General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2018

Dec 2018

Jul 16, 2021

Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework

UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat released first official draft of a new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
This framework will be used to guide actions worldwide through 2030 in order to preserve and protect nature & its essential services to people.
Framework comprises of 21 targets for 2030.

Jul 13, 2021

NASA Study Predicts Record Flooding in 2030s due to Moon's 'Wobble'

Climate change has caused sudden weather changes on Earth, which has led to flood in many countries, especially the United States. But now, a new study has linked extreme weather events with Earth's neighbour, the moon.
The study has been conducted by American space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which says that a 'wobble' in the Moon's orbit combined with rising sea levels due to climate change will lead to devastating floods on Earth.
The study was published in the journal Nature Climate Change on June 21.
Called 'nuisance floods', these currently occur in coastal areas when the tide reaches about 2 feet above the daily average high tide. These events are much more problematic for businesses because they inundate the streets and homes, affecting everyday life.
These nuisance floods will become more frequent and irregular by mid-2030s, according to NASA study. A majority of US coastline will see three to four times increase in high tides for at least a decade, according to the study.

Jul 09, 2021

India Discovers New Plant Species in Antarctica

Indian scientists have discovered a new plant species in Antarctica.
Polar biologists stumbled upon a species of moss during an expedition to the ice-covered continent in 2017.
Identification is laborious, and it took the scientists five years to confirm that the species had been discovered for the first time.
The peer-reviewed paper describing this discovery has been accepted in the leading international journal, Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity.
The biologists, based in the Central University of Punjab, have named the specie Bryum Bharatiensis. Bharati is the Hindu goddess of learning and the name of one of India's Antarctic research stations.
Prof Felix Bast, a biologist who was part of the six-month-long expedition to the continent - the 36th by Indian scientists - discovered the dark green specie at Larsemann Hills, overlooking the Southern Ocean, in January 2017. This is located near Bharati, one of the remotest research stations in the world.

Delhi's NO2 Pollution Rose by 125 % in 1 Year

According to a study by non-government organisation (NGO), Greenpeace, Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has been increased by 125 per cent in Delhi during the period of last one year.
Study analysed NO2 concentrations in India's eight most populous cities namely, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Jaipur and Lucknow.
As per report, NO2 pollution has increased between April 2020 and April 2021 in all the eight capitals cities.
Delhi reported the 'most dramatic increase' during this period.
In Hyderabad, NO2 pollution increased by 69%.
It increased by 94 per cent in Chennai, 90 per cent in Bengaluru, 69 52 per cent in Mumbai, 47 per cent in Jaipur, 32 per cent in Lucknow and 11 per cent in Kolkata during the same period.

Jul 08, 2021

Gravelyia Boro: New Underground Spider from Assam

Two species of spiders have been found in Jharbari range of western Assam's Chirang Reserve Forest. Both the species have been sharing same space.
Gravelyia boro is a newly discovered burrow spider.
Dexippus kleini is an oriental jumping spider. It has been recorded for the first time after it was originally described 129 years ago by Swedish arachnologist, Tord Tamerlan Teodor Thorell. The spider was discovered by him about 2,600 km away in Sumatra. Both the spiders were discovered from Bodoland Territorial Region. They have been described in latest issue of Acta Arachnologica published by Arachnological Society of Japan.
Gravelyia boro belongs to Nemesiidae family that comprises of 184 species worldwide.
Dexippus kleini belongs to Salticidae family which is the largest family of all spiders on earth.

Jul 06, 2021

Microbes that Feast on Crushed Rocks Thrive in Antarctica's Ice-covered Lakes

Microbes living in an ice-covered lake in Antarctica are feasting on crushed rocks, researchers have discovered. And the little critters are thriving.
Subglacial lakes are bodies of freshwater, a majority of which are found in Antarctica, trapped between Earth's crust, or bedrock, and thick sheets of ice — sometimes several miles thick. These lakes are teeming with diverse microbes that feed off nutrients in the water. However, until now researchers were unsure exactly where these nutrients came from.
Subglacial lakes naturally erode over time as their water levels rise and fall. In a new study, researchers replicated this erosion in the lab by crushing up sediment samples taken from Lake Whillans — a 23-square-mile (60 square kilometers) subglacial lake buried beneath 2,600 feet (800 meters) of ice in Antarctica — and revealed how vital chemicals needed to sustain microbial communities are created.

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