General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - June 2019

Jun 2019

Aug 08, 2019

Rapid and disturbing increase in deforestation across Amazon jungle in Brazil

New data from the Brazilian space institute published point to a surge in deforestation in the Amazon, fuelling fears that President Jair Bolsonaro's pro-agrobusiness policies will accelerate deforestation.
Figures of the National Institute for Space Research, a federal agency, show that more forest was lost between May and July in 2019 than during the same period in 2018, 2017 and 2016.
In July,2019 alone, the rainforest lost 2,254 square kilometres of vegetation, between three and five times the surfaces lost the same month in the past four years.
This is the biggest surge in deforestation rates since the institute adopted its current methodology in 2014.
Brazil contains about 60% of the Amazon rainforest, a key regulator in the planet's living systems. Its trees take in as much as 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year and release 20% of the planet's oxygen.

Ancient Bird That Stood a Metre Tall

Scientists have discovered fossils of the world's largest parrot, standing up to one metre tall and weighing 7kg with a massive beak able to crack most food sources.
The new bird, described in the journal Biology Letters, has been named 'Heracles Inexpectatus' to reflect its Herculean myth-like size and strength - and the unexpected nature of the discovery.
New Zealand is well known for its giant birds.
The fossil is about the size of the giant 'dodo' pigeon of the Mascarenes and twice the size of the critically endangered flightless
New Zealand kakapo, was previously the largest known parrot.
The new parrot was found in fossils up to 19 million years old from near St. Bathans in Central Otago, New Zealand, in an area well known for a rich assemblage of fossil birds from the Miocene period.

Aug 05, 2019

Goa govt to push for eco-sensitive zones

The Goa government will write to the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEF&CC) to designate low-lying coastal lands and mudflats ,known as "khazans," as ecosensitive zones, under the Coastal Zone Management Plan.
All khazans, aquaculture ponds and salt pans should be demarcated and categorised as eco-sensitive zones.
The Coastal Zone Management Plan is a mandatory requirement under the CRZ (Coastal Regulation Zone) notification with areas within 200 metres from the point of the highest water level during the yearly spring tide designated as eco-sensitive and earmarked as "no development" zones.
Lands falling with 500 metres of the high tide line are earmarked as "regulated."

In plantation campaign, govt aims at 3 lakh plants in a day

The Delhi government will conduct its mega plantation drive for this year on August 9, 2019 and has aimed to plant over 300,000 tree saplings and shrubs across the national capital.
Scarcity of land has forced the forest department to reduce the overall plantation target of 2019 to 2.4 million from 2018's 3.2 million.
Isapur village near southwest Delhi's Najafgarh has been identified as the main site for the mass drive to be launched by environment minister Kailash Gahlot.

Aug 04, 2019

Tigers in India face lurking threat from virus

A potential virus — Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) — that can be transmitted from CDV-infected dogs living in and around wildlife sanctuaries has started to raise concern among wildlife biologists.
Canine distemper is a contagious and serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems of puppies and dogs.

Aug 03, 2019

First Action Plan to Curb Noise Pollution

The Delhi government came up with its first action plan to curb noise pollution in the city.
The plan comprises various measures such as identifying noise pollution hotspots in the city, procuring hand-held devices for the police as well as civic agencies to better monitor sound pollution, and installing noise mufflers and noise curtains at various industrial and construction sites, among others.
The responsibilities of various government agencies, such as the Delhi Police, civic agencies, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (DSIIDC) and the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) were fixed. All the agencies have been given deadlines by when they have to accomplish their tasks.
According to the plan, all civic agencies would have to identify noise hotspots within their jurisdiction by September 2019. The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000 would be strictly implemented in these areas, along with the silence zones. An area of 100 metres around schools, hospitals, courts and government offices has been designated as silence zone.

Jul 30, 2019

Iceland to Mark First Glacier Lost

On October 18, 2019, Iceland will issue a plaque that will mark an unusual event, the passing of a glacier lost to climate change. It will be the first monument of its kind.
On this day, a plaque will be unveiled to Okjokull -- which translates to 'OK glacier' -- in the west of Iceland.
This will be the first monument to a glacier lost to climate change anywhere in the world.

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