General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - August 2019

Aug 2019

Mar 06, 2021

Researchers Find Five New Species of Shrub Frogs

Researchers from India and the United States have found the five new species of shrub frogs. These species of the frog were discovered from the Western Ghats which is a globally recognised biodiversity hotspot.
The five species of the frogs belong to the Old World tree frog of the family called Rhacophoridae. These species were discovered by researchers from Kerala Forest Research Institute, University of Delhi and University of Minnesota. This discovery is part of the long comprehensive study on Shrub frogs of genus Raorchestes in the Western Ghats. The research was carried out for the period of 10 years. The new species were identified and were distinct on the basis of several criteria including the external morphology of the frog, calling pattern, DNA, and behaviour.

Mar 04, 2021

Australia Building World's First Platypus Sanctuary

Australian conservationists unveiled plans to build the world's first refuge for the platypus, to promote breeding and rehabilitation as the duck-billed mammal faces extinction due to climate change.
The Taronga Conservation Society of Australia and the New South Wales State government said that they would build the specialist facility, mostly ponds and burrows for the semi-aquatic creatures, at a zoo 391 km (243 miles) from Sydney, by 2022, which could house up to 65 platypuses.

Mar 02, 2021

Iceberg 20 Times the Size of Manhattan Breaks in Antarctica

Almost a decade after scientists at British Antarctic Survey (BAS) first detected the growth of vast cracks, a huge iceberg, more than 20 times the size of Manhattan, in Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf has now broken off.
The first indication that a calving event was imminent came in November 2020 when a new chasm, called North Rift, headed towards another large chasm near the Stancomb-Wills Glacier Tongue 35 km away.
During January, this rift pushed northeast cutting through the 150-metre-thick floating ice shelf.
The iceberg was formed when the crack widened several hundred metres in a few hours, releasing it from the rest of the floating ice shelf.

Feb 25, 2021

New Species of Alpine Plant Discovered in Arunachal Pradesh

A group of scientists of three institutes have discovered a new species of alpine plant in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The new species of plant belongs to the family of Himalayan sunflower.
It has been named as Cremanthodium indicum.
This species of plant generally flowers from July to August.
It is endemic to the Penga-Teng Tso Lake of Tawang district.
As per the IUCN Guideline, this alpine plant species has been listed as critically endangered.
Tawang district is the smallest districts out of the 16 administrative districts of Arunachal Pradesh. It has a population of 49,977 which makes the state as the eighth least populous district in India. This district is inhabited by the Monpa people.

Feb 24, 2021

West Antarctica's Getz Glaciers Flowing Faster

Wherever you look in West Antarctica right now, the message is the same: Its marine-terminating glaciers are being melted by warm seawater.
Scientists have just taken a detailed look at the ice streams flowing into the ocean along a 1,000 km-stretch of coastline known as the Getz region.
It incorporates 14 glaciers - and they've all speeded up.
Since 1994, they've lost 315 gigatonnes of ice - equivalent to 126 million Olympic swimming pools of water.
If you put this in the context of the Antarctic continent's contribution to global sea-level rise over the same period, Getz accounts for just over 10% of the total - a little under a millimetre.
This is the first time anyone has done a really detailed study of this area of West Antarctica. It's very inaccessible to people to go and do field work because it's so mountainous; most of it hasn't ever been stepped on by humans.

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