Environment,  Uncategorized

Environment

April 5, 2021 /
  1. Species in news
    1. Giant Leatherback turtle-Vulnerable-WPAS1-largest of all living turtles and is the fourth-heaviest modern reptile behind three crocodilians, found in all tropical and subtropical oceans, and its range extends well into the Arctic Circle, found in Nicobar Islands
    2. Mandarin duck-Least Concern-rarely visits India, most beautiful duck, temperate forests near wetlands, native to east Asia.
    3. Blue earthworms-mass migration in Meghalaya because of stone quarry and heavy earth-cutting for road connectivity and village expansion.
    4. Caracal(wild cat)-Critically endangered (included)-native to Africa,Middle East, Central Asia and India.
    5. Three-banded Rosefinch-LC-resident of Southern China, spotted in Arunachal between 2100-3050m.
    6. Sturgeon- endangered- group of 27 species of fish, indicator of health of river.
    7. pterosaur fossil-160 million years old fossil-close cousin of dinosaurs which could fly. They might be having opposed thumb.
    8. White bellied heron-CR-WPAS4-rare bird-only found in Bhutan, Myanmar, Namdapha TR in AP.
    9. Olive Ridley Turtles-Vulnerable- Gahirmatha and Rushikulya river mouth.They inhabit only in the warmer waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.

    10. Xylophis deepaki – wood snake- arboreal-harmless-TN

       

  2. Parks/Sanctuary/TR
    1. Karlapat Wildlife Sanctuary-Odisha-6 elephants died.
    2. Sanjay Gandhi National Park(Maharashtra)-study leopards and their behaviour in urban landscapes with the help of radio collars. 2400 years old Kanheri caves located in the park. Karvy shrub blooms once in 8 years in the park

    3. Navegaon- Nagzira Tiger Reserve-Maharastra-forest fires

  3. National Hydrogen Mission
  4. International Energy Agency’s Clean Coal Centre (IEACCC) study: Coal-based thermal power stations are highest contributor to air pollution followed by Transport and other industrial sectors.The newest advanced technology plants in India — such as Mundra and Sassan in Gujarat — are struggling financially, causing stakeholders to lose confidence in investing in cleaner and advanced technology. The current energy efficiency schemes, including performance and achieve trade scheme, efficiency standards scheme and carbon pricing schemes, are not ambitious enough to drive significant improvement. Recommendations made by the Study:Implementation of emission norms at earliest.Deploying carbon capture technology in 10 percent capacity of overall fleet.
  5. Oil Spills
  6. Fertiliser consumption:
    1. According to the Impact Study of Soil Health Card Scheme conducted by the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management, India consumes about 25.6 MMT of fertilizers, mostly N (17 million tonnes), P (6 MMT),K (2.5 MMT).

      India spends about ₹1 lakh crore on fertiliser subsidy.

      The amount of food grain produced per kg of fertilizer applied declined from 13 kg in the 1970s to just 4 kg by 2010. There is the possibility of nitrate contamination in groundwater above the permissible limit of 10 mg

  7. Food security:
    1. Corporate wave in food system will threaten food security
  8. Innovative practices:
    1. Carbon Watch app by Chandigarh to assess the carbon footprint of an individual.
  9. Reports:
    2. Making peace with nature – UNEP. Other reports by UNEP: mission Gap Report, Adaptation Gap Report, Global Environment Outlook, Frontiers, Invest into Healthy Planet
    3. Global Energy Review-IEA-Energy related CO2 emissions will increase by almost five per cent in 2021 to 33 billion tonnes. More than 80 per cent of the projected growth in coal demand in 2021 is set to come from Asia, led by China.

      Renewables are set to provide 30 per cent of electricity generation worldwide in 2021.

    4. World Forgotten Fish Report- 16 global conservation organisations including WWF and Global wildlife conservation. Almost one-third of freshwater fish are threatened with extinction, according to the World’s Forgotten Fishes Report. Suggestion:WWF has called on all governments to back the implementation of a Global Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity.Governments must incorporate specific new targets into UN SDG for freshwater fish which are almost absent in 169 SDGs.
    5. Biennial Update Report (BUR-III) submitted by India to UNFCCC: It was on track to meet its voluntary declaration to reduce the emission intensity of GDP by 20-25% from 2005 levels by 2020.India declared that its emission intensity (per unit of GDP) had reduced by 24% between 2005 and 2016.In terms of per capita emissions, India’s figure is nearly one-third of the global average.
    6. Global Forest Goals Report 2021-Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations.
      • Six forest goals:
        1. Reverse the loss of forest cover
        2. Enhance forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits.
        3. Increase significantly the area of protected forests
        4. Mobilise new and additional financial
          resources from all sources for the implementation of sustainable forest management
        5. Promote governance frameworks to implement sustainable forest management, including through the United Nations forest instrument, and enhance the contribution of forests to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
        6. Enhance cooperation, coordination, coherence and synergies on forest related issues at all levels.
    7. Nature in a Globalised World: Conflict and Conservation, from the IUCN, examined the close interplay between the environment and armed conflict, warning that human violence and unrest were taking a devastating toll on nature.
  10. Indian Monsoon
    1. Asian desert dust enhances Indian monsoon: Dust swarms from the desert when lifted by strong winds can absorb solar radiation and become hot.This can cause heating of the atmosphere, change the air pressure, wind circulation patterns, influence moisture transport and increase precipitation and rainfall.
      A strong monsoon can transport air to West Asia and again pick up a lot of dust. This is a positive feedback loop.
  11. Forest Fires:
    1. Causes of Forest fires: Lightening, Rubbing of bamboos with each other, Man-made fires, A spark due to shedding of dry pine needles or leaves falling on an electric pole, Fuels to cause fires: Dry leaf litter on the forest ground, Dry grass, Weeds, Low brushwood, Deadwood, logs, and stumps, etc.
    2. Impact of forest fire:
      • Damage to the regeneration in the forests and their productivity.
      • Way to other invasive and exotic weeds and species.
      • Affect the local communities depending upon firewood, fodder and non- timber produce.
      • Destroy organic matter in the soil.
      • Expose the top layer of the soil to erosion.
      •  Impact wildlife by burning their eggs and habitats or by killing them.
      • Out of control fire can pose a threat to nearby human settlement
    3.  Measures to prevent and control forest fires:
      1. Forecasting fire-prone days using meteorological data
      2. Clearing camping sites of dried biomass
      3. Early burning of dry litter on the forest floor
      4. Growing strips of fire-hardy plant species within the forest
      5. Creating fire lines in the forests
      6. Odisha has started the Ring and Strip method to manage forest fires.
      7. The division has adopted a method to identify mahua trees with GPS location in the villages.
    4.  Steps taken by the Government:
      1. National Action Plan on forest fires:
      2. Forest Fire Prevention and Management Scheme
  12. Earthquakes:
    1. Himalayas assume different physical and mechanical properties in different directions, called anisotropy which could result in significantly large earthquake events in the Himalayas.
  13. Climate change:
    1. Doomsday (Thwaites Glaciers):Antarctica- consequences of glacier melting:
      1. Sea level rise
      2. Weather patterns
      3. On humans and wildlife
    2. Artificial Islands is being build by Maldives e.g. Hulhumale
    3. Carbon tax could help Asian countries hit climate targets: IMF
    4. Give indigenous people their right to tackle climate change.
  14. Pollution control and waste management:
    1. Waste to Energy(WTE):
      1. Methods for waste to Power generation
        • Thermal Technologies:
          1. Incineration
          2. Gasification
          3. Thermal depolymerization
          4. Pyrolysis
          5. Plasma arc gasification or plasma gasification process (PGP)
        • Non-Thermal technologies:
          1. Anaerobic digestion
          2. Fermentation production
          3. Mechanical biological treatment
    2. Fly-ash:Though fly ash utilisation in India has increased from nearly 10% in 1996-97 to the highest level of over 83% during 2019-20, unutilised ash gets dumped in an environmentally hazardous manner, polluting air, water and soil. New draft rule to be launched soon, will add penalty Rs1000/ton unutilised. It also, for the first time, introduced fines on non- compliant plants under the ‘polluter pays principle’, taking into account utilisation targets from April 1, 2022.

      Addition of 2%–5% of fly ash to calcareous soils results in better plant growth compared to normal soils, but reduced growth if it is increased further.

  15. Ground water depletion:
    1. The cropping intensity or the amount of land planted in the winter season may decrease by up to 20% by 2025, due to severe groundwater depletion.
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