General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2018

Dec 2018

Jun 15, 2022

Indians May Lose 5 Years of Life Expectancy Due to Air Pollution

The impact of air pollution is far deadlier than that of smoking, alcohol, or even consumption of unsafe water. Data show smoking reduces life expectancy by as much as 2.5 years, unsafe water and sanitation shaves off roughly a year and alcohol use by about half a year. If India doesn't meet WHO guidelines, the average Indian resident is set to lose 5 years of life expectancy.
As per the Air Quality Life Index, South Asia remains the world's pollution hotspot. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, where nearly a quarter of the global population lives, remain among the top five most polluted countries in the world. South Asia accounts for more than half, 52%, of the expected lost life years globally due to high pollution. India faces the highest health burden of air pollution in the world due to its high particulate pollution concentrations and large population. About 44% of the world's increase in pollution has come from India since 2013. The particulate pollution level in India increased from 53 then to 56 µg/m3 today—roughly 11 times higher than the WHO guidelines.

Jun 14, 2022

'Abnormal' Dinosaur Egg in India Digs up New Questions for Evolution

A team of researchers from the University of Delhi discovered a unique set of fossilised dinosaur eggs, with one egg nesting within the other at the Dinosaur Fossil National Park, in Dhar District of Madhya Pradesh. While eggs-within-eggs are rare phenomena, they are so far known to occur only in birds and have never known in reptiles. This discovery brings out newer connections between reptilian and avian evolution.
Dinosaurs of the Sauropod family were among the largest land animals that have ever lived and were widespread millions of years ago in the territory that is now India. Fossils of these animals have been found in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh as well as Meghalaya.
The Upper Cretaceous Lameta Formation of Central India is long known for its dinosaur fossils (both skeletal and egg remains), and scientists, some of whom were involved in the team reporting the latest findings, documented 52 titanosaurid sauropod nests near Padlya village close to Bagh town in Madhya Pradesh. One of these nests consisted of 10 eggs, one of which was the "abnormal" egg.

India Finalises Deals for Cheetahs from South Africa & Namibia

The Indian government finalised deals with South Africa and Namibia to get the planet's fastest animals, cheetahs that became extinct in India and will be released into the wild at Kuno Palpur, Madhya Pradesh, by the end of 2022. Initially, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed for 10 years, which can be extended for another five years. There will be 12 cheetahs from South Africa and 8 from Namibia and more will be followed in subsequent years.
The project to translocate cheetahs from Africa to India is a long-term, one-time project being implemented by the environment ministry with the help of the Wildlife Institute of India to reintroduce the cheetah into wild, which became extinct in India in the 1950s. The Supreme Court had appointed an expert panel, which approved Kuno Palpur as the possible location for cheetah relocation. In the past six months, the Madhya Pradesh forest department has prepared a 10 sq km enclosure with round-the-clock surveillance for reintroduction of cheetahs.

Asia's 'Longest-tusked' Elephant Bhogeshwara Dies

Bhogeshwara, reportedly the elephant with the longest tusks in Asia, died of natural causes at the age of 60. The wild elephant, also known as Mr. Kabini, was found dead in the Gundre range of Karnataka's Bandipur Tiger Reserve. According to forest department officials, Bhogeshwar's tusks were 2.54 meters and 2.34 meters long. Known for its gentle temperament, the elephant frequented the Kabini backwaters for the last three decades.
Both the tusks almost touched the ground and watching it roaming in the thick jungle was a visual treat. The viscera samples have been sent to the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory of Mysuru. Experts see no foul play and stated that it was a natural death.

Jun 08, 2022

Red Panda is Being Driven Closer to Extinction, New Study Shows

Using GPS telemetry, scientists from the University of Queensland, the University of Southern Queensland and the Red Panda Network monitored 10 red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) and documented disturbances using camera trapping for 12 months in eastern Nepal. They've found that human impact is causing the mammal to restrict its movements which is further fragmenting their habitat.
The red panda is the only living member of the genus Ailurus and the family Ailuridae.
This medium-sized species was once widely distributed across Eurasia but now inhabits the temperate forests in the eastern Himalaya.
With less than 10,000 individuals left in the wild, it is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Being a solitary, cryptic and territorial arboreal mammal, the red panda is difficult to study in the wild.

India Ranks Lowest in Environmental Performance Index 2022

India was placed at the bottom on a list of 180 countries judged for their environmental performances by US-based institutions.
Denmark topped the 2022 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) published recently by the Yale Center for Environmental Law and Policy and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University, followed by the UK and Finland, which earned high scores for slashing greenhouse gas emissions in recent years.
The EPI provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world.
Using 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories, the EPI ranks 180 countries on climate change performance, environmental health and ecosystem vitality. These indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of how close the countries are to established environmental policy targets.

Jun 07, 2022

Chilika Home to 176 Fishing Cats, Finds World's 1st Survey

Chilika Lake, Asia's largest brackish water lagoon, is home to around 176 fishing cats. Touted to be the world's first population estimation of the fishing cat outside the protected area network, the enumeration was carried out by the Chilika Development Authority (CDA) in collaboration with The Fishing Cat Project (TFCP).
The total number of the Schedule-I species was found to be in the range of 131-237 during the survey. The estimation was conducted in two phases. Phase-I was conducted in 2021 in the 115 sq km marshland present in the north and north-eastern section of Chilika and its surrounding areas, while Phase II was conducted in 2022 in the Parikuda side along with the coastal islands of Chilika.
The cat is a globally threatened species found in marshlands, mangroves, flooded forests and other wetlands. They are found in 10 Asian countries but have remained untraced in Vietnam and Java for more than a decade.

Jun 06, 2022

India, Canada Sign MoU for Cooperation on Environmental Protection, Climate Action

India and Canada signed an agreement to increase bilateral cooperation on climate action, environmental protection and conservation. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and his Canadian counterpart Steven Guilbeault signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the margins of the Stockholm+50 meeting. The meeting was held to commemorate 50 years of the Stockholm Conference the first United Nations conference on environment.
Under the pact, the two countries have agreed to collaborate, exchange information and expertise, and support their respective ambition in a wide range of areas, including increasing renewable energy capacity, decarbonizing heavy industries, reducing plastic pollution, supporting the sound management of chemicals, and ensuring sustainable consumption. Canada has several proven clean technologies which could be of interest to India, such as water and waste management systems, clean hydrogen, smart grids, and energy storage.

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