More than a fifth of the world's migrating species are at risk of going extinct as a result of climate change and human encroachment, according to this report by the United Nations. Migratory species globally are facing critical challenges, with nearly half in decline and over 20 per cent threatened …
Forests are rich in biodiversity and valuable for recreation, water regulation and soil protection. As well as for providing timber and other non-wood forest products, forests are important for mitigating climate change and for the renewable energy sector. Forest ecosystems are exposed to a range of environmental, economic and social …
Evidence from ecological studies, eddy flux towers and satellites shows that many tropical forests ‘green up’ during higher sunlight annual dry seasons, suggesting they are more limited by light than water. Morton et al. reported that satellite-observed dry-season green up in Amazon forests is an artefact of seasonal variations in …
The three-day cultural extravaganza organised by the Art of Living Foundation (AoL) has altered the fragile ecosystem of the Yamuna floodplains, say environmentalists. According to them, the event has left “a gasping floodplain, with hardened soil and stripped of its natural vegetation and water-recharging capabilities”. “They have driven poles into …
The National Green Tribunal has sought response from the Centre on a plea seeking ban on use of micro-plastics in cosmetic and bodycare products in India alleging their use is extremely dangerous for aquatic life and environment. A bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar issued notice to the ministry …
Hundreds of Bangladeshis began a four-day march Thursday from the capital to the Sundarbans in a last-ditch protest against plans to build a coal-fired power plant near the World Heritage-listed forest. Preliminary work has already begun under an Indian-Bangladesh joint venture on the massive plant which will provide much needed …
CHENNAI: With Hindustan Unilever and the workers of its erstwhile thermometer factory in Kodaikanal finally reaching an agreement, the focus has now shifted to the other major concern – cleaning up mercury from the factory site. Going by the draft guidance document for assessment and remediation of contaminated sites in …
With the National Green Tribunal clearing the decks for a three-day cultural extravaganza of Art of Living Foundation on the flood plains of Yamuna river, the Centre today said such temporary programmes or structures "do not" require environment clearances. "NGT has given permission to them. We had already clarified to …
Levels of air pollution, including harmful particulate matter, are higher in and around the floodplains of the Yamuna, which should ideally be home to rich eco-systems. The Yamuna floodplains are at the centre of an ongoing debate about their use, with environmentalists opposing a massive cultural fest that will be …
APRIL Group has adopted a landscape approach in restoring 150,000 hectares of environmentally important peat forest in the Kampar Peninsula in Riau province, Sumatra, involving multiple stakeholders, including local communities. Indonesia’s peatland areas are some of the most sensitive ecosystems in the world, while the Kampar Peninsula landscape is one …
Levels of air pollution, including harmful particulate matter , are higher in and around the floodplains of the Yamuna, which should ideally be home to rich eco-systems. The Yamuna floodplains are at the centre of an ongoing debate about their use, with environmentalists opposing a massive cultural fest that will …
Phylogeny is an ecologically meaningful way to classify plants and animals, as closely related taxa frequently have similar ecological characteristics, functional traits and effects on ecosystem processes. For bacteria, however, phylogeny has been argued to be an unreliable indicator of an organism’s ecology owing to evolutionary processes more common to …
The report is based on a large body of independent scientific research in impacted areas in the Fukushima region, as well as investigations by Greenpeace radiation specialists over the past five years. It exposes deeply flawed assumptions by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Abe government in terms of …
As we finish using an aesthetically designed tube of toothpaste, face wash or face wash, thousands of microbeads and microplastics would have mixed with the water systems, thereby causing serious environmental damage. More than 455 billion plastic microbe ads and 749 billion microplastics have been released into the Indian ocean …
Chronic nitrogen deposition has measureable impacts on soil and plant health. We investigate burning emissions from biomass grown in areas of high and low NO x deposition. Gas and aerosol-phase emissions were measured as a function of photochemical aging in an environmental chamber at UC-Riverside. Though aerosol chemical speciation was …
Rivers in Kerala are assailed by pollution, sedimentation, sand mining, and constriction of flows. The indiscriminate and unscientific sand mining, even in the midst of many regulatory and protective measures for their conservation, have made the condition of these rivers pathetic. Bharathapuzha basin is the largest among all the 44 …
Grassland productivity is regulated by both temperature and the amount and timing of precipitation. Future climate change is therefore expected to influence grassland phenology and growth, with consequences for ecosystems and economies. However, the interacting effects of major shifts in temperature and precipitation on grasslands remain poorly understood and existing …
A global scientific group on Sunday launched a three-year assessment of mankind's impact on nature to help protect plants and animals from threats ranging from pollution to climate change. The study, due in 2019, would examine biodiverstiy, from bacteria to blue whales, and "ecosystem services", which range from the value …
India's Sundarbans is facing increasing pressure owing to peoples' needs and multiple uses that coastal and marine areas can be put to, a group of researchers from West Bengal told an international conference. "The marine environment of Indian Sundarbanswhich includes the adjacent coastal area, is facing a number of pressures …
Slashing beef intake by 50% can help meet climate target of keeping temperature rise within 2C limit, according to a studyReuters Reducing beef consumption by almost half can help the planet from warming up, suggests a new study by Swedish climate scientists. The study highlights how food-related green house gas …
The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is founded on reef-building corals. Corals build their exoskeleton with aragonite, but ocean acidification is lowering the aragonite saturation state of seawater (Ωa). The downscaling of ocean acidification projections from global to GBR scales requires the set of regional drivers controlling Ωa to be resolved. …
