Daily Practice Sheet 1 November 2021

Education:

The Gross Enrollment Ratio for higher education, which is the percentage of the population between the ages of 18-23 who are enrolled, is now 27 per cent.

Climate Change:

WMO State of the Global Climate 2021 report

On greenhouse gases

Greenhouse gas concentrations reached new highs in 2020
Levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) were 413.2 parts per million (ppm); methane (CH₄) 1889 parts per billion (ppb); and nitrous oxide (N₂O) 333.2 ppb, respectively — 149, 262 and 123 per cent of pre-industrial (1750) levels
The rise continued in 2021

On temperature rise

The global mean temperature for 2021 (based on data from January-September) was about 1.09°C above the 1850-1900 average
2015-2021 will be the warmest years on record

On the ocean

The upper 2,000-metre of the ocean continued to warm in 2019, reaching a new record high. A preliminary analysis based on seven global data sets suggested that 2020 surpassed the record
Ocean warming rates showed a particularly strong increase in the past two decades and are expected to continue to rise in the future
The ocean absorbed around 23 per cent of the annual emissions of anthropogenic CO₂to the atmosphere and so, has become more acidic. Open ocean surface pH declined globally over the last 40 years; it is now the lowest it has been in at least 26,000 years
As the pH of the ocean decreases, its capacity to absorb CO₂from the atmosphere also declines

On sea level

The mean global mean sea level rise was 2.1 millimeters a year between 1993 and 2002 and 4.4 mm a year between 2013 and 2021, an increase by a factor of two between the periods
This was mostly due to an accelerated loss of ice mass from glaciers and ice sheets

On glaciers and ice sheets

Mass loss from North American glaciers accelerated over the last two decades, nearly doubling during 2015-2019 compared to 2000-2004
An exceptionally warm, dry summer in 2021 in western North America took a brutal toll on the region’s mountain glaciers
In Greenland, temperatures and melt-water runoff were well above normal in August 2021 due to a major incursion of warm, humid air in mid-August
On August 14, the rain was observed for several hours at Summit Station, the highest point on the Greenland Ice Sheet (3,216 m). Air temperatures remained above freezing for about nine hours. There is no previous report of rainfall at Summit.

On extreme weather

Heat waves affected western North America in June and July. Several places broke station records by 4-6°C and caused hundreds of heat-related deaths
California reached 54.4°C on July 9, equalling a similar 2020 value as the highest recorded in the world since at least the 1930s
There were numerous major wildfires

On precipitation

Extreme rainfall hit Henan Province of China from 17-21 July. The city of Zhengzhou on July 20 received 201.9 mm of rainfall in one hour (a Chinese national record)
Western Europe experienced its most severe flooding on record in mid-July
Significant drought affected much of subtropical South America for the second successive year

CSE Mains 2021

Day 16

CSE Mains 2022

Day 8

Topic: Conservation