Keeling Curve
Global average concentration of carbon dioxide was 4.7 parts per million (ppm) in March 2024 (higher than March 2023), signifying large spike in Keeling Curve.
- Record of atmospheric CO2 from Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO), since 1958.
- MLO – A station that measures the elements in atmosphere that contribute to climate change.
- Located in – Hawaii on the side of Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano.
Semal Trees
Disappearance of Semal trees from Southern Rajasthan is creating adverse effects on the forests and people.
- Large deciduous tree, known for its Crimson red flowers.
- Also known as – Silk Cotton Tree
- Worshipped by many tribal communities in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
HEPS (High Energy Photon Source)
China is planning to construct a High Energy Photon Source (HEPS).
- First Brightest Synchrotron X-Rays in Asia.
- Synchrotrons use electricity to produce intense beams of light more than a million times brighter than the sun.
- Rely on an array of magnets called a multi-bend achromat lattice to generate X-ray beams that are narrower and therefore brighter.
- Indus-1 was India’s synchrotron.
- India is also an associate member of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) based in Grenoble, France.
IIBX (India International Bullion Exchange)
State Bank of India has become the first trading-cum-clearing member at IIBX.
- Established at – GIFT International Financial Services Centre (IFSC), Gandhinagar, Gujarat in 2022.
- Regulated by – IFSC Authority (IFSCA).
- Promoted by – India’s leading market infrastructure institutions like National Stock Exchange, Multi Commodity Exchange of India etc.
Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope aims to explore everything from our outer solar system to the edge of the observable universe.
- Objective – Focus on dark energy and dark matter, exoplanets, and a wide range of infrared astrophysics and planetary science topics.
- Key instruments – Wide Field and Coronagraph Instrument
- It will use microlensing to study exoplanets.
- Microlensing – Form of gravitational lensing in which the light from a background source is bent by the gravitational field of a foreground lens to create distorted, multiple and/or brightened images.
- It will have a field of view at least 100 times larger than Hubble telescope