General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - March 2017

Mar 2017

May 19, 2018

Unusual Laser Emission

Astronomers have discovered an unusual laser emission that suggests the presence of a double star system hidden at the heart of the 'spectacular' Ant Nebula. The extremely rare phenomenon is connected to the death of a star and was discovered in observations made by European Space Agency's Herschel space observatory.

Climate Change Causing Major Insect Wipeout

According to a new analysis, global warming is on track to cause a major wipeout of insects, compounding already severe losses.

Insects are vital to most ecosystems and a widespread collapse would cause extremely far-reaching disruption to life on Earth. Climate change would make almost half of insect habitat unsuitable by the end of the century, with pollinators like bees particularly affected.

if climate change could be limited to a temperature rise of 1.5C - the very ambitious goal included in the global Paris agreement - the losses of insects are far lower.

May 17, 2018

Major Shifts in Global Freshwater

A new global, satellite-based study of Earth's freshwater distribution found that Earth's wet areas are getting wetter, while dry areas are getting drier. The data suggest that this pattern is due to a variety of factors, including human water management practices, human-caused climate change and natural climate cycles.

Rise in Emissions of Ozone-damaging Chemical

Scientists have detected an unexpected rise in atmospheric levels of CFC-11, a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) highly damaging to the ozone layer.

Banned by the Montreal Protocol in 1987, CFC-11 was seen to be declining as expected but that fall has slowed down by 50% since 2012.

These could hamper the recovery of the ozone hole and worsen climate change.

May 04, 2018

Hawaii Bans Sunscreens Harmful to Coral Reefs

This week Hawaii took action on the issue, passing a bill that will make it the first US state to ban sunscreens that are harmful to coral reefs. If subsequently signed by state governor David Ige, the ban will come into place in January 2021.

The bill focuses on two chemicals - oxybenzone and octinoxate - that are found in many sunscreens and notes that they have significant harmful impacts on Hawaii's marine environment and residing ecosystems.

May 02, 2018

World's 20 Most Polluted Cities

As per data released by WHO, Delhi and Varanasi are among the 14 Indian cities that figured in a list of 20 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM2.5 levels in 2016.

The data also showed that 9 out of 10 people in the world breathe air containing high levels of pollutants.

Other Indian cities that registered very high levels of PM2.5 pollutants were Kanpur, Faridabad, Gaya, Patna, Agra, Muzaffarpur, Srinagar, Gurgaon, Jaipur, Patiala and Jodhpur followed by Ali Subah Al-Salem in Kuwait and a few cities in China and Mongolia.

Apr 23, 2018

Goldman Environmental Prize

The world's foremost environmental prize has announced more female winners than ever before.

The struggle for a healthy planet may sometimes feel like a series of defeats, This year's Goldman Environmental Prize celebrates six remarkable success stories, five of them driven by women.

This is the first time that five of the six are women.

The winners include South African anti-nuclear activists Makoma Lekalakala and Liz McDaid, Vietnamese clean-energy advocate Nguy Thi Khanh, US clean-water defender LeeAnne Walters, and French marine-life champion Claire Nouvian. The one male winner is Philippine anti-lead campaigner Manny Calonzo.

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