General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - October 2018

Oct 2018

Aug 07, 2020

UK Peat Emissions Could Cancel Forest Benefits

Emissions from UK peatland could cancel out all carbon reduction achieved through new and existing forests, warns the countryside charity CPRE.
It says many degraded peatlands are actually increasing carbon emissions.
Yet, it says, there has been much more focus from the government and media on forests than on peat bogs.
The government's advisory committee on climate change told BBC News that it agreed with the conclusions of the analysis.
Both that committee and the CPRE are urging more ambitious action to protect and enhance peatlands.
A peat bog is a Jekyll and Hyde thing. A wet, pristine peat bog soaks up CO2 and, unlike trees, has no limit to the amount of carbon it captures. rees only capture CO2 until they are mature.
But a dry, degraded bog – like many in England's uplands – is a big source of CO2 as the carbon in the bog oxidises.

Aug 06, 2020

Uttarakhand to Develop India's First Snow Leopard Conservation Centre

Chief Minister of Uttarakhand Trivendra Singh Rawat chaired a meeting along with State forest minister Harak Singh Rawat and other officials to look into the setting up of the conservation centre.
The conservation centre is set to come up at a place named Lanka, near Bhaironghati bridge in Uttarkashi district.
It will be built by the Uttarakhand forest department along the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as part of its six-year long project Securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems (SECURE) Himalayas.
Dutch Conservation Architect Anne Feenstra shared the details of the conservation centre.
The conservation centre is expected to create awareness of the Big Cat among the people.
According to several researches, Uttarakhand is home to 86 snow leopards at present.
In Uttarakhand, snow leopards are found in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Gangotri National Park, Askot Wildlife Sanctuary and other places of altitude between 3000-4500 metres.
According to the World Wild Fund for Nature India (WWF), India is home to 450-500 snow leopards.
Snow Leopard is listed under Schedule – I of Wildlife Protection Act of India which gives the big cat absolute protection against hunting and poaching .

Jul 27, 2020

Norway's Arctic Archipelago Witnesses Highest ever Recorded Temperature

According to Norway`s Meteorological Institute, temperatures at Norway`s Svalbard archipelago, about midway between the mainland and the North Pole, hit a record high of 21.7 degrees Celsius.
The Arctic islands are warming faster than almost anywhere on Earth, highlighting risks in other parts of the Arctic from Alaska to Siberia.
A 41-year-old record has been broken in Longyearbyen.
Between 1700 and 1800 CET (1500-1600 GMT), the temperature measured 21.7 degrees Celsius, 0.4 degrees above the previous record from 1979.
Rising temperatures would thaw the frozen ground underpinning many buildings, roads and airports and could cause more avalanches and landslides.
A warming climate also threatens Arctic wildlife such as polar bears and seals which depend on the sea ice cover.

India Ranks 3rd in Gaining Forest Area in World

In accordance with the latest Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) 2020 brought out by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), India ranked 3rd among the top 10 countries that have gained in forest areas during 2010-2020. FRA 2020 examined the status of, and trends in, more than 60 forest-related variables in 236 countries and territories in the period 1990–2020.
India reported 0.38% annual gain in forest, or 266,000 ha of forest increase every year at an average. It's naturally regenerating forest rate was also 0.38% in 2010-20.
As per the report, the world has a total forest area of 4.06 billion hectares (ha) in 2020, which is 31% of the total land area where India accounts for 2% of total global forest area. Russia has a maximum forest area accounting 20% of global forest area (815 312 ha) followed by Brazil (496 620 ha-12%) and Canada (346 928 ha- 9%).

Jul 23, 2020

Polar Bears Could Disappear by 2100

Polar bears have long been the poster child of the consequences of climate change. A new study now suggests the Arctic species is at risk of being starved into extinction by the end of the century.
Acco0rding to the University of Toronto-led study, as sea ice continues to vanish due to warming temperatures, polar bears are increasingly struggling to find the food they need to survive.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are an estimated 22,000 to 31,000 polar bears in the wild, although precise numbers are hard to determine due to their remote habitat. The species is listed as vulnerable.
Polar bears rely on sea ice for hunting seals, their primary food source, according to the new study. But the spread of ice has been on the decline as climate change accelerates the rise in temperatures at the poles, keeping them on land where it's harder to catch seals.
While the bears can fast for months, their survival depends on how much energy they've managed to reserve through eating ahead of time, the energy they expend during the fast and how long a fasting period lasts.

Jul 22, 2020

Microsoft Corp, Nike, Unilever, Starbucks Team Up to Combat Global Carbon Emissions

Microsoft Corp, Nike Inc , Starbucks Corp, Unilever NV and five other industry titans from various sectors are teaming up to help businesses globally achieve zero carbon emissions.
Called "Transform to Net Zero", the group plans to recruit other members and will work with the Environmental Defense Fund and focus on delivering guidance, research and blueprints for businesses to achieve zero carbon emissions no later than 2050.
The announcement gave no details of any investment the companies would make, outlining only initial research and other work to be completed over the next five years.
Some aims for net zero carbon emissions include reductions across the entire value chain, including impact of products and services, and the substantial commitment and willingness to invest in and speed innovation.

Researchers from Singapore Discover a New Species, 'Bathynomus Raksasa' in Indian Ocean

A team of researchers from Singapore confirmed the discovery of a new species called 'Bathynomus Raksasa' (Described as "cockroach of the sea"). The researchers found the new species in 2018 during a deep-sea survey off of the coast of Banten, Western Java, Indonesia (Indian Ocean).
'Bathynomus Raksasa' is the second-largest isopod species known to researchers to date and is the sixth "supergiant" species from the Indo-West Pacific.
The largest isopod is 'Bathynomus Giganteus', which is commonly found in the deep waters of the western Atlantic Ocean.

Government Approves the Zonal Master Plan of Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone

In the review meeting of "Char Dham Road Project" over a virtual platform, Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) informed the approval of the Zonal Master Plan (ZMP) of Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone by the Ministry Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) earlier this month.
The review meeting of Char Dham project was chaired by Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister of MSME.
On 18th December 2012, the Ministry of Ministry Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued the notification of Bhagirathi Eco-Sensitive Zone of area covering 4179.59 square kilometers from Gaumukh to Uttarakashi.
In consultation with the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways, Government of Uttarakhand and Indian Road Congress the notification was amended on 16th April 2018.
The Zonal Master Plan was prepared by the State government of Uttarakhand and appraised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
The Zonal Master Plan was made based on the watershed approach and the governance in the forest and wildlife area, watershed management, irrigation, energy, tourism, public health and sanitation and road infrastructure.

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