General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2018

Dec 2018

Mar 02, 2021

Iceberg 20 Times the Size of Manhattan Breaks in Antarctica

Almost a decade after scientists at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) first detected the growth of vast cracks, a huge iceberg, more than 20 times the size of Manhattan, in Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf has now broken off.
The first indication that a calving event was imminent came in November 2020 when a new chasm, called North Rift, headed towards another large chasm near the Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue 35 km away.
During January, this rift pushed northeast cutting through the 150-metre-thick floating ice shelf.
The iceberg was formed when the crack widened several hundred metres in a few hours, releasing it from the rest of the floating ice shelf.

Feb 25, 2021

New Species of Alpine Plant Discovered in Arunachal Pradesh

A group of scientists of three institutes have discovered a new species of alpine plant in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The new species of plant belongs to the family of Himalayan sunflower.
It has been named as Cremanthodium indicum.
This species of plant generally flowers from July to August.
It is endemic to the Penga-Teng Tso Lake of Tawang district.
As per the IUCN Guideline, this alpine plant species has been listed as critically endangered.
Tawang district is the smallest districts out of the 16 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh. It has a population of 49,977 which makes the state as the eighth least populous district in India. This district is inhabited by the Monpa people.

Feb 24, 2021

West Antarctica's Getz Glaciers Flowing Faster

Wherever you look in West Antarctica right now, the message is the same: Its marine-terminating glaciers are being melted by warm seawater.
Scientists have just taken a detailed look at the ice streams flowing into the ocean along a 1,000 km-stretch of coastline known as the Getz region.
It incorporates 14 glaciers - and they've all speeded up.
Since 1994, they've lost 315 gigatonnes of ice - equivalent to 126 million Olympic swimming pools of water.
If you put this in the context of the Antarctic continent's contribution to global sea-level rise over the same period, Getz accounts for just over 10% of the total - a little under a millimetre.
This is the first time anyone has done a really detailed study of this area of West Antarctica. It's very inaccessible to people to go and do field work because it's so mountainous; most of it hasn't ever been stepped on by humans.

Feb 18, 2021

World's Largest Iceberg Disintegrates Into Alphabet Soup

The ocean north of Antarctica has turned into an alphabet soup of broken icebergs.
In a satellite photo, the jagged outlines of 11 fractured icebergs swirl around a remote, penguin-filled island called South Georgia, located about 940 miles (1,500 kilometers) northeast of the Antarctic Peninsula.
Each frozen chunk is a piece of the once-mighty iceberg A-68a, which held the title of the world's largest iceberg for more than three years before shattering into a dozen pieces a few weeks ago.
Now, each broken bit of the puzzle has its own name, beginning with A-68b, and ending with A-68M.

Feb 15, 2021

Edinburgh Aims to Become Sanctuary for Swifts as Numbers Decline

Conservationists are hoping to turn Edinburgh into a sanctuary for swifts after a drastic decline in the bird's population.
Numbers fell by more than 50% in the UK between 1995 and 2016, when the estimated average population dropped from 125,500 to 59,000.
One of the biggest challenges that the species faces is the loss of nesting sites in older buildings, which are often blocked off during renovation work or lost when buildings are demolished.
The Edinburgh Swift City Project is asking people to make boxes in a bid to encourage pairs to nest and breed.
Residents are also being urged to report any sightings of swift screaming parties - groups of two or more swifts flying at low level while calling loudly, which means they are breeding nearby.
Hubs are being created along a cycle route through the city to raise awareness, and a huge mural depicting the bird's long migration path between Africa and Europe is also being planned.
The bird conservation charity RSPB Scotland is currently searching for a building in the city and an artist to create the mural.

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