To help save the world's only mangrove tiger habitat, Discovery India and WWF India have partnered with the Forest Directorate, the government of West Bengal and local communities in the Sundarbans.
With a vision to create climate-smart villages in the Sundarbans, WWF India and Discovery India are working with government agencies, civil society partners and scientific institutions to build the capacity of village panchayats and local communities to incorporate climate resilience into development planning, thereby helping secure livelihoods, biodiversity and ecosystem services.
The project will use technology to solve several of the issues faced in the region. This includes building datasets on impacts of climate change on the estuarine ecosystem.
Through this project, in partnership with the West Bengal Forest Directorate and IISER Kolkata, two Sundarbans Ecological Observatories will be set up, each featuring data loggers, monitoring buoys and an onsite laboratory.
Facing Pressure, Bolsonaro May Send Army To Curb Amazon Wildfires
Amid growing global condemnation, Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro mobilise the army to help combat a record number of fires sweeping through the Amazon rainforest.
G7 leaders plan to hammer out "concrete measures" in response to the wildfires, putting them on a collision course with Brazil's leader. French President Emmanuel Macron accused his Brazilian counterpart of lying on pledges to help fight global warming.
France said it will oppose a trade deal between the EU and the Mercosur nations.
Macron had already drawn Bolsonaro's ire by saying the Amazon fires would be a priority on the G7 agenda.
Aug 23, 2019
NASA Scientists Fly Over Greenland To Track Melting Ice
NASA scientist Josh Willis is now closely studying the phenomenon in hopes of figuring out precisely how global warming is eating away at Greenland's ice.
Specifically, he wants to know whether the melting is being caused more by warm air or warm sea-water. The answer could be crucial to Earth's future.
Water brings more heat to something frozen faster than air does, as anyone who has ever defrosted a steak under the faucet knows.
Greenland contains enough ice to make world sea levels rise by 20 feet if it were all to melt. In a single day this month, it lost a record 13.7 billion tons (12.5 billion metric tons) by one estimate
Chhattisgarh Elephant Reserve May Lead To Mining Ban
Days after the Chhattisgarh government announced the setting up of the Lemru Elephant Reserve (LER), officials indicated that this could automatically lead to a ban on the mining activity in the region, especially in Hasdeo Arand forest, known for its high quality coal reserves.
There are two operational coal mines in this region and they are not included in the proposed reserve. There are about 19 coal deposits in LER, on which the cabinet will take decision in due course.
An area of 1,995 sq kms falling in four forest divisions — Korba, Kathghora, Surajpur and Dharamjaigarh — will be declared an elephant reserve.
Aug 22, 2019
Forest Fires Singe Amazon
Venezuela ranked second with 26,453 fires and Bolivia with 16,101 fires in Amazonian rainforests under their territory.
There has been a surge in forest fires in the Amazon in 2019 with activists and some foreign governments blaming the Brazilian administration for rampant destruction of one of the greenest regions in the world.
National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said there have been nearly 73,000 fires in rainforests in Brazil till August, 2019 compared with 39,759 in all of 2018.
Factors causing fire:
Forest fires tend to intensify during the dry season, which usually ends in late October or early November, as land is cleared to make way for crops or grazing – similar to farm fires in India.
This year's fires, however, are also being attributed to deforestation – which has led to a lack of rain and, consequently, moisture in soil.
Rare Species Of Bear, Deer Spotted In Remote HP Valley
Himachal Pradesh's forest department has found rare species of Himalayan brown bear and white-bellied musk deer during a census conducted at Pangi's 390-sq km Sechun Tuan Nalla Wildlife Sanctuary, which remains cut off for eight months in a year.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has categorised brown bear as a critically endangered species and musk deer as endangered.
Aug 21, 2019
New Species Of Freshwater Fish Found
Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India have discovered two new species of freshwater fish from the north-eastern and northern parts of the country.
While Glyptothorax gopii, a new species of catfish was found in Mizoram's Kaladan river, Garra simbalbaraensis was found in Himachal Pradesh's Simbalbara river.
Both fish, measuring less than seven centimetres, are hill stream fauna and are equipped with special morphological features to suit rapid water flow.
Glyptothorax gopii (measuring 63 mm standard length without caudal fin) is dark brown on its dorsal surface, and its ventral surface is of a yellowish-light brown.
Garra simbalbaraensis (measuring 69 mm standard length without caudal fin) has a yellowish-grey colour fading ventrally.
IndianOil HQs Inaugurates Swachhta Pakhwada
SM Vaidya, Executive Director (Operations), IndianOil Refineries Headquarters, inaugurated Swachhta Pakhwada in New Delhi by releasing a poster on afforestation and a booklet on swachhta initiatives undertaken.
Vaidya also released a sticker for vehicles.Inaugurating the Swachhta Pakhwada in Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Dr Nalin Shinghal, CMD administered the 'Swachhta Pledge' to its employees.
He exhorted BHEL employees to participate enthusiastically and contribute wholeheartedly to the national mission.
India Emits The Most Sulphur Dioxide In The World
India is the largest emitter of sulphur dioxide (SO2) in the world, contributing more than 15 per cent of global anthropogenic emissions, according to a new report by Greenpeace released on August 19, 2019.
The primary reason for India's high emission output is the expansion of coal-based electricity generation over the past decade. Five of the top 10 SO2 emission hotspots from coal/power generation industry across the world are in India.
The analysis is based on hotspots detected by NASA Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) satellite data that captured more than 500 major source points of SO2 emissions across the globe including natural sources such as volcanoes.
However, the analysis excluded all natural sources and only anthropogenic sources of SO2 were investigated. SO2 emissions are a significant contributor to air pollution.
President Ram Nath Kovind Launches Plantation Drive As Part Of Van Mahotsav Celebrations
President Ram Nath Kovind planted a sapling of Maulsari in the Rashtrapati Bhavan Estate and launched a plantation drive as part of Van Mahotsav celebrations.
On the occasion, the President met students and urged them to encourage fellow citizens to plant more trees and reaffirm the commitment to a greener and sustainable planet.
The President's Secretariat will be planting over three thousand trees and around three thousand shrubs. The President's Estate spread over 330 acres of harbours rich biodiversity.
Aug 19, 2019
Iceland Builds Monument To a Glacier Lost
Iceland honoured the passing of Okjokull, its first glacier lost to climate change, as scientists warn that some 400 others on the subarctic island risk the same fate.
A bronze plaque was unveiled in a ceremony to mark Okjokull — which translates to "Ok glacier" — in the west of Iceland, in the presence of local researchers and their peers at Rice University in the US, who initiated the project.
Iceland's prime minister Katrin Jakobsdottir, environment minister Gudmundur Ingi Gudbrandsson, and the United Nations high commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson also attended the event.
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