millennia, in keeping with the evaluation.

Conclusion:

— Based on the evaluation, it’s but conceivable to reverse the Arctic tundra such that it absorbs extra carbon than it emits. The one means to take action is to chop international greenhouse fuel emissions.

— “With projected emissions from land-use change (akin to deforestation) of 4.2 billion tonnes, whole CO2 emissions are projected to be 41.6 billion tonnes in 2024, up from 40.6 billion tonnes final yr,” in keeping with the report.

(Supply: Why Arctic tundra is emitting extra carbon than it absorbs, for first time in lots of millennia by Alind Chauhan)

Factors to Ponder

How does the Arctic tundra retailer carbon?

What’s the tundra ecosystem?

Associated Earlier Yr Questions

How does the melting of the Arctic ice and glaciers of the Antarctic in a different way have an effect on the climate patterns and human actions on the Earth? Clarify. (2021)

Why is India taking a eager curiosity within the Arctic area? (2018)

Earlier Mains Reply Observe

UPSC Necessities: Mains reply apply — GS 1 (Week 81)

UPSC Necessities: Mains reply apply — GS 1 (Week 80)

UPSC Necessities: Mains reply apply — GS 2 (Week 80)

UPSC Necessities: Mains reply apply — GS 2 (Week 81)

UPSC Necessities: Mains reply apply — GS 3 (Week 80)

UPSC Necessities: Mains reply apply — GS 3 (Week 81)

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