This article deals with ‘Crony Capitalism.’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’ which is important pillar of GS-3 syllabus . For more articles , you can click here .
What is Crony Capitalism?
Crony Capitalism is an economic system in which businessmen thrives not by their hardwork or risk taking capacity but through a nexus between a business class and the political class.
Examples of Crony-Capitalism
India
After close election
victories, contractors affiliated to the winning politician are more
likely to be awarded road projects. Around 26% of the roads listed as
completed in Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana were missing from 2011
Census Data, suggesting they were never actually built
Brazil
Public Sector Bank was more
likely to approve loan application of a company if owner gave election
donation to the ruling party.
China
Political connections play a
role in the allocation of bank loans to Chinese firms.
Why Crony Capitalism is bad ?
Pro-Crony Policies leads to wealth destruction :
On one hand , Liberalization of Indian economy enabled creative destruction of inefficient companies by empowering markets. Creative destruction in turn enables wealth creation by allowing entry of new firms leading to increased competition and lowered prices for consumers.
But on other hand, Pro-Crony policies of government leads to wealth destruction as cronyism fosters inefficiencies by inhibiting the process of creative destruction.
Cronyism leads to rent seeking behavior
In crony-capitalism, customer is the ultimate loser as bribes paid by the industrialists are extracted from the customers .
Crony Capitalism leads to Discretionary Allocation of Natural Resources
This can be shown using example of coal. Prior to 1993, no specific criteria for allocation of captive mines existed. Allocation was done via Committee in which committee used to decide allocation to private firms. Firms that got the free resource diverted efforts towards the tunneling of the windfall gain instead of towards productive business activity. Currently, the coal mines allocation is governed by Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act, 2015 which ensures that any future allocation of coal blocks would solely be through competitive auctions
Crony Capitalism leads to Willful Defaults
RBI defines a willful defaulter as a firm that has defaulted in meeting its repayment obligations even though it has the capacity to honour these obligations. Due to Crony Capitalism, Willful Defaulters are not given strict treatment . Such incidents have destroyed total of Rs 1.4 lakh crore from bank’s assets.
This article deals with ‘Type of Economic Systems.’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’ which is important pillar of GS-3 syllabus . For more articles , you can click here .
Introduction
Economic System refers to the manner in which individuals and institutions are connected together to carry out economic activities in a particular area.
There are three major types of economic systems. They are:
Capitalistic Economy (Capitalism)
Socialistic Economy (Socialism)
Mixed Economy (Mixedism)
1 . Capitalistic Economy
Capitalistic Economy is also
termed as a free economy (Laissez faire, in Latin) or market economy where
the role of the government is minimum and market determines the economic
activities.
Adam Smith is the ‘Father of
Capitalism’.
Main features of Capitalistic economy are
The means of production are privately owned.
Golden rule for a producer
under capitalism is ‘to maximize profit.’
There is free competition as government or
any authority cannot prevent firms from buying or selling in the market.
Freedom of Choice and Enterprise i.e. each individual is free
to carry out any occupation or trade and produce any commodity. Similarly,
consumers are free to buy any commodity as per their choice.
Capitalist society is divided into two classes – ‘haves’ that is those who own
property and ‘have-nots’ who do not own property and
work for their living. The outcome of this situation is that the rich
become richer and poor become poorer.
Merits of Capitalistic Economy
Automatic Working: Without any
government intervention, the economy works automatically.
Efficient Use of Resources:
All resources are put into optimum use.
Incentives for Hard work: Hard
work is encouraged and entrepreneurs get more profit for more efficiency.
Production and productivity
levels are very high .
Consumers Sovereignty: All
production activities are aimed at satisfying the consumers.
Development of New Technology:
As profit is the main motive, producers invest on new and efficient
technology
Demerits of Capitalistic Economy
Concentration of Wealth and
Income in a few hands and thereby increases inequalities of income.
Frequent recessions after
certain period of time leading to hardship for the people.
Wastage of Resources: Large
amount of resources are wasted on competitive advertising and duplication
of products .
Class Struggle: Capitalism
leads to class struggle as it divides the society into capitalists and
workers .
Even the harmful goods are
produced if there is possibility to make profit.
2 . Socialistic Economy
Socialistic economy is also known as ‘Planned Economy’ or ‘Command Economy’.
Karl Marx is known as the ‘Father of Socialism’.
Main features of Capitalistic economy are
The Means of Production are owned by the
government.
Planning is an integral part
of a socialistic economy and all decisions are undertaken by the central
planning authority.
Social welfare is the guiding principle behind all economic
activities.
There is absence of competition in the market. The state has full control over
production and distribution of goods and services.
Equality of Income as under socialism private property and the law of
inheritance do not exist.
Socialism provides equal opportunity for all through free health, education and
professional training.
There is a classless society
and so no class conflicts.
Merits of Socialistic Economy
Reduction in Inequalities: No
one is allowed to own and use private property to exploit others.
Allocation of Resources as
central planning authority decides allocation of resources.
Absence of Class Conflicts.
Economic fluctuations can be
avoided in Socialistic Economy.
Demerits of Socialist Economy
Red Tapism and Bureaucratic
lethargy impacts the output of economy.
System does not provide any
incentive for efficiency.
Consumers do not enjoy freedom
of choice over the consumption of goods and services.
Concentration of Power in the
hands of State.
3 . Mixed Economy
In a mixed economy system both
private and public sectors co-exist and work together towards economic
development.
It is a combination of both
capitalism and socialism and tends to eliminate the evils of both
capitalism and socialism.
Examples of Mixed Economy
includes India, England, France and Brazil.
Features of Mixed Economy
Means of production and
properties are owned by both private and public.
In mixed economies, both
private and public sectors coexist. Private industries undertake
activities primarily for profit. Public sector firms are owned by the
government with a view to maximize social welfare
Basic problems of what to
produce, how to produce, for whom to produce and how to distribute are
solved through the price mechanism as well as state intervention .
Though private has freedom to
own resources, produce goods and services and distribute the same, the
overall control on the economic activities rests with the government.
Merits of Mixed Economy
It promotes rapid economic
growth as public requirements and private needs are taken care of.
Economic Equality: The
government uses progressive rates of taxation for levying income tax to
bring about economic equality.
Government safeguards the
interest of the workers and weaker sections by legislating on minimum
wages, and rationing, establishing fair price shops and formulating social
welfare measures.
Demerits of Mixed Economy
Lack of coordination between
public sector and private sector as both work with divergent motives.
Most of the public sector
enterprises in Mixed Economy remain inefficient due to lethargic
bureaucracy and red-tapism .
The fear of nationalization
discourages the private entrepreneurs in their business operations and
innovative initiatives.
Inequalities are present
as Ownership of resources, laws of
inheritance and profit motive of people widens the gap between rich and
poor.
Hence, inequality of capitalism and inefficiency of
socialism are found in mixed economies.
This article deals with ‘Inflation.’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’ which is an important pillar of the GS-3 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.
Introduction
Inflation can be defined as the persistent rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.
If the price of one good has gone up, it is not Inflation; it is Inflation only if the prices of most goods have gone up.
Why does Inflation occur?
1. Demand-pull Inflation
In his book “General Theory on employment, interest, money”, British Economist J.M. Keynes (1883) said, “when the economy is functioning at full employment, aggregate supply will match aggregate demand.” The economy will have a ‘General Price’ level at this equilibrium.
Demand-pull Inflation happens when aggregate demand exceeds aggregate supply.
It can happen (i.e. demand can exceed supply) in the following situations
Increase in money supply due to RBI’s expansionary or easy money policy.
Increase in the propensity to consume.
Increase in investment expenditure.
Increase in the fiscal deficit of the governments.
Increase in net exports.
To tackle such Inflation, the government can
Reduce money supply by increasing interest on loans.
Induce people to save rather than consume by giving attractive investment options.
Follow Fiscal Consolidation and keep fiscal deficit in check.
Import goods in short supply.
2. Cost-push Inflation
It is also known as supply shock inflation.
When supply is reduced due to an increase in the price of raw materials, leading to a higher cost of production.
3. Profit-push Inflation
When Cartels, Monopolists, or Oligopolists deliberately cut their supply or hoard their produce or hike the price in greed of more profit.
E.g., OPEC increases the price of Petroleum or greedy Indian Merchant hoard onion so that their price increases.
4. Structural Inflation
It is caused by deficiencies in certain conditions in the economy when it cannot respond to people’s increased demand for certain specific things or a lack of infra to make commodities available to consumers.
5. Repressed Inflation
During wars or natural disasters, governments impose price controls and rationing measures to keep prices in check. But after the controls are withdrawn at the end of war or disaster, prices will rise rapidly as traders try to cover up their earlier losses, leading to inflation.
6. Other causes
The depreciation of Rupees makes the import of goods expensive.
Post Covid-19 Case Study
After
the Covid-19 pandemic, high inflation was observed because
Demand-push inflation was observed as most countries were following easy money policy and providing loans at low rates.
Repressed inflation was observed due to the pent-up demand of the customers.
Cost-push inflation was observed due to an increase in the price of raw materials owing to supply chain disruptions.
Profit-push inflation was observed in petroleum products because OPEC+ didn’t increase the supply of crude oil commensurate with the increase in demand.
Types of Inflation based on speed
1. Creeping Inflation
Inflation of up to 4% (for the Indian economy).
It is regarded as safe and essential for job creation and economic growth.
2 . Walking
Inflation of more than 4% but limited to single-digit only.
3 . Galloping Inflation
Very high inflation in the range of double-digit or triple-digits.
Examples :
In the 1970s and 1980s, Latin American countries such as Argentina, Chile and Brazil faced Galloping Inflation in the range of 50 to 700 per cent.
After the disintegration of the ex-USSR in the early 1990s, the Russian economy faced such inflation.
4 . Hyperinflation Inflation
In Hyperinflation, annual inflation rates are in the million or even trillion. Prices of goods shoot up overnight.
Examples
Germany during Great Depression when Deutsche Mark became worthless.
In recent times, Zimbabwe and Venezuela faced Hyperinflation.
Some definitions
1. Deflation
Persistent fall in the level of prices of goods and services.
2. Disinflation
Reduction in rate of inflation.
3. Stagflation
Stagflation is the combination of inflation & unemployment due to recession.
Stagflation is the economic construct developed post the first oil shock of the early seventies when US inflation had soared to 11.5 per cent, even as the unemployment rate spiked to 9 per cent.
4. Reflation
Attempt to raise the price to counteract deflationary pressures.
5. Skewflation
Episodic price rises in one or a small group of commodities while inflation in the remaining goods and services remains the same.
E.g., the episodic rise in the price of onions, tomatoes, or pulses.
Impacts of Inflation
Inflation hurts the following groups
People on a fixed income, pensioners and bondholders suffer because their income remains fixed while money’s purchasing power is reduced due to inflation.
Consumers suffer because a price rise means more money being paid by consumers for what they buy.
Lenders suffer because the money they will get back will have less purchasing power. (Note – Inflation favours the Debtors over the Lenders).
Importers suffer because inflation leads to currency depreciation, increasing the cost of imports.
Taxpayers suffer as they have to pay more direct and indirect taxes. As indirect taxes are imposed ad valorem (on value), increased prices of goods make taxpayers pay increased indirect taxes. Similarly, the direct tax increases due to inflation as the taxpayer’s gross income moves to the upward slabs of tax brackets.
Additionally, Inflation has the following negative impacts
Reduction in overall demand: Due to a decrease in the purchasing power of people, the overall
demand in the economy decreases.
Wage-Inflation Spiral: Persistent inflation impacts the psychology of people who,
in turn, demand higher wages. It starts the Wage-Inflation spiral. The
companies further increase the price as the cost of their operations
increases due to higher wages.
Inflation benefits the following groups
Businessmen make huge profits because the final product price rises faster than the price of raw materials.
Borrowers benefit as they have to return the same money, but it has less purchasing power.
Government is the biggest beneficiary as it is the biggest borrower. Due to inflation, they have to pay back lesser in real terms.
Exporters benefit because the depreciation of currency leads to cheaper exports.
Is inflation good or bad?
Controlled inflation (between 2 to 6% for India) is desirable & good for the economy. This is because producers & traders make reasonable profits encouraging them to invest. But inflation above safe levels, i.e. 6% for India, hurt the economy negatively.
Philip’s Curve
It is a graphic curve showing a relationship between inflation and unemployment.
Economist William Philips said there is a ‘trade-off’ between inflation and unemployment.
When inflation increases correspondingly, unemployment decreases (because firms, enticed by higher prices, try to ramp up production by recruiting more people.)
When inflation decreases, unemployment increases.
This idea became popular in the early 1960s when economists started to argue that unemployment could be checked forever at the cost of slightly higher inflation. Central Banks around the world began to make monetary policies accordingly.
But in the 1970s, this idea was challenged because countries that followed the above policies suffered high inflation as well as unemployment in the long run. American economists Milton Friedman and Edmund Phelps argued that the trade-off between inflation and unemployment was only short-term. Once people expect higher inflation, they start to demand higher wages, and thus unemployment will rise back to its ‘natural rate’.
Index Theory
Inflation means a general rise in the price of goods and services. But rise against what? There should be some Base Year for that against which increases in prices of goods and services are measured.
The relative importance of all the goods and services is not the same. We cant equate rice and onion with shoes. Shoes are bought occasionally, but eatables are bought frequently, and their price rise hurts more. Hence, weight has to be assigned to all goods and services according to their relative importance.
Hence, the Laspeyres formula is used to calculate WPI, CPI and IIP index, which is a weighted arithmetic mean of a basket of commodities that tracks price/production level against the base year.
The inflation rate is calculated using a change in Laspeyres Index in a particular month of the year compared to that of the same month of the previous year.
Base Years
Base Years
for different Indexes are different
Base Year
Who
CPI
2012
NSO
(under MoSPI)
WPI
2011
Economic
Advisor, DPIIT
IIP
2011
NSO
Side
Note: GDP
2011
NSO
Index 1: Consumer Price Index (CPI)
CPI measures inflation using the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food, and medical care.
There are different types of CPIs released by various agencies, as given below.
Released by
Base Year
CPI (1) Rural 2) Urban 3) All India)
NSO
2012
Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI)
NSO
2012
CPI (Industrial Worker)
Labour Ministry
2016
CPI (Agricultural Labourer)
Labour Ministry
1986
CPI (Rural Labourer)
Labour Ministry
1986
CPI (All India)
CPI (All India) is released by NSO with the base year of 2012.
It is the headline CPI inflation of India.
Monetary Policy Committee uses CPI (All India) under its Inflation Targeting Mechanism.
CPI (Rural) and CPI (Urban)
Since the basket of goods used by people living in rural and urban areas differ, NSO also releases CPI (Rural) and CPI (Urban) to show the inflation in these areas separately.
These are also released by NSO, with 2012 as the base year. But, weightage assigned to different goods varies in accordance with the relative importance of goods used in these areas.
Basket of Goods and Weightage assigned
Component
CPI (All India) weight
CPI (Rural) weight
CPI (Urban) weight
Food and beverages
45.86
34.18
36.29
Pan, tobacco and intoxicants
2.35
3.26
1.36
Clothing and Footwear
6.53
7.36
5.57
Housing
10.07
—-
21.67
Fuel and Light
6.84
7.94
5.50
Miscellaneous
28.32
27.26
29.53
Total
100
100
100
Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI)
If only the Food Component is seen, we get Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI).
Core Inflation
CPI minus Food and Fuel component is called Core Inflation.
Trends in CPI in recent times
CPI Old Indexes
1 . CPI-IW
It is Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers.
It is compiled by the Ministry of Labour.
The base year of CPI (IW) is 2016.
The basket of goods includes 370 goods.
Use: It is used as the cost of living index in the organized sector. Dearness Allowance (DA) is calculated using this.
2 . CPI-AL
It is Consumer Price Index for Agricultural Labourers.
It is compiled by the Ministry of Labour.
The base year of CPI (AL) is 1986 (the plan is to change it to 2019).
The basket of goods includes 60 goods.
Use: MNREGA wages are indexed to this.
3 . CPI – RL
It is Consumer Price Index for Rural labourers.
It is compiled by the Ministry of Labour.
The base year of CPI (AL) is 1986 (the plan is to change it to 2019).
Side Topic: Price Stabilization Fund
The government started the Price Stabilization Fund with a corpus of ₹500 Crore in 2015 to fight Food Inflation.
Under this, Union gives interest-free advances to states to buy onion, potatoes, pulses etc., from farmers and maintain their supply in urban areas to stabilize prices.
Thalinomics: Economics of a plate of food in India
Thalinomics refers to the economics of a plate of food in India.
According to Economic Survey (2020), the price of Thali has reduced across all regions for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis from 2015 to 2018. Hence, Thali’s affordability has increased for low-income families. The average yearly gain to the household of 5 individuals due to reduced prices is around Rs. 11,000.
The affordability of Thalis vis-à-vis a day’s worker’s pay has improved over time, indicating improved welfare of the ordinary person.
The decrease in the price is due to various reform measures taken in 2015 and afterwards, such as Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Soil Health Card, e-NAM, National Food Security Mission (NFSM) and National Food Security Act (NFSA).
Index 2: Wholesale Price Index
The wholesale Price Index (WPI) is the price of a representative basket of wholesale goods. It reflects changes in the average prices of goods at the wholesale level — commodities sold in bulk and traded between businesses or entities rather than goods bought by consumers.
It is released by Economic Advisor to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) under the Commerce Ministry.
In 2017, the Base year was changed to 2011 (earlier was 2004).
The basket of goods and the weight assigned to them while calculating WPI is as follows
Component
Weightage
Manufactured Products
64.23
Primary Articles
22.62
Fuel and Power
13.15
Earlier, indirect taxes were also counted in price while calculating the price. Other countries ignore indirect tax and transportation while measuring Producers Price Index (PPI). But in India, by including Indirect Taxes, we get inflation wrt wholesale buyers and not producers. In 2017, India fixed this anomaly, and now, while calculating WPI, the price without indirect tax is taken into consideration (although the Cost of Transportation is still there).
CPI-WPI Divergence and Convergence
It can happen due to the
following reasons
The changes in international prices pass on to Wholesale Prices (reflected in WPI) quickly but impact the retail prices (reflected in CPI) with a lag. Hence, there can be a wedge between both indices.
Secondly, the composition and weight assigned to different commodities differ in both indices.
Index 3: Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
IIP is a monthly index prepared by NSO that tracks manufacturing activity in different sectors of an economy.
Its Base Year is 2011.
Various components and the weight assigned to them are as follows
Manufacturing
78%
Mining
14%
Electricity
8%
Another way in which IIP is
categorised is USE BASED CATEGORISATION. Weightage given to different
categories in this is as follows
Primary goods
34.22%
Intermediate goods
17.22%
Capital goods
8.22%
Infrastructure
goods
12.34%
Consumer durables
12.84%
Consumer
nondurables
15.33%
Index of 8 Core Industries
Within IIP, 8 industries are considered core industries because
they impact all other economic activities.
Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 % of the weight of items
included in the IIP.
It comprises eight industries as follows
Coal (weight: 10.33%)
Crude Oil (weight: 8.98 %)
Cement (weight: 5.37%)
Fertilizer (weight: 2.63 %)
Electricity (weight: 19.85%),
Refinery Products (weight: 28.04%)
Natural Gas (weight: 6.88 %)
Steel (weight: 17.92%)
Causes of Inflation in recent period
Global Spillover of Inflation: Advanced Economies followed expansionary monetary and fiscal policies during Covid to increase liquidity in the economy, leading to inflation in Advanced economies. In the globalized world, inflation has been exported to India as well.
Geopolitical Conflicts: The price of crude oil, natural gas and wheat has soared globally due to conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine war.
Fed Tapering: To deal with the high inflation, the Central Bank of the USA and other advanced economies have started hiking the interest rates rapidly. This has led to the flow of capital from Emerging Economies to the US, strengthening the dollar. The strong dollar has made imports expensive, leading to inflation.
Vagaries of Weather: Unseasonal rains and excessive heat have impacted the yield of agricultural produce in India, leading to food inflation.
Pent-up Demand: The demand which was suppressed during Covid has rebounded with power increasing the price of goods and services. E.g., housing, travel and tourism etc.
Other Indexes
1. Producer Price Index
It measures the prices of goods and services as they are sold to the wholesaler by producers.
It is measured from the perspective of the producer, while WPI is measured from the perspective of the wholesaler.
It covers both goods and services. (WPI only covers goods)
It is a better indicator than CPI because CPI includes subsidies provided by the government. Hence, it doesn’t give a clear trajectory of prices of factors of production.
Abhijit Sen Committee has recommended the introduction of PPI in India.
2. Service Performance Indices
Any of the above indexes do not implicitly measure inflation of the service sector.
Chandrasekhar Committee suggested starting Service Performance Indices. As a result, the following indices have been started
Railways SPIs
Measures Inflation in freight and passenger services
Banking SPIs
Measures Inflation in services for which banks charge fees, commissions, brokerage, etc.
Postal SPIs
Measures Inflation in services provided by Department of Posts (private postal services are not taken in account)
Telecom SPIs
Inflation in cellular services on the basis of TRAI report.
3. Residex
Residex is released by the National Housing Bank (NHB).
It has 2017-18 as its base, and data is released on a quarterly basis.
It measures inflation in Housing prices in 26 cities.
4. Baltic Dry Index
Baltic Dry Index is released by London Stock Exchange.
It measures the cost of transporting raw materials by sea.
This article deals with ‘Income Inequalities.’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’ which is an important pillar of the GS-2 syllabus. For more articles, you can click here.
Introduction
Income inequality is the degree to which income or wealth holding is unevenly distributed throughout the population.
It is measured statistically using Gini Coefficient.
Apart from that, Oxfam also releases a report every year showing the income inequality in the world and India.
Gini Coefficient
Gini Coefficient is a statistical measure to gauge income inequality or wealth divide.
Its value varies between 0 to 1, 0 indicating perfect inequality and 1 indicating perfect equality.
An increase in value of the Gini Coefficient means that inequality in an economy is increasing, and government policies are not inclusive and benefitting richer.
Calculation of Gini Coefficient
Gini Coefficient = A / (A+B)
In the graph shown above
The horizontal axis on this chart represents cumulative shares of the population.
The vertical axis is cumulative shares of income.
A+ B is constant, and if
A is higher; inequality is higher.
A is smaller; inequality is lower.
If A = 0, then no income inequality.
Hence, Gini Coefficient is measured from 0 to 1, and the lower value means low inequality and higher means more inequality.
Famous US Economist Simon Kuznet showed that market forces would first increase inequality and then decrease inequality among people as an economy develops.
It happens because the initial phase of economic growth boosts the income of workers and investors who participate in the first wave of innovation. But this inequality is temporary as other workers and investors soon catch up, resulting in improvement of their incomes as well.
Palma Ratio
It is the ratio of the percentage of income earned by the richest 10% with the percentage of income earned by the poorest 40%.
For India, this ratio is approximately 1.5.
Quintile Ratio
It is the ratio of income of the richest 10% and poorest 10% in an economy.
In the case of India, the income of the richest 20% is 45% of total income, and the poorest 20% is 8% of total income. Hence, the Quintile Ratio of India is 5.6.
India and Income Inequality
Piketty, the world-famous economist, has cautioned India for rising levels of Income inequalities and their consequences. In countries like India, where other forms of inequalities are present, like the caste system, income inequalities exacerbate the situation.
India grew at an average rate of 7.5% since 2011, but growth is not equally distributed (the rich are growing more). Gini Coefficient shows that income inequality is continuously increasing in India. The following data about India’s Gini Coefficient corroborates this.
According to Oxfam Report
(2020), India’s top 1% wealthy people hold 42% of the
National Wealth while the bottom 60% own less than 5%.
According to Oxfam head, it is morally outrageous that a few wealthy individuals are collecting a growing share of India’s wealth while the poor struggle to find their next meal. If this obscene inequality continues, it will lead to a complete collapse of the country’s social and democratic structure.
According to the World Inequality Report (2022) released by the World Inequality Lab of the Paris School of Economics
It termed India as a ‘poor and very unequal country, with an affluent elite’.
The top 10% of the Indian population holds 57% of national income, including 22% held by the top 1%
The bottom 50% of the Indian population holds just 13% of national income.
The report has suggested levying a modest progressive wealth tax on multimillionaires.
According to the Global Social Mobility report released by the World Economic Forum, the poor in India are more likely to remain poor. It would take 7 generations in India while 2 generations in Denmark for the poor to reach average income.
Further, the Covid pandemic has deepened inequalities of wealth, education, and gender as shown by Oxfam’s report.
Causes of Income Inequality
1. Historical Causes
Caste System: Due to the exclusion of lower caste from ownership of land and education, people belonging to lower caste are poor.
2. Social Causes
Due to the patriarchal and patrilineal nature of Indian society, women don’t own factors of production in India.
3. Frequent Global Economic Crisis
Economic crises like that of 2008 accentuate income inequality by making richer rich and poorer poor. (How= Central Bank cant allow big houses to fall. Due to this, business houses get significant cuts. Currency devaluates, and the loans that companies have to pay decrease in reality. On the other hand, households who deposit their money lose the value of their money).
4. Faulty Taxation System
In India, there is more reliance on Indirect Tax, which is regressive in nature.
Inheritance tax, which is levied when wealth is inherited from one generation to another, is almost negligible in India.
5. Cantillon Effect
The Cantillon Effect is a concept that describes ways in which changes in the money supply can affect different groups of people and economic sectors unequally.
Imagine a situation where the
government decides to print additional money and put it into circulation.
The first people or institutions to receive this new money, such as banks or wealthy individuals, have an advantage because they can spend it before prices rise.
Later, when the money flow increases in the whole economy, it leads to inflation. People who receive the new money later, such as workers or those on fixed incomes, may find that their purchasing power has decreased.
So, the Cantillon Effect
suggests that those who are closer to the source of new money creation benefit
the most, while those further away experience the negative consequences of
inflation. This can result in wealth redistribution and income inequality.
6. India relied on Trickle-Down Approach
India relied on the ‘Trickle Down Approach’, which benefitted the industrial houses and rich businessmen. Instead, in order to reduce inequality, India should have followed the redistributive justice principles of John Rawls, Gandhian trusteeship principles or Amartya Sen’s capability approach.
7. Technological Change
Rapid technological changes are leading to the automation of industries. As a result, few people with high skills are getting high packages while many workers are losing their jobs.
8. Capture of power by elites
Due to Crony Capitalism, political leaders and government work as agents of elites. Policies of government are made to benefit elite sections of society.
Consequences of Inequalities
1. Conflicts and Insurgency
Arab Spring of 2011 in the Middle East was the result of high inequalities in that region.
Earlier in India, Naxalbari Movement was the result of inequality (in landholding).
2. Divides Society
It divides society between haves and have-nots. For India, with an already fractured society over religion, region, gender, or caste, inequality adds another fracture point.
The work of Piketty reveals that when inequalities increase intolerably, governments divide to rule, and persecution of minorities increases with the politics of national identities.
3. Increase in Crimes
It has been observed that unequal societies have higher crime rates. Poverty force people to earn via illegal means.
4. Political Impacts
In case of higher inequalities, political democracy and government lose their legitimacy.
5. Effects on Growth
Income distribution matters for growth. If income is more equally distributed, more potential buyers of goods create bigger markets.
Steps Taken by India
1. Land Reforms
The government introduced the land reforms and abolished the Zamindari System for equitable distribution of the land in the country.
2. Tax Reforms
Piketty has suggested India should improve its Tax: GDP, which is abysmally low. The Indian government is taking steps to bring more people into the tax net.
Apart from that, India has a progressive system of taxation. Progressive Taxation system helps in ‘redistribution of money’ from richer to less well off.
3. Skill Development
Improving education quality, eliminating financial barriers to higher education, and supporting apprenticeship programmes.
4. Social Security
The high cost of healthcare and medicines drives a hundred million people into poverty every year. There must be a universal and permanent safety net for the poorest and most vulnerable. The government has taken various measures like starting the Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
5. Various steps against Black money
The government has taken steps like demonetisation to control black money.
Way Ahead
Universal Basic Income: Introduce universal basic income (as recommended by Economic Survey 2016-17) and raise the minimum income of the common public. These measures can reduce the income gap and result in equal distribution of earnings in the labour market.
Urban Employment Guarantee Schemes: Urban counterpart of MGNREGS, which is demand-based and offers guaranteed employment, should be introduced to rehabilitate surplus labour.
Equitable access to education: Enhance the budgetary allocation for education to 6% of GDP, as committed in the National Education Policy, and the creation of more jobs with long-term growth are vital for triggering upward mobility among people experiencing poverty.
Rationalization of Subsidies: Better targeting of beneficiaries through alternatives like direct benefit transfers over existing inefficient mechanisms
Case Study: Wealth Redistribution Council
In 2021, Japanese PM Kishinev announced the creation of the ‘Wealth Redistribution Council‘ to tackle rising wealth inequalities and redistribute the wealth among households.
Japan aims to pass on wealth from corporations to the households to double the household incomes and rebuild a broader middle class. It will also help in recovering the Japanese economy post-Covid pandemic.
This article deals with ‘National Incomes.’ This is part of our series on ‘Economics’ which is important pillar of GS-2 syllabus . For more articles , you can click here .
Introduction
Income level is the most commonly used tool to determine the wellbeing and happiness of nations and their citizens.
GDP, NDP, GNP, and NNP are the four ideas/ways to calculate a nation’s income.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Gross Domestic Product or GDP is the market value of all the final goods and services produced within the boundary of a country during one year period.
In GDP, the
boundary of the country matters and not the citizenship of the person. If the good or service is
produced within the nation’s boundary, then it will be counted in the GDP.
Interpretation
Nominal GDP and Real GDP
GDP at Current Price (Nominal GDP) vs GDP at Constant Price (Real GDP)
After looking at Nominal GDP/ GDP @ Current Price, we can’t say whether the economy has improved or not. E.g., in the example shown in the infographic below, quantity-wise production has decreased, but figures show that GDP has remained constant.
To rectify this problem, economists set a Base Year (2011 for India) & then use the production data of the current year but the price of goods that of the base year. Using this process, GDP at a Constant Price or Real GDP can be calculated.
In FY22-23, the nominal GDP growth is 15.4%. But the real GDP growth is expected to be close to 7%.The difference (8.4%) is the effect of price inflation.
GDP Deflator
The GDP deflator measures the price changes of goods and services. It is calculated in the following way
GDP deflator can also be used to measure inflation in the economy.
GDP at Factor Cost & GDP at Market Price
GDP at Factor Cost
There are four factors of production & each factor will be paid in money in the following way
Land: Rent
Labour: Wage
Capital: Interest
Entrepreneurship: Profit
GDP at factor cost is obtained by adding the value of these factors of production.
GDP at Market Price
But GDP at factor cost will
attract some tax & subsidies, which need to be added and subtracted
respectively to get GDP at market price.
The official GDP of India is GDP AT CONSTANT MARKET PRICE.
Methods to calculate GDP
There are three methods to calculate GDP
In India, we use Income method to calculate GDP.
Method #1: Income Method
In India, we use the Income method to calculate GDP.
In any economy, a person will get wage (w) for his labour, interest (I) on his capital, profit (P) on his entrepreneurship and rent (R) on his land or building. Under this method, GDP (at factor cost) is calculated by adding up all the incomes generated in the course of producing final goods and services.
Subsequently, if we add taxes and subtract subsidies and adjust that for inflation, we will get GDP at constant and market prices.
Method #2: Expenditure Method
An alternative way to calculate the GDP is by looking at the demand side of the products.
All the final goods & services produced in the economy will ultimately be purchased. Hence, if we add the expenditure of all the persons in an economy, we can calculate GDP (at the current market price).
Under this method, the total expenditure incurred by the society in a particular year is added together. .
Precautions
Second-hand goods: The expenditure made on second-hand goods should not be included.
Purchase of shares and bonds: Expenditures on purchasing old shares and bonds in the secondary market should not be included.
Transfer payments: Expenditures towards payments incurred by the government like old age pension should not be included.
Expenditure on intermediate goods: Expenditure on seeds and fertilizers by farmers and cotton and yarn by textile industries are not to be included to avoid double counting.
Method #3: Gross Value Addition or Production Method
The final goods and services are produced by passing through value addition in various stages. GDP can be calculated by adding value-added during each step of the finished product. This method is known as GVA or Production Method.
By doing that, we get GDP at factor cost, which can be easily converted to GDP at constant market price by adding taxes, subtracting subsidies and adjusting it with inflation.
Gross National Product (GNP)
GNP is the monetary value of all the goods and services produced by NORMAL RESIDENTS of a country.
Here, boundary of territory is not important but normal residency is important.
Interpretation
Indian earning in India => His income will be counted in Indian GNP.
Indian earning in Saudi Arabia => His income will be added in Indian GNP.
Earnings of Korean-owned Hyundai car factory in India => It’s earning will not be counted in Indian GNP.
Net National Product (NNP)
NNP is obtained by deducting the value of depreciation from the GNP.
Capital assets get consumed due to wear and tear whenever something is produced. This wear and tear is called depreciation. Naturally, depreciation does not become part of anybody’s income.
Net National Product at Factor Cost
Through the expression given above, we get the value of NNP evaluated at market prices. But market price includes indirect taxes and subsidies as well.
If we add taxes and subtract subsidies from NNP evaluated at market prices, we obtain Net National Product at factor cost.
India’s National Income is NNP at Factor Cost.
Per Capita Income
Per Capita Income is the average income of a person in a country in a particular year.
It is calculated by dividing national income (Net National Product at Factor Cost) by population.
India’s Per Capita Income is ₹ 1,35,000 (2019-20).
Personal Income
Personal income is the total annual income received by all the individuals of a country from all the sources before the payment of direct taxes.
Personal income is calculated by deducting the undistributed corporate profit and employees’ contributions to social security schemes and adding transfer payments to the national income.
Disposable Income
Disposable Income is the individual’s income after the payment of income tax.
Limitations in measuring National Incomes
Illegal Activities not accounted: Income earned through illegal activities such as smuggling, gambling, illicit extraction of liquor, etc., is not included in National Incomes.
Nature of Statistics: Statistics lag behind the actual happening in the economy, thus increasing the time to capture and understand the significant structural change. E.g., In India, the most accurate GDP data, i.e., revised estimates, comes after a lag of almost 3 years.
Many activities in an economy can not be evaluated in monetary terms. For example, the domestic services women perform at home are not paid for. These Non-marketed activities are not accounted in National Incomes.
Barter exchanges which are still prevalent in rural and tribal areas are not accounted in National Incomes.
Externalities refer to the benefits (or harms) a firm or an individual causes to another for which they are not paid (or penalized). Negative externality is also not accounted .
National Incomes doesn’t give any picture of distribution of income and income inequality within the economy. The trickle down of benefits failed in most nation’s with rise in inequalities in almost all major economies. These inequalities are further pushed by the recent pandemic
The deduction of depreciation allowances, accidental damages, repair and replacement charges from the national income is not an easy task. It requires high degree of judgment.
Rise in national incomes and welfare
National Income is considered an indicator of the economic wellbeing of a country. The country’s economic progress is measured in terms of its GDP per Capita and annual growth rate.
But the rise in GDP or per capita income need not always promote economic welfare as
Economic welfare depends upon the composition of goods and services provided. The greater the proportion of capital goods over consumer goods, the lesser will be the improvement in economic welfare.
Higher GDP with greater environmental hazards such as air, water and soil pollution will be little economic welfare.
Production of war goods will show an increase in national output but not welfare.
An increase in national output can also result from the exploitation of labour. This exploitation doesn’t lead to the welfare of people.
Indian GDP Trends and Analysis
The base year for India is 2011. (there is news of changing it to 2018, but as of now, it is 2011)
In the recent years, GDP growth rate (at constant price) trends was as follows:-
Note regarding above graph: When we say that the Indian economy grew by 10 per cent in a particular year, what it essentially means is that the total GDP of the country in that year was 10 per cent more than the total GDP produced a year ago. Similarly, when we say the economy contracted by 8 per cent this year, we mean that the total output of the economy (as calculated by GDP) is 8 per cent less than the total output of the preceding year. This is called the year-on-year (YoY) method of arriving at the growth rate.
India is the fifth largest economy of the world considering GDP at current prices in US dollars. The top 5 economies are as
follows .
Global Shocks and impact on India’s GDP
Global Financial Crisis of the
past had a limited impact on India. This
was due to following reasons
Prior to 1991, Indian economy had limited integration with the world economy. Hence, it was insulated from the crisis the economic crisis happening in other countries.
There was significant gaps in the global economic crisis and they didn’t happen one after another. For example, Oil Price Shock of 1973, East Asian Crisis of 1997 and Financial Crisis of 2007-08.
But now the situation is
different. Indian economy is very well connected with the world economy.
Moreover, global economy is facing ‘Triple Shocks’ one after another
Covid-19 Pandemic: It slowed down the global economy as world was virtually shut down.
Russia-Ukraine Crisis: It led to supply chain disruptions and massive increase in price of fuel, food and fertilizers.
Rate Hike by Advanced Economies: The Easy Money Policy followed by Advanced Economies during Covid led to massive inflation in advanced economies. To control the situation, Central Banks of Advanced Economies started to increase their Repo Rates which led to FPI outflows from emerging economies (like India), depreciation of currency and increase in the yield of government bonds.
But inspite of that, the impact
of these shocks can be withstood by the Indian Economy
Side Topic: K Shaped Recovery
The Economic Survey (2021) predicted the ‘V-Shaped Recovery’ of the Indian economy post-Covid pandemic. It was hoped that the GDP growth rate would bounce back quickly owing opening up of economic activities. Historically, a similar trend was observed in the Spanish Flu of 1918-20. But other economists tend to differ and present various scenarios like
U-Shaped Recovery: GDP growth will remain low for a longer time before bouncing back.
W-Shaped Recovery: GDP growth will bounce back, then dip and bounce back again.
K-Shaped Recovery: Some sectors of the economy (like e-education, e-commerce etc.) will see massive growth while other sectors (like tourism, restaurants etc.) will continue to shrink or suffer losses.
But, India has witnessed a K-shaped recovery. In simple terms, while some sectors/ sections of the economy have registered a speedy recovery, many are still struggling. The entities that have done well are firms already in the formal sector and had the financial wherewithal to survive the repeated lockdowns and disruptions. Many big firms in the formal economy have increased their market share during the Covid-19 pandemic and this has come at the cost of smaller, weaker firms that were mostly in the informal sector.
This article deals with ‘Humidity, Condensation, Clouds and Precipitation’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’ which is important pillar of GS-1 syllabus . For more articles , you canclick here
Humidity
Water vapour present in the
air is known as humidity.
It is expressed quantitatively
in different ways like
Actual
Humidity
Actual
amount of the water vapour present in the atmosphere.
Relative
Humidity
The ability of the air to
hold water vapour depends entirely on its temperature. The percentage of
moisture present in the atmosphere as compared to its full capacity at
a given temperature is known as the relative humidity .
Specific
Humidity
Ratio of
weight of water vapour to weight of dry air.
Vapour
pressure
Part of
barometric pressure that is caused by water vapour alone.
The air containing moisture to
its full capacity at a given temperature is said to be saturated. It means that the air at the given temperature is
incapable of holding any additional amount of moisture at that stage.
The temperature
at which saturation occurs in a given sample of air is known as dew point.
Evaporation & Condensation
1 . Evaporation
Evaporation is a process by
which water is transformed from liquid
to gaseous state.
It can occur in three
conditions
High temperature
Low Pressure conditions
Fast moving wind
2. Condensation
Condensation is process of
conversion of water vapours present
in air into water droplets .
Condensation is caused by the
loss of heat. When moist air is
cooled, it may reach a level when its capacity to hold water vapour ceases. Then, the excess water
vapour condenses into liquid form.
Condensation takes place:
When the
temperature of the air is reduced to dew point or When moisture is added to the air
Surface : Which may be natural like grass etc
(making dew) or Hygroscopic Surface/ Nuclei
3. Sublimation
If water vapour directly condenses into solid form, it is known as sublimation.
Dew, frost, fog and clouds
After condensation, the water vapour or the moisture in the atmosphere takes one of the following forms — dew, frost, fog and clouds.
1 . Dew
When the moisture is deposited
in the form of water droplets on cooler surfaces of solid objects such as
stones, grass blades and plant leaves, it is known as dew.
The ideal conditions for its
formation are calm air, high relative humidity, and cold and long nights.
For the formation of dew, it
is necessary that the dew point is above the freezing point (otherwise
frost will form) .
2. Frost
Frost forms on cold surfaces when condensation takes place below freezing point (0 C).
3. Fog
When temperature of an air mass containing
a large quantity of water vapour falls all of a sudden below dew point, condensation happens and subsequent
cloud is formed at ground level. This is known as
fog.
Fogs are mini clouds in which
condensation takes place around nuclei provided by the dust, smoke, and
the salt particles.
Radiation
fog
– Associated with temperature inversion & formed at cold night when temperature of air near ground falls below dew point . – Most common type in winter season.
Frontal
fog
– When cold air masses converge against warm humid air masses , cold air being heavy remains at bottom while warm air is pushed over leading to cooling & formation of fog – Famous fog of Newfoundland is formed like this.
In fog, visibility is less
than 1 km.
4. Smog
Fog + Smoke = Smog.
In urban and
industrial centres, smoke provides plenty of nuclei which help in the formation of
fog . Such a condition when fog is mixed with smoke, is described as smog.
It is associated with very low
visibility and health hazard.
There are two type of Smog
a . Sulphurous Smog
Aka London Smog
Results from high
concentration of Sulphur Oxides in the air caused by use of
Sulphur containing fossil fuels , particularly Coal .
Occur in cool humid climate
Chemically reducing hence
called reducing
smog
Characterised by blue coloured skies aka blue haze.
b. Photochemical Smog
Occurs in warm, dry &
sunny climate
Results from the action
of sunlight on unsaturated Hydrocarbons & oxides of
Nitrogen produced from factories and automobiles.
Chemically Oxidising and hence
called Oxidising Smog
Ozone, PAN (Peroxyacetyl Nitrate), Acrolein
& Formaldehyde are produced in it which can cause serious health problems .
5. Mist
The only difference between the mist and fog is that mist contains more moisture than the fog.
In mist, each nuclei contains a thicker layer of moisture.
Mists are frequent over mountains as the rising warm air up the slopes meets a cold surface.
Visibility is more than 1 Km but less than 2 km.
Visibility Comparison : Mist > Haze > Fog > Smog.
6. Cloud
Cloud is a mass of minute water droplets formed by the condensation of
the water vapour in free air at considerable elevations.
As the clouds are formed at some height
over the surface of the earth, they take various shapes
Clouds
Clouds are tiny water droplets
suspended in the air formed due to the condensation.
To understand the nomenclature
of Clouds, one must be aware of the meaning of some Latin words.
Cirrus
Curl of
hair/ high .
Cumulus
Heap or
pile of cotton.
Strato
Sheet or
layer.
Nimbo
Rain.
Alto
Middle
altitudes.
Classification of Clouds
The clouds can be
classified based on their form, height and appearance as follows:
1 . High Clouds
Different types of
Cirrus clouds are present above height of 6Km
1.1 Cirrus Clouds
They look like curl of hair
It indicates fair weather and
gives brilliant sun set.
1.2 Cirro Cumulus
This appears as white globular
masses, forming a mackerel sky.
1.3 Cirro Stratus
This resembles a thin white
sheet. The sky looks milky and the sun and moon shines through this clouds
and form a ‘halo’
2. Middle Clouds
Different types
of Alto clouds are found between 2 km to 6 km above the
ground.
2.1 Altocumulus
These are woolly, bumpy clouds arranged in layers appearing like waves in the blue sky.
They indicate fine weather.
2.2 Altostratus
These are denser and have
watery look.
3. Low Clouds
Mainly Stratus or
sheet clouds below 2 km height.
3.1 Stratocumulus
This is rough and bumpy clouds with wavy structure.
3.2 Stratus
This is very low cloud, uniformly grey and thick, appears like highland fog.
It brings dull weather and light drizzle. It reduces the visibility and is a hindrance to air transportation.
3.3 Nimbostratus
This is dark dull cloud, clearly layered,
as it brings gentle rain, snow and sleet and it is called as rainy cloud.
4. Clouds with vertical extend
These are mainly
cumulus clouds whose height extend from
2 km to 10 km approximately.
4.1 Cumulus
This is vertical cloud with rounded top
and horizontal base, associated with convectional process in the tropical
region.
4.2 Cumulonimbus
This is over grown cumulus
cloud with great vertical extent, with black and white globular mass.
This is formed due to heavy
convection in the tropical regions. It is accompanied by lightning,
thunder and heavy rainfall
Precipitation
Precipitation is the process by which all forms of water particles fall from the atmosphere and reach the ground.
Conditions necessary for
precipitation
Air parcel
must be cooled below dew
point.
Presence of condensation nuclei(i.e. minute hygroscopic particles serving as
nuclei for water particles) in the air . Eg salt, smoke & dust
particles=> if they aren’t present, precipitation will not occur even
if relative humidity is above 100% .
Condensation must occur rapidly & for
fairly long time
. If occur for small time , then it
may not reach to earth as it would be absorbed by unsaturated air present
in lower parts .
Forms of precipitation
1 . Rainfall
Most common type of precipitation in temperate & tropical regions.
When water droplets of more than 0.5 mm diameter falls from the atmosphere to the ground it is called as ‘Rainfall’.
If the diameter is less than 0.5mm, it is called as ‘Drizzle’.
2. Hail
When condensed moisture in
form of raindrops is carried to great heights by strong convection
currents & they get frozen due to low temp at greater heights=>
when they come down they gather more water around them & size of
pellets become large.
Ice pellets has size of 5 to
50 mm or some times more.
3. Snowfall
Precipitation occurs at below freezing point and falls as thin ice flakes or powdery ice, called ‘Snow’.
4. Sleet
Precipitation in the form of mixture of raindrops & ice pellets less than 5 mm in diameter.
Types of Rainfall
Since rainfall is the major type of precipitation, we will look of type of rainfalls. It can be of various types depending upon process of rising up of air
1 . Convectional Rainfall
As a result of heating of the
surface air, the warm moist air expands and is forced to rise to a great
height. As the air rises, it cools, reaches dew point and condenses to
form clouds.
Cumulonimbus clouds are formed in this .
This type of rainfall occurs
Throughout the
year near the equator in the afternoon. It is called as 4 ‘O’ clock
rainfall region.
In middle latitudes,
convectional rainfall occurs in early summer in the continental interiors
2. Orographic Rainfall
Air is forced to
move up by landform features like
mountain, plateau , escarpment etc and air thus rising may cool below dew point
causing rain.
Windward side gets heavy rain
whereas leeward side is rain shadow area.
Most
of rain occurring in India and world
is orographic . In India, Western coast & North East India gets rainfall by
this process.
3. Cyclonic Rainfall
This type of precipitation is associated with a cyclonic activity (Tropical and Temperate cyclones)
Cyclonic rainfall is associated with Cumulo-Nimbus clouds. The rainfall is very heavy and accompanied with lightning and thunder and high speed winds which has the potential to cause damage.
4. Frontal Rainfall
‘Frontal rainfall’ is
associated with fronts which form due to collision of different air
masses.
It can be of two types
Warm Air Front Rainfall : In
this , warm air invades cold air leading to formation of Nimbostratus
clouds and gentle rainfall.
Cold Air Front Rainfall : In
this, cold air invades warm air leading to formation of Cumulonimbus
cloud and violent rainfall with lightening.
This article deals with ‘Wind Systems’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’ which is important pillar of GS-1 syllabus . For more articles , you canclick here
Winds
Wind is the horizontal
movement of air molecules from areas of high pressure to areas of low
pressure to maintain the atmospheric equilibrium.
Nomenclature of Winds
Winds are named easterly,
westerly, northerly etc on basis of direction
of their origin.
Easterly wind is that which
originate in east & blow from east to west.
Wind direction is identified
by an instrument called Wind Vane and wind speed is measured by
Anemometer.
Factors affecting direction & velocity of wind
1 . Pressure Gradient
If pressure gradient is more, velocity will be
more in magnitude
because differences in atmospheric pressure produces a force.
The wind always moves
perpendicular to isobars.
2. Frictional Force
Lower is frictional force,
greater will be the speed .
Over the sea surface the
friction is minimal.
3. Coriolis Force
If the earth did not rotate,
the winds would blow in a straight path. Then the rotation of the earth
results in Coriolis effect and it deflects the direction of the wind.
Northern Hemisphere
Deflect towards Right or Clockwise (NCR)
Southern
Hemisphere
Towards
Left or Anticlockwise.
Coriolis force is directly proportional to the angle of latitude. It is maximum at
the poles and is absent at the equator.
Type of Winds
1 . Primary / Global/ Permanent Winds
Pressure belts lead
to the formation of primary wind system resulting in Trade Winds,
Westerlies and Polar Easterlies
1.1 Trade Winds
The winds blow from the sub tropical high pressure belt towards the
equatorial low pressure belt.
Due to Coriolis Effect, these winds are deflected to the right in the northern
hemisphere and to
the left in the southern hemisphere.
As winds are named after the
direction from which they originate they are called as the North East and South east trade winds.
As the winds favoured trading
ships they are called as ‘Trade winds’.
Side Topic : Tropic Deserts & Trade Winds (aka Trade Wind Deserts or Trade Deserts)
Tropical easterlies/ Trade Winds flow from east to west . Hence, windx becomes dry when they
reaches the western coast of continent as all the moisture is already shed in form of rainfall on
eastern coast .As a result, in tropical region, deserts are found on
western coasts of continents .They are also known as Trade Deserts.
Apart from that, Cold Currents
near the western coasts of continents also provides desiccating imapct on
the surrounding lands leading to more dryness .
1.2 Westerlies
Westerlies flow towards the
Sub Polar High from Sub-Tropic Low
They turn towards right and
left in northern and southern hemisphere respectively due to Coriolis
force.
As they flow from West to
East, they are called Westerlies
Ocean is dominant in the
southern hemisphere between the latitudes 40º and 60ºS. Hence the
westerlies are so powerful and persistent that the sailors used such
expressions as “Roaring Forties”,
“Furious Fifties” and “Screeching Sixties” for these high velocity winds in the latitudes
of 40º, 50º and 60º respectively.
1.3 Polar Easterlies
Polar Easterlies flow towards the Sub Polar High from
Polar High .
They turn towards right and
left in northern and southern hemisphere respectively due to Coriolis
force.
As they flow from East to
West, they are called Easterlies
2 . Secondary / Regional / Seasonal Winds
Monsoon and Cyclones are considered to be Secondary or Seasonal Wind
2.1 Monsoons
Monsoons are seasonal winds
which reverse their direction due to various reasons .
These winds bring rainfall in
India and are the major climatic feature of climate of Indian
Sub-continent.
We will detail with these
winds in Indian Climate .
2.2 Cyclones
Wind blowing in circular manner around an area of low pressure
Due to Coriolis effect – blow
in anticlockwise direction in
Northern hemisphere
& clockwise direction in southern hemisphere.
Cyclones are of two types.
Tropical
cyclones
Develop
over oceans in summers in tropical regions . Eg : in Bay of Bengal, China sea , Caribbean sea etc.
Temperate
/
Extra
tropical
Develop
in middle latitudes in winter season
More
about cyclones in separate article
3. Tertiary / Local Winds
Tertiary winds are formed due to pressure gradients which may develop on a local scale because of differences in the heating and cooling of the earth’s surface.
3.1 Sea and Land Breezes
Sea Breeze : During daytime, land heats up much faster than water. The air over the
land warms and expands leading to formation of low pressure. At the same
time, the air over the ocean remains cool because of water’s slower rate
of heating and results in formation of high pressure. Air begins to blow from high pressure over
ocean to the low pressure over the land. This is called as ‘Sea breeze’.
Land Breeze : During night time, the wind blows from land to sea and
it is called as ‘Land breeze’
Note
: Sea breeze and land breeze influence
the movement of boats near the coastal region and fisher men use these winds
for their daily fish catching. Fishermen go for fishing at early morning along
the land breeze and return to the shore in the evening with the sea breeze.
3.2 Mountain and Valley Breezes
Valley Breeze / Anabatic
Winds : During the day, mountain
hillslopes are heated intensely by the Sun, causing the air to expand and
rise. This draws in air from the valley below, creating a valley breeze.
Mountain Breeze / Katabatic
Winds : During the night the hillslopes get
cooled and the dense air descends into the valley as the mountain wind
3.3 Warm and Cold Local Winds
Cold Local Winds
High Pressure conditions are created in areas situated
in high latitudes due to cold weather. As a result, air starts to come down and diverge into
different directions (forming anti-cyclones) blowing as ‘Cold and Dry
Local Winds’ and reducing temperature of surrounding regions as well.
In Siberia
such anti cyclonic winds are created and diverge in different
directions . These winds are called
Buran
Buran
Explained above
Mistral
(Europe)
Cold northerly
from central France and the Alps to
Mediterranean
Bora (Eastern
Europe)
North easterly
wind from eastern Europe to north eastern Italy
Blizzard
(USA & Canada)
Cold and dry snowy
winds blowing in USA and Canada
Pampero
(Argentina)
Cold and dry
wind blowing in Pampas of Argentina
Southern
Bursters
Cold and dry
wind blowing in Australia
Warm Local Winds
Low pressure develops over Deserts and low latitudes in
summers due to excessive heating of land . The air starts to move upward
and diverges in different directions blowing as upper tropospheric wind. They carry sand
and dust with them and raises temperature of regions over which they flow.
These winds are known with different names in different regions like
Loo
India (Punjab,
Haryana, Rajasthan, UP, Delhi etc)
Sirocco
From
Sahara desert to Italy and Spain after crossing
Mediterranean Sea
Khamsin
Egypt
Harmattan
From Sahara desert
to Gulf of Guinea
Other type of warm and local winds like Chinook winds develop when warm, moist air blows from the adjoining ocean (
Pacific Ocean in this case) towards the Mountain range situated near the
coast (Rockies in this case). In such situation, dry and warm air over the
mountain will descend in the adjoining valley on the leeward side of wind
. Other such type of winds are Fohn
and Zonda
Chinook
US and
Canada
Rockies
Fohn
Europe
Alps
Zonda
Argentina &
Uruguay
Andes
Santa Ana
California
Santa Ana
Mountains
Upper Atmospheric / Meridional Circulations
Hadley cycle
Air from
equator being lighter move up & diverges toward poles & descends at
subtropical areas causing higher pressure there. That wind is again carried
by trade winds to equator.
Ferrel Cycle
Same thing between subtropical & subpolar
pressure belts
Polar cell
Between polar & subpolar pressure belts
Side Topic : Upper Tropospheric Winds and Geostrophic Winds
To understand
formation of Jetstreams, it is important to know what are Geostrophic winds.
Unlike air moving close to the
surface, an air parcel in the upper troposphere moves without a friction
force because it is so far from the source of friction—the surface. So,
there are only two forces on the air parcel, the pressure gradient force
and the Coriolis force.
A useful heuristic (i.e.
theoretical model) is to imagine that air parcel in the upper troposphere
is starting from rest under the influence of ‘Pressure Gradient Force
” moving from point of High
Pressure to Low Pressure .
Due to pressure
gradient force and absence of friction force , speed of wind will keep on increasing . Since, Coriolis
force increases with increase in speed and acts perpendicular to Pressure
Gradient Force, situation will be
reached when Pressure Gradient Force equals Coriolis Force & these winds will deflect 90° (clockwise) . At this point, the
flow is no longer from high to low
pressure, but parallel to the isobars. Such winds are called Geostrophic
winds
These are also known as Upper
Tropospheric Westerlies
Jetstreams
are an example of Geostrophic winds .
Direction of Geo Strophic winds
Always
move from WEST TO EAST (hence called Westerlies)
Northern
Hemisphere
– Geostrophic winds deflect clockwise . – Move from West to East.
Southern
Hemisphere
– Geostrophic winds deflect Anti Clockwise. – Move from West to East.
Jetstreams
Jet
streams are special type of Geostrophic winds .
These are strong and narrow bands of meandering wind
blowing at height of 6 to 14 km ( just below Tropopause) at very high
speed of upto 450 Km/hr. They occur at points where atmospheric pressure
gradients are strong and friction force acting on moving air is absent.
Jetstreams flow in
wavy fashion and create alternate High Pressure & Low Pressure zones .
Location of Jet Streams
They aren’t found
arbitrarily . They are situated
at typical positions like where two
Meridional Circulations meet. (Reason : Point where two air masses of different temperatures
meet, the resulting pressure difference is highest. Only in such condition, Pressure
Gradient Force can increase the speed of wind to such an extend that
Coriolis Force can balance the Pressure Gradient Force and rotate it by
90°) (I know it is hard to understand. To properly understand what is
happening, you can refer this useful video What is the jet
stream and how does it affect the weather?)
Hence , 4 permanent Jet
streams are always found .
2 Polar Jet
Between
Polar cell & Ferrel cell.
2 Sub
Tropical Westerly Jet (STWJ)
Between
Ferrel cell & Hadley cell.
Apart from that, there are some temporary Jet-streams like
Tropical Easterly Jetstream
Somali Jetstream
Speed of Jetstreams
Cause of Jetstreams is the pressure difference (due to temperature
difference) in the upper atmosphere. Hence , higher the pressure gradient (or temperature
gradient) higher will be speed of Jetstream.
Temperature variations are
more in winters (lowest ~ -70 C & highest ~ 15 C) compared to summers
(lowest ~ 20 C & highest ~ 55 C) . Hence, Jetstreams are faster in
winters of the respective hemisphere.
Importance of Jetstreams
1 . Sub Tropical Westerly Jet Stream (STWJ) & Indian Weather
It is centred around 25° N & S at altitude of 12 km & is strong in winter season with velocity of 40
mph.
It greatly determines
the weather of Indian Sub continent .
During summer until it is
present over Indian subcontinent , High Pressure is maintained over there
& monsoon can’t start. Only when STWJ moves above Himalayas &
low pressure is created over Indian subcontinent , monsoon hits India.
Western Disturbances : STWJ comes to India
after passing over Mediterranean Sea where rainfall occurs during winter. STWJ bring those cyclonic disturbances to north India along
with it. This results in winter rain & hailstorms in North India & occasional high snowfall in hilly
areas .
2. Jetstreams and Frontal / Temperate Cyclones
Jetstreams play important role in formation of Temperate Cyclones which are important feature of the climate of temperate regions like Britain etc .
3. Tropical Easterly Jet and Somali Jetstream
These Jetstreams play
important role in the Indian Monsoon.
More about this can be read in
(chapter) Indian Climate .
4. Role in Aviation Industry
If aeroplanes moves in the direction of Jetstream, it can lead to large fuel savings and vice-versa
Impact of Climate Change on Jetstreams
Due to Climate change and Global warming, Earth’s Polar regions are warming more rapidly than other parts . This has resulted in weakening of Polar Jet Streams because temperature contrast that drives Jetstreams has decreased.
This article deals with ‘Pressure and Pressure Belts’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’ which is important pillar of GS-1 syllabus . For more articles , you canclick here
Atmospheric Pressure
Atmospheric pressure is
defined as the force per unit
area exerted against a surface by the weight of the air molecules above
the earth surface.
Atmospheric pressure is
measured by an instrument called ‘Barometer’
The atmospheric pressure is
not distributed uniformly over the earth. The amount of pressure increases or
decreases, according to the amount of molecules, that exerts the force on
the surface.
When temperature of air
increases, the air expands and reduces the number of molecules over unit
area leading to reduction in pressure.
Similarly, when the
temperature falls, the air contracts and the pressure increase.
Factors affecting Atmospheric Pressure of area
1 . Temperature
As the temperature increases,
air expands because of which its density decreases resulting in low
pressure over area.
On the other hand, cold
climate makes air denser resulting in high pressure over area.
Equatorial regions have low
pressure because of high temperatures. On the other hand Polar regions
have high pressure due to low temperature.
2. Height from Sea
The pressure at sea level is
highest and keeps on decreasing rapidly with increasing altitude because
of the progressive reduction of the mass above the point where it is
measured.
3. Humidity
Water vapours are light in weight therefore pressure of humid air is less compared to dry air.
4. Gravitation of Earth
Atmosphere glues around the
Earth due to its gravitation
Due to shape of earth, Polar regions are nearer to core of the
Earth as compared to Equatorial regions and hence have higher air
pressure.
5. Rotation of Earth
Rotation of Earth results in
centrifugal force. Centrifugal
force pushes things away from its core.
Centrifugal force is highest
over equator and zero over poles. Hence,
air pressure will decrease in Equatorial regions as compared to
that in polar regions.
Distribution of Atmospheric Pressure
Horizontal distribution of pressure is studied by drawing isobars . Isobars are lines connecting places having equal pressure. In order to eliminate the effect of altitude on pressure, it is measured at sea level. These distributions change with season as well.
Pressure Belts of Earth
Atmospheric pressure
belts envelope on the surface of the earth. They are equatorial low pressure
belt, sub tropical high pressure belts, sub polar low pressure belts and polar
high pressure belts
1 . Equatorial Low Pressure Belt
Region extending between 5° N
latitude to 5° S
Following are the reasons
creation of low pressure belt over this region :
Rays of sun fall vertically
=> High temperature creates low pressure.
Owing to high temperature,
evaporation process is also very fast => large amount of water vapours
decrease the weight and density of air resulting in reduction of air
pressure.
Rotation of Earth and
resulting centrifugal force has its maximum magnitude on Equator
When air moves upward , it
leads to formation of clouds .
Hence, it rains heavily in these
areas (Cumulonimbus
clouds & Convectional rainfall) . There is single
season throughout the year ie high temperature & high rainfall
.
Advection is absent in this
region because gradient of pressure is low
. Hence known as Belt of
Calm / Doldrum .
2. Sub-Tropical High Pressure Belt
At about 30°N and 30°S
latitudes on both sides of equator
Air which rises in equatorial
region begins to cool when it reaches higher altitude over equatorial
region and flows towards the poles. This wind collides with the wind
coming from the polar region at higher altitude and subsides down over sub
tropical latitudes. This leads to formation of high pressure belt
It is said that to avoid the
slowing down of ship due to high pressure, the horses were thrown into the
sea. So this belt is called as ‘Horse latitude’.
3. Sub Polar Low Pressure Belt
These are low pressure belts
found at 60°N and 60°S latitudes on both sides of equator
The warm westerly wind from
sub tropical region moves towards the pole and collide with the cold polar
easterly wind from polar high pressure region and raises up to form sub
polar low pressure belt.
4. Polar High Pressure Belt
Region at poles on both sides
of equator
In this region, high pressure
is formed because temperature remains low for whole of the year.
Side Note : Basis of formation of pressure belts
Pressure belts can be created because of two reasons
1 . Temperature / Thermally formed
The Equatorial Low Pressure Belt and Polar High Pressure Belt are formed due to high and low temperature respectively. Hence, these are ‘thermally formed pressure belts’
2. Dynamically formed
The Sub Tropical High and Sub Polar Low pressure belts are formed due to movement and collision of wind systems. Hence, they are called ‘Dynamically formed pressure belts’.
This article deals with ‘Temperature and Heat Budget of Earth’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’ which is important pillar of GS-1 syllabus . For more articles , you canclick here
Air Temperature
Air temperature of a
particular place denotes the degree of hotness or coldness of air at a
given place. It is generally measured in Celsius
Heating process of Atmosphere
There are different ways of heating & cooling of the atmosphere.
Conduction :The air in contact with the land gets heated by
conduction . Conduction is important in heating the lower layers of the
atmosphere.
Convection : The air in contact with the earth rises vertically on heating in the form of
currents and further transmits the heat of the atmosphere. This process of
vertical heating of the atmosphere is known as convection. The convective
transfer of energy is confined only to the troposphere.
Advection : The transfer of heat through horizontal movement of air is called advection. (In northern India, during summer season local winds called
‘loo’ is the outcome of advection process).
Radiation (Green House effect) : The insolation received by the earth is in
short wave form and it heats up surface.
The earth after being heated itself becomes a radiating body and it
radiates energy to the atmosphere in long wave form. The
long wave radiation is absorbed by the atmospheric gases particularly by
carbon dioxide & other Green House Gases. Thus, the atmosphere is
indirectly heated by the earth’s radiation.
Heat Budget of Earth
The earth as a whole
does not accumulate or loose heat. It maintains its temperature. This can
happen only if the amount of heat received in the form of insolation equals the
amount lost by the earth through terrestrial radiation. This is known as Heat Budget
of Earth
This is done in following way
Suppose 100 units are coming to earth
Factors affecting Horizontal temperature distribution
1 . Latitude of the place
Insolation received
by any place depend upon latitude because when we move from equator
towards pole, sun-rays become slanted . In slanted
sun-rays, same energy is diffused over large area
Conclusion :
Temperature
decreases from the equator to the poles.
2. Distribution of Land and Water
Compared to land, the sea gets heated slowly and loses heat slowly. Land heats up and cools down quickly.
So more land mass in northern hemisphere leads to higher average temperature than the southern hemisphere
3. Presence of warm & cold current
Places located on the coast where the warm ocean currents flow record higher temperature than the places located on the coast where the cold currents flow.
4. Air mass circulation
The passage of air masses also affects the temperature. The places, which come under the influence of warm air-masses experience higher temperature and the places that come under the influence of cold airmasses experience low temperature.
5. Cloudiness
Cloudy sky obstructs the solar radiation from
the sun to reach earth. Hence, clear sky increases the temperature of
place.
Due to this, Maximum insolation is received over
the subtropical deserts, where the cloudiness is the least. Equator receives
comparatively less insolation than the tropics because of clouds.
6. Nature of Surface
Albedo ie ability of surface
to reflect the sunrays also impact temperature of place.
Fresh snow has albedo of upto
90% and more reflection from the
snow surface leads to low temperature accumulation compared to bare land.
7. Local aspects
Depend on position to position.
Factors affecting vertical temperature distribution
The temperature decreases with increasing altitude from the surface of the
earth.
Reason : Atmosphere is
indirectly heated by terrestrial radiation
from below. Therefore, the places near the sea-level record higher
temperature than the places situated at higher elevations.
The vertical decrease in
temperature of troposphere is called as ‘Normal Lapse Rate’ which is 6.5 C
per 1000 meter of ascent.
Temperature Inversion
Normally , within
Troposphere, temperature decreases with increase in height . But if reverse happens, it is called Temperature Inversion .
Since cold air is
denser/heavier than warm air , in case of temperature inversion, air will not be
able to move upward .
When Temperature Inversion can happen
At Tropopause : Temperature starts to increase from here
. As a result, air packets reach till Tropopause & then starts moving
downward . There is no vertical air
movement after that
A cool winter
night with no clouds and stable air : Air above cold surface gets cold but layer above cold air is still warmer &
hence it cant move upward . This phenomenon is prominent till 400 m above
earth’s surface.
Valley
Inversion/Air Drainage :
In winter, mountain top becomes cold quickly compared to valley . As a result, cold air comes down to occupy valley . This uplifts warm air of valley &
situation is created when lower layer is cold & upper layer is
warm
Frontal inversion occurs when a cold air mass undercuts a warm air mass and lifts it
Implications of Temperature Inversion
1 . Formation of Fog
As we have seen in
currents , where ever warm &
cold current meet , fog is created
In same way , when
warm air & cold air meets , fog is created . This lowers the visibility in
region.
2. Atmospheric Stability
Temperature Inversion prevents
upward & downward movement of air.
Hence, it discourages
rainfall.
3. Impact on Agriculture
Frost formed due to valley inversion damages
crops in foothills,
whereas trees and vegetation at top of hills and mountains are not
damaged. The valley floors in the
hills of Brazil are avoided for coffee cultivation because of frequent frosts.
(Beneficial Case :
Though generally fog (caused due to temperature inversion) is unfavourable
for many agricultural crops such as grams, peas, mustard plants, wheat
etc. but sometimes they are also favourable for some crops such as coffee plants in Yemen hills of
Arabia where fog
protect coffee plants from direct strong sun’s rays. )
4. Environmental problem
In winters,
concentration of pollutants raises to very high levels in cities as due to
temperature inversion, air gets trapped . Eg : Delhi’s pollution levels are more
in winters than summers.
Urban Heat Island
An urban heat island
is an urban area or metropolitan area that is significantly warmer than its
surrounding rural area due to high concentration of high rise concrete buildings, metal
roads, sparse vegetation cover and less exposure of soil. These factors
cause urban regions to become warmer than their rural surroundings, forming an
“island” of higher temperatures.
This article deals with Composition and Structure of Atmosphere’ This is part of our series on ‘Geography’ which is important pillar of GS-1 syllabus . For more articles , you canclick here
Introduction
Atmosphere is combination of
two words ‘Atmo’ and ‘sphere’. It means that region of Earth which has ‘air’.
Atmosphere is present as life
saving layer between outer space and land surface. It is the source of
important gases which are important for the existence and continuity of
life. It also filters the harmful rays travelling towards Earth
Composition of Atmosphere
Earth’s atmosphere is composed of a mixture of various gases .
It is held to earth by gravitational forces
Atmosphere is denser at sea level & thins or gets rarefied rapidly upward . It should be noted that, 99% of the mass of atmosphere is confined to height of 32 km
Percentage of different gases (by volume) in atmosphere is as follows :-
Atmospheric gases don’t
interact with each other chemically & don’t lose their own property.
These gases can be divided
into two groups based on their distribution horizontally
Permanent
Gases
– Nitrogen , Oxygen, Hydrogen & Argon. – Their quantity remain same on all places .
Variable
Gases
– Water Vapour , Carbon dioxide & Ozone – Their quantity vary from region to region. Eg : In coastal areas, there will be more water vapours and in cities, there will be more Carbon dioxide. – They can absorb heat & hence known as Green House Gases.
Based on vertical distribution, they can also be
grouped into two groups. Heavy gases like Nitrogen , Oxygen and Methane have high composition near
earths surface. While going up, composition of lighter gases keep on
increasing but since there is high turbulence, no effective separation
occurs in most of gases except for
two gases.
Water Vapour
Near
surface of earth, they are upto 2% by volume but no trace present above
10-12km.
Ozone
Found
mainly between 10-50 km in stratosphere.
Side Note : Important gases in Atmosphere ( not on basis of percentage but function )
1 . Nitrogen
Present in atmosphere in
highest proportion (78%)
It is very important for
living organisms because it is an important element of Amino acids which
form protein
2 . Oxygen
Second most abundant gas in
atmosphere (21%)
All the living organisms use
it for breathing
3. CO2
Meteorologically very
important gas .
It
is transparent to incoming solar radiation but opaque to outgoing
terrestrial radiation . Hence, it is mainly responsible
for Green House effect.
4. O3
Ozone gas is found between
10-50 km
It act as filter and absorb UV rays .
But scientists are very
concerned about the depletion of ozone layer due to action of chlorofloro
carbons on Ozone
5. Water Vapour
Variable gas
Can be upto 4% by volume in wet tropics
In dry & cold areas of desert & polar deserts it can be less than 1% of air .
It also absorbs parts of the insolation from the sun and preserves the earth’s radiated heat.
6. Dust
May originate from different
sources & include sea salts, fine soil, smoke-soot, ash, pollen, dust
& disintegrated particles of meteors.
It is concentrated
in lower parts , yet convectional air currents can take them to great heights .
They perform two very
important functions
It provides Hygroscopic nuclei
around which water vapour condenses to produce clouds .
They absorb and reflect small amount of radiation
rays of sun.
Structure of Atmosphere
Atmosphere can be divided into five distinct layers based on the thermal characteristics and temperature variations (note : these divisions are based on thermal characteristics)
1 . Troposphere
Troposphere is the lowest layer of atmosphere and it is
very important for all the living organisms
Name has been derived from
Greek word ‘Tropos’ which means mixing
and ‘sphere’ which means ‘region’. Hence, ‘troposphere’ means
‘region of mixing’
Troposphere is zone of air
turbulence because in this zone,
convectional air currents rise due to heating of earth surface
Thermal Characteristic of Troposphere
Temperature decreases with increase in height
(reaches – 60 degree Celsius at
tropopause).
In normal conditions, the rate of decrease of temperature is
(ie lapse rate) is 6.5 degree Celsius per kilometre . This happens
because of decrease in gases with increase in height
However, due to local
reasons, at some places this phenomena reverses also (called Temperature
Inversion).
Height of Troposphere
on Equator, it is 18 km
(gases are heated up and rises upward from strong convectional currents)
on poles, it is 8 km (gases
are cold and settles down)
At average its height is upto
12 kilometre from ground.
All weather phenomena occur in
this layer as it has dust particles and water vapour. This layer has
clouds which produce precipitation on the earth.
Tropopause
It is the region between
Troposphere and Stratosphere which is 1.5 kilometre high
The fall in temperature comes
to an end in this region
Turbulent mixing of gases,
winds, and radiation etc. none of the weather activities take place in
this region
2. Stratosphere
Stratosphere extends from end of Tropopause up to a height of 50
km from the earth’s surface.
The lower part of this layer is
highly concentrated with ozone gas which is called as
‘ozonosphere’. It prevents the harmful ultra-violet rays from the Sun to
enter into the lower part of the atmosphere
Thermal Characteristics of
Stratosphere
Temperature increases with
height (ie from – 60 degree Celsius at start to 0 degree Celsius at
Stratopause) .
Temperature increases because
of absorption of ultra violent rays by ozone gas
It is turbulence free zone . Hence, it
is ideal for flying jet aircraft.(important prelims question)
3. Mesosphere
Mesosphere lies above the
stratosphere, which extends up to a height of 80 km from earth’s surface .
Thermal characteristics of
Mesosphere
In this layer, once again, temperature starts decreasing with the increase
in altitude
From 0 degree Celsius at
start, it reaches up to minus 100°C at the height of 80 km.
Most of the shooting stars get burned in
Mesosphere .Luminous noctilucent clouds form here due to the presence of
cosmic dust. ( important prelims question)
It is the coldest layer of
earth .
4. Ionosphere /Thermosphere
It extends from 80 km to 400
km above Earths Surface ..
It is called
ionosphere due to presence of electrically charged ions that reflect radio waves back and thermosphere
because it is at very high temperature.
Thermal characteristics of
Ionosphere
Temperature
increases rapidly with height .
The temperature
increases rapidly up to 1,000 degree Celsius. This is due to absorption
of high energy solar radiation and cosmic waves ( which break molecules
to ions).
How
Ionosphere is formed ?
High energy
sun rays and cosmic rays break
atoms of gases in this region .
Molecules
become ionised (positive charged ).
These are highly energised
particles & behave as free particle .
Luminous phenomenon
called auroras at higher latitudes
when Solar Winds are able to reach ionosphere and collide with ions
present in this layer (Aurora Borealis
(Arctic Zone ) & Aurora Australis(Antarctic Zone) )
Use
of Ionosphere in radio communication : It is useful in radio
communication because ions can
reflect radio waves.
5. Exosphere
Outermost layer of
atmosphere and lies from 400 km to
1000 km from earth’s surface.
This is the highest layer but
very little is known about it.
It has rarefied contents. It
contains mainly oxygen and hydrogen atoms. These atoms can travel hundreds
of kilometres without colliding with one another. Hence, matter in
exosphere doesn’t behave like gases.
It gradually merges with outer
space.
Magnetosphere/ Van Allen Radiation Belt
Magnetosphere lies above
Atmosphere and extends from 1000 km to 36000 km from earth’s surface
Although it isn’t part of atmosphere but plays important
part in shielding earth
from solar & other cosmic winds .
Magnetosphere is formed due to earth’s magnetic field and it prevents
most of solar
winds(highly
energised particles) from reaching earth .
Polar cusps: regions above geomagnetic poles where solar wind can enter relatively easy to earth’s atmosphere.
Magnetospheric
Storms
Magnetospheric storms are temporary disturbances in earths magnetic field caused by occurrence of magnetic flares & sunspot. In this process, material from solar coronal mass ejection hits earth
Major effect in such event is global disruption of radio & telegraphic communication.
Aurora
Luminous phenomenon observed in high latitude
regions .
May appear as rolling lights
or coloured streaks .
Produced
by entry of charged
particles from sun into earth‘s
atmosphere & collision of these charged particles
with ionised particles in ionosphere . They emit energy on interaction leading
to formation of aurora.
Entry of
these charged particles occur at Cusp . Hence, formed at particular places
on earth (& not everywhere)
Occur in Ionosphere.
Most frequent during intense period / solar minimum of sun spot cycle(sun spots have
cycle of 11yr).
Side Topic : Sunspot , Sunspot Cycle & Solar Minimum
Sun-spots are the regions on the sun
where the solar
magnetic field is very strong (and as a result, it doesn’t allow solar
streams to escape the sun)
Sun-spot cycle is the solar
magnetic activity cycle with the average time period of eleven years.
Solar minimum is the period
of least solar activity in the eleven year solar cycle. During this time, sunspot activity
diminishes. According to NASA and other agencies, a solar minimum is about to occur in 2020-21.
Impact of Solar Minimum
During the solar minimum, coronal holes can last for a longer time. Coronal holes are vast
regions in the sun’s atmosphere where the sun’s magnetic field opens up
and allows streams of solar particles to escape the sun.
It could enhance
events of geomagnetic storms & auroras, potentially
disrupting communications and navigation systems.
Sun’s magnetic field weakens
and provides less shielding from the cosmic rays. This can pose an
increased threat to astronauts travelling through space.
