NE

WS

11www.agademy.in

Environmental NewsSep - 2019

GRASSROOT | NewsletterOct - 2019

India, Nepal, Bhutan to count tigers in high altitude

• A study jointly conducted by three countries had established that there were 52,671 sq.km. of tiger habitat in high altitudes or Himalayan habitats of India, Nepal and Bhutan.• 38,915 square kilometres of this hab-itat lay in India.While India is home to the most number of tigers in the world, most of them are focussed in Central In-dia and the Western Ghats.• Camera traps laid in select districts of Uttarakhand, Sikkim, North Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh to detect the presence of tigers in higher al-titudes found only three — two in Sikkim and one in Uttara-khand.• The GTF (Global Tiger Fo-rum) is an intergovernmental body that coordinates activities on tiger conservation.• In previous years, tigers have been reported in Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal at elevations of 1765m, 3274 m and 2400 m respectively. Bhutan had re-corded the presence of a tiger at 4,210 m.

Potential high altitude tiger land-scapes include * The Valmiki-Chitwan-Annapurna (India-Nepal);* Manas-Royal Manas-Jigme Dorji (India-Bhutan);* Neora Valley-Torsa-Buxa-Phibsu (India-Bhutan); * Askot-Pithoragarh-Nandhaur-Suklaphanta (India-Nepal); * Arunachal-Sikkim-bordering Bhutan (India-Bhutan).

12www.agademy.in

GRASSROOT | NewsletterOct - 2019

NE

WS

Bangladesh lifts ban on Hilsa export to India• Bangladesh Government will allow 500 tons of Hilsa fish to be exported to India prior to the eve of Durga Pooja.• Bangladesh accounts for nearly 75% of world Hilsa production. • The government of Bangladesh had imposed ban on its exports to India due to its over – exploitation.• Hilsa is an endemic species of Ban-gladesh. It is generally referred to as “King of Fish” for its soft texture and pleasant flavor. It is the national fish of Bangladesh.• The population of Hilsa was fast decreasing in the river systems of Ban-gladesh. • This was mainly due to Over exploita-tion, construction of dams, dumping of domestic and industrial wastes into water bodies. • The fish are also affected by the oil spills. • Their required amount of plankton re-duced due to chemical pollution.

• There are around 4 million fishermen involved in Hilsa fishing alone! This led to over exploitation.• IUCN Status -“Threatened Species” under IUCN red list• The fish is abundantly present in the Sunderbans and in the slow flowing wa-ters of Ganga – Brahmaputra. • They are usually found at the mouth of the river. The fish is also found near the mouth of the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh. It plays a significant role in the recipes of Andhra .

IPCC Report on Ocean and Cryosphere• The Intergovernmental Panel on Cli-mate Change (IPCC) presented a special report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate Context on how land systems contribute to and are impacted by climate change. Key findings of the report are,• The global mean sea level had risen by 16 cm between 1902 and 2015, and the rate of increase has doubled in the last one decade.

• The sea levels were rising because of thermal expansion of ocean waters due to rising temperatures, melting of gla-ciers and polar ice.

13www.agademy.in

GRASSROOT | NewsletterOct - 2019

NE

WS

Blooming of microalgae kills coral reefs in the Gulf of Mannar

• Scientists found dead Noctiluca scin-tillans along the shore in the Mandapam region when they conducted the survey.• The absence of secondary algae in the reef areas of Shingle Island confirmed the recent death of these coral colonies due to the smothering effect of the mi-croalgae while settling.• Acropora, Montipora, Pocillopora, and Porites, Favia, Favites and Gonias-trea were the worst affected coral genera.

• Mortality was high in Acropora and Montipora colonies in Shingle Island, while the Acropora colony was less af-fected in Krusadai Island.• Coral reefs in the Kilakarai region had suffered bleaching when a similar severe bloom was witnessed in October 2008.• As the decomposed microalgae cells released toxic ammonia gas, the chances of ciliate propagation which killed fish eggs were high.

Mussels to absorb micro plastics • Scientists are deploying mussels across the oceans to absorb microplas-tics and other pollutants in the fight against water pollution.• The term mussel is used for several families of bivalve mollusks inhabiting lakes, rivers, and creeks, as well as inter-tidal areas along coastlines worldwide. • The mussel’s external shell is com-posed of two valves that protect it from predators and desiccation. • The mussel act as ‘super-filters’, tak-ing in phytoplankton for nourishment along with microplastics, pesticides and other pollutants.

• As they pump and filter the water through their gills in order to feed and breathe, mussels store almost everything else that passes through. • Like canaries in a coal mine, mussels have long been used as “bio-indicators” of the health of the seas, lakes and rivers they inhabit.

Augmenting Nature by Green Affordable New-Habitat (ANGAN)• A three-day long international confer-ence ANGAN (Augmenting Nature by Green Affordable New-habitat) focused on Energy Efficiency in Building Sector began in New Delhi.• The Conference is being organized by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, Government of In-dia in collaboration with GIZ under the Indo German Technical Cooperation.• Experts and Policy Makers across 16 countries are participating in the

event to discuss various technologies in the field of design and construc-tion of energy efficient Commercial as well as Residential Buildings and sug-gest ways in implementing the same.• It is estimated that an investment of Rs. 2000 billion in Building ener-gy efficiency activities would lead to a cumulative savings of 388 Billion units of electricity for the next ten years with payback of about 2 years.

14www.agademy.in

GRASSROOT | NewsletterOct - 2019

NE

WS

Resolution against mining at Amrabad Tiger reserve

• Telangana State Assembly passed a resolution against proposed Urani-um mining in Amrabad Tiger Reserve (ATR), located in Nallamala forest area of the State.• The Assembly urged the Central Government to withdraw proposal of Uranium mining in Nallamala Forest in view of the possible threat to the hab-itation and biodiversity in and around Nallamala due to mining besides public fears of air and water pollution due to Uranium mining.

• It said that the proposed exploration may contaminate Krishna river on which Hyderabad depends for drinking water. • It will also affect Chenchu tribals, who live in the Amrabad forests spread over Telangana’s Mahbubnagar and Nalgon-da district. • On May 22, 2019, the Union Minis-try of Environment had granted in- principle approval to the Department of Atomic Energy to survey and explore for uranium in 83 sq km of the Amrabad Tiger Reserve.

Deer rehabilitation at Point Calimere• A unique exercise of rehabilitating deer population has been started in the Kodikkarai WildLife sanctuary (Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary (PCWBS)) in Tamilnadu. The deer are being brought up from the protected environment in the Sivagangai park.• It is a protected area in Tamil Nadu, along the Palk Strait where it meets the Bay of Bengal at Point Calimere (Ko-diakkarai) at the tip of Nagapattinam District

Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)

• Gujarat government has launched the world’s first ETS market for trading in Particulate Matter (PM) emissions in Surat.

• The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is a regulatory tool that is aimed at reducing the pollution load in an area and also minimizing the cost of compliance for the industry.• The Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) sets a cap on the total emis-sion load from all industries. Vari-ous industries can buy and sell the ability to emit particulate matter, by trading permits (in kilograms) un-der this cap. For this reason, ETS is also called a cap-and-trade market.

• The sanctuary was created in 1967 for conservation of the near threatened blackbuck antelope, an endemic mam-mal species of India.

15www.agademy.in

GRASSROOT | NewsletterOct - 2019

NE

WS

Ozone to heal completely in our lifetime, World Ozone Day

• The phaseout of controlled uses of ozone-depleting substances has not only helped replenish the protective layer for future generations but is also helping guard human health by filtering harmful rays from reaching Earth• This year celebrates “32 Years and Healing”; a commemoration of the in-ternational commitment to protect the ozone layer and the climate under the historic Montreal Protocol, which has led to the phase-out of 99 percent of ozone-depleting chemicals in refriger-ators, air-conditioners and other con-sumer products.• Since 2000, parts of the ozone layer has recovered at a rate of 1-3 percent every ten years, the latest Scientific As-sessment of Ozone Depletion estimates.

• At projected rates the Northern Hemi-sphere and mid-latitude ozone will heal completely by the 2030’s.• Damaging effects of ozone-depleting substances allow increased ultraviolet (or UV) rays to reach the earth, increas-ing incidents of skin cancers, eye cata-racts, compromised immune systems and harm to agricultural lands and forests.• The agreement targets the phasing of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), cli-mate-warming gases, which could avoid up to 0.4 degrees Celsius of glob-al temperature rise by the end of the century.

21 September: International Coastal Clean-up Day

• Every year the third Saturday of Sep-tember is marked as the International Coastal Cleanup Day.• It encourages people to clean beaches, remove the garbage plaguing it• The theme of this year is marine ani-mal, The Pelican.• There are around 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean.• Some of them were directly dumped into the sea, while the rest were swept into the sea from the coast line.

• In India the programme was conduct-ed in several coastal cities.• It was on a large scale on the shores of Mumbai and Chennai.

16www.agademy.in

GRASSROOT | NewsletterOct - 2019

NE

WS

Delhi Declaration: UNCCD Countries agree to make ‘land degradation neutrality’ by 2030, a national target for action

• Countries will also now be expected to address insecurity of land tenure, including gender inequality; promote land restoration to reduce land-related carbon emissions; and mobilize inno-vative sources of finance from public and private sources to support the implementation of these decisions at a national level.• Restoration, at scale, is one of the cheapest solutions to address the global crises of climate and biodiversity loss.• Investing in land, unlocks multiple opportunities.

• It was important for businesses to be incentivized to help conserve land for sustainable use, through national reg-ulations that support sustainable land management, and reward conservation, restoration and innovation.

Restore land to save the planet, boost the economy, says head of UN body combating desertification• “Invest in land restoration as a way of improving livelihoods, reducing vulnerabilities contributing to climate change, and reducing risks for the economy,”• 70 countries are affected by droughts per year. Often the poorest commu-nities are those who bear the brunt; facing depletion of resources and left relying on humanitarian aid.• As the phenomenon of desert-ification intensifies, given rise to forced migration, rising pressures on fertile soil, food insecurity, and financial burdens.It is estimated that desertification alone is generating a loss between 10 and 17 percent of the global GDP

• Poor land health combined with bio-diversity loss - exacerbated by the ef-fects of climate change - has given birth to environmental shifts that could force up to 700 million people to migrate by 2050, the UNCCD calculate

17www.agademy.in

GRASSROOT | NewsletterOct - 2019

NE

WS

Five-year period ending 2019 set to be hottest on record: U.N. report• It is currently estimated to be 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial [1850-1900] times and 0.2 degrees Cel-sius warmer than 2011-2015.• The extent of Arctic summer sea ice has declined at a rate of 12% per decade over the past 40 years, with the four lowest values between 2015 and 2019.• The amount of ice lost from the Ant-arctic ice sheet increased by a factor of six each year between 1979 and 2017, while glacier loss for 2015-19 is also the highest for any five-year period on record.

• The report found that rather than falling, carbon dioxide grew 2% in 2018, reaching a record high of 37 billion tonnes.

• But unlike the clarion calls sounded over the catastrophic collapse of ele-phant, lion and rhino populations, less attention was paid to the giraffe’s pri-vate crisis.• The rate of decline is much higher in central and eastern regions, with poach-ing, habitat destruction and conflict the main drivers blamed for thinning herds of these gentle creatures.

Giraffes close to being classified as ‘critically endangered’• Giraffe numbers across the continent fell 40% between 1985 and 2015, to just under 100,000 animals according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).• In Africa, the population of the world’s tallest mammals are quietly, yet sharply, in decline.

18www.agademy.in

GRASSROOT | NewsletterOct - 2019

NE

WS

Environment News prepared by- Nivetha.P , Horticulture graduate. Believes in change! Freetime shares with yoga and music.nivetha607@gmail.com;- Abaraajitha Loganathan, B.S (AgriBusiness Management), an agri-learner and reader. abaraajithaloganathan@gmail.com;- Abhina Shri, graduate in English Literature interested in learning and reading. abithshri27@gmail.com

Gandhi Solar Park• Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with others world leaders inaugurated the Gandhi Solar Park at the United Na-tions (UN) headquarters on the occasion of Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary.• The 50 kWh roof-top solar park has 193 solar panels—each representing a member of the multilateral body.

• The $1 million gift to the UN comes at a time when India has emerged as a clean energy champion.