Page 489 - Environment

Nations round on US, allies as UN climate talks wrap up

Developing countries rounded on the United States and its allies at emergency climate talks Sunday, accusing the world's richest nations of stalling on a deal aimed at preventing runaway global warming. Experts from around the world wrapped up discussions in Bangkok geared towards creating a comprehensive rulebook for countries to implement the landmark Paris Accord on climate change. But talks foundered over the key issue of how efforts to limit climate change are funded and how contributions are reported. Delegates representing some of Earth's poorest and smallest nations said on the final day of the summit that the US and other Western economies had failed to live up to their green spending commitments. "Developed countries are responsible for the vast majority of historic emissions, and many became remarkably wealthy burning fossil fuels," said Amjad Abdulla, the head of a negotiating bloc of small island states. "Yet, we face devastating climate impacts and some of us could be ...

PM Modi to inaugurate Sardar Patel's statue on his birth anniversary

Located in Gujarat, the 182-metre long statue will occupy over 20,000 square meters, and will be surrounded by a 12 square km artificial lake. The total project cost is estimated to be Rs. 2,989 crore.Rupani further said that the material used to make the statue has been collected from across the country.The statue is built at the Sadhu-Bet Island, approximately 3.5 kms south of Sardar Sarovar Dam at Kevadia in the Narmada district of Gujarat.

Upcoming Ardh Kumbh to be plastic-free: Harsh Vardhan

The Environment Ministry is planning to make next year's Ardh Kumbh Mela in Allahabad plastic-free in line with the country's commitment to eliminate single-use plastic, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan said. India was the global host of 2018 World Environment Day. The theme of this year's edition was "Beat Plastic Pollution". "We are intending to have a plastic-free (Ardh) Kumbh next January. We are starting preparations (for it)," Vardhan said. He acknowledged that making the Ardh Kumbh plastic-free will be an uphill task. "We are working on making this (Ardh) Kumbh plastic-free as it is a very tall order but it is a part of our (government's) dream. We are already working towards beating plastic pollution all over the country but imagine a plastic-free Kumbh. It is something we are planning to do next," Vardhan told PTI. Ardh Kumbh Mela, one of the world's largest religious gatherings, is held every six years. It will be held in January next year. Millions of Hindu pilgrims stream to ..

Wind, solar farms could bring rains to Sahara Desert

A massive wind and solar installation in the Sahara Desert would increase precipitation and vegetation in the world's largest hot desert. The study, published in the journal Science, is among the first to model the climate effects of wind and solar installations while taking into account how vegetation responds to changes in heat and precipitation. "Previous modeling studies have shown that large-scale wind and solar farms can produce significant climate change at continental scales," said Yan Li, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois in the US. "But the lack of vegetation feedbacks could make the modelled climate impacts very different from their actual behaviour," Li said. The study focused on the Sahara for several reasons, Li said. "We chose it because it is the largest desert in the world; it is sparsely inhabited; it is highly sensitive to land changes; and it is in Africa and close to Europe and the Middle East, all of which have large and growing energy ...

NTPC, DVC power plants to comply with emission standards by 2021: Govt to SC

The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) have been directed to comply with emission standards for sulphur oxide and particulate matter by December 31, 2021. The government has informed the apex court that NTPC has 48 thermal power plants while DVC has nine such units which have installed capacity of 500 megawatt and were situated in dense or critically polluted areas. It has told a bench comprising Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta that these 57 units were under the control of the central government. "These units are expected to comply with emission standards for SOX (sulphur oxide) and PM (particulate matter) latest by December 31, 2021. The tenders are expected to be awarded in all these cases some time in December 2018," the government told the court. "Directions have been given by the Government of India to these entities in this regard to ensure compliance by 2021," it said. Additional ...

Mysterious 'lunar swirls' point to Moon's volcanic, magnetic past

The mysterious lunar swirls, one of the solar system's most beautiful optical anomalies, may be a relic of the Moon's ancient volcanic activity and an internally generated magnetic field, scientists say. Lunar swirls resemble bright, snaky clouds painted on the Moon's dark surface. The most famous, called Reiner Gamma, is about 40 miles long and popular with backyard astronomers. Most lunar swirls share their locations with powerful, localised magnetic fields. The bright-and-dark patterns may result when those magnetic fields deflect particles from the solar wind and cause some parts of the lunar surface to weather more slowly. "But the cause of those magnetic fields, and thus of the swirls themselves, had long been a mystery," said Sonia Tikoo, an assistant professor in Rutgers University in the US. "To solve it, we had to find out what kind of geological feature could produce these magnetic fields -- and why their magnetism is so powerful," said Tikoo, coauthor of the study ...

Sanitation can't be limited to smart cities only: Kiran Bedi

Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi Sunday said sanitation cannot be limited to smart cities only and involvement of people in villages was needed to keep them clean. The former IPS officer who was on her weekend bicycle visit to five villages in the union territory, said in her WhatsApp message to reporters and officials that villages have to be clean too. "There should be involvement of communities and their contributions should also be ensured," she added. She said sanitation could not be limited to smart cities only and "villages should be clean as well." This was Bedi's 188th weekend visit since she assumed office in May 2016. After visiting five villages today, the Lt Governor said, "these villages have been found to be wanting in sanitation, good roads and the community toilets available in the villages remained unused." The infrastructure constructed for the benefit of the fishermen remained unutilised, she added. Bedi, who was accompanied by officials of Raj Nivas

Now, officially register your plants in Noida

Now residents of Gautam Buddh Nagar can officially register the trees they plant using the mobile application -- 15 August : Plantation 9 Cr. Citizens can use the application to register themselves and submit plantation details along with a picture for geo-tagging. After the plants are registered, the state will regularly monitor the new trees. Geo-tagging refers to adding geographical identification to various media such as a picture or a video. This data usually consists of latitude and longitude coordinates, but can also include altitude, bearing, distance, accuracy data, names of places, and perhaps a time stamp. "People can download the application for free from Google Play Store. They can register themselves using mobile phone number, enter plantation details, and the species' details along with a picture,"a senior official of Gautam Buddh Nagar forest department said. On the other hand, the government departments can also use the application to upload their plantation updates ..

Pluto should be reclassified as a planet, experts say

Pluto wrongly lost its planet status, say scientists, suggesting that the icy dwarf should be reclassified as a planetary body. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU), a global group of astronomy experts, established a definition of a planet that required it to "clear" its orbit, or in other words, be the largest gravitational force in its orbit. Since Neptune's gravity influences its neighbouring planet Pluto, and Pluto shares its orbit with frozen gases and objects in the Kuiper belt, that meant Pluto was out of planet status. However, in a study published in the journal Icarus, researchers reported that this standard for classifying planets is not supported in the research literature. They reviewed scientific literature from the past 200 years and found only one publication -- from 1802 -- that used the clearing-orbit requirement to classify planets, and it was based on since-disproven reasoning. Moons such as Saturn's Titan and Jupiter's Europa have been routinely ...

Tourist footfall on the rise at Bhitarkanika National Park

The Bhitarkanika National Park here has registered a rise in number of visitors last month and authorities at the sanctuary are hopeful of a steady footfall in the coming days. After remaining out of bounds for three months in view of the nesting season of crocodiles, the park reopened on August 1, much to the delight of the tourists, said Bimal Prasanna Acharya, the divisional forest officer of Rajnagar Mangrove (wildlife) Forest Division. "More than 1,900 tourists had made their way to the park in August, which is considered an off-season. In 2017, around the same time, the footfall did not exceed 1000. We are quite delighted to see this impressive inflow of tourists, despite inclement weather," he said. The annual tourist footfall to the three protected zones in the district - Bhitarkanika National Park, Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary and Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary - is usually around one lakh. "The sanctuary authorities are expecting a rise in numbers over the ...

Turkmenistan opens plant to ship power to Afghanistan

Turkmenistan has inaugurated a large gas-powered electricity plant that is expected to sell about 3 billion kilowatt-hours of power a year to Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Saturday start of the plant near Mary in the Central Asian nation's southeast was reported by state television. The USD 1.2 billion plant is part of Turkmenistan's efforts to diversify away from the natural gas exports on which the country's economy overwhelmingly depends. Turkmenistan's economy suffered severely when Russia stopped buying its gas. Its diversification efforts include the May opening of a new port on the Caspian Sea, and it is building a pipeline to ship gas to new customers in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

Climate actions can create 14 mn jobs by 2030: Research

As cities around the world accelerate efforts to meet their commitments to the Paris climate agreement, a new research on Sunday showed that ambitious urban climate policies can vastly reduce carbon emissions globally.

Galapagos Islands celebrate 40 years of World Heritage Site status

The Ecuadorian Galapagos Islands celebrated 40 years of the declaration of the archipelago as a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

Work on spillway of Hirakud dam to begin by October-end: Rout

The work on the additional spillway at the left dyke of the Hirakud dam is likely to begin by the end of October this year, an official said Sunday. Tata Projects limited and AGE Group of Turkey will jointly execute the work, Executive Engineer of the project Basant Rout said. "The forest and environment clearance for the project has already been availed. However, the work on the project could be started after the monsoon only. We are hopeful that the initial work of the project will begin by October-end," Rout said. The additional spillway, which is a World Bank funded project, has been proposed to enhance the flood water discharge capacity of the Hirakud Dam. The Central Water Commission (CWC) has recommended enhancing the flood water discharge capacity of the dam, he said. The length of the proposed spillway dam would be 91 metre with five sluice gates. Similarly, the width of the spillway channel will be 300 metre. The proposed spillway channel will originate from .

4 easy ways to follow an eco-friendly lifestyle for sustainable living

Gautam Dhar, CEO and Executive Director at Divine Organics and Abhinandan Dhoke, CEO, Organic India list down some quick tips to follow in a daily routine that will go a long way for the environment.

Ancient farmers altered course of climate change

Ancient farming practices may have led to a rise in the emission of heat-trapping gasses like carbon dioxide and methane -- a trend that has continued since, a study has found. Without this human influence, by the start of the Industrial Revolution, the planet would have likely been headed for another ice age, researchers said. Millenia ago, ancient farmers cleared land to plant wheat and maize, potatoes and squash. They flooded fields to grow rice and began to raise livestock. Unknowingly, they may have been fundamentally altering the climate of the Earth. "Had it not been for early agriculture, Earth's climate would be significantly cooler today," said Stephen Vavrus, a senior scientist at University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US. "The ancient roots of farming produced enough carbon dioxide and methane to influence the environment," said Vavrus, lead author of the study published in the journal Scientific Reports. The findings are based on a sophisticated climate model that ...

SSLV will offer cost-effective satellite launch options in India: Antrix CMD

The Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV), being built by ISRO, will offer affordable launch options in India and help boost revenues, Antrix, the space agency's commercial arm, has said. The SSLV is expected to be cleared for launch by next year. It will be exclusively for small satellites such as nanosats and cubesats, S Rakesh, the chief of Antrix, said. Currently, small satellites are being piggybacked on the bigger ones launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicles (PSLV) and the Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV). With satellites becoming smaller and launch options limited, these satellites can be sent on the SSLV. ISRO has been developing the SSLV and it is expected to be cleared by next year. Once the test is complete, they have agreed to transfer the technology to Antrix, Rakesh told PTI in an interview. Asked about the cost of launches, Rakesh said, We are aiming to hit it at a much lower cost than the PSLV. With the introduction of the SSLV, we are also looking at a .

WHO's South-East Asian members to intensify efforts to control dengue

Countries in WHO (World Health Organisation) South-East Asia resolved to accelerate efforts to control dengue, a disease which threatens nearly 1.3 billion people with frequent and large-scale outbreaks, and control malaria, that continues to be endemic in the Region."We need to intensify multi-sectoral approach at the national as well as the grassroots level to reach the most vulnerable and marginalised communities, strengthen surveillance, operationalise cross-border collaboration and most importantly promote vector control," Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director of WHO South-East Asia, said at the Seventy-first Regional Committee session.The 11 member-countries of the Region--which account for one-fourth of the global population, 58 per cent of the global burden of Plasmodium vivax malaria, and increased risk of dengue and other vector borne diseases in view of the increasing urbanisation and climate change--adopted a resolution to prioritise dengue control and malaria ...

How ancient farmers profoundly changed Earth's climate

Ancient farming practices led to a rise in the atmospheric emission of the heat-trapping gases carbon dioxide and methane -- a rise that has continued since and has profoundly changed Earth's climate, a study has claimed.

Australia to ditch climate targets bill after PM ousting

Australia's new prime minister will not revive plans to embed carbon emissions targets in law, a thorny issue that triggered the ousting of his predecessor in a party coup. Scott Morrison won a Liberal Party ballot to replace Malcolm Turnbull -- a moderate who struggled to get his conservative colleagues to support the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) -- as leader in late August. Australia is considered one of the world's worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters, and is a heavy user of coal-fired power. Morrison, who is to the right of Turnbull, said the proposal to help the government meet its Paris Agreement pledge was "dead" and his government would focus instead on lowering soaring electricity prices. "The NEG is dead, long live reliability guarantee, long live default prices, long live backing new power generation," he told the Weekend Australian on Saturday. "Next week we will be putting to rest the issue of the legislation... it won't be proceeding." Canberra said it would ...