Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently released a report titled Climate Change and Land’ which shows how land based activities affect climate and in turn gets affected by climate change. Land acts as both the source as well as a sink of carbon. Activities like agriculture and livestock rearing release greenhouse gases such… Continue reading How land relates to climate
Category: Factly: Environment
This category contains all Current Affairs Factly Articles for Prelims, related to the Environment. You can find all relevant Environment related updates on this page. This page is specifically useful for UPSC Prelims exam.
World’s food supply at risk due to climate change, window to act rapidly closing: UN
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has recently released a report titled Climate Change and Land’. The report explains how land-based activities such as agriculture, forestry, cattle-rearing and urbanisation is causing global warming, and is affected by the climate change. According to the report, the land sector had been contributing about 5.2 billion tonnes of… Continue reading World’s food supply at risk due to climate change, window to act rapidly closing: UN
India to seek boost to protection status of 5 species at CITES
India has submitted proposals regarding changes to the listing of various wildlife species in the CITES secretarial meeting. The meeting is scheduled to be held in late 2019 in Geneva, Switzerland. India has submitted a proposal to re-list the star tortoise from CITES Appendix II to Appendix I. It is listed as Vulnerable in the… Continue reading India to seek boost to protection status of 5 species at CITES
Maharashtra to set up task force on climate change
The Maharashtra government has decided to constitute a task force to study impact of climate change on Mumbai. The taskforce will comprise of local and global experts. The task force will be set up by the environment department of Maharashtra in coordination with Mumbai First, a non-profit think-thank The taskforce will study urban flooding in… Continue reading Maharashtra to set up task force on climate change
World Biofuel Day to be observed on 10th August 2019
World Biofuel Day is observed every year on the 10th of August.It is observed by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas since 2015. The theme for this years Biofuel Day is “Production of Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO)”. The day is observed to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels as an… Continue reading World Biofuel Day to be observed on 10th August 2019
Centre unveils plan for coastal zone management
The Environment Ministry has put forward draft Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF). It is a part of World Bank funded project called Enhancing Coastal and Ocean Resource Efficiency Program (ENCORE). ENCORE aims to strengthen integrated coastal zone management in all coastal States and Union Territories of India. It seeks to strengthen coastal resource efficiency… Continue reading Centre unveils plan for coastal zone management
Ancient drop of seawater shows Earth’s tectonic activity began 3.3 bn years ago
According to scientists, tectonic activity began on Earth 3.3 billion years ago. It was previously assumed that tectonic activity began about 2.7 billion years ago on Earth. The conclusion came from scientists after they studied a microscopic bead of cooled magma which was protected by it olivine crystal. The olivine crystal was found in a… Continue reading Ancient drop of seawater shows Earth’s tectonic activity began 3.3 bn years ago
Mexico’s cactus offers alternative to plastics
A Mexican researcher has invented a new form of biodegradable plastic made primarily from the juice of prickly pear cactus (opuntia). The pulp of the prickly pear is mixed with non-toxic additives to produce sheets that can be used for packaging. In March 2019, UN member states at the United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) in… Continue reading Mexico’s cactus offers alternative to plastics
1/4 of world’s population faces huge water stress, bulk in India
The World Resource Institute (WRI) has released Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas. It has ranked water stress, drought risk and riverine flood risk countries. According to the atlas, 1/4 of world’s population is facing huge water stress. WRI has provided a list of 17 most water stress countries. Qatar has been ranked as the most water… Continue reading 1/4 of world’s population faces huge water stress, bulk in India
The extent of groundwater over-exploitation, state by state
According to Jal Shakti Ministry, groundwater resources are over-exploited in 1,186 out of 6,881 “assessment units” (blocks, talukas, watersheds etc) in India. Punjab has the highest extent of over-exploitation (79% of its blocks), followed Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh In the eight North-eastern states none of the assessment units (districts and blocks) is over-exploited.… Continue reading The extent of groundwater over-exploitation, state by state
