Prelims Related News

Prelims Related News

Earth facing sixth mass extinction: Earth’s sixth mass extinction at verge

Context

• More than 30% of animals with a backbone fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals are declining in both range and population

Biological annihilation occurring globally

• Scientists cautioned about the sixth mass extinction of life on earth getting unfolded than it should have.
• Around a decade ago, experts dreaded that a new planetary wipeout of species was looming.
• At present, most agree that it is under way but the new study suggests that the die-out is already here.
• It provides much-needed data about the risk to wildlife, mapping the declining ranges and population of 27,600 species.
• For 177 mammals, researchers examined through data covering the period 1900 to 2015.
• The mammal species that were supervised have lost at least a third of their original habitat.
• 40% of them including rhinos, orangutans, gorillas and many big cats are surviving on 20% or less of the land they once roamed.
• The loss of biodiversity has recently hastened.
• There are as few as 20,000 lions left in the wild, less than 7,000 cheetahs, 500 to 1,000 giant pandas, and about 250 Sumatran rhinoceros.

Implications of such drastic wipeout

• Tropical regions have seen the uppermost number of deteriorating species.
• While fewer species are disappearing in temperate zones, the percentage is just as high or higher.
• As many as half of the number of animals that once shared our planet are no longer here.
• The prime causes of wildlife decline are habitat loss, over – consumption, pollution, invasive species, disease, as well as poaching in the case of tigers, elephants, rhinos and other large animals prized for their body parts.
• Climate change is poised to become a major threat in the coming decades.

Malabar submarine drills worry China: China irked by India’s naval exercise at Malabar Context

• China is thoroughly monitoring and seems unhappy about the ongoing Malabar naval exercises between India, the U.S. and Japan.

Malabar naval exercise

• The Indian Navy’s mounting clout to detect Chinese submarines and surface ships in the Indian Ocean, using newly acquired weaponry from Washington disturbs China.
• As per the reports, there are presence of three aircraft carriers of three countries in the military exercises practiced at Malabar.
• The attention of the drills seems to be anti-submarine warfare (ASW).
• Chinese feel that their submarines are getting targeted.
• The Malabar exercise used to be a widespread drill that had included air defense, anti-ship elements etc.