General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2018

Dec 2018

Nov 13, 2020

Kabartal in Bihar's Begusarai Becomes First Wetland of International Importance

Kabartal in Bihar's Begusarai district has been recognised as a wetland of international importance, the first such wetland in the state, under the Ramsar Convention, according to the Union Environment Ministry. The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
It is named after the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the Caspian Sea, where the treaty was signed on February 2, 1971.
It is an important wetland of the Central Asian Flyway for the population of migratory birds & biodiversity. With this now India has 39 Ramsar sites.

INTERPOL and the World Customs Organisation Conduct Operation Thunder

The INTERPOL and the World Customs Organisation conducted Operation Thunder, 2020 in 103 countries. The operation was conducted against environmental crimes.
The Operation Thunder was held between September 14, 2020 and October 11, 2020. It resulted in large seizures of protected forestry and wildlife specimen. This triggered arrests and investigations world-wide including India.
In India, the India Customs along with INTERPOL and WCO seized 18 tonnes of red sandalwood that were destined for UAE. The seizures included 1.3 tonnes of ivory, 1 tonnes of pangolin scales, 1,700 killed pangolins, 87 truckloads of timber, 56,200 kg of marine products and 15,878 kg of plants.
The operation recovered 45,000 live animals. This included 1,400 turtles, 6,000 tortoise eggs, 1,600 birds, 1,800 reptiles.

Nov 12, 2020

Decline of US Coral Reef

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration along with the University of Maryland released a report on health of coral reefs in US Virgin Islands and in Hawaii and Guam in the Pacific.
The study has found that only 2% coral reefs are left alive along the coasts of Florida. This is the first time, a nation-wide coral assessment is being held in the US. The report classified the regions as very good, good, fair, impaired and critical. Most of the coral reefs in the US, according to the report, were fair.
According to the report, lawn chemicals, sewage and other pollutants flowing into the ocean pose catastrophic threat to the corals in the country.
The reefs in Florida were in impaired condition. The corals in Puerto Rico and Hawaii were in good condition.

Nov 11, 2020

Scientists Discover Ancient Lake Bed Deep Beneath the Greenland Ice

Scientists have detected what they say are the sediments of a huge ancient lake bed sealed more than a mile under the ice of northwest Greenland—the first-ever discovery of such a sub-glacial feature anywhere in the world.
Apparently formed at a time when the area was ice-free but now completely frozen in, the lake bed may be hundreds of thousands or millions of years old, and contain unique fossil and chemical traces of past climates and life.
Scientists consider such data vital to understanding what the Greenland ice sheet may do in coming years as climate warms, and thus the site makes a tantalizing target for drilling. A paper describing the discovery is in press at the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.
This could be an important repository of information, in a landscape that right now is totally concealed and inaccessible. The ice sheet, which has been melting at an accelerating pace in recent years, contains enough water to raise global sea levels by about 24 feet.

Nov 08, 2020

Why the UK's Carbon-free Future Will Need Rules

A 10-point plan aimed at putting the UK on track for a zero emissions economy is due to be unveiled by the Prime Minister in the coming weeks.
Boris Johnson's previous speeches on climate change have given the impression the problem can largely be solved by technology - a flash of nuclear, a gust of hydrogen, a blast of offshore wind, a dollop of carbon capture and storage.
But a government spokesperson told BBC News we'll all need to "work together and play our part".
And experts warn the issue's phenomenally complicated - presenting challenges never seen before.
Tackling climate change, they say, will need action right across society and the economy - with a host of new incentives, laws, rules, bans, appliance standards, taxes and institutional innovations.

Nov 06, 2020

IIT-Madras Signs MoU on Clean Water Technology

The International Centre for Clean Water (ICCW) is going to collaborate with DG TAKANO, a Japanese firm, to introduce new clean water technologies in India.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the partnership between ICCW and DG TAKANO was signed recently to collaborate on projects on clean water and to develop innovative products that will solve existing societal and environmental challenges in the area of clean and safe drinking water globally.
India is one of the world's most water-stressed countries. According to UNICEF, India is facing an economic burden of approximately US $600 million per year due to waterborne diseases.

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