Page 136 - Environment
Climate change blights children's lives in Bangladesh
Environmental disasters linked to climate change are threatening the lives and futures of over 19 million children in Bangladesh, including prompting many families to push their daughters into child marriages, UNICEF said Friday. "Climate change is deepening the environmental threat faced by families in Bangladesh's poorest communities, leaving them unable to keep their children properly housed, fed, healthy and educated," the UN children's agency said in a report. "In Bangladesh and around the world, climate change has the potential to reverse many of the gains that countries have achieved in child survival and development." Around 12 million of the children most affected live in and around the powerful river systems which flow through Bangladesh and regularly burst their banks, the report said. Another 4.5 million children live in coastal areas regularly struck by powerful cyclones, including almost half a million Rohingya refugee children from neighbouring Myanmar living in fragile
Russia revamps Arctic military base to stake claim on region
Missile launchers ply icy roads and air defense systems point menacingly into the sky at this Arctic military outpost, a key vantage point for Russia to project its power over the resource-rich polar region. The base, dubbed Severny Klever (Northern Clover) for its trefoil shape, is painted in the white, blue and red colors of the Russian national flag. It has been designed so soldiers can reach all of its sprawling facilities without venturing outdoors a useful precaution in an area where temperatures often plunge to minus 50 degree Celsius during the winter, and even in the short Arctic summer are often freezing at night. It's strategically located on Kotelny Island, between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea on the Arctic shipping route, and permanently houses up to 250 military personnel responsible for maintaining air and sea surveillance facilities and coastal defenses like anti-ship missiles. The Russian base has enough supplies to remain fully autonomous for more than a
Russia launches cargo ship to space station
Russia on Thursday successfully launched a Progress MS-11 unpiloted cargo resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos said in a statement.
Two lion cubs die due to 'careless handling' by mother lioness
Two lion cubs died within two days of their birth due to the "careless handling" by their mother in Barda Wildlife Sanctuary in Gujarat, a forest official said on Thursday. The state forest department's efforts to increase the genetic diversity of the Asiatic lions has suffered a setback due to the incident. "Under its Lion Gene Pool project to boost the genetic diversity of the big cats in Gujarat, the department has kept two lions and two lionesses at their facility in Barda Wildlife Sanctuary near Porbandar," said Chief Conservator of Forests, Junagadh Wildlife Circle, D T Vasavada. Lioness Sarita gave birth to two cubs on April 1, which took the number of lions in the sanctuary to six. "Although proper care was taken by the forest staff, two cubs died on the night of April 3. During the post-mortem, we found fatal wounds on the cubs. Since mother lionesses lift their cubs in their mouth, it is possible that the lioness in this case miscalculated the pressure, which ..
Climate change not an abstract concept but consequence of human activity: Ex-chairperson of NGT
Climate change is not an abstract concept but a direct consequence of human activity on earth, Justice (retired) Swatanter Kumar, former chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), has said. Addressing a conference on 'Adapting Environmental Laws for Effective Climate Response', organised here by O P Jindal Global University (JGU) in association with WWF India, Kumar emphasised the need for inexpensive and expeditious environmental justice to mitigate the effects of climate change. He called for proper environmental impact assessments to address issues related to climate change and stressed the need for urgent action. Referring to the enormous growth in Delhi's urban waste which has increased from 400 to 600 metric tonnes per day in the late 90s to 1,700 metric tonnes per day at present, Kumar said proper collection, segregation and treatment of waste were required. He expressed serious concern over the fact that 40 per cent of this waste was not collected properly. Underlining .
Elephant in the room: Wayanad tribals weigh priorities in poll time
Wayanad may be the centre of heated political debate with Congress chief Rahul Gandhi choosing to contest elections from the constituency but people in the hill district have many other things on mind -- food, shelter and marauding elephants. Tribals constitute around 18 per cent population of Wayanad district, famed for its forests and hills, which has been propelled into the national electoral map with the Congress president's decision to reach out to voters in the South by contesting from the Wayanad parliamentary constituency. The Lok Sabha seat has two Assembly segments -- Sultan Bathery and Mananthavadi -- which are reserved for tribals. Issues of everyday survival such as food and drinking water as well as lack of roads, ownership of land and the man-animal conflict that has led to increasing instances of elephants trampling their homes and even killing is what troubles them. The main issue is fighting elephant attacks, said one tribal woman, highlighting the pressing problems .
CO2 levels highest in three million years: Study
The levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere are higher today than ever before in the past three million years, according to a study. For the first time, scientists from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany succeeded to do a computer simulation that fits ocean floor sediment data of climate evolution over this period of time. The study found that ice age onset, and the start of the glacial cycles from cold to warm and back, was mainly triggered by a decrease of CO2-levels. Today, it is the increase of greenhouse gases due to the burning of fossil fuels that is fundamentally changing our planet, according to the study published in the journal Science Advances. Global mean temperatures never exceeded the preindustrial levels by more than 2 degrees Celsius in the past three million years, the study shows. The current climate policy inaction, if continued, would exceed the 2 degrees limit already in the next 50 years, researchers ...
NGT seeks report from MoEF on Great Indian Bustard
The NGT Thursday asked the Ministry of Environment and Forests to submit a detailed report on the deaths of the Great Indian Bustard, after a plea said that 75 per cent of the critically endangered birds have died due to collision with power lines. A bench headed by National Green Tribunal chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel directed the ministry to submit the report in two months. The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by the Centre for Wildlife and Environment Litigation, through advocate Gaurav Bansal, seeking directions to the ministry to make bio-diversity impact assessment mandatory for every wind-power project, irrespective of its size or capacity. The plea said that as per 30th Forest Advisory Committee meeting, power lines, especially high-voltage transmission lines with multiple overhead wires, are the most important current threat to the critically endangered species as they have poor frontal vision. It said 75 per cent of the birds have died due to collision with power ...
Solar lanterns to make way for kerosene lamps in poll booths
Solar lanterns will be used in polling booths in place of traditional kerosene lanterns in the event of power cuts at polling booths in Kendrapara district. The district election office Wednesday said the environment-friendly lanterns will adequately illuminate the 1392 polling booths of five assembly constituencies of the district. "In the past elections, kerosene lanterns were used. But this time, we have decided to replace it with solar-powered ones," Kendrapara district Collector Dasarathi Panigrahi said here. He said the district administration has been trying to make available at least one solar-powered lantern to each of the 1392 polling booths of Kendrapara. The Central Electricity Supply Utility which distributes power in the district has also been directed to ensure that there is no interruption of service on April 29, the polling day in Kendrapara. Polling for the Lok Sabha and assembly will be held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases on April 11, 18, 23
NGT forms panel to look into green capping of landfill sites issue in Delhi
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Thursday constituted a committee comprising Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) officials and a retired expert member of the tribunal GK Pandey, to look into the issue of green capping of landfill sites in Delhi.The NGT has asked the committee to submit its report within three weeks.The petition filed by the Centre for Wildlife and Environmental Litigation (CWEL) has raised the issue of rehabilitation and illegal green capping of landfill sites of the national capital.The CWEL has stated that Solid Waste Management Rules 2016, has clearly mentioned the steps which local authority has to take to rehabilitate old landfill sites including segregation of waste and process of bio-mining.Advocate appearing for CWEL, Gaurav Kumar Bansal informed the NGT that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has adopted an illegal process of green capping of landfill sites which is against Schedule J of the Solid Waste Management Rules.The CWEL has prayed for ...
8 GW solar bids worth Rs 40,000 cr cancelled in FY'19, irks investors
Auctions for around 8,000 MW solar capacities worth Rs 40,000 crore were cancelled in 2018-19, leaving developers and investors high and dry, according to an industry source. Solar project developers continued to face uncertainties in 2018-19 as central and state government agencies as well as a private distribution company cancelled bids for 8,000 MW. "Bids were invited by government (s) as well as private distribution firms to procure around 8,000 MW solar power last fiscal from newly developed capacities. But auctions were cancelled later on," the source said. It is as high as about 8,250 MW solar capacity added in 2018. The scrapping of bids has hit India's ambitious target of achieving 1,00,000 MW of solar capacity by 2022. The country has achieved 26,025.97 MW solar capacity till February this year. Initially, India was targeting 20,000 MW solar power by 2022. In 2015, this target was raised to 1,00,000 MW within the same time line. Now experts are finding this target ...
FAO food price index holds steady in March 2019
New global cereal forecasts incorporate large upward revisions from China
Making a dent: Japan probe prepares to blast asteroid
A Japanese probe began descending towards an asteroid on Thursday on a mission to blast a crater into its surface and collect material that could shed light on the solar system's evolution. The mission will be the latest in a series of explorations carried out by the Japanese space agency's Hayabusa2 probe and could reveal more about the origin of life on Earth. But the task scheduled for Friday will be the riskiest yet of Hayabusa2's investigations, and involves the release of a device filled with explosives. The so-called "small carry-on impactor", a cone-shaped device capped with a copper bottom, will emerge from Hayabusa2 on Friday, after the probe has arrived just 500 metres above the asteroid Ryugu. The probe will then depart the area, and the impactor is programmed to explode 40 minutes later, propelling the copper bottom towards Ryugu, where it should gouge a crater into the surface of the asteroid that sits 300 million kilometres from Earth. Hayabusa2 will move away from the .
Komodo Island to ban tourists for conservation efforts
Indonesia's Komodo Island, the home of the ancient Komodo dragon, will indefinitely ban tourists from January 2020 for conservation efforts, after a smuggling case involving the endangered animal.
HNSS: World's Unique Project by MEIL
/ -- There are many lift irrigation projects in the world, but, the Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) project has unique features among all. This lift irrigation project is having the highest number of pump houses and motors in the world. 43 pump houses built in the first and second phases of the project. By establishing a total of 269 units (motor and pump is one unit), MEIL has created a world-class project. (Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/846820/MEIL_HNSS_Project_Stage_II.jpg) HNSS is Asia's biggest and longest lift irrigation project. Explaining the reasons to be the biggest, Mr. Rammohan Reddy, General Manager MEIL, said, "Though Kaleshwaram, Devadula, Kalwakurthy, Palamuru-Rangareddy projects are bigger projects, as they are still under execution level, HNSS is recognised as Asia's biggest lift irrigation project. The California state in the USA is having the world's biggest projectwhich was built 80 years ago. This project lifts water to the highest level of ...
Indonesia eyes komodo dragon island closure to thwart smuggling
Indonesia may temporarily shut an island that is home to komodo dragons in a bid to fix problems created by mass tourism and thwart attempts to smuggle the world's biggest lizard, the local tourism agency said Thursday. The proposed closure, which is awaiting central government approval, would start from 2020 but does not apply to nearby islands where the giant, slavering carnivores are also found, the agency said. Thousands of tourists annually descend on the cluster of islands in the eastern part of the sprawling archipelago nation -- the only place in the world where komodo dragons can be seen in their natural habitat. Komodo Island is home to some 2,300 dragons, which can grow to around three metres (10 feet) in length. An adult typically weighs from 70 to 90 kilograms (150 to 200 pounds). "Mass tourism is already happening on Komodo Island and it's really disturbing," local tourism agency head Marius Ardu Jelamu told AFP. "When there are too many tourists in sensitive areas like .
Leopard spotted in Alwar, rescue operation underway
A leopard was spotted on Wednesday entering a club near the Jyotirao Phule circle in Alwar.Officials from the Forest Department reached the spot to carry out the rescue operation.Alok Pathak, Forest officer said: "The information about the leopard was received around 6 am. We saw the CCTV footage. The search and rescue operations are on."One of the people at the club said: "The staff informed me about the leopard after I came to the club to play at around 6 am. Many other people come to play at the club in the morning. Hence, I alerted everyone to not roam on the running track."The search and rescue operations are on while the leopard is still on the run.
Warming seas wreck Great Barrier Reef's regrowth
Rising sea temperatures have wrecked the Great Barrier Reef's ability to regrow, researchers said Wednesday, highlighting for the first time a 90 per cent fall in new corals since back-to-back heatwaves bleached the World Heritage site. Following the unprecedented loss of swathes of the reef -- the world's largest living structure -- in successive ocean heatwaves in 2016 and 2017, the number of new corals measured a year later was found by a team of scientists to be 89 per cent lower than historical levels. Coral reefs make up less than one percent of Earth's marine environment, but are home to an estimated 25 per cent of ocean life, acting as nurseries for many species of fish and a habitat for birds, sharks, dolphins and porpoises. The study measured how many adult corals survived along the 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) reef, off the northeast coast of Australia, following consecutive summers of unusually warm seas that bleached and killed off numerous coral species. It discovered a .
Lower monsoon, erratic rains to affect farm sector
For the sixth year in a row, India is likely to witness "below normal" monsoon with expectations of erratic rainfall induced by climate change, which may aggravate farm distress, particularly in the drought-ridden regions.
West Bengal treats only 49 pc of waste water before dumping it in Ganga: NGT
West Bengal treats only 49 per cent of the waste water before dumping it in the Ganga, the National Green Tribunal has said while directing the state government to submit quarterly report on the issue of solid waste management. The green panel noted that about 90 per cent of municipal solid waste generated in Bengal is being dumped in the open every day in violation of statutory pollution laws. A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also noted that the state generates 1,311 million litres a day (mld) of waste water and while 34 sewage treatment plants have a total installed capacity of 457 mld, their actual utilisation is only 214 mld, which is only 49 per cent. The tribunal directed the state government to notify at least three major cities, towns and panchayats as "model cities/towns/villages" in every district within two weeks. "The remaining cities, towns and village panchayats in the state may be made fully compliant in respect of environmental norms within ..
