General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - October 2019

Oct 2019

Mar 20, 2023

Brazilian Researchers Find Terrifying Plastic Rocks

The geology of Brazil's volcanic Trindade Island fascinated scientists for years, but the discovery of rocks made from plastic debris in this remote turtle refuge sparked alarm.
Melted plastic has become intertwined with rocks on the island, located 1,140 km (708 miles) from the south-eastern state of Espirito Santo, which researchers say is evidence of humans' growing influence over the earth's geological cycles.
"This is new and terrifying at the same time, because pollution has reached geology," said Fernanda Avelar Santos, a geologist at the Federal University of Parana.
Trindade Island is one of the world's most important conservation spots for green turtles, or Chelonia mydas, with thousands arriving each year to lay their eggs. The only human inhabitants on Trindade are members of the Brazilian navy, which maintains a base on the island and protects the nesting turtles.

Mar 18, 2023

Railways to Become Net-zero Carbon Emitter by 2030

As per Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, Indian Railways is working on a mission mode to become the largest Green Railway in the world and is moving towards becoming a "net zero carbon emitter" by 2030.
According to the Ministry of Railways, Indian Railways has taken a number of initiatives to reduce its carbon emissions which include use of energy efficient technologies like completely switching over to production of three phase electric locomotives with regenerative features, use of head on generation (HOG) technology, etc.
Further, the key strategies that have been identified for achieving the Net Zero Carbon emission target are procurement of power through renewable energy sources; shifting from diesel to electric traction; promotion of energy efficiency; and afforestation.

Mar 16, 2023

World's First Octopus Farm Proposals Alarm Scientists

A plan to build the world's first octopus farm raised deep concerns among scientists over the welfare of the famously intelligent creatures.
The farm in Spain's Canary Islands would raise about a million octopuses annually for food, according to confidential documents seen by the BBC.
They have never been intensively farmed and some scientists call the proposed icy water slaughtering method cruel.
The Spanish multinational behind the plans denies the octopuses will suffer.
The confidential planning proposal documents from the company, Nueva Pescanova, were given to the BBC by the campaign organisation Eurogroup for Animals.
Nueva Pescanova sent the proposal to the Canary Islands' General Directorate of Fishing, which has not responded to a BBC request for comment.

Mar 15, 2023

India Home to 39 of 50 Most Polluted Cities

According to a report by Swiss firm IQAir, India home to 39 out of the world's 50 most polluted cities, was ranked the world's eighth-most polluted nation in 2022. Delhi was placed as the world's fourth-most polluted city on the planet.
The average yearly PM2.5 reading in India was more than 10 times the upper limit prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO), while Delhi's pollutant levels were more than 18 times what is considered safe.
Bhiwadi in Rajasthan retained its position as India's most polluted city ranking and the city with the third-worst air in the world.
The World Air Quality Report, 2022, classified over 7,300 cities across 131 countries and ranked them on the basis of the average recorded annual PM2.5 concentration in micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m3).

Mar 13, 2023

Indonesia's Merapi Volcano Erupts

Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted with avalanches of searing gas clouds and lava, forcing authorities to halt tourism and mining activities on the slopes of the country's most active volcano.
Merapi, on the densely populated island of Java, unleashed clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to 7 kilometres down its slopes.
It was Merapi's biggest lava flow since authorities raised the alert level to the second-highest in November 2020.
The 2,968-metre (9,737-foot) mountain is about 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Yogyakarta, an ancient centre of Javanese culture and the seat of royal dynasties going back centuries.
Merapi volcano is the most active of more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia and has repeatedly erupted with lava and gas clouds.

Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag, Tehri Top Landslide Index

Uttarakhand's Rudraprayag district, which houses the Kedarnath shrine, has "maximum exposure to landslide risk in the country", according to the 'Landslide Atlas' report prepared by Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Rudraprayag has 32 chronic landslide zones, with the maximum located on NH-107 that leads to the holy town.
Another Uttarakhand district, Tehri Garhwal is at the second spot in the list of landslide prone districts. It has over two dozen landslide zones, including Totaghati which was identified as a "very chronic landslide site".
The ISRO database covered landslide vulnerable regions in 17 states and two UTs of India in the Himalayas and Western Ghats.

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