Pakistan Declares Emergency as Monsoon Flooding Affects over 4 Million People
Heavy rain pounded parts of Pakistan Friday after the government declared an emergency to deal with monsoon flooding that it said had affected more than four million people.
The annual monsoon is essential for irrigating crops and replenishing lakes and dams across the Indian subcontinent, but each year it also brings a wave of destruction.
The National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said on Friday that more than 900 people had been killed this year -- including 34 in the last 24 hours -- as a result of the monsoon rains that began in June.
Officials say this year's floods are comparable to 2010 -- the worst on record -- when over 2,000 people died and nearly a fifth of the country was under water.
Aug 23, 2022
Aravind's ground gecko: New bent-toed gecko species
A group of researchers has recently discovered a new species of bent-toed gecko from the Agasthyamalai hills in the Western Ghats. The name of this new gecko has been given in the name of well-known malacologist N.A. Arvind as Aravind's ground gecko. The new species has been described based on its distinctness in the morphological and molecular DNA data.
Aug 22, 2022
Geothermal energy to be used to supply energy to Ladakh
At 14,000 feet in Ladakh, ONGC is getting ready to pump geothermal energy. State-run explorer ONGC has set out on a mission to harness the steam streaming from the earth's core at Puga, a lonely valley off the road to Chumar on the de facto boundary with China, at a height of more than 14,000 feet.
Odisha Prepares Wildlife Management Plan for New Coal Blocks
The State government directed the Wildlife wing of the Forest and Environment department to prepare a comprehensive wildlife management plan for newly allotted coal blocks. Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra gave this direction during a review on the status of forest clearance and wildlife management in newly allotted coal block areas of Angul district.
It was decided to prepare the comprehensive plan through national-level institutes like the Wildlife Institute of India or the Indian Institute of Science as per national guidelines in a time-bound manner. The proposed plan will be implemented for new coal blocks namely Utkal-E, Radhikapur East, Radhikapur West, and Naini. The probable impact areas included Chhendipada, Kaniha, Jarpada ranges of Angul forest division, and Reamal range of Deogarh forest division.
Aug 21, 2022
Causes of Arctic Warming
Researchers from Finnish Meteorological institute published their research regarding Arctic warming. As per the research, Arctic is heating up four times faster than other parts of the Earth. Heating is more concentrated in Eurasian part of the Arctic. In this part, Barents Sea and Norway are heating up seven times faster than Earth's average. In last 43 years, Arctic region has heated up 3.8 times faster than the planet.
These findings reveal that; people, animals and plants in polar regions are experiencing rapid climate change.
Findings focus on period between 1979-2021.
Arctic region is more sensitive to global warming and it is likely that, the region is heating up even more quickly than predicted by computer models.
Aug 20, 2022
China Declares National Drought, Heat wave Threatens Crops
China issued its first national drought alert of the year after 66 rivers dried up in the country's southwest. The drought, coupled with intense heat waves due to forest fires, pose a serious threat to China's crops. Earlier this week, Chinese officials announced 'several new measures to help alleviate the drought impact,' including financial aid, cloud seeding and shutdowns of some energy-intensive industries.
The Washington Post called the crisis China's 'worst drought on record' as soaring temperatures dry up parts of the critical Yangtze River, damaging crops and limiting drinking water supplies to some rural communities.