Environmental Issues

The cold wave in the Capital continued on Sunday with the minimum temperature dropping to 3.7 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal. Gurugram was even colder with the minimum dipping to 2 degrees Celsius.The cold weather has brought with it unfavourable meteorological conditions for the dispersal of pollutants with the …

With garbage piles increasing over the years and more sewage flowing in open canals, the amount of bacteria and fungal microbes in the air is on a steady rise.Since 2010, the Department of Environmental Science in Bengaluru University has been studying the amount of bioaerosols — a term to cumulatively …

Debris caused by Titli cyclone cleared by forest department for nesting Thousands of olive ridleys, as part of their annual mating season, have assembled near the Rushikulya rookery on the Odisha coast. The forest department has stepped up its patrol in the area to safeguard the turtles. Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/olive-ridleys-congregate-for-mating-season/article25785560.ece

The National Green Tribunal on Tuesday rapped the Union Water Resources Ministry over its notification pertaining to groundwater extraction. A Bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel came down heavily on the Ministry and said that the notification, issued on December 12, was against “national interest”. No-objection certificate …

Visakhapatnam, now placed prominently in the tourism map of visitors from States such as West Bengal and Odisha, has two particular seasons when the footfalls grow phenomenally. One is during the Dasara or Durga puja period and the other in December, both before and after Christmas. This is the time …

This is the lowest day temperature recorded this winter, say weathermen For the first time this year, the mercury levels in the city plummeted by about 6 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, forcing the denizens to pull their woollens out of the cupboards. After the city witnessed heavy rain triggered by …

Dutch ranger Andre Donker sighs as he looks out at the rippling grey waters of the Markermeer, one of Europe’s largest freshwater lakes. “Once upon a time it was teeming with fish here,” he said. But this vast 700-square-km expanse of water, which regulates the level of water in the …

We’ve read those stories of recent extinctions — Sudan, the last male northern white rhino and Brazil’s Spix’s macaws — with much consternation. But closer home, a tale of extinction may be unfolding before our very eyes: the Great Indian Bustard, that narrowly missed being christened India’s national bird, is …

In its order on Saturday setting aside the Tamil Nadu government’s order on the closure of Sterlite’s copper smelter in Thoothukudi, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) said, “In the present case, TNPCB has adopted a hyper technical approach unmindful of object of law.” So long as establishment is complying with …

The governments of India, Nepal and Bhutan are actively considering having a joint task force for allowing free movement of wildlife across political boundaries and checking smuggling of wildlife across the Kanchenjunga Landscape, a trans-boundary region spread across Nepal, India and Bhutan.The development comes after forest officials and representatives of …

The Delhi High Court on Friday quashed the Centre’s decision to ban the manufacture and sale of oxytocin, a drug which induces labour and controls bleeding during child birth, by private firms. A Bench of Justices S. Ravindra Bhat and A.K. Chawla set aside the government’s April 27 notification imposing …

Is a total ban the solution? Making a choice appears difficult as alternatives are not as green as previously thought Bryony Drought was frozen in the fruit section. To her left on a recent shopping trip, the 26-year-old London school teacher saw “normal” bananas, grown using pesticides and chemical fertilizer. …

Lakhs of migratory birds which have congregated at the Chilika lake are facing a threat to their lives following the detection of avian influenza virus barely a few kilometres away from the Nalabana Bird Sanctuary. Some crows and chickens were found dead inside poultry farms in Krushnaprasad block last week. …

Global warming is heating the Arctic at a record pace, driving broad environmental changes across the planet, including extreme storms in the mid-latitudes, a major U.S. scientific report said on Tuesday. Persistent heat records have rattled the fragile Arctic in the past five years, a record-long warming streak, said the …

Blitzes are swift, vigorous attacks and usually part of military parlance. But there was nothing military about citizens as they looked up at trees across India on December 1 and 2: they were on a ‘bioblitz’, recording the flowering and fruiting of common trees. The Winter Tree Quest’s results now …

Dozens of top fashion industry firms have pledged at the UN climate talks to reduce their combined greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. “The fashion industry is always two steps ahead when it comes to defining world culture, so I am pleased to see it now also leading the …

A growing number of people are looking for ways to cut their personal emissions Some people count their calories. Dirk Gratzel counts his carbon emissions. The software entrepreneur from Germany is among a small but growing number of people looking for ways to cut their personal greenhouse gas emissions from …

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Union Environment Ministry to declare 10 km area around 21 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the country as ‘eco-sensitive zones’. A Bench led by Justice Madan B. Lokur took the initiative after its amicus curiae informed the court that the State governments …

Following a deficit monsoon, Gujarat is staring at an acute water crisis as the 204 dams and reservoirs that supply water for drinking and irrigation to various parts of the State are drying up even before the winter ends. Kutch, parts of Saurashtra and north Gujarat are likely to face …

The Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Nand Kumar Sai, has said the Centre may like to revisit its decision to lift the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) system from 29 islands of Andaman and Nicobar, after the death of U.S. citizen John Allen Chau. Mr. Sai, who is …