General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - June 2019

Jun 2019

Nov 22, 2022

Researchers at Finland's Rokua National Park Discover New Species of Tardigrade

New species of tardigrade named Macrobiotus naginae was discovered by researchers at Finland's Rokua National Park.
The new species was named Macrobiotus naginae, after Nagini – the fictional snake character from Harry Potter books. It was found at the Rokua National Park in Finland's North Ostrobothnia region.
It was found to subsist in a dune woodland on lichen and moss. This habitat is currently threatened because of human activities. The new species is the fifth known member of the Macrobiotus pseudohufelandi complex, a small group of tardigrades having smaller legs and claws for living underground. They developed smaller limbs to effectively crawl through sand or soil.
The Rokua National Park is a UNESCO global geopark in Finland. It is one of Finland's oldest national parks. It was established in 1956 to protect the natural-state of lichen heaths and the unique geological features of the region.

United Nation Approves Loss and Damage Fund

The United Nation's COP27 climate summit in November 2022 approved the creation of the "Loss and Damage" Fund to compensate economically vulnerable countries for the damages caused by climate-linked disasters.
The Loss and Damage Fund is a special fund established to provide compensation to vulnerable countries for the damages they suffered because of global warming. Its aim is to unlock a greater ambition to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
"Loss and Damage" is the term that is used to refer to the cost being incurred from climate-induced weather extremes or impacts like rising sea levels.
Till date, climate funding mostly focused on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and addressing global warming. A third of this funding supported communities to adapt to climate change consequences.

Black-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon Rediscovered After 140 Years

Black-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon was rediscovered after 140 years by a research team that was part of The Search for Lost Birds – a collaboration between BirdLife International, Rewild, and American Bird Conservancy.
The objective of the collaborative initiative is to rediscover bird species that have not been declared as extinct but has not been sighted for more than a decade. Currently, there are 150 such species that has remained elusive for more than 10 years.
Before the recent rediscovery, Black-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon was first and last seen in 1882. It is a large, terrestrial pigeon having black and orange feathers and red eyes. It feeds on seeds and fallen fruits. The species is endemic to Fergusson Island in Papua New Guinea.
The population is dwindling because of the loss of forest habitats, which is caused by the logging and conversion for subsistence agriculture gardens. Conservation activities of the species' habitat are few and far between.

Anamalai Tiger Reserve Launches 'Jumbo Trails' in Coimbatore

The Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) has launched 'jumbo trails', a programme aimed to educate visitors to the tiger reserve about elephants, the flora, and fauna of ATR and the aboriginal tribes who live in the hills.
An initiative by ATR Field Director S. Ramasubramanian and Deputy Director (Pollachi Division) Bhargava Teja, the first jumbo trail will happen on November 26.
The biologist and other resource persons from the Forest Department will explain the exhibits at the interpretation centre and provide the registered participants with an overall view of ATR.

Nov 21, 2022

Karnataka has Highest Installed Grid-interactive Renewable Power Capacity

Karnataka came at the top position while comparing the total installed capacity of grid-interactive renewable power of all the states of the country. The state had a total installed capacity of 15,463 megawatts (mw), according to an RBI publication.
Tamil Nadu, with 15,225 mw, came at the second; Gujarat, with 13,153 mw, was at third position while Maharashtra, with 10,267 mw, was at the fourth, according to Handbook of Statistics on Indian States 2021-22, which was the seventh edition of its statistical publication, released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Through this publication, the Reserve Bank has been disseminating wide-ranging data on the regional economies of India.
Data for the calculation of state-wise total installed capacity of grid interactive renewable power had been sourced through Energy Statistics from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation and the states' figures of installed capacity was till the end of March 2021.

Nov 20, 2022

Tamil Nadu Introduces India's First Elephant Death Audit Framework

Tamil Nadu's Forest Department introduced an elephant death audit framework to put in place a more detailed and transparent process for recording and monitoring elephant deaths in the state.
The broad objectives of Elephant Death Audit Framework (EDAF), the first-of-its-kind initiative in the country, are threefold, said Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests.
It prescribes a systematic standard protocol for conducting post-mortem to determine the reasons for death of an elephant. It will help to study the circumstances of preventable and unnatural deaths and formulate measures to prevent them.

Nov 16, 2022

India Ranks 8th in Climate Protection, Climbs Two Spots

India climbed two spots to reach the eighth rank out of 63 countries evaluated on the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) 2023 due to its low emissions and the increasing use of renewable energy, according to a report by three environmental non-governmental organisations.
On the other hand, China, currently the world's biggest polluter, slid 13 places to the 51st position mainly due to massive plans for new coal-fired power plants.
Interestingly, there were no names for the first three places as "no country performed well enough in all index categories to achieve an overall very high rating", said the report that tracks climate performance of a group of countries accounting for more than 92 per cent of world's greenhouse gas emissions.
Denmark was at the fourth place followed by Sweden and Chile. India earned a high rating in the GHG emissions and energy use categories.

Nov 14, 2022

Nine New Countries Join Global Offshore Wind Alliance at COP27 in Egypt

Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and the US joined the Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA) during COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.
The alliance, which is bringing together governments, the private sector, international organisations and other stakeholders to accelerate the deployment of offshore wind power, was launched in September by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Government of Denmark, and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
The members of GOWA are pledging to a rapid ramp-up of offshore wind in order to tackle the climate and energy security crises, with the countries joining the alliance agreeing to work together to drive national, regional, and global ambitions and remove barriers to the deployment of offshore wind in both new and existing markets.
GOWA aims to contribute to achieving a total global offshore wind capacity of a minimum of 380 GW by 2030.

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