Biodiversity is shorthand of Biological Diversity- a term used to describe the collective presence of the number of species in an environment. They keyword, here, would be ‘collective’, for individual species on their own constitute nothing. When species co-exist, forming intricate webs of dependence and inter-dependence- only then can they be considered part of biodiversity. …
About the NITI Aayog Islands Development Plan A Summary of the proposed development, and the disastrous environmental impacts of its implementation VIBHAV PERI | MAY 14TH, 2021 | ENVIRONMENTAL CRISES In mid-2020, the NITI Aayog announced a plan to ‘develop’ the Great Nicobar Island by constructing a port, an airport, a warehouse, and a mass-rapid …
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change recently said that State Governments will no longer be allowed to impose Conservation Directions and Regulations for Infrastructure Projects in Forest Areas other than those which have already been mentioned by the MoEFCC while giving clearance to a project. The MoEFCC clarified this law after the …
MoEFCC has revealed plans to replace Air, Water and Environmental Acts with a Single Law. According to Policy researchers, they have been working on this law since 2014 but operations were behind closed-doors. An official who asked not to be named said that the older laws have provisions to shut down the industries of violators, …
MoEFCC plans to replace Air, Water and Environmental Acts with a Single Law Read More »
The Black-browed Babbler has been rediscovered after 180 years in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan province in October 2020. The bird was first seen in the 1840s when captured in an expedition to the East Indies by Napoleon’s nephew, Charles Lucien Bonaparte and described to science, leading to the mysterious bird being named the Black-browed Babbler. This …
Black-browed Babbler Rediscovered after 180 Years Read More »
The Jatayu Vulture Conservation and breeding centre, an ex-situ vulture conservation organization, has released its first batch of vultures into the wild, on October 8, 2020. The vultures bred there included three species: The white-rumped, the slender-billed and the long-billed. However, only 8 white-rumped vultures, aged 6-8 years, were released recently, and the BNHS and …
Vultures reintroduced in wild by Jatayu Vulture Conservation and Breeding Centre Read More »
Humans have altered over 75% of all ice-free land on earth. The two ways this has been done using are: Habitat Fragmentation Habitat Fragmentation is the breaking and scattering of habitats into several pieces. For example, dividing a forest by building a railway track means that wildlife on one side cannot communicate with wildlife on the …
Recently, The World Wide Fund for nature (WWF) in collaboration with the Zoological Society of London released the ‘Living Planet Report 2020,’ which was the combined efforts of 120 experts who analyzed and studied over 20,000 communities of roughly 4,000 species. The report uncovered the horrifying losses in biodiversity around the world. According to it, …
As manufacture of ozone depleting substances slows down in the pandemic, the huge ozone hole above the Arctic has healed so much that it has stopped many worrying changes in the climatic conditions of the northern hemisphere. Read more about the ozone hole of the nothern hemisphere here: https://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/cams-tracks-record-breaking-arctic-ozone-hole
COVID-19 lockdown reduced roadkill levels drastically, by about 60% by keeping drivers away from the roads, especially highways. Animals crossing roads are crushed to death by speeding cars around sharp turns or sometimes due to lack of control over their speed. COVID-19 allowed animals to be free, to venture onto roads and into cities. The …
Why the amount of roadkill after lockdown will increase soon Read More »
A new and more advanced system, the lidar, allows researchers to study even greater depths of the ocean from the surface of the ocean. It will allow better study of underwater algae. Lead study author Brian Collister used the lidar system to study algae which satellites could not detect. The researchers and scientists were from …
Researchers can now look down deeper into the ocean thanks to new technology Read More »
The decrease of wildlife tourism led to a surge in poaching. Lockdown helped many animals, but those animals were primarily common, non-threatened animals, which live in abundance. For the most part, however, animals lost their habitats in large swathes as governments quietly gave clearance to mining and other industrial projects. In Asia The Indian MoEFCC …
Poaching and Habitat Loss Rates Soar in COVID-19 lockdown Read More »
As COVID-19 dominated the news, many climate disasters went unnoticed. The ones listed below are only a tiny glimpse of the events of the past two months. The ones which aren’t listed consist mainly of floods and storms Storms and Floods: Many people lost homes in the tornadoes that swept through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas …
India had a very high number of vultures in the 1980s. The white rumped vulture alone had a population of about 60 million then. In total, India had 9 species of vultures, which were the following: Indian Vulture –Gyps indicus. Red-Headed Vulture –Sarcogyps calvus. Slender-Billed Vulture –Gyps tenuirostris. White-rumped Vulture –Gyps bengalensis. Cinereous Vulture –Aegypius monachus. …
For the first time ever, scientists from the College of Sydney have discovered Koalas licking water trickling down trees as it rains to get water. They released a video which can be found in the link given below. Earlier, koalas were believed to have obtained water through the gum in the leaves they chewed. The …
Initially, bats were believed to be the origin of COVID-19. However, this was followed by requests from many people for killing or removal of bats from their localities. To set this right, a group of conservationists and scientists from across South Asia has formed a collective to debunk myths. In a seven point press release, …
Founded in 1964, the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Redlist was established to ensure the correct amount of conservation focus is given to species according to their population. Every species discovered is given one out of seven tags, from least concern, to extinct extinct. These seven levels are: Least Concern: This status is …
The 7 levels of conservation focus: The IUCN Redlist Read More »
Coronavirus Disease 2019 or COVID-19, is a new type of viral pneumonia that originated in Central China in a city called Wuhan. According to most doctors and scientists, the disease was transmitted from a bat to a a pangolin before being transmitted to a human. However, this is almost impossible in the wild, as bats …
Biodiversity: What is it? Biodiversity is the variety of species and their interaction in a given area. Bio means life while diversity means variety. This means that biodiversity means variety of life. Biodiversity also represents the natural health and environmental quality of an area. Biodiversity Loss Biodiversity loss is the process by which species rich …
Jharkhand, a state in India, put off plans of constructing an airport in a bid to protect a crucial elephant corridor. The to-be constructed Dhalbhumgarh airport needed nearly 1.1 square km of land from forests in Jharkhand that serve as corridors for elephants migrating to and from Jharkhand and the neighbouring state of West Bengal. …
Jharkhand Puts Off Building Airport To Protect an Elephant Corridor Read More »