August 2019 Environment

Sakshi Education

Hurricane Dorian becomes a Category 4 storm powering toward Florida
Hurricane Dorian powered toward Florida with increasing fury Friday, becoming an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm but leaving forecasters uncertain whether it would make a direct hit on the state’s east coast or inflict a glancing blow.

The storm’s winds rose to a howling 130 mph (215 kph) as Dorian gained new strength while crossing warm Atlantic waters.

The hurricane could wallop the state with even higher winds and torrential rains late Monday or early Tuesday, with millions of people in the crosshairs, along with Walt Disney World and President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.

Though Dorian is growing in intensity, some of the more reliable computer models predicted a late turn northward that would have Dorian hug the coast.
Himachal Pradesh broke record, received highest rainfall
The local Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that Himachal Pradesh recorded highest ever rainfall in last 24 hours by breaking the record of last 70 years.

According to the IMD, rains across different places in the state will continue for the next 24 hours.

Naina Devi recorded the highest rainfall at 360 mm and Shimla recorded 153 mm of rainfall.
President Ram Nath Kovind launches plantation drive as part of Van Mahotsav celebrations
President Ram Nath Kovind on 20 August, 2019 planted a sapling of Maulsari in the Rashtrapati Bhavan Estate and launched a plantation drive as part of Van Mahotsav celebrations.

On the occasion, the President met students and urged them to encourage fellow citizens to plant more trees and reaffirm the commitment to a greener and sustainable planet.

Over the next few weeks, the President's Secretariat will be planting over three thousand trees and around three thousand shrubs.

The President’s Estate spread over 330 acres of harbours rich biodiversity.
Environment Ministry relaxes lease rent on wind power projects
Ministry of Environment has decided to relax the mandatory charging of lease rent of 30 thousand rupees per Mega Watt for wind power projects.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar took a conscious decision to relax the condition of charging the lease rent in this regard during a review meeting.

The step will boost the investment in wind power projects and will help in providing wind power at a cheaper rate.

Currently, to establish wind power project over forest land, the existing procedure requires payment of mandatory charges for compensatory afforestation and Net Present value.

In addition to mandatory charges, the wind power companies had to pay additional lease rent of 30 thousand per Mega Watt and this additional cost is not mandatory for other renewable energy projects such as solar power and hydel electric projects.

The government envisages meeting maximum energy requirement by tapping renewal energy resources. He said, to achieve the target of clean energy in a time-bound manner, various policies and regulations are being constantly d.

Promotions of such projects also strengthen Government's commitments towards International Agreements, and one of the National Commitment pledged in Paris in 2015 was to have 40 per cent of the power from renewable resources by 2030.

Currently India has overachieved the target and is well on track to ensure that more than 50 per cent of installed capacity come from renewable sources by 2030.
Five Thousand five hundred and Ninety five electric buses sanctioned under FAME scheme
Department of Heavy Industry sanctioned 5,595 electric buses under phase II of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) India scheme.

The buses are sanctioned to 64 cities in 22 states and union territories for intracity and intercity operations in order to push for clean mobility in public transportation.

The buses are expected to run about 4 billion km are expected to save cumulatively about 1.2 billion liters of fuel over the contract period

This will result in avoidance of 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 emission.
Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME) India scheme
Department of Heavy Industry is implementing FAME-India Scheme- Phase-I [Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles in India from 1st April 2015.

The scheme is extended till Notification of FAME-II.

The Phase-II of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles (FAME-India) Scheme proposes to give a push to electric vehicles (EVs) in public transport and seeks to encourage adoption of EVs by way of market creation and demand aggregation.
Plan for coastal zone management unveiled
The Environment Ministry has unveiled a draft plan that will dictate how prospective infrastructure projects situated along the coast ought to be assessed before they can apply for clearance.

The draft Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) is part of a World Bank-funded project.

The document lays out guidelines out for coastal States.

Rajasthan the 1st State to Release Bio-Fuel Policy

The Rajasthan government on 9 August 2019 released biofuel rules-2019 on the eve of the World Biofuel Day.

Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot said Rajasthan is the first state in the country to bring the policy for biofuel after the notification of the Centre.

Promotion of biofuel will reduce the need for fossil fuel in the interest of the environment, and also generate employment.
Largest parrot discovered in New Zealand
Fossils of the largest parrot ever recorded have been found in New Zealand.

The fossils are estimated to have weighed about 7kg; it would have been more than twice as heavy as the kakapo, previously the largest known parrot.

Palaeontologists have named the new species Heracles inexpectatus to reflect its unusual size and strength and the unexpected nature of the discovery.
Trump administration weakens U.S. wildlife protections, States and conservationists to sue
The Trump Administration took steps o to significantly weaken the U.S. Endangered Species Act, prompting State attorneys general and conservation groups to threaten legal action to protect at-risk species.

The 1970s-era Act is credited with bringing back from the brink of extinction species such as bald eagles, gray whales and grizzly bears, but the law has long been a source of frustration for drilling and mining companies, and other industries because new listings can put vast areas of land off-limits to development.

The weakening of the Act's protections is one of many moves by U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican, to roll back existing regulations to hasten oil, gas and coal production, as well as grazing, ranching and logging on federal land.
Scheme to involve school eco clubs launched
In Delhi, a scheme to involve school eco clubs in the DDA's plantation drive was launched at a green belt in Rohini's sector 37 on 16 August 2019 by Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri.

As part of an afforestation drive of the Delhi Development Authority, 4 lakh indigenous trees will be planted this year across various biodiversity parks in the national capital.
5.2-magnitude earthquake strikes southwest Iran
A 5.2-magnitude earthquake struck southwest Iran this morning. Iranian Seismological Center said, the epicenter of the quake was registered at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers near the town of Cheram in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.

There is no immediate report of any casualty or damage to the property as a result of the quake. No Tsunami warning has been issued.

Iran's Red Crescent Society has dispatched teams of evaluators to the region.
5.9-magnitude quake jolts Taiwan
A 5.9-magnitude earthquake rattled Taiwan on 08 August, 2019 disrupting traffic and causing power outages. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The quake struck at 5.28 a.m. at a depth of 10 km in northeastern Yilan county. Authorities said the quake was felt across Taiwan.

The Taiwan Railways Administration has suspended some services in Yilan.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by quakes.

In April, a 6.1-magnitude earthquake struck the island injuring 17 people.

Taiwan's worst tremor in recent decades was a 7.6-magnitude quake in September 1999 that killed around 2,400 people.
Ocean warming, overfishing increase methylmercury toxin in fish
Despite a decrease in seawater concentration of methylmercury since the late 1990s, the amount of toxin that gets accumulated in certain fish which are higher in the food chain have been found to increase. The amount of methylmercury in fish higher in the food chain can change due to two reasons — ocean warming and dietary shifts due to overfishing by humans.

Based on 30 years (1970s and 2000s) of data and ecosystem modelling, researchers have found that there has been up to 23% increase in methylmercury concentration in Atlantic cod fish in the Gulf of Maine in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean.

The increase in the methylmercury concentration in cod fish has been due to changes in diet caused by overfishing. As a result of diet change, cod fish in the 2000s relied more on larger herring and lobster, which have higher concentrations of the toxin than other prey fish consumed in the 1970s.

In contrast, there has been 33-61% reduction in methylmercury concentration in spiny dogfish fish between 1970s and 2000s. This is because, in the 1970s, spiny dogfish fish consumed more of squid and other cephalopods, which have a higher toxin concentration.
China issues 'red alert' as super typhoon approaches mainland
China's weather bureau issued a red alert early on Friday as super typhoon Lekima approached Zhejiang province on the eastern coast.

The National Meteorological Center said the typhoon, the strongest since 2014, was expected to hit the mainland in the early hours of Saturday and then turn north.

It has issued gale warnings for the Yangtze river delta region, which includes Shanghai.

Taiwan has already cancelled flights and ordered markets and schools to close on Friday as the typhoon heads northwest.

Flights to and from Taiwan have been cancelled and cruise liners have been asked to delay their arrival in Shanghai. Some trains from Shanghai have also suspended ticket sales over the weekend.

Heavy rain and level-10 gales are expected to hit Shanghai on Friday and continue until Sunday, with 16,000 suburban residents set to be evacuated.
UP plants more than 22 crore saplings ; creates world record
In Uttar Pradesh, a series of world records have been made in the massive plantation drive Vriksharopan Mahakumbh on the occasion of 77th anniversary of Quit India Movement.

More than 22 crore saplings were planted at 12.2 lakh locations under the drive in state. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the state would plant 25 crore trees next year (2020).

That State created four records on 09 August, 2019 under the massive plantation drive.

Free distribution of saplings in Prayagraj district created a world record after it was certified by the Guinness as the largest distribution of saplings in the world.

76823 saplings were distributed free in just 6 hours in the district.

Apart from planting 22 crore 59 lakh, 81 thousand 116 trees in a single day, 5 crore trees were planted at the same time at different locations in the first hour of campaign from 9 to 10 am and 1.1 lakh trees were planted in Kasganj in the presence of governor Anandiben Patel.

Chief Minister inaugurated the plantation drive by planting banyan three at Jaitikheda in Sarojininagar, Lucknow.

In every district, Gandhi Udyan, a garden named after Mahatama Gandhi, would also be planted with trees that found mention in the literature related to him.
US: Tropical storm Erick grows into hurricane
In the US, the National Hurricane Center has said that tropical storm Erick has grown in strength to a hurricane in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

The storm is not expected to make landfall but parts of Hawaii could see increased wind gusts and rain as Erick slides just south of the Big Island on Thursday.

According to a forecast from the National Weather Service released on 29 July, 2019, Hurricane Erick could whip sea waters up to anywhere between 7 and 16 feet by 01 August, 2019 night.
Javadekar releases latest report of green ratings on fertilizer sector
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar released the latest report of green ratings on fertilizer sector in New Delhi.

Centre for Science and Environment along with its Green rating project, prepared the report based on 42 parameters. There is a need to sensitise the industrial sector.
Government has prepared Clean Air Programme for 102 cities to protect 5 elements of nature: Javadekar
In the first 50 days of the government, all the farmers were made eligible for pensions and minimum wage guarantee was given to them.

The government is taking care of all sections of the society.

It is the most credible organisation over the years.

The plan for next five years for environment, he said, govt has prepared a Clean Air Programme for 102 cities which is the birth right of all the citizens.

Government is committed to protect the 5 elements of nature.
Tigers in India face lurking threat from virus
Tiger numbers have increased in the country may be good news. But the loss of habitat, a decline of prey and poaching continues to be a threat to tigers’ survival.

Along with these, a potential virus — Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) — that can be transmitted from CDV-infected dogs living in and around wildlife sanctuaries has started to raise concern among wildlife biologists.

Canine distemper is a contagious and serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems of puppies and dogs.