General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - August 2019

Aug 2019

Apr 12, 2021

Many Endemic Species may GO Extinct if GHG Emissions Rise

As per a new study, many animals and plants might face extinction if green house gas emissions continue to rise.
All the Endemic species in islands are at high risk of extinction due to climate change.
Four out of every five endemic species in mountains are at the high risk of extinction due to climate change.
95% of marine species and 92% of land-based species will face reduction in numbers.
In tropical region, over 60% of endemic species are facing extinction due to climate change.
By maintaining the global heating well below two degrees Celsius as mentioned in the revised Paris Agreement will help to save majority of the species.
The Endemic species are the most iconic plants and animals in the world. The species that are highly threatened by climate change are lemurs (especially those that are unique to Madagascar), snow leopard.

Third of Antarctic Ice Shelf Area at Collapse Risk

The research found that 34 per cent of the area of all Antarctic ice shelves -- around half a million square kilometers -- including 67 per cent of ice shelf area on the Antarctic Peninsula, would be at risk of destabilisation under such a warming scenario.
The team also identified Larsen C -- the largest remaining ice shelf on the peninsula, which split to form the enormous A68 iceberg in 2017 -- as one of four ice shelves that would be particularly threatened in a warmer climate.

Apr 11, 2021

Researchers Discover a Snake and Name it After Shape-shifting Chinese Goddess

A deadly new snake has been discovered after spending decades masquerading as a much less dangerous species, according to researchers, who named the snake after a shape-shifting serpent goddess from a Chinese folktale.
The new species is a type of krait snake found in Southwest China and northern Myanmar and had previously been categorised as the many-banded krait. However, morphological and genetic differences, as well as a particularly painful and deadly bite, were enough to classify this reptile as its own species.
The researchers named the new snake Suzhen's krait after Bai Su Zhen, a powerful snake goddess from a traditional Chinese myth.

Apr 10, 2021

New Species from Arunachal Added to India's Bird List

A bird spotted in Arunachal Pradesh at an altitude higher than its recorded perch in adjoining China has become the 1,340th species of the bird family in India.
The three-banded rosefinch is a resident of southern China and a vagrant in Bhutan. A team of scientists from Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) spotted and photographed this rare species of bird in Arunachal Pradesh.
The new species of bird was found during an intensive survey of finches across the Eastern Himalayas as a part of an ongoing study. The survey team members spotted the three-banded rosefinch with a flock of white-browed rosefinch, a species commonly seen in this landscape.

Apr 09, 2021

New Species of Bird Discovered in Brazil

A team of ornithologists from the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Paraguay has described a new species of Trogon from the Atlantic Forest of north-eastern Brazil.
The Trogons and their close relatives, quetzals, are members a pantropically distributed order of birds consisting of a single family, the Trogonidae, which contains at least 43 species and 109 subspecies.
They are among the most colorful birds in the world: males are patterned with hues of iridescent green, blue, violet and purple above, and a bright red, yellow or orange abdomen; females have gray or brown plumage.
They are most diverse in the Neotropics with 29 species, of which 24 species and 66 subspecies belong to the genus Trogon.

Apr 07, 2021

Climate Change Shrinks Marine Life Richness Near Equator

During some summers, as the Caribbean water temperatures climb, the luminous coral colonies of gold, green and blue that ring the island nation of Cuba give way to patches of skeletal white.
The technicolor streaks of darting tropical fish flash less frequently. The rasping sounds of lobsters go quiet.
While Cuba's marine life has suffered from overfishing and pollution, there is mounting evidence that the warming of waters due to climate change may be taking a large toll as well -- both off the island's coast and globally.
A research found that the total number of open-water species declined by about half in the 40 years up to 2010 in tropical marine zones worldwide. During that time, sea surface temperatures in the tropics rose nearly 0.2 degree Celsius.
As per study co-author Chhaya Chaudhary, a biogeographer at Goethe University, climate change is already impacting marine species diversity distribution, with changes being more dramatic in the Northern Hemisphere where waters have warmed faster.

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