PERCEPTION STUDY OF NORWESTER – A RECENT RESEARCH TREND TO UNDERSTAND THE EARTH SYSTEM DYNAMICS

Ms. Saswati Roy, Research scholar, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan

 Prof. Malay Mukhopadhyay, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan

Our mother Earth exhibits several interwoven system which requires in-depth study thus properly apprehended as Earth system science. Being a Universal system dynamics Earth adjusts itself and manages to maintain equilibrium. From the very micro to macro aspect we can draw relevance of a moving system.

Since time immemorial man has been subjected to the atmospheric phenomenon which sometimes had been regarded as blessings and other times as a curse upon mankind. Atmosphere is very dynamic by its character which particularly emphasizes on the flow of energy through the Earth System Dynamics. Curiosity for knowing led to the discovery which had been a latent part of human civilization. It is a craving that has insisted man to engrave the unknown that could be backed up since 3^rd century B.C. with the invention of Gnoman by Anaximander, the renowned Greek philosopher.

Perception study and earth system dynamics

Though science has its relevance it must be having its root cause from the thought and philosophy of people who are related to it and to how they look upon it. “Perception of Man” is a significant aspect in pertaining to a final shape to any occurrences that is natural, social or cultural. It is the Perception Pyramid through which we can draw out the sequential significance which comes by as what we think, what we say, what we do and how we are perceived. Perception could be conceived from two opposite side of a glass.

We, the so called civilized modern man, perceive a floating aspect of Nature. With the help of gadgets and instruments we have to surrender to the aftermaths of nature. Whereas the nature’s man those who perceive Mother Nature as a living entity and are entwined with each and every breath of their life, perceives nature from their inner soul thus can have natural preparedness for their sustenance. This perceptive science has been inculcated within them by their predecessors and that had been nurtured by the present. Though in the recent times such practices show a flint of touch of modernization still we can draw the relevance of the past traditions.

On this behalf we can draw an exalted example of the disastrous tsunami of 2004 in which there were immense devastations over the coastal and islands of the subcontinent but the Jarawa, Onge, Sentinel tribes of the Andaman were able to save themselves by evacuating the place which was apprehended through their age old traditional wisdoms and knowledge. But with the expanding civilization these practices are losing their significances and are being looked down upon. It is through this paper to incite and bring out their relevance’s in the present times.

To think globally we need to act locally. This could be even implied while taking any issues of larger footprints i.e. we need to start and think from micro to reach macro. Regarding this issue we could take into account for micro scale phenomena – find their causal effect and try to extract the traditional wisdoms and knowledge that had been taken up by ages to reduce the aftermaths. Then the relational relevance and connection with science has to be drawn before any mitigation or preparedness programme has to be instituted.

An approach of cognitive science:  

The recent researches related to Earth system dynamics must examine the relationship between theory and method. It is poor planning, rather than climate change that is largely responsible for the resulting disasters. Research methods of contemporary social science must follow the modes of empiricism based on quantitative and qualitative approaches. Perception study is one of the many aspects of intelligent systems. Perception about a particular phenomena emerged from the traditional core of the society. Traditional wisdoms engaged in sustaining the society from the past must be installed along with modern technologies to attain heights in minimizing risk factors.

             Cognitive science, or more broadly, the cognitive and learning sciences, includes the disciplines of computer science, psychology, philosophy, neuroscience, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and uses scientific modeling. What binds researchers from these diverse fields is the aim to understand how intelligent systems work. An intelligent system is something that processes internal information in order to do something purposeful. Although humans are intelligent systems, other "natural" kinds of intelligent systems are also studied.

            While it is true that perception is one of the many aspects of intelligent systems studied by cognitive scientists, it is also true that there are many aspects to perception. The purpose of this article is to position mixed methods research. The natural complement to traditional qualitative and quantitative research is to provide a framework for designing and conducting mixed methods research.

Kalbaishakhi-a regular phenomenonal appearance

The two transitional periods between south west and north east monsoons over the Indian sub-continent are characterized by local severe storms. The transitional periods are usually referred to as pre-monsoon (March-May), and post-monsoon (October- November). It is the pre-monsoon period when most of the abnormal rainfall or drought conditions frequently occur in the different parts of eastern states of India. Also there are severe local seasonal storms, popularly known as Norwesters (kalbaishakhi).

  The phenomena of Kalbaishakhi or the typical Norwesters are seen in West Bengal and other parts of Eastern and North Eastern India. Being a part of the Earth system dynamics these storms, which bring welcome relief from the stifling heat of the sultry summers and succor for the ripening mangoes, are often quite violent, resulting in loss of lives and damage to mud walled houses and other structures. A large number of trees are also uprooted every time accompanied with loss of life and property.