General Awareness

ENVIRONMENT - August 2022

Aug 2022

Nov 30, 2022

UN Panel Recommends Great Barrier Reef be Put on 'in Danger' List

Australia's Great Barrier Reef located in Coral Sea should be listed as a world heritage site that is "in danger", a UN panel recommended, saying the world's biggest coral reef ecosystem was significantly impacted by climate change and warming of oceans.
Frequent bleaching events are threatening the reef, including four over the last seven years and the first during a La Nina phenomenon, which typically brings cooler temperatures, this year.
Bleaching happens when the water warms too much, causing corals to expel the colourful algae living in their tissues and turn white.

Nov 29, 2022

Mauna Loa: World's Largest Active Volcano Erupts in Hawaii

The world's largest active volcano, Hawaii's Mauna Loa, erupted for the first time in almost 40 years.
The lava flow was mostly contained within the summit, but residents were placed on alert and were earlier warned about the risk of falling ash.
The US Geological Service (USGS) said that the situation could change rapidly.
The volcano's alert level was also upgraded from an "advisory" to a "warning" - the highest classification.
Mauna Loa, located inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, covers half of the US state's Big Island. The volcano rises 13,679ft (4,169m) above sea level and spans an area of more than 2,000 sq miles (5,179 sq km).
It followed a series of warnings that an eruption was possible after a spate of recent earthquakes in the region, including more than a dozen reported tremors.

Nov 25, 2022

Leith's Soft-shell Turtle

India's proposal to increase the protection of Leith's soft-shell turtle was approved at the 19th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP 19) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which was held in Panama City from November 14 to 25.
Leith's soft-shell turtle is a large freshwater soft-shelled turtle that is endemic to peninsular India.
It has been subject to intense exploitation over the past 30 years for poaching and illegal consumption within India. It has been illegally traded to foreign countries for meat and its calipee.
This species' population has fallen by 90 per cent over the past 3 decades and is now very difficult to find.
It is classified as "critically endangered" in the IUCN Red List.

Nov 23, 2022

Tamil Nadu Announced its First Biodiversity Heritage Site

Tamil Nadu govt has declared the Arittapatti and and Meenakshipuram villages near Melur in Madurai district as a biodiversity heritage site under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
The site is situated in an area of 193.21 hectare. It is the first Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) to be notified in the state.
The Arittapatti village is surrounded by a chain of seven barren granite hillocks. The site also features various megalithic structures.

Nov 22, 2022

Researchers at Finland's Rokua National Park Discover New Species of Tardigrade

New species of tardigrade named Macrobiotus naginae was discovered by researchers at Finland's Rokua National Park.
The new species was named Macrobiotus naginae, after Nagini – the fictional snake character from Harry Potter books. It was found at the Rokua National Park in Finland's North Ostrobothnia region.
It was found to subsist in a dune woodland on lichen and moss. This habitat is currently threatened because of human activities. The new species is the fifth known member of the Macrobiotus pseudohufelandi complex, a small group of tardigrades having smaller legs and claws for living underground. They developed smaller limbs to effectively crawl through sand or soil.
The Rokua National Park is a UNESCO global geopark in Finland. It is one of Finland's oldest national parks. It was established in 1956 to protect the natural-state of lichen heaths and the unique geological features of the region.

United Nation Approves Loss and Damage Fund

The United Nation's COP27 climate summit in November 2022 approved the creation of the "Loss and Damage" Fund to compensate economically vulnerable countries for the damages caused by climate-linked disasters.
The Loss and Damage Fund is a special fund established to provide compensation to vulnerable countries for the damages they suffered because of global warming. Its aim is to unlock a greater ambition to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
"Loss and Damage" is the term that is used to refer to the cost being incurred from climate-induced weather extremes or impacts like rising sea levels.
Till date, climate funding mostly focused on reducing carbon dioxide emissions and addressing global warming. A third of this funding supported communities to adapt to climate change consequences.

Black-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon Rediscovered After 140 Years

Black-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon was rediscovered after 140 years by a research team that was part of The Search for Lost Birds – a collaboration between BirdLife International, Rewild, and American Bird Conservancy.
The objective of the collaborative initiative is to rediscover bird species that have not been declared as extinct but has not been sighted for more than a decade. Currently, there are 150 such species that has remained elusive for more than 10 years.
Before the recent rediscovery, Black-Naped Pheasant-Pigeon was first and last seen in 1882. It is a large, terrestrial pigeon having black and orange feathers and red eyes. It feeds on seeds and fallen fruits. The species is endemic to Fergusson Island in Papua New Guinea.
The population is dwindling because of the loss of forest habitats, which is caused by the logging and conversion for subsistence agriculture gardens. Conservation activities of the species' habitat are few and far between.

Anamalai Tiger Reserve Launches 'Jumbo Trails' in Coimbatore

The Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) has launched 'jumbo trails', a programme aimed to educate visitors to the tiger reserve about elephants, the flora, and fauna of ATR and the aboriginal tribes who live in the hills.
An initiative by ATR Field Director S. Ramasubramanian and Deputy Director (Pollachi Division) Bhargava Teja, the first jumbo trail will happen on November 26.
The biologist and other resource persons from the Forest Department will explain the exhibits at the interpretation centre and provide the registered participants with an overall view of ATR.

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