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Subject: Environment

  • System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Technique

    Experts in Punjab has said that System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Technique is beneficial for the soil, environment and farmers at par with the Direct Seeding of Rice (DSR) technique.

    What is SRI technique?

    • SRI was first developed in Madagascar in the 1980s and since then several countries in the world have been practising it, including India.
    • It promises to save 15 to 20% ground water, improves rice productivity, which is almost at a stagnant point now.
    • Experts said that it gives equal or more produce than the conventional rice cultivation, with less water, less seed and less chemicals.
    • The net effect is a substantial reduction in the investments on external inputs.

    How does it take place in the field and in which soil?

    • First, the field is prepared by ploughing.
    • It should be laser levelled before transplanting for proper water management and efficiency for a good crop stand.
    • Then irrigation is applied in the field which is not a flooding of field like traditional methods but less than that of a well irrigated field.
    • Then 10-12 days old nursery (young paddy plants) along with soil particles around the root with minimum disturbance to the roots are transplanted in lines.
    • They are marked at a distance of 10 inches from each other with the help of a rope meter.

    Benefits over DSR technique

    • Unlike DSR, which is suitable only for mid to heavy textured soils, SRI is suitable in all types of soil including less fertile soil as in such soil the number of seedlings can be increased to double.
    • Under SRI 2kg seed is required to grow a nursery for one acre against 5kg seed required in the traditional method.

    Does the SRI method require continuous flooding after transplantation of nursery?

    • In traditional sowing from the day of transplanting till the crop turns 35-40 days fields are kept under flood-like conditions.
    • And then fields are filled every week till a few weeks before harvesting.
    • But SRI doesn’t require continuous flooding, it needs intermittent irrigation.
    • Indeed the plants’ roots should not be starved for oxygen through flooding.
    • Irrigation is given to maintain soil moisture near saturation initially, and water is added to the field when the surface soil develops hairline cracks.

    What are the limitations of SRI?

    • If unchecked, greater weed growth will cause substantial loss of yield.
    • In Punjab, it is not promoted by the government except demonstration plots sown over a decade ago.
    • It can be sustainable if organic inputs in the soil structure are maintained.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.With reference to the current trends in the cultivation of sugarcane in India, consider the following statements:

    1. A substantial saving in seed material is made when ‘bud chip settlings are raised in a nursery and transplanted in the main field.
    2. When direct planting of setts is done, the germination percentage is better with single-budded setts as compared to setts with many buds.
    3. If bad weather conditions prevail when setts are directly planted, single-budded setts have better survival as compared to large setts.
    4. Sugarcane can be cultivated using settlings prepared from tissue culture.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 3 only

    (c) 1 and 4 only

    (d) 2,3 and 4 only

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”2ujco8llfx” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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  • Species in news: Sela Macaque

    A new species of old world monkey recorded from Arunachal Pradesh has been named after a strategic Sela pass at 13,700 ft above sea level.

    Sela macaque (Macaca selai).

    • This new primate was identified and analysed by a team of experts from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the University of Calcutta.
    • Earlier it was called as White- Cheeked Macaque displaying white cheeks, long and thick hairs on the neck area, and a longer tail.
    • Their study has been published in the latest edition of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
    • Phylogenetics relate to the evolutionary development and diversification of a species or group of organisms.
    • The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Sela macaque was geographically separated from the Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala) of Tawang district by Sela.
    • This mountain pass acted as a barrier by restricting the migration of individuals of these two species for approximately two million years.

    Protection status

    • It has NOT been yet included in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 of India.
    • The potential threat to all species of macaques in the landscape is due to hunting by locals for consumption and habitat degradation due to urbanization and infrastructure development.

     About Sela Pass

    • The Sela Pass is a high-altitude mountain pass located on the border between the Tawang and West Kameng districts in Arunachal Pradesh.
    • It has an elevation of 4170 m and connects the Indian Buddhist town of Tawang to Dirang and Guwahati.
    • The pass supports scarce amounts of vegetation and is usually snow-covered to some extent throughout the year.
    • While Sela Pass does get heavy snowfall in winters, it is usually open throughout the year unless landslides or snow require the pass to be shut down temporarily.
    • The strategically-significant Sela Tunnel project is now nearing completion well before the deadline.

     

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  • Green Hydrogen: Fuel of the Future

    India aspires to emerge as the leader of green hydrogen by taking advantage of the current energy crisis across the globe.

    Why in news?

    • Oil India Limited (OIL) has commissioned India’s first 99.99% pure green hydrogen plant in eastern Assam’s Jorhat.
    • Powered by a 500 KW solar plant, the green hydrogen unit has an installed capacity to produce 10 kg of hydrogen per day and scale it up to 30 kg per day.

    What is Hydrogen?

    • Hydrogen is the lightest, simplest and most abundant member of the family of chemical elements in the universe.
    • It is colourless, odourless, tasteless, non-toxic and highly combustible gaseous substance.

    What is Green hydrogen?

    • Green hydrogen is the one produced with no harmful greenhouse gas emissions.
    • It is made by using clean electricity from surplus renewable energy sources, such as solar or wind power, to electrolyse water.
    • Electrolysers use an electrochemical reaction to split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, emitting zero-carbon dioxide in the process.
    • Green hydrogen currently makes up a small percentage of the overall hydrogen, because production is expensive.

    Why is India pursuing green hydrogen?

    • Under the Paris Agreement of 2015, India is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 33-35% from the 2005 levels.
    • It is a legally binding international treaty on climate change with the goal of limiting global warming to below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.
    • At the 2021 CoP in Glasgow, India reiterated its commitment to move from a fossil and import-dependent economy to a net-zero economy by 2070.
    • India’s average annual energy import bill is more than $100 billion .
    • The increased consumption of fossil fuel has made the country a high CO2 emitter which accounts for nearly 7% of the global CO2 burden.

    Various policy moves

    • In order to become energy independent by 2047, the government stressed the need to introduce green hydrogen as an alternative fuel that can make India the global hub and a major exporter of hydrogen.
    • The National Hydrogen Mission was launched on August 15, 2021, with a view to cutting down carbon emissions and increasing the use of renewable sources of energy.

    How much green hydrogen is India producing?

    • India has just begun to generate green hydrogen with the objective of raising non-fossil energy capacity to 500 gigawatts by 2030.
    • It was on April 20, 2022 that the public sector OIL, which is headquartered in eastern Assam’s Duliajan, set up India’s first 99.99% pure green hydrogen pilot plant.
    • Research and development efforts are ongoing for a reduction in the cost of production, storage and the transportation of hydrogen.

    What are the advantages of hydrogen as a fuel?

    • Hydrogen can be used to produce electricity using fuel cells.
    • Hydrogen, thus, can act as an energy storage device and contribute to grid stability.
    • The oxygen, produced as a by-product (8 kg of oxygen is produced per 1 kg of hydrogen), can also be monetised by using it for industrial and medical applications or for enriching the environment.

    Limitations to Hydrogen

    • Despite being the most abundant element in the Universe, hydrogen does not exist on its own so needs to be extracted from water via electrolysis or separated from carbon fossil fuels.
    • Hydrogen fuel cells need huge investment to be developed to the point where they become a genuinely viable energy source.
    • This will also require the political will to invest the time and money into development in order to improve and mature the technology.
    • Precious metals such as platinum and iridium are typically required as catalysts in fuel cells meaning unfeasibly high cost.
    • There are also barriers around regulatory issues concerning the framework that defines commercial deployment models.
    • Storage and transportation of hydrogen is more complex than that required for fossil fuels due to its high inflammability.

    Back2Basics:  Colours spectrum of Hydrogen

    (1) Green hydrogen

    (2) Blue hydrogen

    • It is produced mainly from natural gas, using a process called steam reforming, which brings together natural gas and heated water in the form of steam.
    • The output is hydrogen – but also carbon dioxide as a by-product.
    • That means carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential to trap and store this carbon.
    • Blue hydrogen is sometimes described as ‘low-carbon hydrogen’ as the steam reforming process doesn’t actually avoid the creation of greenhouse gases.

    (3) Grey hydrogen

    • Currently, this is the most common form of hydrogen production.
    • Grey hydrogen is created from natural gas, or methane, using steam methane reformation but without capturing the greenhouse gases made in the process.

    (4) Black and brown hydrogen

    • Any hydrogen made from fossil fuels through the process of ‘gasification’ is sometimes called black or brown hydrogen interchangeably.
    • They are the most environmentally damaging.

    (5) Pink hydrogen

    • Pink hydrogen is generated through electrolysis powered by nuclear energy.
    • Nuclear-produced hydrogen can also be referred to as purple hydrogen or red hydrogen.
    • In addition, the very high temperatures from nuclear reactors could be used in other hydrogen productions by producing steam for more efficient electrolysis or fossil gas-based steam methane reforming.

     

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  • Devastation in Dima Hasao and its after-effects

    Disaster struck Dima Hasao, central Assam’s hill district, in mid-May after incessant heavy rainfall.

    Impacts of the disaster

    • The 170 km railway line connecting Lumding in the Brahmaputra Valley’s Hojai district and Badarpur in the Barak Valley’s Karimganj district was severely affected.
    • The Assam government and Railway Ministry’s assessments said the district suffered a loss of more than ₹1,000 crore, but ecologists say the damage could be irreversibly higher.

    How severe has the rain been in Assam?

    • Assam is used to floods, sometimes even four times a year, resultant landslides and erosion.
    • But the pre-monsoon showers this year have been particularly severe on Dima Hasao, one of three hill districts in the State.
    • Landslips have claimed four lives and damaged roads.
    • The impact has been most severe on the arterial railway, which was breached at 58 locations leaving the track hanging in several places.
    • The disruption of train services, unlikely to be restored soon, has cut off the flood-hit Barak Valley, parts of Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.

    Why is the railway in focus post-disaster?

    • Dima Hasao straddles the Barail, a tertiary mountain range between the Brahmaputra and Barak River basins.
    • The district is on the Dauki fault (the prone-to-earthquakes geological fractures between two blocks of rocks) straddling Bangladesh and parts of the northeast.
    • British engineers were said to have factored in the fragility of the hills to build the railway line over 16 years by 1899.
    • The end result was an engineering marvel 221 km long over several bridges and through 37 tunnels, laid along the safer sections of the hills.

    A faulty experiment

    • A project to convert the metre gauge track to broad gauge was undertaken in 1996 but the work was completed only by March 2015 because of geotechnical constraints and extremist groups.
    • The broad-gauge track was realigned to be straighter, but a 2009-10 audit report revealed that the project had been undertaken without proper planning and visualisation of the soil strata behaviour.
    • The report gave the example of the disaster-prone Tunnel 10 on the realigned track that was pegged 8 meters below the bed of a nearby stream.

    Is only the railway at fault?

    • There is a general consensus that other factors have contributed to the situation Dima Hasao is in today.
    • Roads in the district, specifically the four-lane Saurashtra-Silchar (largest Barak Valley town) East-West Corridor, have been realigned or deviated from the old ones that were planned around rivers and largely weathered the conditions.
    • The arterial roads build over the past 20 years often cave in and get washed away by floods or blocked by landslides.
    • Shortened cycles of jhum or shifting cultivation on the hill slopes and unregulated mining have accentuated the “man-made disaster”.
    • Massive extraction of river stone, illegal mining of coal and smuggling of forest timbe has led to the disaster.
    • These activities have increased water current besides weakening either side of riverbanks.

    How vital are the rail and highway through Dima Hasao?

    • Meghalaya aside, Dima Hasao is the geographical link to a vast region comprising southern Assam’s Barak Valley, parts of Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura.
    • Moreover, this track is vital for India’s Look East policy that envisages shipping goods to and from Bangladesh’s Chittagong port via Tripura’s border points at Akhaura and Sabroom.
    • These are the last railway station near the Feni River that serves as the India-Bangladesh border.

     

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  • Hyper-accumulator Plants for Soil Detox

    A study published in the JNKVV (Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya) research journal concluded that heavy metal pollution of soil is “emerging at a speedy rate” in India due to industrialisation.

    How does soil get contaminated?

    • Soil contamination can happen due to a variety of reasons, including manufacturing, mineral extraction, accidental spills, illegal dumping, leaking underground storage tanks, pesticide and fertiliser use etc.
    • These toxic heavy metals are then absorbed by food crops and other plants before they eventually make their way into our food chain, directly affecting human life along with ecology.

    Detoxing the soil

    • Many technologies have emerged to remediate this soil pollution.
    • But these methods have been deemed lacking in terms of sustainability as they come with a large cost and have adverse effects themselves.

    Novel technique: Hyperaccumulators

    • Turning toward more sustainable and eco-friendly technologies, scientists have developed methods of “Phytoremediation”.
    • It is a remediation method that uses living organisms like plants, microalgae, and seaweeds.
    • One particular way to remove toxic heavy metals from the soil includes the use of “hyperaccumulator” plants that absorb these substances from the soil.

    What are hyperaccumulator plants?

    • Phytoremediation refers to the usage of “hyperaccumulator” plants to absorb the toxic materials present in the soil and accumulate in their living tissue.
    • Most plants do sometimes accumulate toxic substances.
    • Hyperaccumulators have the unusual ability to absorb hundreds or thousands of times greater amounts of these substances than is normal for most plants.
    • Most discovered hyperaccumulator plants typically accumulate nickel and occur on soils that are rich in nickel, cobalt and in some cases, manganese.

    Where are they found?

    • These hyperaccumulator species have been discovered in many parts of the world.
    • They include the Mediterranean region (mainly plants of the genus Alyssum), tropical outcrops in Brazi, Cuba, New Caledonia (French territory) and Southeast Asia (mainly plants of the genus Phyllanthus).

    How can they be used to remove toxic metals from the soil?

    • Suitable plant species can be used to ‘pick up’ the pollutants from the soil through their roots and transport them to their stem, leaves and other parts.
    • After this, these plants can be harvested and either disposed or even used to extract these toxic metals from the plant.
    • This process can be used to remove metals like silver, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, mercury, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, lead and zinc; metalloids such as arsenic and selenium; some radionuclides; and non-metallic components such as boron.
    • But it cannot be used to remove organic pollutants from the ground due to metabolic breakdown.

    Advantages of phytoremediation with hyperaccumulators

    • One of the primary advantages of phytoremediation is the fact that it is quite cost-effective in comparison with other remediation methods.
    • The only major costs attached are related to crop management (planting, weed control, watering, fertilisation, pruning, fencing, harvesting etc.).
    • This method is also relatively simple and doesn’t require any new kinds of specialised technology.
    • Also, no external energy source is required since the plants grow with the help of sunlight.
    • Another important advantage of this method is that it enriches the soil with organic substances and microorganisms which can protect its chemical and biological qualities.
    • Also, while the plants are growing and accumulating toxic heavy metals, they protect the soil from erosion due to wind and water.

    Limitations of hyperaccumulators

    • For all its advantages, this kind of phytoremediation with hyperaccumulators has a big drawback: it is a very slow and time-consuming process.
    • The restoration of an area with this process can take up to 10 years or more.
    • This comes with a large economic cost, proportional to the size of the area under rehabilitation.
    • The plants to conduct this rehabilitation must be carefully selected based on a large number of characteristics or they could act as an invasive species.
    • They could grow out of control and upsetting the delicate ecological balance of not just the area under rehabilitation, but also the entire region it is part of.

    What can be done for their better utilization?

    • Due to this reason, scientists only propose using species that are native to the region where the phytoremediation project is undertaken.
    • This also has other benefits: these plants will already be acclimatised to the region and there will be no legal problems concerning the procurement, transport and use of seeds.

     

     

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  • India’s Vulnerability to Drought

    A United Nations report ‘Drought in Numbers’ has revealed that many parts of India fall under the list of regions that are vulnerable to drought globally.

    What are Droughts?

    • Drought is a prolonged dry period in the natural climate cycle that can occur anywhere in the world.
    • It is a slow-onset disaster characterized by the lack of precipitation, resulting in a water shortage.

    Types of Droughts

    • Meteorological drought is defined usually on the basis of the degree of dryness (in comparison to some “normal” or average amount) and the duration of the dry period.
    • Agricultural drought should be able to account for the variable susceptibility of crops during different stages of crop development, from emergence to maturity.
    • Hydrological drought is associated with the effects of periods of precipitation (including snowfall) shortfalls on surface or subsurface water supply (i.e. streamflow, reservoir and lake levels, and groundwater).
    • Socioeconomic drought is associated with the supply and demand of some economic goods with elements of meteorological, hydrological, and agricultural drought.

    What is the Drought in Numbers report?

    • The Drought in Numbers report is a collection of data on the effects of droughts on our ecosystem and how they can be mitigated through efficient planning for the future.
    • The report also helps inform negotiations surrounding key decisions by the UNCCD’s 197 member parties at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15), currently underway in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
    • Drought, land restoration, and related aspects such as land rights, gender equality and youth empowerment are among the top considerations at COP15.

    What is COP15?

    • The UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP15 focuses on desertification, land degradation, and drought.
    • The theme for the conference is “Land. Life. Legacy: From scarcity to prosperity.”
    • The conference has brought together government representatives, private sector members, and civil society stakeholders to ensure that land continues to benefit present and future generations.

    What does the report entail?

    • The number and duration of droughts around the world has increased by an alarming 29% since 2000.
    • Globally, droughts in the same period caused economic losses of approximately $124 billion.
    • Drought conditions can force up to 216 million people to migrate by 2050.
    • Other factors at play along with drought could be water scarcity, declining crop productivity, rise in sea levels, and overpopulation.
    • The report also stated that India’s GDP reduced by 2 to 5% between 1998 and 2017 due to severe droughts in the country.

    Gendered impacts of drought

    • Research shows that women and girls in emerging and developing countries suffer more in terms of education levels, nutrition, health, sanitation, and safety as a result of droughts.
    • The burden of water collection also disproportionately falls on women (72%) and girls (9%).
    • The report notes that they may spend up to 40% of their caloric intake fetching water.

    What are the environmental aspects?

    • The largest increase in drought losses is projected in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic regions of Europe.
    • Australia’s megadrought in 2019-2020 contributed to “megafires” resulting in one of the most extensive losses of habitat for threatened species.
    • About three billion animals were killed or displaced in the Australian wildfires.
    • Around 12 million hectares of land are lost each year due to drought and desertification.

     

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  • What is Stockholm+50?

    Stockholm+50 conference — a follow-on to the 1972 conference to be held in Stockholm from 2-3 June 2022 is the one that started the environmental movement we see today.

    What is Stockholm +50?

    • Stockholm +50 is an international environmental meeting hosted by the United Nations General Assembly to be held in Stockholm, Sweden from 2-3 June 2022.
    • The theme of Stockholm+50 is “a healthy planet for the prosperity of all – our responsibility, our opportunity.
    • In 1972, the UN Conference on the Environment in Stockholm was held, and it was essentially the first conference that managed to address environmental issues on the right level.
    • Fifty years later, the United Nations is back in Stockholm to commemorate that important milestone.

    Significance: Establishment of UNEP

    • In 1972, some 122 countries attended, and participants adopted a series of principles on the environment, including the Stockholm Declaration and Action Plan for the Human Environment.
    • The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was created as a result of the conference.

    What is India’s connection with this?

    • Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in her seminal speech in the conference brought forward the connection between ecological management and poverty alleviation.
    • Her call remains as pertinent now as then: “We have to prove to the disinherited majority of the world that ecology and conservation will not work against their interest but will bring an improvement in their lives.”

    Why is Stockholm +50 important?

    • There was a lot of media attention around COP26 last year where world leaders gathered to continue the work to uphold the actions promised by the Paris Agreement, 2015.
    • Later this year, there will be COP27 in Egypt, where organizers will aim to make the conference a radical turning point in international climate efforts.

    What will be happening at Stockholm +50?

    • The event in the beginning of June will see representatives from around the world gather in Stockholm to discuss how to achieve a sustainable and inclusive future for all.
    • Stockholm +50 could usher in a much-needed new boost to environmental awareness and action for the next half-century, just as it did five decades ago.

     

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  • Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021

    What is issue:

    A senior parliamentarian has expressed concern over the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021, which is in the final stages of consultations in the Joint Parliamentary Committee.

    Biological Diversity Act (BDA), 2002: 

    • The BDA, 2002 was enacted for the conservation of biological diversity and fair, equitable sharing of the monetary benefits from the commercial use of biological resources and traditional knowledge.
    • The main intent of this legislation is to protect India’s rich biodiversity and associated knowledge against their use by foreign individuals.
    • It seeks to check biopiracy, protect biological diversity and local growers through a three-tier structure of central and state boards and local committees.
    • The Act provides for setting up of a National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) and Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) in local bodies.
    • The NBA will enjoy the power of a civil court.

    What are the proposed Amendments?

    The amendment bill seeks to reduce the pressure on wild medicinal plants by encouraging the cultivation of medicinal plants and Decriminalizes certain offences.

    • Biological resources sharing: Exempts Ayush practitioners from intimating biodiversity boards for accessing biological resources or knowledge (Vaids and Hakims)
    • Research promotion: Facilitates fast-tracking of research, simplify the patent application process
    • Bring in foreign investment: Seeks to bring more foreign investments in biological resources, research, patent and commercial utilisation, without compromising the national interest

    Need for the Amendment

    • Simplifying process: Concerns were raised by Ayush medicine, seed, industry and research sectors urging the government to simplify, streamline the profession.
    • Easing compliance: They urged govt to reduce the compliance burden to provide for a conducive environment for collaborative research and investments.
    • Access and Benefit-sharing: It also sought to simplify the patent application process, widen the scope of access and benefit-sharing with local communities.
    • Exemptions: Ayush practitioners have been exempted from the ambit of the Act, a huge move because the Ayush industry benefits greatly from biological resources in India.
    • Certain offences: Violations of the law related to benefit-sharing with communities, which are currently treated as criminal offences and are non-bailable, have been proposed to be made civil offences.
    • Imbibing Nagoya Protocol: This bill provides to reconcile the domestic law with free prior informed consent requirements of the 2010 Nayogya Protocol on ABS.

    Criticisms of the bill

    • No consultation: The bill has been introduced without seeking public comments as required under the pre-legislative consultative policy.
    • No profit-sharing: There are ambiguous provisions in the proposed amendment to protect, conserve or increase the stake of local communities in the sustainable use and conservation of biodiversity.
    • Commercialization: Activists say that the amendments were done to “solely benefit” the AYUSH Ministry.
    • Loopholes to Biopiracy: The Bill would mean AYUSH manufacturing companies would no longer need to take approvals.
    • Ignoring Bio-utilization: The bill has excluded the term Bio-utilization which is an important element in the Act.  Leaving out bio utilization would leave out an array of activities like characterization, incentivisation and bioassay which are undertaken with commercial motive.
    • Exotic plants cultivation: The bill also exempts cultivated medicinal plants from the purview of the Act but it is practically impossible to detect which plants are cultivated and which are from the wild.
    • De-licensing: This provision could allow large companies to evade the requirement for prior approval or share the benefit with local communities.

  • Highlights of the Seoul Forest Declaration

    The participants from 141 countries gathered in person and online at the 15th World Forestry Congress in Seoul, Republic of Korea adopted the Seoul Forest Declaration.

    Seoul Forest Declaration

    • Shared responsibility: The Declaration urges that responsibility for forests should be shared and integrated across institutions, sectors and stakeholders.
    • Increased investment: Investment in forest and landscape restoration globally needs to triple by 2030 to meet internationally agreed commitments and targets on restoring degraded land.
    • Moving towards circular economy: One of the key takeaways was the importance of moving towards a circular bioeconomy and climate neutrality.
    • Innovative green financing mechanisms: To upscale investment in forest conservation, restoration and sustainable use, and highlighted the potential of sustainably produced wood as a renewable, recyclable and versatile material.
    • Decision-making: It urged the continued development and use of emerging innovative technologies and mechanisms to enable evidence-based forest and landscape decision-making.

    Other takeaways

    • Close cooperation among nations is needed to address challenges that transcend political boundaries.
    • This was strengthened at the Congress by the launch of new partnerships such as the:
    1. Assuring the Future of Forests with Integrated Risk Management (AFFIRM) Mechanism and
    2. Sustaining an Abundance of Forest Ecosystems (SAFE) Initiative

    Back2Basics: World Forestry Congress

    • The first World Forestry Congress first held in Rome in 1926. After that, it is held about every six years by the UN-FAO.
    • In 1954, FAO was entrusted with supporting Congress preparations in close cooperation with the host country and proudly continues to do so today. .
    • It has been providing a forum for inclusive discussion on the key challenges and way forward for the forestry sector.

     

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  • What are Urban Heat Islands?

    Several parts of the country are reeling under heat wave conditions. Cities, especially, are a lot hotter than rural areas. This is due to a phenomenon called an “urban heat island”.

    Urban Heat Island

    • An urban heat island is a local and temporary phenomenon experienced when certain pockets within a city experience higher heat load than surrounding or neighbouring areas on the same day.
    • The variations are mainly due to heat remaining trapped within locations that often resemble concrete jungles.
    • The temperature variation can range between 3 to 5 degrees Celsius.

    Why are cities hotter than rural areas?

    • Green cover: Rural areas have relatively larger green cover in the form of plantations, farmlands, forests and trees as compared to urban spaces.
    • Transpiration: Transpiration is a natural way of heat regulation. This is the scientific process of roots absorbing water from the soil, storing it in the leaves and stems of plants, before processing it and releasing it in the form of water vapour.
    • Heat-regulation: Urban areas are often developed with high-rise buildings, roads, parking spaces, pavements and transit routes for public transport. As a result, heat regulation is either completely absent or man-made.
    • Construction: Cities usually have buildings constructed with glass, bricks, cement and concrete all of which are dark-coloured materials, meaning they attract and absorb higher heat content.

    This forms temporary islands within cities where the heat remains trapped.

    How can urban heat islands be reduced?

    • The main way to cut heat load within urban areas is increasing the green cover; filling open spaces with trees and plants.
    • Other ways of heat mitigation include appropriate choice of construction materials, promoting terrace and kitchen gardens, and painting white or light colours on terraces wherever possible to reflect heat.

    What has NASA said on urban heat islands in India?

    • NASA recently pointed out heat islands in urban parts of Delhi, where temperatures were far higher than nearby agricultural lands.
    • It used its Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment (Ecostress) on the International Space Station.

     

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