KI

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Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com
Content
Oceanic turtles face cancer risk due to water pollution, says study 1
Oceans report card: Global ocean health scores 67 out of 100 1
Where have all the water bodies gone? 2
Chile becomes first South American country to enforce carbon tax 3
World Bank to lend Sri Lanka US $100 million for building climate res 4
World growth 'unsustainable', warns US-based group of museums 4
Wrong climate in India 5
Tibetan plateau becomes focus of intense climate study 5
Perspectives on ocean mixing 6
World falling behind 2020 plan for nature protection: U.N. report 6
Innovation key to meet Aichi biodiversity targets by 2020 7
Typhoon Phanfone batters Japan 8
Kalam stresses need for carbon-free cities 8
Panel invites consultations on review of green laws 9
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Oceanic turtles face cancer risk due to water pollution, says study
Wed, Oct 1, 2014
environment, Down to Earth, pollution, water pollution,
Polluted urban and farm runoff causes cancer in sea turtles,
The runoff from urban and farm areas contains nitrogen which enters the algae that
turtles eat. This causes the formation of tumours in the eyes, flippers and other internal
organs of green turtles. The disease is called fibropapillomatosis and is the major cause
of death among these already endangered turtles.
In the study published in PeerJ, it was found that algae store excess nitrogen in the form
of arginine, a type of amino acid. Arginine was present in large quantities in algae found
in highly polluted waters and diseased turtles. Invasive algae called Hypnea musciformis,
which can form as much as 90 per cent of the turtles' diet, was found to have high
levels of this amino acid.
Arginine is thought to promote a virus that leads to the disease that forms the tumours.
Other than arginine, the researchers also found elevated levels of amino acids that are
common in human cancer tumours, such as proline and glycine.
Oceans report card: Global ocean health scores 67 out of 100
Wed, Oct 1, 2014
environment, Down to Earth, oceans, water pollution,
Global ocean health has scored 67 out of 100 in the Ocean Health Index for 2014, based
on its performance on a number of goals and factors.
The index which includes people as part of the ocean ecosystem assesses the ocean
based on 10 widely-held public goals such as food provision, coastal livelihoods and
economies, carbon storage, coastal protection, clean waters, biodiversity and tourism.
While global ocean health scored well on biodiversity and livelihood goals, it fared
badly on food production and natural products.
"Antarctica and the southern ocean are protected by distance from many of the threats
caused by human populations such as chemicals, excessive nutrients, pathogens and
trash - that's why we see a very high score in a goal like clean water," "Fishing is still
having an impact in this region, despite improved monitoring, successful efforts to
reduce by-catch and new management of krill fisheries. This is also a region where
illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries (IUUs) still persist," he added.
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Where have all the water bodies gone?
Mon, Oct 6, 2014
environment, drinking water, water pollution, Businessline,
On September 6, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court gave a landmark ruling
directing the Government not to grant layout approval or building plan permission on
lands located on water bodies. It was responding to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL)
on the subject.
The judgment comes close on the heels of the Delhi High Court's grave remark that
the depleting water level will lead to water wars soon.
Traditional water bodies (mainly tanks) generate innumerable benefits to the farmers
and society. It is a low cost source of irrigation and also predominantly managed by
the farmers themselves. The command area of most tanks is small and therefore, the
problems associated with irrigation management are less. Being a less capital-intensive
source of irrigation, tank irrigation is considered to be user-friendly with fewer
environmental problems.
Tanks help capture, conserve and store what little rainfall the region receives. They
help recharge groundwater aquifers which are stable and reliable source of irrigation
for millions of farmers. In years of high rainfall tanks do provide some protection against
risk of floods by allowing surplus rainwater flow into it. In years of low rainfall, the
stored water in tanks provides some protective irrigation as well. Should we sit back
and watch the alarming destruction of these natural reservoirs?
The Ministry of Environment and Forests has been implementing the centrally sponsored
scheme of National Lake Conservation Plan (NLCP) since June 2001. This scheme
also received substantial funds during the Eleventh Plan. The Twelfth Plan, too, accorded
high priority to watershed restoration, groundwater recharge and groundwater law to
tackle groundwater related problems.
But urbanisation over the years has turned these community resources to dumping
grounds. most of the water bodies in the country were encroached upon by municipalities
and panchayats.
The Standing Committee on Water Resources (2012-13) also highlighted that out of
5.56 lakh tanks in the country, only 4.71 lakh tanks are in use. This effectively implies
a loss of about one million hectares of irrigation potential. Tanks irrigated more than
50 per cent of the agriculture lands in many States in India until 1950s.
However, with the introduction of Green Revolution during the sixties, the area irrigated
by tanks fell from 4.63 million hectares (mha) in 1960-61 to 2.04 mha in 2010-11.
The scenario in water starved Tamil Nadu which is home to about 41,127 tanks is just
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as gloomy; its area under tank irrigation declined gradually from about 9.36 lakh hectares
in 1960-61 to 5.28 lakh hectares in 2011-12. Are water users aware that if tanks continue
to be neglected, the recharge mechanism will come to a halt? Even wells will cease to
have water and diesel and electric powered pumps will be rendered useless.
Recently, farmers across the country are bemoaning the escalatiWon in overall cost of
cultivation brought about mechanised pumping. While the Central Groundwater Board
estimated that out of the total 5,824 blocks in India, 1494 are either semi-critical or
over-exploited; most wells in certain parts of the country have reportedly gone bone
dry.
It is high time that the government realises the gravity of the situation by setting up a
separate ministry for small water bodies with adequate funding to conduct periodic
repairs. A new legislation should be urgently enacted to make encroachment on water
bodies a cognisable offence.
As suggested by the Nobel Laureate Ellinor Ostrom, to avoid a tragedy of depletion,
individuals should be entitled to use and run the common property resource, and set
clear boundaries to keep out those who aren't entitled. Farmers voluntarily must come
forward to organise themselves into tank users' organisations which will enable them
to undertake repairing of tanks under State sponsored programmes.
This can lead to the revival of the traditional method of community maintenance namely
Kudimaramathu. In order to rekindle the sense of responsibility towards preserving the
common property resource, the State can also reward the best managed tanks in a
locality.
Chile becomes first South American country to enforce carbon tax
Wed, Oct 1, 2014
environment, Down to Earth, Chile, climate change, carbon tax,
Chile has set a major precedent by becoming the first country in South America to
introduce a tax on carbon emissions.
Tax will now be imposed on all fossil fuel-based power plants with an installed capacity
of at least 50 megawatts. At $5 per tonne of carbon emitted,
Smaller facilities as well as renewably powered plants will be exempt from the tax.
Around 80 per cent of Chile's energy needs are met by fossil fuels like imported oil
and coal, the government hopes power producers will move to renewable sources of
energy, helping the country meet its voluntary target of cutting 20 per cent of its
greenhouse gas emissions of 2007, by 2020.
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World Bank to lend Sri Lanka US $100 million for building climate res
Mon, Oct 6, 2014
environment, Down to Earth, sri lanka, climate change,
The island nation has also signed an agreement for a loan of up to US $102 million in
case of a natural disaster is declared an emergency
The World Bank has committed a US $90 million loan to Sri Lanka Climate Resilience
Programme to increase its risk resilience. The programme is a four-year project that
aims to address the issue of climate change by building resilience of vulnerable population
to adapt and improve government capacity to disaster response.
Another US $13 million will be pumped in for nine river basins to develop flood and
drought protection methods.
The island nation has also signed an agreement for an emergency loan of up to US $102
million in case of a natural disaster is declared as a national emergency.
According to World Bank estimates, the floods in 2010-2011 caused a damage of a
billion dollars in the country. Moreover, the country risks US $ 380 million a year in
damages from natural disasters. Parts of the country are presently facing a drought
which has resulted in 40 per cent crop losses in the affected areas.
World growth 'unsustainable', warns US-based group of museums
Tue, Oct 7, 2014
environment, Down to Earth, climate change,
, the Smithsonian Institution, a renowned group of US museums and research centres,
has published its first official statement on climate change. [2] The release warns "the
world of its unsustainable course" as "the situation is becoming critical for wild species
and for the preservation of human civilization".
The statement is based on the findings of 500 Smithsonian scientists who have been
working around the world to see the impact of a warming planet.
The institution has also started an initiative "Living in the Anthropocene" to "expand
climate change outside of just science and take Smithsonian resources to look at what
other scholars and professionals are doing in various areas with regard to climate
change."
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Wrong climate in India
Wed, Oct 1, 2014
environment, Businessline, climate change,
The meet was meant to set the tone for the big bang conclave in Paris in December
2015. Paris is expected to draw up another pact on emission cuts to replace the Kyoto
Protocol, which lapsed in December 2012. China and India should have played a bigger
role in New York, being two of the top emerging economies and, yes, among the top
five emitters of greenhouse gases as well.
As a developing country, can India brush aside emission reduction? Scientists have
claimed that in 2013, India's carbon emissions grew by 5.1 per cent, the highest for
any country, even though its emissions make up just 6.5 per cent of the world's total,
against 28 per cent in the case of China and 14 per cent in the case of the US. While it
is true that some 400 million Indians do not have access to electricity it does not imply
that the sky is the limit for India's greenhouse emissions. India's per capita statistics
conceal inequalities in access to energy -- between the rural and the urban, and between
income groups. For instance, about 70 per cent of rural households have access to
electricity, and within that only 40 per cent among socially and economically backward
groups.
Tibetan plateau becomes focus of intense climate study
Wed, Oct 1, 2014
environment, The Hindu, tibet, climate change,
The Tibetan plateau has become the focus of intense meteorological study in a never-before
attempt to understand its effect on climate locally as well as globally,
This development follows close on the heels of the massive floods which hit Kashmir
and Pakistan recently.
The $49-million Chinese effort, in which the plateau is being flooded with sensors, is
aimed to help predict extreme weather -- both in Asia and as far away as North America
-- and give scientists knowledge on how climate change affects these events.
Having a high altitude, the plateau receives more sunlight, gets hotter than land at sea
level. Acting like a giant heating plate it pumps air upwards which disperses in the
upper troposphere, influencing atmospheric circulation and thereby, climate.
Being the biggest and highest plateau in the world, it disturbs the troposphere unlike
any other structure on earth. However, there are little data on the impact on climate.
The plateau's remoteness, altitude and harsh conditions -- it is often called the third
pole because it hosts the world's third-largest stock of ice -- meaning that even basic
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weather stations are few.
"The data should help determine the extent to which different types of land surface heat
up the overlying air, and how this might vary in response to factors such as snow cover
and vegetation changes,"
Perspectives on ocean mixing
Fri, Oct 3, 2014
environment, The Hindu, ocean,
While it is a well-known fact that dense ocean waters in the high latitudes sink to the
bottom carrying dissolved atmospheric carbon with them it is not quite clear even now
how and where these waters return to the surface and exhale the dissolved carbon back
into the atmosphere.
The most recent perception is that mixing brings bottom waters up to about 2000 m
and then they flow at that depth all the way to the southern ocean, where the roaring
forties lift them to the surface. In this new scenario the potential energy needed from
mixing is only half of the earlier estimate.
Mixing is strong where the bottom topography of the ocean is rough and weak where
it is smooth. This heterogeneity must be mapped on a global scale to determine the
amount of mixing. It has been shown that 70 per cent of the waves break at the ocean
bottom while the remaining 30 per cent propagate away from their generation sites and
break against continental slopes where mixing is strong and make their way along the
slopes of continents and ridges to the surface.
World falling behind 2020 plan for nature protection: U.N. report
Tue, Oct 7, 2014
environment, biodiversity outlook, The Hindu,
The Global Biodiversity Outlook 4 , published as nearly 200 countries meet on Monday
in South Korea in a bid to tackle biodiversity loss, paints a damning picture of
governments' efforts to meet a set of targets agreed upon in 2010 to mitigate the
destruction of species' habitats, cut pollution and stop overfishing by the end of the
decade.
Conservationists said the lack of progress, nearly halfway to the 2020 deadline for the
Aichi Biodiversity Targets (ABT), was a troubling sign and a reality check.
the situation is worsening for the planet's most threatened species, which include 90
per cent of all lemurs and species such as the blue-tongued forest giraffe and the
spoon-billed sandpiper:
Only five of the 20 targets, which are broken down into 56 elements, are on track for
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2020. Thirty-three show progress albeit at an insufficient rate, 10 show no progress,
five show deterioration and three have not been evaluated.
One small ray of light is progress toward a target of gaining protected status for 17 per
cent of ecosystems on land, which is on track. A similar target for the oceans is, however,
likely to be missed.
If the 2020 targets are missed, it will not be the first time efforts to halt the decline in
the richness and abundance of wildlife and the natural world have fallen short.
An assessment of goals set in 2002 to cut the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 showed
governments had failed to deliver on the commitments they made.
"We're in serious danger of being in the same position as we were back in 2010, of
not having made the progress we need to make to lead to a better society and a better
world.
Innovation key to meet Aichi biodiversity targets by 2020
Tue, Oct 7, 2014
environment, Down to Earth, Aichi biodiversity targets,
The United Nations (UN) has called for "bold and innovative" action to meet the goals
of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity by 2020. The fourth edition of the Global
Biodiversity Outlook (GBO4) says there has been significant progress in meeting some
components of the Aichi biodiversity targets, but additional action is required to keep
the plan on course.
In 2002, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Biodiversity (CBD) committed to
a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010. The effort was successful
only partially and hence, a renewed commitment was made in 2010 in the form of the
Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 for urgent action in this decade. It comprised
of 20 new targets, called the Aichi biodiversity targets.
"This watershed moment was a recognition that biodiversity is not a problem to be
solved, but essential for sustainable development, and the foundation for human
well-being," Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, UN assistant-Secretary-General and CBD
executive secretary, writes in GBO4.
"The factors prompting policymakers to safeguard biodiversity are increasingly economic
in nature. Without healthy biodiversity, livelihoods, ecosystem services, habitats and
food security will be compromised, Reducing deforestation rates have been estimated
to result in an annual benefit of US $183 billion in the form of ecosystem services."
Key points of the Global Development Outlook report: Meeting the Aichi biodiversity
targets will contribute to global priorities on the post-2015 development agenda. There
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are opportunities to support implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity
2011-2020 through enhanced technical and scientific cooperation among parties to the
Conference on Biological Diversity. For success of the strategic plan, all levels of
government and stakeholders across society need to be aware of the multiple values of
biodiversity and related ecosystems. There is need for an overall substantial increase
in total biodiversity-related funding.
Some of the areas that have witnessed progress include increase in protected areas,
access and benefit-sharing of resources, promotion of sustainable use, slowing down
of loss of forest habitats like the Brazilian Amazon, restoration efforts of degraded
ecosystems, especially forests and wetlands, among others. Belgium, Belarus, Brazil,
Japan, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland are some of the countries that have
set targets to restore at least 15 per cent of degraded lands.
For the majority of the targets, however, additional efforts are required to meet the 2020
deadline - reduction of pollution and pressures on the ecosystem from land-based and
marine activities and preventing the extinction of known threatened species. What is
needed is a package of actions, such as legal or policy framework, socio-economic
incentive and public and stakeholder engagement.
"Since the agreement on the Strategic Plan on Biodiversity in 2010, encouraging steps
have been taken around the world to tackle biodiversity loss at many levels. This plan
and the Aichi biodiversity targets remain a solid framework on which to concentrate
action that will lead us towards a world in harmony with nature," the report concludes.
Typhoon Phanfone batters Japan
Mon, Oct 6, 2014
Typhoon Phanfone, japan, environment, Down to Earth,
Most of Japan was brought to a standstill as Typhoon Phanfone lashed the country,
resulting in high waves, heavy rains and disruption of power lines and flights on Sunday.
According to BBC, three US airmen, who the police claim were taking photographs of
the sea in Okinawa, were washed away in the storm. One of them has been confirmed
dead, while the other two remain missing. Okinawa is home to about half of the 50,000
US troops stationed in Japan, The Guardian reports.
Kalam stresses need for carbon-free cities
Tue, Oct 7, 2014
environment, urban areas, The Hindu,
"To have carbon-neutral cities is my dream. Whether smart cities or over-smart cities,
the urban areas should be places for healthy living,"
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The growing migration to urban areas poses challenge in creation of clean environment
Panel invites consultations on review of green laws
Tue, Oct 7, 2014
environment, The Hindu, green laws,
On August 29, the Environment Ministry had constituted the HLC to review the Air
(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,1981, the Water (Prevention and Control of
Pollution) Act, 1974, the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the Environment (Protection)
Act, 1986 and the Wildlife (Protection) Act,1972 with four terms of reference aimed
at recommending "specific amendments to bring them in line with current objectives
to meet requirements," among other things.
Environmental groups say that the whole attempt by the MoEF is to dismantle regulation
of any kind.