More Indian companies adopt 'green' business practices

This article talks about the 'GreenCo' rating which was initiated by the CII based on their environmental performance. 

Cement companies such as ACC and Vasavadatta develop sustainable technologies in manufacturing, and real estate firm DLF ensuring some of its properties adhere to high standards of energy efficiency. In other sectors, Hindustan Unilever is aiming to cut carbon emission by 22%, Pune-based Kirloskar Brothers is marketing a line of highly energy-efficient pumps, while in Jaipur UltraTech Cement helps burn 100 tonnes of municipal waste at its waste treatment plant every day.

To encourage this Green Movement, the Ministry of Power and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency have come up with a Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT) programme for big energy consumers. The government has identified 478 companies that together consume 75% of industrial energy and given them targets to reduce energy consumption over a period of 3 years.

The parameters considered before giving this GreenCo rating include energy efficiency, water conservation, use of renewable energy and waste management etc.

BSF Team Scales Mt Everest 4 Times in 2 Days, Brings 700kg Garbage on the Way Down

Their effort earned them a record and an appreciation certificate from the Sagarmatha pollution control board, which monitors environmental degradation on the Everest.

 Scaling Mount Everest is no mean feat, but a BSF team led by Assistant Commandant Lovraj Singh Dharmshaktu not just climbed the world’s tallest peak but also set a record by bringing down 700 kg garbage. 

The-15 member team and 7 sherpas who assisted them went back and forth from base camps to the peak at least four times on May 20 and 21 to collect the garbage and bring it back. 

Antarctica's temperature to rise by 3 degrees by end of the century

An expert said the rise in temperature could be the tipping point as far as the fight against global warming is concerned. The temperature in Antarctica may increase as much as three degrees by the end of the century, according to an expert. This could be the tipping point as far as the fight against global warming is concerned, he added.

"There are models about the kind of increase in (temperature in) 21st century in Antarctica and it is suspected that the temperatures in the Antarctica peninsula could increase about three degrees up to the end of this century," Jeronimo Lopez-Martinez, president of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), told IANS on the sidelines of the XIIth International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences.

The Britain-based SCAR is responsible for initiating, developing and coordinating high quality international scientific research in the Antarctic region (including the Southern Ocean), and on the role of the Antarctic region in the Earth system.

Martinez also said that there was clear evidence that global warming is increasing on the planet in general and particularly in some areas.

"The areas where the temperatures have increased in the last 50 years are polar - some areas in Alaska and Siberia and Western Antarctica. The effects of warming on ice is increasing," he said, adding that melting ice changes salinity, influences currents and raises the sea level.

"The complications will arise if the temperatures increase more than 2.5 degrees in the next century," Martinez said when asked if there was a tipping point beyond which the challenge of global warming would be difficult to overcome.

Nearly, 400 scientists from 40 countries are participating in the Goa symposium that has a focus on the Antarctic region with a special thrust on sub-ice rocks in relation to global sea-level rise.

The atmosphere over Antarctica, as well as the ocean surrounding the southern continent, has strong influences on global weather patterns and ocean currents which directly affect mankind across the globe.

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

Carbon dioxide levels in the air have reached the highest point. If the trend continues, everyone may have to wear respiratory masks to breathe in just 20 years from now.

Carbon dioxide, the gas that we exhale to remove toxicity from our body and the one responsible for greenhouse effect the most, is at all-time high quantity in the air. At least two organizations observing global climatic patterns and variations have reported the highest amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for the month of May.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 411.25 parts per million. The Scripps Institution of Oceanography measured carbon dioxide at 411.35. This is the highest monthly level ever recorded by scientists.

The scientists studying the greenhouse gases are of the view that this could also be the highest concentration of carbon dioxide in human history.

WHY WORRY NOW?

Carbon dioxide level in the air has been increasing for over three centuries. But in recent decades, the rate of increase in carbon dioxide has been alarming. Besides 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.

The scientists have found that on an average, the rate of rising in carbon dioxide levels was about 1.6 ppm per year during the 1980s and 1.5 ppm per year in the next decade. But, it accelerated with the turn of the century. The rate of increase in carbon dioxide levels in the air between 2016 and 2017 was recorded at 2.3 ppm. This was the sixth consecutive year-to-year increase in carbon dioxide level at above 2 ppm rate.

SO, WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

The problem with carbon dioxide is that each molecule of carbon dioxide may take, scientists say, hundreds or even thousands of years to finally dissipate. The carbon dioxide molecules are, in fact, self-powered tiny heat convectors that may keep warming the air and the seas for generations to come.

 To understand the real issue with the latest rising trend in the greenhouse gas, it is imperative to underscore that the CO2 levels were stable at 280 ppm prior to the industrial revolution. The climatologists say that if the current rate of rise in carbon dioxide levels continue, it would reach at 450 ppm in just 20 years from now. The company’s manufacturing air-filters and protective gas masks would be the sole beneficiaries.

Delhi air pollution: Why dust cover will stay for few more days

Delhi air quality continues to be severe as dust-laden winds head towards Delhi-NCR. PM10 level stands at 816 ug/m3 today. Met department says that similar weather condition will continue for the next few days.

If you are living in Delhi and surrounding areas of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana or Western Uttar Pradesh, you must be biting dust these days. Breath would be shorter and heavier as dust particles seem to be on "Dilli Chalo" mode. Met department says that similar weather condition will continue for the next few days

The government has declared pollution emergency in Delhi-NCR under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in consultation with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

But why is there so much of dust in the air?

"The western disturbance as an upper air cyclonic circulation at 3.1 km above mean sea level over eastern parts of Jammu and Kashmir and neighborhood persists. Strong northwesterly/westerly winds are prevailing in the lower levels over Northern Plains," reads the weather inference report of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

Simply put, dust is arriving in Delhi and NCR from Rajasthan and neighboring areas of Pakistan. The low pressure in Jammu and Kashmir is the reason for dust in Punjab and Haryana. As the mercury is still soaring in Western Rajasthan and Eastern Pakistan, dust cover over North India may stay for another week.

Walruses may soon be endangered, thanks to warming

Walruses prefer sea ice for molting, mating, nursing, and resting between dives for food  

Trouble is, as the century progresses, there’s going to be far less ice around. The US government in 2008 listed polar bears as a threatened species because of diminished sea ice brought on by climate warning. That same year the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned to do the same for walruses. Historically hunted for ivory tusks, meat, and blubber, walruses since 1972 have been shielded by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

 An Endangered Species Act listing would require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate critical habitat for their recovery. Inaccessibility protected walruses for decades, but a rapid decline in summer sea ice has made them vulnerable. 

Quantifying evolutionary impacts of humans on the biosphere is harder than it seems

New research raises methodological problems in assessing impacts of humans on evolution

A new study finds that, on average, human disturbances don't appear to accelerate the process of natural selection. While the finding may seem reassuring, this unexpected pattern could reflect the limited number of species for which data were available.