General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - August 2019

Aug 2019

Jan 05, 2021

South Korea to cut railway carbon emissions by replacing diesel trains by 2029

South Korea aims to cut some 30% of carbon emissions from railway travel by replacing all diesel passenger locomotives with a new bullet train by 2029, President Moon Jae-in said.
Moon joined a trial run of the KTX-Eum, an electric multiple unit train as South Korea, one of world's most fossil-fuel reliant economies, envisages a "greener" recovery from the novel coronavirus. Eum means link in Korean.

The Year 2020 was Eighth Warmest Since 1901: IMD

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the year 2020 was the eight warmest since 1901, but it was substantially lower than the highest warming observed in 2016.
During the year, annual mean land surface air temperature averaged over the country was 0.29 degree Celsius above normal (based on the data of 1981-2010).
The year 2020 was the eighth warmest year on record since nation-wide records commenced in 1901. However, this is substantially lower than the highest warming observed over India during 2016 (+0.71 degree Celsius).
The five warmest years on record in order were: 2016 (+ 0.71 degree C), 2009 (+0.55 degree C), 2017 (+0.541 degree C), 2010 (+0.539 degrees C), and 2015 (+0.42 degree C).

Jan 04, 2021

World's Oldest Python Found in Messel Pit

Together with his colleague Hussam Zaher of the University in São Paulo, Senckenberg scientist Krister Smith described the world's oldest known fossils of a python. The almost completely preserved snake with a length around one metrre was discovered in the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Messel Pit" and is about 47 million years old. The new python species, Messelopython freyi, was named in honour of paleontologist Eberhard "Dino" Frey of the State Museum of Natural History in Karlsruhe.
Reaching a length of more than six meters, pythons are among the world's largest snakes. Today, various species of these constrictors are found primarily in Africa, Southern and Southeast Asia, and Australia. The geographic origin of pythons is still not clear. The discovery of a new python species in the Messel Pit is therefore a major leap forward in understanding these snakes' evolutionary history.
The new python species Messelopython freyi is the oldest known fossil record of a python anywhere in the world.

Jan 03, 2021

Two Lakh-year-old Tools Unearthed in Saudi Arabia

A Saudi Arabian scientific team from the Heritage Authority discovered stone tools used by the inhabitants of Assyrian civilisation in the Paleolithic period that date back to 2,00,000 years.
The Heritage Authority said that the discovered stone tools from the Shuaib Al-Adgham area, located east of the Al-Qassim region, are stone axes from the Middle Paleolithic period.

Jan 01, 2021

Woolly rhino from ice age unearthed in Russian Arctic

The remarkably preserved carcass of an Ice Age-era woolly rhino has been unearthed by locals in eastern Siberia.
The rhino was revealed by the melting permafrost in the Abyisky region of Yakutia in north-eastern Russia.
With most of its internal organs intact, the rhino is among the best-preserved animals ever found in the region.
Experts will deliver the rhino to a lab for further studies next month.
They are waiting for ice roads to form so they can take the remains to the city of Yakutsk, where scientists will take samples and carry out radiocarbon analyses.
The rhino is believed to have lived in the late Pleistocene era, anywhere between 20,000 and 50,000 years ago.

Dec 31, 2020

US Environment Protection Agency Finalising First-ever Aeroplane Emissions Rules

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was finalising the first-ever proposed standards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from aeroplanes.
The EPA said that its new requirements for aeroplanes used in commercial aviation and for large business jets would align the United States with international standards.
In 2016, the UN International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) agreed on global aeroplane emissions standards aimed at makers of small and large planes, including Airbus SE and Boeing Co, which both have backed the standards.
The final rule is vital for protecting the environment and supporting the sustainable growth of commercial aviation and the United States economy.

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