Top priority for public transport

This news was published in The Economic Times on September 9,2018

• Electric power is the way to go for trnsport sector need to curb greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution.
• The govt is finalizing a policy that would help the transition the sector away from internal combustion engine and fossil fuels to electric vehicles and alternative fuels.
• The govt must priortise mass transit over cars and private vehicles.
• Greater investment in sector but also working to change public attitudes , from seeing public transport as option for tjose who cannot afford a personal vehicle or be a part of shared mobility experience such as taxis , autos ,ridesharing to accepting as first choice for mobility who even those who own a private vehicle.
• The different modes of public transport such as train,metro,tram must be integrated.

Wetlands vanishing 3 times faster than forests

Disappearing of most valuable and biodiverse ecosystem(Wetlands) at an alarming speed.
Around 35% of wetlands including lakes, rivers, marine areas were lost between 1970 -2015.
All these are the impact of global warming on oceans and forests.
A quarter of animals and plants are at risk of extinction.
The wetland is a great source of food, resources and medicines, disappearing of wetlands also effects the livelihood for more than one billion people.

CONCERNS GROW FOR ARCTIC BELUGA WHALE IN THAMES ESTUARY

On Wednesday, the concerns were growing for a beluga whale spotted in the River Thames outside London, thousands of kilometers from the cherished white species natural home in arctic waters. On Tuesday, the whale first seen was extremely rare sighting triggered wonder and excitement, but after it was spotted again exactly in the same location on Wednesday, concerns grew that the beluga had got lost and was potentially in danger.

Common herbicide may be killing honeybees

The world's most widely used weed killer may also be indirectly causing death of honey bees. Serratia is a widespread opportunistic pathogen that infects  bees around the world. Researchers recommend that farmers, landscapers and homeowners avoid spraying glyphosate-based herbicides on flowering plants that bees are likely to visit.

Solar powered CIAL airport wins UN Environmental Award

Solar Powered Cochin International Airport Wins UN Environmental Award

Cochin International Airport Limited, (CIAL) has won the UN environmental award for Entrepreneurial Vision. CIAL got the award for using sustainable energy.

It started with 100 Kilowatt pilot project in 2012, later found that it could produce 400 kilowatts of power. So they thought of scaling it up. Today the capacity of CIAL is 29.5 megawatt of solar energy, which is providing 120,000 units of power everday. CIAL is 100% on renewable energy for all its operations. Also the surplus energy generated can be used for cloudy days or monsoon seasons, when the sun rays are less frequent. Currently have eight locations for the panel.

The land where solar panel are kept is used as a farm for growing organic vegetables, which roughly produce 60 tons of vegetables.

In future CIAL target was to produce at least 100 gigawatts of power for the national grid from renewable source by 2022.

300 endangered sea turtles found dead off southern Mexican coast; environment protection officials launch investigation

• 300 endangered sea turtles were found dead off in Mexico,trapped in fishing net,shortly after 100 were recovered
• Mexico is the home to six of the world's seven species of sea turtles,there has permanent program to protect these reptiles and it includes punishment to offenders.
• The office of the federal attorney for environmental protection (PROFEPA) would invest the case.

Source : https://www.firstpost.com/world/300-endangered-sea-turtles-found-dead-off-southern-mexican-coast-environment-protection-officials-launch-investigation-5068531.html

EV segment to stabilise in India over next 5 years M&M

Mahindra & Mahindra expect EV segment to be stable in next five years in India. Mahindra e20 plus taxis in Nagpur crossed over 25 lakh kilometers in one year with 100  EV vehicles. This is a milestone for company. Price of  EV vehicles are coming down mainly due to reduction in battery cost, which has already gone down by 20-25 percent over the last two years. Prices will further drop if subsidy provided. Another phase of faster adoption is hybrid and electric vehicles.
   

Pollution May Dim Thinking Skills, Study in China Suggests

•  A study in china says that there is a link between air pollution and people's language and maths skill.
• The connection between air pollution and respiratory diseases are well known and the experts now says that it further leads to stroke and heart problems.
• Later study by researchers in US and China indicates long-term exposure to air pollution affected performance on nationwide maths and word-recognition tests by more than 25,000 people across 162 Chinese counties.
• The impact was mostly seen among older men,and the results were troubling because if the risk factor foe Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

        Source :https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/world/asia/pollution-health-china.html

Unholy waters

NO DIVINE DIP

Devotees immerse idols of  Lord Ganesha in polluted Yamuna River covered with froth on the last day of Ganesh Chaturthi festival, in New Delhi. 

Thiruvananthapuram corporation plans tie-up with cement factories

Thiruvananthapuram corporation plans tie-up with cement factories. 

The move is to explore possibilities for processing non-recyclable plastic waste generated in the city

A lasting solution for the problem of non -recyclable plastic waste in the city could be at hand if corporations plans for a tie-up with cement factories to process this waste materials workout.

As per the central pollution control board guidelines issued in 2017, cement factories are permitted to use such materials as fuel in furnaces.

Corporation to hold talks with Tirunelveli based company. And “since Tirunelveli is closer the corporation is expecting a low transportation cost”.

CO2 emissions cost India $210 billion every year :study (September 27, 2018)

Carbo dioxide emissions are costing the Indian economy up to $210 billion every year according to a global study. India is likely to suffer highest economic damage from climate change after the US. The economic damages model indicates that as temperature rises, economic growth in India will slow. The model accounts for everything that happens in the economy today that is sensitive to environmental conditions.

Vector borne disease ,reduced worker productivity due to heat, increased frequency of extreme precipitation resulting in infrastructure damages or any of the other many ways that human systems get impacted by climate conditions.Carbon dioxide  released from burning fossil fuels affects people and ecosystem around the world today and in the future ,these impacts are not included in market prices ,creating an environmental externality whereby consumers of fossil fuel energy do not pay for and unaware of the true costs of their consumption. so , everything that happens in the economy today that is sensitive to environmental conditions.

Narendra Modi,Emmanuel  Macron selected for UN's highest environmental award      (Sep 27 ,2018)

Prime minister narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron are selected for this year's champions of the Earth' award (UN's highest environmental honour). They are selected in the policy leadership category for their work in championing the International Solar Alliance(ISA) and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action. India and France had together launched the ISA on side lines  of the UN climate conference (COP21) in Paris in 2015.

India's Cochin International Airport is also selected for the award as World's first fully solar - powered airport because of the entrepreneurial Vision category for its leadership in the use of sustainable energy . The UNEP while announcing the award noted Macron's  work on the global pact for the environment and modi's "unprecedented pledge: to eliminate all single - use plastic in India by 2022.Other winner of the 2018 'Champions of Earth ' awards include Joan Carling )lifetime achievement award) for her work as one of the world's most prominent defenders of environment and indigenous rights.

NOTES

 ISA ( International Solar Alliance ) - It is an intergovernmental body of solar rich nations whose objective to sudden  actions for increasing solar power footprints in 121 potential member countries across the globe and it head quartered in Gurugram near New Delhi in India.

UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme

    

World leaders gather to breathe new life into Paris accord

            World leaders gathered in New York to try to breathe new life into the Paris global climate accord. The "One Planet Summit," launched last year by French President Emmanuel Macron, aims to accelerate the implementation of the 2015 pact. Having last year warned that "we are losing the battle" against climate change, Macron called on countries to massively increase funding for climate action. Trump has abandoned targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, set by his predecessor Barack Obama, by slashing dozens of environmental regulations. 

           Australia, one of the world's worst per capita greenhouse gas polluters, has scrapped plans to enshrine targets for reducing carbon emissions into law. The Paris agreement also stipulated that rich countries establish an annual $100-billion fund to help developing nations react to our heating planet. But only $10 billion has been collected so far. The United States had promised $3 billion and only gave $1 billion under Obama. 

          The next UN negotiating summit, COP24, will take place in December in Poland. About 30 presidents, prime ministers, and ministers are due to attend, including from Spain, Denmark, Norway, China, as well as from small Pacific island nations whose coastlines are getting eaten by a rising ocean. 

The world's largest bird is Voromobe Titan

For 60 million years the colossal, flightless elephant bird Aepyornis Maximus stalked the savannah and rainforests of Madagascar until it was hunted to extinction around 1,000 years ago. The specimen weighing an estimated 860 kg about the same as a fully grown giraffe. 

In the study, Hansford examined elephant bird bones found around the world. Until now, the largest-ever elephant bird was described in 1894 by the British scientist C W Andrews as Aepyornis Titan a larger species of Aepyornis Maximus. 

Hansford said his research proved titan was indeed a different species. But he also found that its bones were so distinct from other elephant bird specimens that Titan was, in fact, an entirely separate genus. The creature would have stood at least three meters (10 feet) tall, and had an average weight of 650 kg, making it the largest bird genus yet uncovered. 

Source: ET e-newspaper

World Tourism Day 2018 Appreciates Digital Transformation for Sustainable Development

World Tourism day is celebrated on 27th September.The theme for this year world tourism day is to bring in digital transformation and advanced innovative tools in the tourism sector to  contribute towards the sustainable development across the globe.

Global Tourism has a great impact on infrastructure development, sanitation, job creation,cultural exchange and ecological burden on earth.

Due to the technological advancements, everything now happens through digital platforms and as a result the whole world in now connected.By leveraging the technologies like big data, artificial intelligence etc, global tourism can be taken to next level in a sustainable manner.

Bringing in more innovative ideas and tools into the tourism sector, it can be ensured that tourism is developing in an economical, inclusive and environment friendly manner.

COFFEE OUTPUT MAYFALL 14% DUE TO HEAVY RAIN IN SOUTH INDIA

   Due to heavy rain in south India the coffee production is expected to fall by 14% aganist the estimation made by last year and this may amount to 75000 tonnes as the total estimate was around 375000 tonnes and now the expectation is around 300000 tonnes. He also metioned like however the loss was estimated around 14% and this was based on begining of the season and during the sowing time the lost look like bigger and can lead to 20% and he also state that the recent flood has badly hitted the coffee industry.

Microplastics found deep in sand where turtles nest

University of Exeter scientists found an average of 5,300 particles of plastic per cubic metre at depths of 60cm (2ft) on beaches in Cyprus used by green turtles and loggerheads. At the surface, up to 130,000 fragments of plastic were found per cubic metre, the second-worst level ever recorded on a beach. 

Researchers say that if conditions worsen such pollution could eventually begin to affect hatching success and even the ratio of male and female turtle hatchling. Microplastics have different physical properties to natural sediments, so high levels could change the conditions at hatching sites. 

Microplastics is defined as less than 5mm in diameter and it come from numerous sources including discarded plastic items that have broken apart, microbeads from cosmetics and microfibres from clothes. Of the microplastics categorised in this research, nurdles (pellets used in the production of plastic products) and hard fragments broken from larger items were the most common.

Source:ScienceDaily by University of Exeter

SEASONAL RESERVOIR FILLING IN INDIA DEFORMS ROCKS, MAY TRIGGER EARTHQUAKES

• The seasonal filling and emptying of reservoirs in India can cause measurable deformation of the surrounding rock, reducing the strength of nearby faults and potentially triggering earthquakes.
• Researchers in India used global positioning system (GPS) observations along with satellite based radar data called InSAR to track the movement particularly the uplift and subsidence of rock layers around the reservoirs.
• Reservoir-triggered frequency is thought to be the result of shifting water levels in the reservoirs impounded behind the dams, which may increase stresses on faults by altering the stress and pore pressure in rocks along the fault. Reservoir filling accounts for 23 percent of the total number of earthquakes caused by human activity, according to the Human-Induced Earthquake Database.

Carbon dioxide levels at highest, mandatory respiratory masks for all only 20 years away

Highest amount of carbon dioxide in atmosphere was reported.

Amount of carbon dioxide in the air was  411.25 parts per million

Scientists suggest this could be highest concentration of Carbon dioxide in human history. 

Rapid population growth and cutting of trees, burning of the huge amount of fossil fuels is the prime reason          for the very high rate of increase in carbon dioxide in the air.