Climate-Environment friendship

  Wooden satellites, which burn completely on atmospheric re-entry without releasing harmful aluminium-rich particles, are being developed in Japan. WHY WOODEN SATELLITE According to researchers, not only would wooden satellites be better for the environment, they will also go a long way in paving new and simpler designs, if used to make a craft's outer shell. Since electromagnetic signals pass more easily through wood, scientists said, the antennas could be placed within rather than outside the satellite body. The Japanese team of experts have also revealed that their first wooden satellite will be ready to launch into space by the year 2023. Did You Know At present, space satellites are typically made up of aluminium and its alloys, as the metal is relatively cheap, lightweight and durable. Though aluminium-based components have the benefit of being able to withstand both extremes of temperature and bombardment by space radiation, they add to the thousands of space junk around th...

A plan to upgrade a cluster of nine unremarkable apartment buildings in Brooklyn typically would not merit a second look. But this isn’t a quick fix; the project, called Casa Pasiva, aims to be a new model for the sustainable transformation of the city’s housing stock. Sleek new skyscrapers that incorporate the latest energy-efficient building materials like mass timber may look impressive, but when it comes to solving the climate crisis in New York, the real challenge lies in the city’s decades-old structures. More than 90% of the buildings in New York today will still be standing in 2050, and nearly 70% of the city’s total carbon emissions come from buildings. Taken together, these facts suggest that the fate of those nine nondescript Brooklyn buildings, and others like them, is essential to cutting emissions. Instead of demolishing older buildings, owners and developers are devising ways to retrofit them with the latest green technology. Casa Pasiva, a $20 million retrofit project i...

  Scientists have deciphered that a shortcut in the photosynthetic machinery allows the needles of Christmas trees to stay green. According to them, the photosynthetic apparatus is wired in a special way, which allows pine needles to stay green all year long. The study was done with pine trees, but the researchers believe that the mechanism is probably similar for other conifer species, like the typical Christmas trees spruces and firs, because their photosynthetic apparatus is similar. In winter, the light energy is absorbed by the green chlorophyll molecules but cannot be utilised by the downstream reactions in the photosynthetic machinery, as freezing temperatures stop most of the biochemical reactions. In spring, the temp can still be very low, but sunlight is already strong, which can damage the photosynthetic machinery.

"History tells us that this will not be the last pandemic, and epidemics are a fact of life. But with investments in public health, supported by an allof-government, all-of-society, one health approach, we can ensure that our children and their children inherit a safer, more resilient and a more-sustainable world. As we strive to control and recover from the current pandemic, we must think about the next. Unfortunately, it is easy to imagine a virus just as infectious but even more lethal. Preparedness is a sound investment, costing far less than emergency expenditures. Societies need stronger health systems, including universal health coverage. People and families need more social protection" - Antonio Guterres,  secretary general, UN 

A new global report in its analysis of 15 most- destructive climate disasters of 2020 has found that nine of these extreme events, including two in India, caused damage worth at least $5 billion. Though hurricanes in the US and central American countries turned out to be the most expensive ($41 billion), floods in India during June-October period caused the loss of highest number of human lives. India’s floods, which killed 2,067, caused loss of more human lives than casualties in all other 14 destructive climate disasters put together. Floods in Pakistan, which claimed 410 lives figured at the second spot, followed by the US and central American countries (400 lives lost in hurricanes) at the third position on the list of 15

  Scientists have found evidence of a previously-undiscovered population of blue whales living in the western Indian ocean based on an analysis of sound recordings from the region, an advance which sheds light on the global distribution of the largest animals to have ever-lived on the Earth. While these highly-endangered mammals are found around the globe in all the oceans, and sing very low-pitched and recognisable songs, the researchers said every blue whale population has its own unique song. The scientists analysed recordings from the Arabian Sea coast of Oman, and as far south as Madagascar, and found a blue whale song that had never been described. Based on the analysis, the researchers believe that they have discovered, what is likely a previously-unrecognised population of blue whales in the western Indian Ocean

Microplastic particles have been revealed in the placentas of unborn babies for the first time, which researchers feel is “a matter of great concern”. The particles were found in the placentas from four healthy women, who had normal pregnancies and births. Microplastics were detected on both the foetal and maternal sides of the placenta and in the membrane within which the foetus develops. The health impact of microplastics in the body is not yet known. But scientists say, they could carry chemicals that could cause long-term damage or upset the foetus’ developing immune system. The particles are likely to have been consumed or breathed in by the mothers. The microplastics were mostly of 10 microns in size, meaning they are small enough to be carried in the bloodstream. The particles may have entered the babies’ bodies, but the researchers were unable to assess this. Microplastics pollution has reached every part of the planet— from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. Pe...

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to resolve to make the country free from single-use plastic and appreciated the efforts by some people for undertaking cleanliness drive. "We have to think how garbage gets on beaches and mountains in the first place; after all, it is one amongst us who leaves this garbage there, we should take a resolve that we will not leave garbage at all," the Prime Minister said. "We should take a vow that we will not litter, this is the first resolve of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. I want to remind you of one more thing which couldn't be discussed that much because of Corona. We have to make our country free from single-use plastic; this should also be one of the resolutions for  2021 ," he added. Addressing the nation through 72nd edition of his monthly radio programme and the last 'Mann Ki Baat' of the year 2020 on Sunday, PM Modi mentioned about Pradeep Sangwan from Gurugram who is running a campaign "Healing Him...

Covid Pandemic Though the coronavirus outbreak occurred in the last quarter of 2019, the pandemic played havoc across the world in 2020. The virus was first discovered in China's Wuhan and later gripped the world forcing the world to impose strict lockdown to contain the virus. Many countries and organisations blamed China for the existence of the virus, but nothing conclusive could be established over Beijing's involvement in the pandemic. Locust Swarms Another major natural catastrophe was the locust attack that is believed to have damaged millions of acres of standing crops across the continents in Asia and Africa. Believed to be migratory pests, who feed on crops, locusts can destroy the crops within seconds. Changes in climate conditions and frequent cyclones in the Indian Ocean are said to produce perfect breeding grounds for the locusts. Cyclone Amphan Classified as one of the most powerful and deadly tropical cyclones to have affected India and Bangladesh, Amphan, categ...

  Birds ‘sing’ to mark and defend their space, but to the human ear their territorial twittering is an aural tonic that can considerably boost well-being, even from a recording, a new study has confirmed. The authors of the study found that people who heard birdsong reported greater well-being than those who did not. The scientists said, the findings support the need to improve natural soundscapes within and outside the protected areas. Less human noise pollution could contribute to greater human happiness by making it easier to hear natural sounds, including birdsong, they added.

  Nobel Peace Laureate and spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, will have tetea-tete with climate change activist Greta Thunberg and leading scientists on January 10. The Dalai Lama will join in a livestream event on The Crisis of Climate Feedback Loops organised by the Mind & Life Institute. From the destruction of forests to the thawing of permafrost, the effects of human-induced climate change have set into motion self-perpetuating feedback loops that are accelerating global warming, according to the institute. The livestream event will highlight the recent scientific findings, the ethical imperative of taking action, and what we can do collectively to slow, halt, and even reverse the devastating impact of climate feedback loops, says the Mind & Life Institute

  The wires and other materials are stitched in to dresses and other items of clothing, giving them a futuristic makeover Inspiration for high fashion can come from strange places.For a Taiwanese designer,it's upcycling old wires and bolts from the power industry.Wang Li-ling,36,scours dumps,picking up old bits of metal and wires from Taiwan's main electricity supplier to add extra flair to her clothes. "There's quite a lot of material from Taipower that they have phased out," Wang said. "I use these materials to give a new shape to the dresses,” she adds.

Decoding India's lifeline: River Ganga The Centre and state governments are taking measures to save river Ganga on a war-footing. With the Ganga Restoration Project, the Govt has said that stringent action will be taken against people and units found to be polluting the river and adjoining areas. The Himalayas are the source of three major Indian rivers namely the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra. The Ganges river is becoming shallower in some area. Some attribute this water level change to climate change and global warming. As a part of natural process (and as scientists believe, with a little help of deforestation and pollution), Ganga is sifting! In Haridwar, Ganga has shifted by 500 metres from its original course. This continued shifting trend can wreak havoc on farming settlements in Ganga plains. In last 30 years, the shift has increased significantly. In Bihar, the river has shifted by 2.5 kilometres since 1990. The river Ganges, also known as the Ganga, flows 2,525 kil...

Orchids are not often called ugly, but that is how the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, described a new species of the normally-vibrant and delicate flower discovered in the forests of Madagascar... Gastrodia agnicellus, one of the 156 plants and fungal species named by Kew scientists and their partners around the world in 2020, has been crowned “the ugliest orchid in the world” “The 11-mm flowers of this orchid are small, brown and rather ugly,” Kew said on its list of the top 10 discoveries of the year. The orchid depends on fungi for nutrition and has no leaves or any other photosynthetic tissue Other major finds in 2020 include six new species of fungus found in the UK – including one near Heathrow Airport – a scaly shrub from a completely new family of plants, and two new species of aloes. They are among the top 10 species new to science, as chosen by the experts at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew The Heathrow Airport toadstool was discovered when field mycologist (mushroom ex...

  Since its launch just two months ago, the international campaign to secure stepped up ambition on climate education and support the growth of the green economy is attracting rapid backing from a growing range of diverse organizations in more than 100 countries. Supporters are making a simple but powerful plea to the governments, set to meet in Glasgow, the UK, next November for the critical UN climate summit (COP26)—climate education must be compulsory, assessed and coupled with a strong civic engagement component. Coordinators of the campaign are transforming climate education from a 'nice-to-have' into a core subject for school curricula worldwide. In doing so, governments can ensure that young people leave school with the skills and environmental knowledge needed to be engaged citizens in their communities and places of work

  India's leopard population increased to 12,852 in 2018 from around 8,000 in 2014, environment minister Prakash Javadekar said on Monday. The minister was releasing the ‘Status of Leopards in India 2018' report. The minister asserted that the rise in leopards' numbers, coming on the heels of similar reports on tigers and lions, shows that the country is protecting its ecology and biodiversity well. Here are the key points from the report: The leopard population has been estimated using camera trapping method. There are 12,852 leopards in India as of 2018, an increase of 60% since 2014. The highest concentration of the leopard in India is estimated to be in Madhya Pradesh (3,421) followed by Karnataka (1,783) and Maharashtra (1,690). From 2014 to 2018, leopard population increased by 60% Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of leopards in India Recent meta-analyses of leopard status and distribution suggest 48–67% range loss for the species in Africa and 83–87% in Asia. In...

  A 29-year-old Indian entrepreneur is among the seven winners of the prestigious ‘Young Champions of the Earth’ 2020 prize given by the UN environment agency to global change-makers, using innovative ideas and ambitious action to help solve some of the world's most pressing environmental challenges. Vidyut Mohan, an engineer, is the cofounder of 'Takachar', a social enterprise, enabling farmers to prevent open burning of their waste farm residues and earn extra income by converting them into value-added chemicals like activated carbon on-site, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said. Since Takachar was launched in 2018, Mohan and its co-founder Kevin Kung have worked with about 4,500 farmers and processed 3,000 tons of crops Each will receive $10,000 for seed funding and tailored-training to help scale up their ideas Did You Know The Young Champions of the Earth prize is awarded every year to seven entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with bold ideas for sustainable environm...

  Former Miss World and  actor  Manushi Chhillar on Wednesday said she wishes to have a "fully sustainable garden," at her home. Chhilar's current pet project is to turn her terrace into a sustainable garden. "I want to have a fully sustainable garden at my home because I think the future of complex, modern society will be all about self-sustenance and environmental-friendly living. I have started planting different kinds of trees at my home and I can't wait to see it all come together," the 23-year-old  actor  said. "My dream garden is actually at a very nascent stage currently and it will take months of work for me to slowly bring it together," she added. The former Miss India who is a vegetarian wish to grow fruits and vegetables in the coming months in her home garden. "Since I'm a vegetarian, this garden will definitely be at play for the home garden to table concept of living," she said. "I want to grow several varieties of...

  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern defended her country's climate change policies, saying that comments by activist  Greta  Thunberg suggesting the country lacked ambition referred only to part of New Zealand's goals on climate change. Thunberg took to Twitter on Dec. 13 to say that New Zealand's "so-called climate emergency declaration" earlier in the month, committing the country to become carbon neutral by 2025, was "of course nothing unique to any nation". Ardern on Monday told reporters she welcomed Thunberg's contribution to the debate on climate, but said the emergency declaration covered only a portion of New Zealand's climate change goals. "If it was the sum total of what we were doing, it would be worthy of criticism, it's clearly not," Ardern said, adding it's "only a good thing that there are people out there continuing to urge ambition and action." New Zealand declared a climate emergency on Dec. ...

  Actors Sonu Sood and Shraddha Kapoor are PETA India's Hottest Vegetarians for 2020. "Sonu Sood and Shraddha Kapoor are helping to change the world every time they sit down to eat," says Sachin Bangera, director, celebrity and public relations, PETA India. Sonu has appeared in a pro-vegetarian PETA India print campaign, participated in the group's ‘Hug a Vegetarian’ Day, and supported a social media appeal to push McDonald's to add a McVegan burger to its menu. He also rescued an injured pigeon while playing cricket with his son.

  Scientists in east Africa have discovered a rare ocean refuge for coral, where species are still thriving despite the accelerating climate crisis impacting other nearby reefs. The newly-discovered reef complex is located in a rare “ocean cool spot”, which researchers believe is helping to protect the large populations of corals and marine mammals from the devastating impact of warming sea temperatures. The stronghold, in the Indian Ocean off the coasts of Tanzania and Kenya, teems with life and is described as a “jewel of biodiversity” by researchers. According to the researchers, local geology, and in particular Mount Kilimanjaro — a vast dormant volcano 5,895 metres high — is responsible for creating unique oceanic conditions for such corals.

  The Swedish climate activist  Greta  Thunberg has condemned the "empty words" of world leaders in a video message released ahead of the fifth anniversary of the Paris climate accord on Saturday. Since world leaders pledged to limit global temperature rises to 2 degrees Celsius in 2015, "a lot has happened, but the action needed is still nowhere in sight," the 17-year-old said in a video posted to social media. Thunberg warned "we are still speeding in the wrong direction," and she accused global decision-makers of wasting time "creating new loopholes with empty words and creative accounting." Although the accord signed in the French capital five years ago committed governments to capping global warming at 2 degrees -- and if possible 1.5 degrees -- compared to the pre-industrial era, the UN warned on Wednesday that the world is currently on course for a temperature rise of 3 degrees, despite the fall in emissions caused by the pandemic. In its ...

 Lab-grown chicken meat will make its debut at a Singapore restaurant in a culinary first this weekend after the company behind the product announced its inaugural sale Wednesday. US start-up Eat Just said earlier this month that its product had been approved for sale in the city-state as an ingredient in chicken nuggets after Singapore became the first country to allow meat created without slaughtering any animals to be sold. Consumption of animals is an environmental threat as cattle produce potent greenhouse gas methane, while logging to create pastures destroys natural barriers against climate change. On Wednesday, the company said it had made its first commercial sale of the product to 1880, a restaurant in Robertson Quay, a posh riverside entertainment centre. Eat Just chief executive Josh Tetrick said the news "moves us closer to a world where the majority of meat we eat will not require tearing down a single forest, displacing a single animal's habitat or using a singl...

60 °C   - Could be the temperature in many parts of the world by 2050, warns the World Economic Forum (WEF) in its latest report. “This level of extreme heat would have been almost impossible in the absence of human caused global warming,” the report said. Some extreme weather events, such as heat and coldwaves, intense precipitation events, and regional droughts have become more frequent and intense. BEWARE! By 2030, climate change-related illnesses is likely to kill 250,000 people each year.  According to the report, up to 8 per cent of the global population will witness a severe reduction in water availability in the near future. Bangladesh, Vietnam and Thailand will be threatened by annual floods, sparking mass migration . By 2100s, Florida will disappear and south Spain will become a desert. Up to 140 million people are expected to be displaced by 2050 because of food and water insecurity as well as extreme weather. CAUSES & CHALLENGES One of the biggest contribu...

  Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species. Stepped-up use of farm herbicides, climate change and destruction of milkweed plants on which they depend have caused a massive decline of the orange-and-black butterflies, which long have flitted over meadows, gardens and wetlands across the US. The drop-off that started in the mid-1990s has spurred a preservation campaign involving schoolchildren, homeowners and landowners, conservation groups, governments and businesses. Some contend those efforts are enough to save the monarch without federal regulation. But environmental groups say protection under the Endangered Species Act is essential — particularly for populations in the West, where last year fewer than 30,000 remained of the millions that spent winters in California's coastal groves during...

  Scientists have called for action to remove the oil from an abandoned taker in the Red Sea that holds approximately one million barrels of oil -- four times the amount contained in the Exxon Valdez tanker which had a disastrous environmental oil spill in 1989. According to the analysis, published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, the tanker named Safer is a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) abandoned for years in the Red Sea. "The time is now to prevent a potential devastation to the region's waters and the livelihoods and health of millions of people living in half a dozen countries along the Red Sea's coast," said co-author Karine Kleinhaus, Associate Professor of the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) at Stony Brook University in the US. "If a spill from the Safer is allowed to occur, the oil would spread via ocean currents to devastate a global ocean resource, as the coral reefs of the northern Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba are...

  We all have heard of upcycled furniture or upcycled clothes, but what is upcycled food? The agenda here remains the same, using a discarded material and turn them into something usable, which means edible when it comes to food. It took us a pandemic to understand that the food that we consume daily is both vital and complicated. Irrespective of what is consumed, every ingredient present in our dish goes through an extensive journey before it reaches our table. The entire food supply chain process right from farming to processing to distribution and the treatment overall is complicated. A not so savoury result of the global food supply chain is food waste. Food waste is an alarming concern at ends, the food system and the climate. Between 30–40 percent of the food supply gets wasted on a yearly basis. The impact further becomes graver when we look at the water, energy, and land resources that was utilised for producing food that was never consumed. However, spreading awareness abo...

31 species have been listed on the extinct list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The list includes the lost shark, listed as critically-endangered or possibly-extinct, as it was last recorded in 1934. The lost shark's habitat in the South China Sea, one of the world's most-exploited marine regions, has been extensively fished for more than a century. Out of the 17 freshwater fish species in Lake Lanao and its outlet in the Philippines, 15 are now extinct and two are critically endangered or possibly extinct, the ICUN announced. The extinctions were caused by predatory introduced species as well as overharvesting and destructive fishing methods. In Central America, three frog species have now been declared extinct. Another 22 frog species across Central and South America are listed as critically endangered or possibly extinct — with the driver of the declines identified as chytridiomycosis disease, an infectious ...

  7%   -   Drop in carbon dioxide emissions globally in 2020, thanks to the pandemic, according to the figures released by The Global Carbon Project, an authoritative group of dozens of international scientists, who track emissions. Claiming the drop to be the biggest ever, the researchers said that the world have contributed to around 34 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide in the air in 2020 — down from 36.4 billion metric tons in 2019. However, even with the drop in 2020, the world on average contributed 1,075 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air every second. Emissions dropped 12% in the United States and 11% in Europe, but only 1.7% in China. That's because China had an earlier lockdown with less of a second wave. Also, China's emissions are more industrial-based than other countries, and its industry was less affected than transportation Scientists say the drop is chiefly because people are staying home, travelling less by car and plane. However, emissions ar...

  1.1 trillion tons IS THE CURRENT MASS OF OUR PLANET, courtesy man-made materials, which, in a first, is likely to outweigh all life on the Earth, according to scientists, detailing the “crossover point” at which humanity's footprint is heavier than that of the natural world. Alarming Facts Humans used a year's worth of natural resources in 2020 by August 22 – a calendar event known as Earth Overshoot Day. The annual date marks the point at which humanity has used all the biological resources that the Earth can regenerate during that year Due to the lockdowns imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the resulting cuts in human activity, Earth Overshoot Day was observed 23 days later this year than it was in 2019 Did You Know Humans currently use 60 per cent more biological resources than can be renewed – as much as if we lived on 1.6 planets – and is on course to require the resources of two planets before 2050, warn scientists Weighing high According to scientists, ...