Current Affairs September 2019 - Environment
1 - Union Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to UNCCD
Union Minister Prakash Javadekar inaugurated the 12- day 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) to UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida. India took over the COP Presidency from China for the next two years till 2021.
The objective of the COP 14 is to discuss on various issues of land such as sustainable land management, reversing land degradation, mitigating drought, halting desertification, addressing sand and dust storms, linkages with gender, tenure, etc. and guide the Convention as global and national circumstances needs change.
2 - Russia formally accepted 2015 Paris climate accord
Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gave formal support to the Paris climate agreement. The Paris Agreement gives countries a choice in how to join the accords by ratification, acceptance, approval or accession to the agreement, depending on their national legislation.
Russia is the world’s fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases and the biggest emitter not to have ratified the landmark global climate deal. The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016.
3 - Rohit Sharma launched campaign to conserve rhinos
Ace Indian batsman, Rohit Sharma, has launched Rohit4Rhinos campaign, in partnership with WWF India and Animal Planet, to help build awareness for the need to conserve the Greater One-Horned Rhinoceros or the Indian Rhino. It was launched on September 22 to commemorate World Rhino Day.
Rohit Sharma joined WWF India as its Brand Ambassador for Rhino Conservation in 2018. Of the estimated 3500 Indian rhinos left in India and Nepal, 82% are found in India. The Indian rhinoceros faces several threats, including poaching, habitat loss and mass mortality from in-breeding and disease.
4 - NGT directs government to prepare plan for protection of the Great Indian Bustard
The National Green Tribunal has directed the Union Government to prepare a time-bound action plan within two months for protection of the Great Indian Bustard.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel constituted a joint committee to prepare the action plan for implementation of suggestions submitted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) over the issue. According to the plea filed, 75% of the birds have died due to collision with power lines in the past 30 years.
5 - Cryodrakon boreas reported as the largest flying animal of all time
The study conducted by scientists of Queen Mary University in London reported Cryodrakon boreas, plane-sized reptile as the largest flying animal of all time. With a wingspan of 10 meters and weighing 250 kgs, Cryodrakon boreas is a new species of pterosaur.
Cryodrakon boreas remains were first discovered more than 30 years ago in Alberta, Canada and it flew over North America 77 million years ago. C. boreas, also known as "frozen dragon of the north wind" was carnivorous and probably fed on lizards and baby dinosaurs.
6 - Exercise of rehabitating deer population begin in Kodiakkarai Wild Life sanctuary
A unique exercise of rehabitating deer population has been started in the Kodiakkarai Wild Life sanctuary in Tamilnadu. This follows upgradation works being undertaken at the cost of eight crores rupees in the Sivagangai Gardens of Thanjavoor under the smart city scheme of the Central government.
The graceful deers, which have been brought up in the protected environment in the Sivagangai park, have been transported by using special trucks to Kodiyakkarai, in Vedaranyam district, on the shores of the Bay of Bengal.
7 - Five-year period ending 2019 set to be hottest on record
According to a new UN report, the five-year period ending 2019 is set to be the hottest ever. It is currently estimated to be 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial [1850-1900] times and 0.2 degrees Celsius warmer than 2011-2015. The report is titled United in Science, a synthesis of key findings.
The report also suggested that the amount of ice lost from the Antarctic ice sheet increased by a factor of six each year between 1979 and 2017, while glacier loss for 2015-19 is also the highest for any five-year period on record.
8 - Gujarat unveiled India’s first emissions trading scheme to curb air pollution
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani launched India’s first emission trading scheme (ETS) to combat particulate air pollution. The programme is a market-based system where the government sets a cap on emissions and allows industries to buy and sell permits to stay below the cap.
The ETS was initiated in Surat by the Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB). Industrial plants can trade permits with each other, just like any other commodity on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX).
