BOMBAY HIGH COURT ORDERS TOTAL FREEZE ON MANGROVE DESTRUCTION

The news was published on 18th september, 2018 in THE INDIAN EXPRESS.
The bombay high court ordered a total freeze on the destruction of mangroves in the state.The court said that the destruction of mangroves across the state cannot be permitted for any use unless it is necessary for the public good. A 50m buffer zone should be created around mangrove land in which no constuction activity or dumping of debris should be allowed.The bench said that the developement plan in the future will be in consideration above judgement.The court further directed the state Government to constitute a committe for the preservation of mangroves in the state within aperiod of 1 month and this committee will be responsible for the preservations and restoration of mangrove and check violation and ensure that all the directions in the  judgement are implemented. The state will have to notify all private mangrove land as protected forest land within 18 months.

Tsunami hits Indonesia's Palu after strong earthquake.

A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 7.5 on the ritcher scale and Donggala in Indonesia as the epicenter has triggered Tsunami waves across the island nation. Tsunami waves have been reported to hit at Palu in Indonesia.

This incident is reminiscent of the 2004 earthquake with Sumatra as the epicenter, which caused loss of many lives and also spread havoc, chaos and destruction over the Indian subcontinent and many parts of Indonesia.

Experts say Indonesia is highly vulnerable to earthquakes as it lies across the 'ring of fire' where active volcanoes are present which results in tectonic activities which can cause earthquakes and may set off tsunami waves,

2018 Tsunami

Alarm! A change for the best is neccessary for the planet.

The UN has called the crisis urgent and decried the lack of global leadership to address the issue of Global Warming. Secretary General, Antonio Gutteres, warned that the world is facing a " direct existential threat" and must rapidly reduce or stop usage of fossil fuel by 2020 to prevent "runaway climate change".

Renewable energy is the alternative for fossil fuels. It must be promoted to reduce the Social Cost of Carbon incurred by the nation of the world. Use of renewable energy will significantly and dramatically minimise and mitigate the backlash of damage done to the environment which led to the global temperature increase.

Alarm bells!

Science and Tourism grapples over coral reefs down under.

The portion of  The Great Barrier Reef near to Australia and New Zealand have been a local source of huge revenue in forms of Snorkeling and Scuba diving  protagonists. However, due to the man made rise in global temperature, the reefs have suffered damage. This lead to interventions by the local scientific community to cut off all tourist activities.

A  timely restriction has somehow resulted in the repair of the reef to a humble extent. But, the science folk says its too early to conclude and precaution must be on point for further mitigation, The constraint has affected almost 64000 jobs and has led to pandemonium onshore. The Aussies are divided in their opinion on the issue and are seeking refute over the conundrum.

Tourism vs Science

Govt's first solar panel manufacturing tender draws Zero response( 28 Sep 2018 - Business standard)

The government's first tender for 3Gw of solar panel manufacturing ,along with 10Gw of power plant has received no bids. The tender was first issued in May this year and extended several times owing to resistance from the industry over specifications. 

Major players not accepting this bid, because that there is no funding push from the centre ,which reduces the viability of solar manufacturing in India Government across the world including china support solar through subsidy. In India, there is market uncertainty due to high import coupled with interest and capital cost.The tender for setting up solar cell and module manufacturing plant - for an aggregate capacity of 5Gw linked with solar PV projects in India on "build own operate" basis issued in May 2018.

Abrupt thawing of permafrost leads to over whelming release of methane following the formation of thermokarst lakes.

The permafrost present in the Artic are prone to seasonal thawing due to predictable phenomena of nature. But,they are now subject to gradual and abrupt thawing as consequence of climate warming due to man made pollution. 

Thawing is the process which releases methane gas from the soil when the carbon present in the soil gets consumed by microbes. Naturally, this process is very minimal in effect when compared to Abrupt Thawing; which makes the release of methane gas to a overwhelming and unprecedented extent. 

Thermokarsts are lakes which are formed due to the melting of permafrost present in the Artic region. Permafrost is ground that is frozen year-round. In the Arctic, ice-rich permafrost soils can be up to 260 feet (80 meters) thick. Due to human-caused warming of the atmosphere from greenhouse gas emissions, a gradual thawing of the permafrost is currently taking place where the upper layer of seasonally thawed soil is gradually getting thicker and reaching deeper into the ground. 

This process wakes up microbes in the soil that decompose soil organic matter and as a result release carbon dioxide and methane(bi-products) back into the atmosphere. This gradual thaw process is accounted for in climate models and is thought to have minimal effect as thawed ground also stimulates the growth of plants, which counterbalance the carbon released into the atmosphere by consuming it during photosynthesis.

However, in the presence of thermokarst lakes, permafrost thaws deeper and more quickly. Thermokarst lakes form when substantial amounts of ice in the deep soil melts to liquid water. Because the same amount of ice takes up more volume than water, the land surface slumps and subsides, creating a small depression that then fills with water from rain, snow melt and ground ice melt. The water in the lakes speeds up the thawing of the frozen soil along their shores and expands the lake size and depth at a much faster pace than gradual thawing.

Abrupt thawing leads to thermokarsts.

Greater Chennai corporation ,CREDAI sign a MoU to restore 10 waterbodies( 28 Sep 2018  -TOI)

The greater Chennai corporation and CREDAI Chennai have signed a memorandum of understanding for the restoration of 10 water bodies. CREDAI Chennai engaged EFI to carry out restoration work and it will be completed within 6 months. Under this initiative ,the floor of  lakes and ponds will be cleaned .They will be made accessible, the bunds will be strengthened ,fenced and trees will be planted around the water body.

The water bodies taken up includes Arraa kulam,, Ayyankulam ,Vairavan Kulam ,Mayttukuppam Ganga Nagar Pond ,Appaduraipillai street pond in valasarvakkam. Aalavancherry kulam,Mandapam Kuttai,Amara pond in perungudi ,Thalikulam and sarayakulam in Sholinganallur . The storm water drain department has taken up the restoration of these water bodies The city based NGO ,Chennai city coordinates the effort.

NOTES

EFI - Environmentalist Foundation of India