Environment News India
For endangered Sarus Crane, UP is ‘uttam’ for breeding
The world’s tallest flying bird has been getting a new lease of life in the Indian state where it enjoys the status of official state bird — Uttar Pradesh (UP). Uttar Pradesh is known as a stronghold of the sarus crane, Indias only resident breeding crane.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has included this bird in its red list of threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book). As per bird count data of 2018, there were only around 25,000 Sarus Cranes in the entire world, and significantly the birds in Uttar Pradesh make up more than half the global population at around 14000.
While scientists are “puzzled” how the species is thriving in the most populous state and is living in harmony with people. The farmers and villagers say that the bird Saras is entwined in the culture and mythology of the state.
“They have been here for more than thousands of years. Sage Valmiki has references in his epic Ramayana. In Buddhism, it’s said that in Lumbini, Prince Sidharth Gautam of the kingdom of Kapilvastu, is supposed to have rescued a wounded crane and saved it from his cousin Devdatta. Driven by this spiritual link, Lumbini has taken strides in protecting critical species and their farm habitats.
Can Odisha, Chhattisgarh move beyond conventional approaches to save Mahanadi?
The conflict between Odisha and Chhattisgarh over the distribution of water from Mahanadi river is said to have started in 2016 when Odisha alleged the existing and proposed dams and barrages in Chhattisgarh will dry up the river down-streams and affect Odisha’s people, industries and ecology.
Environmentalists, concerned citizens and civil society organisations allege both the states are neither doing justice to their people nor the river, rather using it to appease industries and for political gains. Both the states have committed themselves to mining and industrialisation which they claim is for the purpose of ‘development’ and have been promoting Mahanadi as a water surplus river to invite more investment.
Thus, while the conflict is centered on the reduced flow of water, the impact of coal mines, thermal power plants (TPPs) and other industries is ignored by both states. The existence of so many TPPs, which are the major water guzzlers, surrounding Hirakud reservoir has been a major cause of concern. Major TPPs in Chhattisgarh (Raigarh) are by JSPL and DB Power; and in Odisha (Jharsuguda) Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC) and Vedanta (Sterlite), the study by Rajan Panda, maintained.
While building an Inter-State Cooperation Framework is the need of the hour, changes should be brought in the laws at national level to establish the rights of communities over river and the river’s own right, say ecologists.
Indigenous knowledge is vital in the fight against climate change: IPCC report
The latest IPCC report lauded the contribution of Australian Aboriginal knowledge about sea rise. The traditional knowledge of the world’s indigenous peoples can be a vital tool in the fight to mitigate the growing climate crisis, the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has said. The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was released August 9, 2021.
The report stated that indigenous and local knowledge had played an increasing role in historical climatology, especially in areas where instrumental observations were sparse.
Worryingly, the report also noted that indigenous knowledge related to climate and weather, especially oral traditions passed on from generations, was in danger of being lost as holders of such knowledge passed away.
It was also important to draw indigenous peoples in the fight to mitigate the climate crisis as they stood to lose the most due to it.
Concentration of air pollutants significantly increasing over India: IPCC
India, and especially its capital, Delhi, have been annual witnesses to apocalyptic-looking winters in the past half-decade. Delhi’s residents have especially gasped for air as smoke from paddy straw fires, Dipawali firecrackers, industrial and vehicular emissions have besieged their city every year.
Now, the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s latest report released August 9, 2021 has certified what we all feared: Air pollutants continue their meteoric rise across India and other parts of south Asia.
The concentrations of lethal air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ammonia (NH3), ozone (O3) and Particulate Matter2.5 are at their highest in south Asia, when compared to other parts of the world.
The revelation came in Chapter 6 of the Sixth Assessment Report of the IPCC. The chapter is titled Short-lived climate forcers (SLCF).
Delhi: Forensic Science Lab To Test Animal DNA Which Can Help Solve Wildlife Crimes
The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) at Rohini, Delhi, will now be able to test animal DNA samples with two high-tech machines at its newly opened facility in an effort to investigate wildlife-related crime. FSL officials said on Sunday that they had recently purchased two machines an automated DNA extraction system and a Real-Time PCR system based on mitochondrial DNA technology.
The field of wildlife forensics is a relatively recent one in the criminal justice system. According to officials, the new facility will be utilised to conduct scientific methods to examine, identify, and compare evidence from crime scenes in order to link it to a suspect and a victim.
Animal evidence can be a significant aspect in a case when utilised to establish a relationship between a crime scene and a suspect or in crimes involving a specific animal, according to FSL Incharge Crime Scene Examination Sanjeev Gupta. The new facility will be utilised to conduct scientific methods to examine, identify, and compare evidence from crime scenes in order to link it to a suspect and a victim.
