Environment

All mines are temporary structures. They can remain active for many years, but they will eventually run out of minerals and cease operations. This does not automatically mean that the environment and wildlife will no longer suffer. Responsible owners would backfill the underground mine. However, not all mine operators would resort to this option because … Read more

Air pollution is broken down into ambient (outdoor) air pollution and indoor air pollution. This pollution comes from many sources, the majority of them a result of human activity: the burning of fossil fuels, such as coal to generate electricity for homes and businesses, or petrol and diesel to power our cars, buses, ships and … Read more

The surface water percolates well when the rocks are permeable, thinly bedded and highly jointed and cracked. After vertically going down to some depth, the water under the ground flows horizontally through the bedding planes, joints or through the materials themselves. It is this downward and horizontal movement of water which causes the rocks to … Read more

Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing—drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing—that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change. The Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement call for financial assistance from Parties with more financial resources to those that are less endowed and more … Read more

The Montreux Record is a register of wetland sites on the ‘List of Wetlands of International Importance’ where variations in ecological character have happened, are happen, or are likely to happen as an outcome of technological developments, pollution or other human interference. Wetlands are areas of fen, marsh, peatland or water, whether artificial or natural, … Read more

. Due to its low capital cost, groundwater is the most preferred source of water in India. According to an  estimate, groundwater accounts for nearly 80 per cent of the rural domestic water needs, and 50 per  cent of the urban water needs in India.   However, a variety of land and water- based human activities … Read more

Earth Overshoot Day marks the date when humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services in a given year exceeds what Earth can regenerate in that year. We maintain this deficit by liquidating stocks of ecological resources and accumulating waste, primarily carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Earth Overshoot Day is hosted and calculated by Global Footprint … Read more

The ‘wise use’ approach of Ramsar Convention is globally recognized. Notably, the wise use approach was coined in 1972, much before the hallmark 1992 Rio Conference wherein the term sustainable development was rendered a definition. The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and … Read more

The Blue Flag is one of the world’s most recognised voluntary eco-labels awarded to beaches, marinas, and sustainable boating tourism operators. In order to qualify for the Blue Flag, a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety, and accessibility criteria must be met and maintained. There are nearly 33 criteria that must be met to qualify … Read more

Edge effect: Edge effects refer to the changes in population or community structures that occur at the boundary of two habitats. Trophic cascade: A trophic cascade is an ecological phenomenon triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and involving reciprocal changes in the relative population of Predator and prey through a food chain … Read more

The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants ( POP’s) is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife, and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment. … Read more

Inorganic plant nutrients are water soluble nitrates and phosphates that cause excessive growth of algae and otheraquatic plants. The excessive growth of algae and aquatic plants due to added nutrients is called Eutrophication.   Impact of Eutrophication on environment: Creation of dense blooms of noxious, foul-smelling phytoplankton known as Algal Blooms that reduce waterclarity and … Read more

India State of Forest Report 2019 has been prepared by Forest Survey of India (FSI). It is a biannual report. The report is prepared after mapping of forests and trees through satellite. Key highlights of the report are as follows: the forest area has increased by 3976 kilometers and the area of trees by 1212 … Read more

Government of India has been conserving snow leopard and its habitat through the Project Snow Leopard (PSL). The PSL was launched in 2009. Government is committed to landscape restoration for snow leopard habitat conservation, and implementing participatory landscape-based management plans involving local stakeholders, the. The Minister said, India is also party to the Global Snow … Read more

. India due to its geography and scarce resources is more prone to Disasters. For disaster management India has enacted many guidelines and laws. It has signed Sendai Framework and earlier Hyogo Framework and continuously work towards protecting its vulnerable community. Measures taken in India for DRR after signing Sendai Framework  India recently released first … Read more

Mangroves are salt-tolerant vegetation that grows in intertidal regions of rivers and estuaries. They are referred to as ‘tidal forests’ and belong to the category of ‘tropical wetland rainforest ecosystem’. Causes of Depletion of mangroves Sea level rise and coastal erosion Due to global warming, the sea levels are continuously rising. The rising sea levels … Read more

Flue gas (sometimes called exhaust gas or stack gas) is the gas that emanates from combustion plants and which contains the reaction products of fuel and combustion air and residual substances such as particulate matter (dust), sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and carbon monoxide. The composition of flue gas depends upon the composition and properties of … Read more

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them. Plastic pollution is most visible in developing Asian and African nations, where garbage collection systems are often inefficient or nonexistent. But the developed world, especially in countries with … Read more

Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework (CSCAF 2.0) and Streets for People Challenge is for providing Roadmap for cities towards Combating Climate Change while planning / implementing their actions including investments CSCAF initiative intends to inculcate Climate-Sensitive Approach to Urban Planning and Development Framework with 28 indicators across five categories developed after review of Global Frameworks/ … Read more

As an environmental treaty under the aegis of the United Nations Environment Programme, CM provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats. CMS brings together the countries through which migratory animals pass, the Range States, and lays the legal foundation for internationally coordinated conservation measures throughout a … Read more

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) was conceived as a coalition of solar-resource-rich countries (which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn) to address their special energy needs. The ISA will provide a dedicated platform for cooperation among solar-resource-rich countries, through which the global community, including governments, bilateral … Read more

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) was established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to help tackle our planet’s most pressing environmental problems. Since then, the GEF has provided close to $20.5 billion in grants and mobilized an additional $112 billion in co-financing for more than 4,800 projects in 170 countries.                The GEF provides funding to assist developing countries in … Read more

A soil may be rich in salts because the parent rock from which it was formed contains salts. Sea water is anothersource of salts in low-lying areas along the coast. A very common source of salts in irrigated soils is the irrigationwater itself. Most irrigation waters contain some salts. After irrigation, the water added to … Read more

. Virtual water (VW) is the water ‘embodied’ in a product, not in real sense, but in virtual sense. It refers to the water needed to produce a product. Every product has a unique water footprint defined as the total volume of fresh water used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual … Read more

The Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world, inhabiting warm waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans.They are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada, where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs.The species is listed as … Read more

A signatory to the Stockholm Declaration (1972) on Environment, India enacted laws to control water (1974) and air (1981) pollution soon after. But it was only after the Bhopal gas leak disaster in 1984 that the country legislated an umbrella Act for environmental protection in 1986. Exemptions All inland waterways projects and expansion/widening of national … Read more

Recently, various studies have pointed out that disasters due to climate change have been displacing more people than conflicts. This phenomenon is being referred to as Environmental Migration. According to Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID, 2019), in 2018, of the total new 28 million internally displaced people in 148 countries, 61% were due to … Read more

Shola forests are tropical Montane forests found in the valleys separated by rolling grasslands only in the higher elevations. They are found only in South India in the Southern Western Ghats. The shola forests are patches of forests that occur only in the valleys where there is least reach of the fog and mist. Other … Read more

The major components of a rainwater harvesting system are as follows: ? Collection system: Roof surface and gutters to capture the rainwater and send it to the storage system ? Inlet filter: Screen filter to catch large debris ? First flush diverter: Diverter that removes debris not captured by the inlet filter from the initial … Read more

Air Quality Early Warning Systemis designed to predict extreme air pollution events and give alerts to take necessary steps as per Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of the Government of India. The air pollution system has been developed jointly by the scientists at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, India Meteorological Department and National … Read more

The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) is the main international convention covering prevention of pollution of the marine environment by ships from operational or accidental causes. The MARPOL Convention was adopted on 2 November 1973 at IMO. The Protocol of 1978 was adopted in response to a spate of tanker … Read more

Jal Jeevan Mission was launched to ensure HarGharJal (piped water supply) to all rural households by 2024 New Ministry. It focus on integrated demand and supply side management of water at the local level, including creation of local infrastructure for source sustainability like rainwater harvesting, groundwater recharge and management of household wastewater for reuse in … Read more

Tiger census is done to quantified and identify the population of Tigers in India. It is an important component of tiger conservation programme. It is published by the wildlife institute of India. Method of TC are as follows: Pugmark technique: It has been one of the most popular ways of counting tigers. Each tiger is … Read more

Under this initiative, TRIFED will integrate its Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana with this global environmental intervention termed as TICD (TRIFED’s Initiative to Combat Desertification). TRIFED will be partnering with the German Cooperation (GIZ) to involve the tribal community for rehabilitating the degraded land while supplementing the income of tribal community. 4P1000 Initiative: The international … Read more