General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - February 2016

Feb 2016

Mar 11, 2023

NASA and Italian Space Agency Join Hands for Satellite Mission to Monitor Air Pollution

NASA is partnering with the Italian Space Agency ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) to build and launch MAIA, or the Multi-Angle Imager for Aerosols missions. The joint mission between the two national space agencies will investigate the health impacts of air pollution in the world's most populated cities.
According to NASA, MAIA is the first mission by the agency whose primary goal is to benefit societal health. Epidemiologists and public health researchers will be directly working on the development of a satellite mission.
The MAIA observatory, which is set to launch before the end of 2024 will consist of the PLATiNO-2 satellite, which will be provided by ASI, and a science instrument that will be built at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The MAIA mission will collect and analyse data from the observatory, sensors on the ground and atmospheric models.

Mar 07, 2023

UN inks 'High Seas Treaty' in a Bid to Protect Ocean Bodies of the World

The United Nations inked the first 'High Seas Treaty' in a bid to protect the ocean bodies of the world that lie outside the national boundaries and form almost two-thirds of the world's oceans.
The treaty is an outcome of a decade of talks on this environmental concern. The agreement was reached after 38 hours of talks, at UN headquarters in New York. The previous negotiations failed to conclude due to disagreements on funding and fishing rights. The last international agreement on ocean protection was signed 40 years ago in 1982 - the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The UN High Seas Treaty now brings 30 per cent of the world's oceans into the protected domain, puts more money into marine conservation and sets new rules for mining at sea.

Mar 06, 2023

Iran Claims to Have Unearthed Massive Lithium Deposit

As per a senior official in the Iranian Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade (MIMT), a deposit located in the western province of Hamedan, Iran contains some 8.5 million metric tons of lithium ore.
According to Ebrahimali Molabeigi, who leads MIMT's exploration department, the discovery was made in western province of Hamedan and more such lithium ore deposits are expected to be discovered soon.
If true, this discovery would be a major boost for Iran, whose economy has suffered under US sanctions and embargoes for decades.
According to the US Geological Survey, the world's largest identified lithium resources (not counting Iran) are as follows: Bolivia, 21 million tons; Argentina, 20 million tons; Chile, 11 million tons; Australia, 7.9 million tons; China, 6.8 million tons. India 5.9 million tons in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Mar 04, 2023

Scotland First to Ban Environmentally Harmful Anaesthetic

Scotland became the first country in the world to stop its hospitals using the anaesthetic desflurane because of the threat it poses to the environment.
NHS data suggests the gas, used to keep people unconscious during surgery, has a global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide.
Banning it in Scotland, from its peak use in 2017, would cut emissions equal to powering 1,700 homes a year.

Mar 02, 2023

TN, UNEP to Work Together to Make Cities Cooler

The Tamil Nadu government signed an MoU with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to develop a comprehensive urban cooling programme to meet objectives under Tamil Nadu State Action Plan on Climate Change.
UNEP, in collaboration with the National Institute of Urban Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, is implementing a national cooling programme to support Indian cities to implement sustainable cooling and heat resiliency strategies. The programme is being delivered under the framework of Cool Coalition and the India-Denmark Green Strategic Partnership.
The MoU shall facilitate collaboration between Tamil Nadu and UNEP to address the rapidly increasing demand for cooling in cities while supporting implementation of initiatives to adapt and counteract rising extreme heat.

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