General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2014

Dec 2014

Nov 12, 2020

Decline of US Coral Reef

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration along with the University of Maryland released a report on health of coral reefs in US Virgin Islands and in Hawaii and Guam in the Pacific.
The study has found that only 2% coral reefs are left alive along the coasts of Florida. This is the first time, a nation-wide coral assessment is being held in the US. The report classified the regions as very good, good, fair, impaired and critical. Most of the coral reefs in the US, according to the report, were fair.
According to the report, lawn chemicals, sewage and other pollutants flowing into the ocean pose catastrophic threat to the corals in the country.
The reefs in Florida were in impaired condition. The corals in Puerto Rico and Hawaii were in good condition.

Nov 11, 2020

Scientists Discover Ancient Lake Bed Deep Beneath the Greenland Ice

Scientists have detected what they say are the sediments of a huge ancient lake bed sealed more than a mile under the ice of northwest Greenland—the first-ever discovery of such a sub-glacial feature anywhere in the world.
Apparently formed at a time when the area was ice-free but now completely frozen in, the lake bed may be hundreds of thousands or millions of years old, and contain unique fossil and chemical traces of past climates and life.
Scientists consider such data vital to understanding what the Greenland ice sheet may do in coming years as climate warms, and thus the site makes a tantalizing target for drilling. A paper describing the discovery is in press at the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
This could be an important repository of information, in a landscape that right now is totally concealed and inaccessible. The ice sheet, which has been melting at an accelerating pace in recent years, contains enough water to raise global sea levels by about 24 feet.

Nov 08, 2020

Why the UK's Carbon-free Future Will Need Rules

A 10-point plan aimed at putting the UK on track for a zero emissions economy is due to be unveiled by the Prime Minister in the coming weeks.
Boris Johnson's previous speeches on climate change have given the impression the problem can largely be solved by technology - a flash of nuclear, a gust of hydrogen, a blast of offshore wind, a dollop of carbon capture and storage.
But a government spokesperson told BBC News we'll all need to "work together and play our part".
And experts warn the issue's phenomenally complicated - presenting challenges never seen before.
Tackling climate change, they say, will need action right across society and the economy - with a host of new incentives, laws, rules, bans, appliance standards, taxes and institutional innovations.

Nov 06, 2020

IIT-Madras Signs MoU on Clean Water Technology

The International Centre for Clean Water (ICCW) is going to collaborate with DG TAKANO, a Japanese firm, to introduce new clean water technologies in India.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the partnership between ICCW and DG TAKANO was signed recently to collaborate on projects on clean water and to develop innovative products that will solve existing societal and environmental challenges in the area of clean and safe drinking water globally.
India is one of the world's most water-stressed countries. According to UNICEF, India is facing an economic burden of approximately US $600 million per year due to waterborne diseases.

Nov 03, 2020

Panna under Biosphere Reserve

The UNESCO included Panna National Park of Madhya Pradesh under its list of biosphere reserves.
Along with Panna, Fuvahmulahand Addu Atoll of Maldives was also included under the World Network of biosphere reserves.
The UNESCO, under its Man and Biosphere programme included Panna Biosphere region as one of its Biosphere Reserve. Panna National park was included as biosphere reserve by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest.
The UNESCO described the National Park as a critical tiger habitat and has also pointed out that it is home to World Heritage site of Khajuraho temples.
It was launched by UNESCO in 1971. It is an intergovernmental scientific programme that aims to establish scientific basis to improve the relationship between the people and their environment.

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