General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - December 2018

Dec 2018

Mar 04, 2020

Gardens and Graveyards of Coral Discovered off Australia's Coast

The South Australian coast is surrounded by a labyrinth of underwater canyons, many of them still unexplored. Last week, an international team of researchers (and their underwater robot companion) completed a survey of three such canyons, uncovering a hidden world of both thriving coral gardens and ash-white coral graveyards.
According to the expedition members, the fate of these hidden ecosystems, which sit in the immediate path of the increasingly warm water flowing out of Antarctica's Southern Ocean, could be a preview of how farther-flung ocean life will react to ongoing global warming.

Mar 03, 2020

Onshore Wind to Make Comeback in UK

According to a government decision, the cheapest form of new power in the UK - onshore wind - is set to make a comeback.
Ministers previously blocked projects after complaints from local campaigners that they were a blot on the landscape.
The government responded by denying onshore wind the chance to bid for a price guarantee for the electricity they produce.
They also gave local protestors a definitive say in the planning process.
This meant it was virtually impossible for wind farms to gain permission.
Environmentalists said the decision was irrational, and today the government has opened the way for onshore wind farm developers to bid for price support.
But the government still wants local people to have a strong say in the decision where they are built. That means relatively few are expected in congested England.

Feb 28, 2020

China to Send 'Duck Army' to Fight Locusts

China is planning to dispatch a 100,000-strong army of ducks to help Pakistan combat a massive locust infestation. The legion of lotus-eating waterfowl will be sent from the eastern province of Zhejiang following the earlier dispatch of a team of Chinese experts to Pakistan to advice on a response to the infestation that is being called the worst in 20 years.

Feb 27, 2020

Animal that Can Live Without Oxygen

Scientists have discovered an animal that does not need oxygen to produce energy needed for its survival, a finding that changes one of science's assumptions about the animal world.
The tiny, less than 10-celled parasite Henneguya salminicola lives in salmon muscle.
As it evolved, the animal, which is a relative of jellyfish and corals, gave up breathing and consuming oxygen — or became anaerobic — to produce energy.
"Aerobic respiration was thought to be ubiquitous in animals, but now we confirmed that this is not the case," said Dorothee Huchon, a professor at Tel Aviv University (TAU) in Israel.
The researchers noted that the parasite's anaerobic nature was an accidental discovery.

India 5th most Polluted Country

In accordance with the "2019 World Air Quality Report-Region & City PM2.5 Ranking" compiled by IQAir AirVisual, India ranked 5^th as the most polluted country in the world and topped in an annual list of cities with the worst air quality in the world. The report has been prepared by monitoring the real time data to tackle the urgent issue of air pollution.
Bangladesh emerged as the most polluted country for PM2.5 exposure. It is followed by Pakistan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, and India at 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th place respectively.
Bahamas ranked 98th as the cleanest country with an average of 3 µg/m³.
World's most Polluted Countries 2019 (PM2.5): India – 5^th rank
World's most Polluted Cities 2019 (PM2.5): Ghaziabad, India – 1^st rank
World's Most Polluted Capital Cities 2019 (PM2.5): Delhi, India – 1^st rank

Feb 26, 2020

Scientists Find Oldest Plant Fossil

Scientists have spotted in rocks from northern China what may be the oldest fossils of a green plant ever found, tiny seaweed that carpeted areas of the seafloor roughly a billion years ago and were part of a primordial revolution among life on Earth. Researchers said that the plant, called Proterocladus antiquus, was about the size of a rice grain and boasted numerous thin branches, thriving in shallow water while attached to the seafloor with a root-like structure. It may seem small, but Proterocladus - a form of green algae - was one of the largest organisms of its time, sharing the seas mainly with bacteria and other microbes.

4,000-year-old Crafts Village Unearthed Near Varanasi

The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology Professor, Anil Kumar Dubey and his team discovered a 4000-year-old urban settlements, which is mentioned as crafts village as per Ancient texts, in Babhaniyav village, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh.
As per former Additional Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Dr Buddha Rashmi Mani, the settlements could have been a satellite settlement and feeding centre of the Varanasi- Sarnath region.
On the preliminary survey of the site, BHU found a temple which belongs to the 5th Century AD through 8th Century AD, potteries which are 4000-year-old and walls which are 2000-year-old.

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