Subject: Environment Context: A tree species, long believed extinct, has been rediscovered after a gap of more than 180 years from a sacred grove in Kollam district. Concept: Madhucadiplostemon, a species of flowering plant from Sapotaceae family, has been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened […]
Subject: Environment Context: Manufacturers in Sivakasi – the country’s fireworks manufacturing capital – have produced environmentally friendly fireworks as per Supreme Court order on ‘green’ crackers. Concept: Traditionally, firecrackers have been made with barium nitrate, antimony and a range of metals that, over the years, have been linked to respiratory diseases and even cancer. Green […]
Subject: Environment Context: Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised China would be carbon net-zero by 2060 Concept: Net-zero is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorptions and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Absorption can be increased by creating more carbon sinks such as forests, while removal involves application of […]
Subject: Environment Context: EPCA opposes paying farmers for not burning paddy stubble Concept: The EPCA was constituted in 1988 under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The Centre has reconstituted the Supreme Court-empowered Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority or the EPCA in 2018. Its mandate is to protect and improve the quality of the environment […]
Subject: Environment Context: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has set a fresh deadline of December 31 for the Union environment ministry to finalise the notification of eco-sensitive zones in the Western Ghats pending for eight years. Concept: The basic aim of ESZ is to regulate certain activities around National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries so as to minimise […]
Subject: Environment Context: India’s sandalwood trees are facing a serious threat with the return of the destructive Sandalwood Spike Disease (SSD). Concept: It is caused by phytoplasma (bacterial parasites of plant tissues) which are transmitted by insect vectors. Sandal spike phytoplasma is a pleomorphic microorganism and are the smallest organism capable of independent replication (i.e. […]
Subject: Environment Context: With China, the largest carbon dioxide emitter, announcing that it would balance out its carbon emissions with measures to offset them before 2060, the spotlight is now on the U.S. and India, countries that rank second and third in emissions. Concept: Under a carbon tax, the government sets a price that emitters […]
Subject: Environment Context: Lion-tailed macaque (Macacasilenus), a primate endemic to Western Ghats continues to be in the ‘endangered’ category in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Concept: The latest conservation status of the primate was updated in the IUCN database recently based on technical reports over the years from a group of researchers As […]