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Subject: Environment

  • Common survey to count India’s elephant and tiger populations

    From December, India will move to a system that will count tigers and elephants as part of a common survey.

    Common survey for elephants and tiger

    • Given that 90% of the area occupied by elephants and tigers is common, and once estimation methods are standardized, having a common survey can significantly save costs.
    • The tiger survey is usually held once in four years and elephants are counted once in five years.
    • According to the most recent 2018-19 survey, there were 2,997 tigers in India while in the last count in 2017, there were 29,964 elephants in India.

    Answer this PYQ:

    With reference to Indian Elephants, consider the following statements :

    1. The leader of an elephant group is a female.
    2. The maximum gestation period can be 22 months.
    3. An elephant can normally go on calving till the age of 40 years only.
    4. Among the States in India, the highest population is in Kerala.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

    (a) 1and 2 only

    (b) 2 and 4 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1,3 and 4 only

     

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    Why need a common survey?

    • Based on sightings in camera traps and indirect estimation methods, tiger numbers are computed.
    • Elephant numbers largely rely on States directly counting the number of elephants.
    • In recent years, techniques such as analyzing dung samples have also been deployed to estimate birth rates and population trends in elephants.

    About All India Tiger Estimation

    • The tiger count is prepared after every four years by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) provides details on the number of tigers in the 18 tiger reign states with 50 tiger reserves.
    • It is conducted by the NTCA and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with the State Forest Departments.
    • The entire exercise spanned over four years is considered to be the world’s largest wildlife survey effort in terms of coverage and intensity of sampling.
    • Over 15, 000 cameras are installed at various strategic points to capture the movement of tigers.
    • This is supported by extensive data collected by field personnel and satellite mapping.

     

    Back2Basics: Asian Elephants

    • Asian elephants are listed as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List of threatened species.
    • This has been done as most of the range States except India have lost their viable elephant populations due to loss of habitat, poaching, etc.
    • Current population estimates indicate that there are about 50,000-60,000 Asian elephants in the world.
    • More than 60% of the world’s elephant population is in India.

  • Net-zero emission targets do little to retard carbon grab

    Context

    Earlier this week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported on climate science, warning against the folly of a business-as-usual development model.

    What does science say about future pathways

    • Globally, average surface temperatures have already risen by 1.09°C between 1850-1900 and 2010-2019.
    • What happens next depends on our development and technological choices.
    • High fossil fuel use path: As per the the IPCC document, if we followed high fossil fuel development (doubling emissions by 2050), temperatures would rise by 4.4°C (range of 3.3-5.7°C) by 2100.
    • Sustainable pathways: If a more sustainable pathway were pursued average global temperature rise would be 1.4°C (range of 1.0-1.8°C).
    • Regardless, it is likely that the average rise in temperatures will breach the 1.5°C barrier within the next two decades.
    • If emissions are not mitigated rapidly, we are staring at rising climate risks and catastrophic impacts.
    • Human influence is very likely the main reason behind glacial retreat since the 1990s.
    • Since observations began, glaciers have lost the maximum mass during 2010-19.
    • Sea level rise: Even with warming restricted to 1.5°C, we are still on course for more than 2 metres of sea-level rise beyond this century.

    India’s vulnerability to climate change

    • If warming exceeds 4°C, India could see about 40% increase in precipitation annually, leading to extreme rainfall events.
    • Three-quarters of India’s districts are now hotspots of extreme weather events.
    • Since 1990, more than 300 such events have resulted in damages exceeding INR 5.6 lakh crore.

    Changes needed to stabilise temperature rise

    • The IPCC says that in order to stabilise rise in temperatures, two things have to happen:
    • 1) Anthropogenic emissions must become net-zero.
    • 2) In the interim cumulative emissions cannot exceed a global carbon budget.
    • Carbon Budget: To stay within the 1.5°C limit, starting in 2020 the remaining global carbon budget is 300-500 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide (GtCO2) (with a likelihood of 50%-83%).

    Unjust climate politics and net-zero emission targets

    • Of late, several large emitters have promised net-zero emission targets. 
    • CEEW analysts calculate that despite their self-laudatory targets, China would consume 87% of the global carbon space (if it reached net-zero in 2060) and the US would eat up 26% (if it reached net-zero in 2050).
    • Mere announcements of net-zero targets do little to retard the “carbon grab” of the largest emitters.
    •  Rich countries, as a whole, emitted ~25 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2eq) more than their estimated emission allowance during 2008-20, thanks to non-participation in pre-2020 climate agreements and misuse of accounting loopholes. 
    • Climate justice demands that developed countries now take steps to free up carbon space for others.

    Way forward for India

    • India must adopt a more climate-friendly development pathway for its own sake.
    • Its per capita incomes, energy consumption and carbon footprint are well below the global average but it must deliver high rates of economic growth within a shrinking carbon budget.
    • Shift discourse to economy: The discourse must shift from energy to the economy.
    • There are very few sunrise sectors that are not low-carbon.
    • India must tap new technology frontiers (green hydrogen), new business models (distributed and digitalised services, for distributed energy, EV charging, cold chains), new construction materials (low-carbon cement, recycled plastic), new opportunities in the circular economy of minerals, municipal waste and agricultural residue, and new practices for sustainable agriculture and food systems.
    • Policy and regulatory support: Many of above technologies and business models are proven but need policy and regulatory support.

    Conclusion

    The climate crisis is a strategic threat to our development prospects. It deserves sober, continuing analysis, deliberation and action. The headlines look bad; reality will get worse.

  • What is India Plastics Pact?

    The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has long been at the forefront of having an India Plastic Pact.

    What are Plastics Pacts?

    • The Plastics Pacts are business-led initiatives and transform the plastics packaging value chain for all formats and products.
    • The Pacts bring together everyone from across the plastics value chain to implement practical solutions.
    • All Pacts unite behind four targets:
    1. to eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation;
    2. to ensure all plastic packaging is reusable or recyclable;
    3. to increase the reuse, collection, and
    4. recycling of plastic packaging; and to increase recycled content in plastic packaging

    India Plastics Pact

    • The India Plastics Pact, the first in Asia, will be launched in September at the CII Annual Sustainability Summit.
    • It can be expected to boost demand for recycled content, investments in recycling infrastructure, jobs in the waste sector, and beyond.
    • The first Plastics Pact was launched in the U.K. in 2018.
    • The India Plastics Pact is supported by WRAP (UK based NGO), which supports many Pacts globally.
    • This association will ensure access to expertise and knowledge from different Pacts worldwide.

    Key provisions of the pact

    • Pact will support the Extended Producer Responsibility framework of the government and improve solid waste management as envisioned in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
    • Integral to the Pact’s framework is the involvement of the informal waste sector crucial to post-consumer segregation, collection and processing of plastic waste.
    • While the India Plastics Pact will be active in India, it will link globally with other Plastics Pacts.

    How would this work?

    • The Plastics Pact is a network of initiatives that bring together all key stakeholders at the national or regional level to implement solutions towards a circular economy for plastics.
    • Each initiative is led by a local organization and unites governments, businesses, and citizens behind the common vision with a concrete set of ambitious local targets, for example in the following areas:
    1. Eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation
    2. Move from single-use to reuse where relevant
    3. Ensure all plastic packaging is reusable, recyclable, or compostable
    4. Increase the reuse, collection, and recycling or composting of plastic packaging
    5. Increase recycled content in plastic packaging

    Benefits offered

    • Many Indian businesses and organizations have expressed an interest in signing up to the Pact.
    • Deeper and long-lasting benefits will be felt across the supply chains of these businesses, most of which comprise MSMEs.
    • The Pact will encourage the development and maturing of the entire plastics production and management ecosystem.
    • Apart from benefits to society and the economy, delivering the targets will drive the circularity of plastics and help tackle pollution. They will lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

    Why need such pact?

    • Of the many sustainability challenges that impact societies, climate change and plastic waste have a special significance.
    • A 2019 report by the Center for International Environmental Law suggests that by 2050, greenhouse gas emissions from plastic could reach over 56 gigatonnes, 10-13% of the remaining carbon budget.
    • However, viewed from the angle of livelihoods, post-consumer segregation, collection and disposal of plastics make up about half of the income of 1.5- 4 million waste-pickers in India.

    Way forward

    • For India, the solution must be multi-pronged, systemic, and large scale, to create a visible impact.
    • The India Plastics Pact focuses on solutions and innovation.
    • Members’ accountability is ensured through ambitious targets and annual data reporting.
    • The Pact will develop a road map for guidance, form action groups composed of members, and initiate innovation projects.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Q. In India, ‘extended producer responsibility’ was introduced as an important feature in which of the following? (CSP 2019)

    (a) The Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998

    (b) The Recycled plastic (Manufacturing and Usage) Rules, 1999

    (c) The e-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011

    (d) The Food Safety and Standard Regulations, 2011

     

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  • Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)

    According to the IPCC’s Report (AR6), the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), is losing its stability.

    What is AMOC?

    • The AMOC is a large system of ocean currents.
    • It is the Atlantic branch of the ocean conveyor belt or Thermohaline circulation (THC), and distributes heat and nutrients throughout the world’s ocean basins.
    • AMOC carries warm surface waters from the tropics towards the Northern Hemisphere, where it cools and sinks.
    • It then returns to the tropics and then to the South Atlantic as a bottom current. From there it is distributed to all ocean basins via the Antarctic circumpolar current.
    • Gulf Stream, a part of the AMOC, is a warm current responsible for mild climate at the Eastern coast of North America as well as Europe.

    What happens if AMOC collapses?

    • Colder Europe: Without a proper AMOC and Gulf Stream, Europe will be very cold.
    • Rainfall decline: Modelling studies have shown that an AMOC shutdown would cool the northern hemisphere and decrease rainfall over Europe.
    • El-Nino trigger: It can also have an effect on the El Nino.
    • Cooling of Atlantic: AMOC collapse could bring about large, markedly different climate responses: a prominent cooling over the northern North Atlantic and neighboring areas.
    • Weaker thermohaline: Freshwater from melting Greenland ice sheets and the Arctic region can make circulation weaker as it is not as dense as salt water and doesn’t sink to the bottom.

    Has the AMOC weakened before?

    • AMOC and THC strength has always been fluctuating, mainly if you look at the late Pleistocene time period (last 1 million years).
    • The extreme glacial stages have seen weaker circulation and slowdown in AMOC, while the glacial terminations have shown a stronger AMOC and circulation.
    • AMOC has been relatively stable until the late 19th century.
    • With the end of the little ice age in about 1850, the ocean currents began to decline, with a second, more drastic decline following since the mid-20th century.

    Why is the AMOC slowing down?

    • Climate models have long predicted that global warming can cause a weakening of the major ocean systems of the world.
    • Last month researchers noted that a part of the Arctic’s ice called “Last Ice Area” has also melted.
    • The freshwater from the melting ice reduces the salinity and density of the water. Now, the water is unable to sink as it used to and weakens the AMOC flow.

    Influence of Indian Ocean

    • Another study suggested that the Indian Ocean may also be helping the slowing down of AMOC.
    • As the Indian Ocean warms faster and faster, it generates additional precipitation.
    • With so much precipitation in the Indian Ocean, there will be less precipitation in the Atlantic Ocean, leading to higher salinity in the waters of the tropical portion of the Atlantic.
    • This saltier water in the Atlantic, as it comes north via AMOC, will get cold much quicker than usual and sink faster.
    • This acts as a jump start for AMOC, intensifying the circulation.

    Now try this:

    Q.With reference to Ocean Mean Temperature (OMT), which of the following statements is/are correct? (CSP 2020)

    1. OMT is measured up to a depth of 26ÂșC isotherm which is 129 meters in the south-western Indian Ocean during January-March.
    2. OMT collected during January-March can be used in assessing whether the amount of rainfall in monsoon will be less or more than a certain long-term mean.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”t9bjw2xexz” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here:[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

    Back2Basics:  Ocean Currents

  • IPCC’s Climate Assessment Report

    The Geneva-based Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will release the first part of its Sixth Assessment Report, the periodic status check that has now become the most widely accepted scientific view of the state of the Earth’s climate.

    What is IPCC?

    • The IPCC, an intergovernmental body was established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
    • It was later endorsed by the UN General Assembly. Membership is open to all members of the WMO and UN.
    • The IPCC produces reports that contribute to the work of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the main international treaty on climate change.
    • The objective of the UNFCCC is to “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic (human-induced) interference with the climate system.”
    • The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report was a critical scientific input into the UNFCCC’s Paris Agreement in 2015.

    What are IPCC reports?

    • IPCC reports cover the scientific, technical and socioeconomic information relevant to understanding the scientific basis of risk of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation.
    • The IPCC does not carry out original research, nor does it monitor climate or related phenomena itself.
    • Rather, it assesses published literature, including peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed sources.
    • However, the IPCC can be said to stimulate research in climate science.

    The Assessment Reports

    • The five previous assessment reports that have come out since the IPCC was established in 1988 have formed the basis of international climate change negotiations, and the actions of the governments.
    • Their value has been globally acknowledged, and the fourth assessment report, which came out in 2007, won the IPCC the Nobel Peace Prize.
    • Each of these voluminous reports, the last couple of them running into thousands of pages, have built upon the previous ones with updated knowledge and understanding of the climate system.
    • The reports have presented projections for temperature rise till 2100 under different scenarios and the kind of impacts that can be expected under each of these pathways.

    Key projections of the 6th Report

    Apart from incorporating the latest available scientific evidence, the Sixth Assessment Report is also attempting to provide more actionable information to help governments take policy decisions.

    • REGIONAL FOCUS: It is expected that this report would likely state what the scenarios for sea-level rise in the Bay of Bengal region is, not just what the average sea-level rise across the world is likely to be.
    • EXTREME EVENTS: There is expected to be bigger focus on extreme weather events, like the ones we have seen in the last few weeks.
    • CITIES: Densely populated mega-cities are supposed to be among the most vulnerable to impacts of climate change. The report is expected to present specific scenarios the climate change impacts on cities and large urban populations, and also implications for key infrastructure.
    • SYNERGIES: IPCC is expected to present a more integrated understanding of the situation, cross-link evidence and discuss trade-offs between different options or pathways, and also likely to cover social implications of climate change action by countries.

    Why it matters?

    • The IPCC assessment reports have been extremely influential in directing the dialogue and action on climate change.
    • The First Assessment Report led to the setting up of the UNFCCC, the umbrella agreement under which international negotiations on climate change take place every year.
    • The Second Assessment Report was the basis for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that ran till last year, and the Fifth Assessment Report, which came out in 2014, guided the Paris Agreement.
    • The global climate architecture is now governed by the Paris Agreement, which replaced the Kyoto Protocol from this year.
    • There have been enough indications to suggest that global action was far below what was needed to keep the temperatures below 2°C, as mandated under the Paris Agreement.
    • In the immediate future, the IPCC report could serve as the most important warning towards the rapidly closing window of opportunity.

    Try this PYQ now:

    Q.The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty drawn at:

    (a) United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm,1972

    (b) UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992

    (c) World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002

    (d) UN Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen, 2009

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”9729137kxt” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here: [/wpdiscuz-feedback]

    Back2Basics: UNFCCC

    • The UNFCCC established an international environmental treaty to combat “dangerous human interference with the climate system”, in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
    • It was signed by 154 states at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992.

  • Declaring a National Calamity

    Under the existing Scheme of State Disaster Response Fund / National Response Fund of the Ministry of Home Affairs, there is no provision to declare any disaster including flood as a National Calamity.

    How does the law define a disaster?

    • A natural disaster includes earthquake, flood, landslide, cyclone, tsunami, urban flood, heatwave; a man-made disaster can be nuclear, biological and chemical.
    • As per the Disaster Management Act, 2005, “disaster” means:
    1. A catastrophe, mishap, calamity or grave occurrence in any area, arising from natural or man-made causes, or
    2. It results in substantial loss of life or human suffering or damage to, and destruction of, property, or damage to, or degradation of, environment, and
    3. Damage is of such a nature or magnitude as to be beyond the coping capacity of the community of the affected area.

    How can any of these be classified as a national disaster?

    • There is no provision, executive or legal, to declare a natural calamity as a national calamity.
    • The existing guidelines of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF)/ National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), do not contemplate declaring a disaster as a National Calamity.

    Has there ever been an attempt to define a national calamity?

    • In 2001, the National Committee under the chairmanship of the then PM was mandated to look into the parameters that should define a national calamity.
    • However, the committee did not suggest any fixed criterion.

    How, then, does the government classify disasters/calamities?

    • The 10th Finance Commission (1995-2000) examined a proposal that a disaster be termed “a national calamity of rarest severity” if it affects one-third of the population of a state.
    • The panel did not define a “calamity of rare severity” but stated that a calamity of rare severity would necessarily have to be adjudged on a case-to-case basis taking into account.

    What happens if a calamity is so declared?

    • When a calamity is declared to be of “rare severity/severe nature”, support to the state government is provided at the national level.
    • The Centre also considers additional assistance from the NDRF.
    • A Calamity Relief Fund (CRF) is set up, with the corpus shared 3:1 between Centre and state.
    • When resources in the CRF are inadequate, additional assistance is considered from the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF), funded 100% by the Centre.
    • Relief in repayment of loans or for grant of fresh loans to the persons affected on concessional terms, too, are considered once a calamity is declared “severe”.

  • Air Quality Commission Bill, 2021

    The Lok Sabha has passed the Bill to formalize the Commission for Air Quality Management For National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.

    Highlights of the AQC Bill

    • The AQC would be a ‘permanent’ body to address pollution in the National Capital Region Delhi and address sources of pollution in Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
    • The all-powerful body assumed several powers to coordinate action among States, levy fines — ranging up to â‚č1 crore or five years of prison — to address air pollution.

    Key features

    • Over-riding powers: While the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and its state branches have the powers to implement provisions of the Environment Protection Act for air, water and land pollution.
    • In case of dispute or a clash of jurisdictions, the AQC’s writ would prevail specific to matters concerning air pollution.
    • Chair: The body has a full-time chairperson and a range of members consisting of both representatives from several Ministries as well as independent experts and will have the final say on evolving policy and issuing directions.
    • Curb on stubble burning: the Commission may impose and collect environment compensation causing pollution by stubble burning.
    • No penalties to farmers: The Centre, facing flak earlier this year from farmers protesting the farm laws, had committed to removing a clause in the Air Commission Bill that would penalize farmers for burning stubble, an important contributor to noxious air quality.

  • Net-Zero Concept in Climate Change

    Independent charitable organization Oxfam has said that ‘net zero’ carbon targets that many countries have announced maybe a “dangerous distraction” from the priority of cutting carbon emissions.

    What does Net-Zero mean?

    • Net-zero, which is also referred to as carbon-neutrality, does not mean that a country would bring down its emissions to zero.
    • That would be gross-zero, which means reaching a state where there are no emissions at all, a scenario hard to comprehend.
    • Therefore, net-zero is a state in which a country’s emissions are compensated by absorption and removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

    Achieving net-zero targets

    • One way by which carbon can be absorbed is by creating carbon sinks.
    • Until recently, the Amazon rainforests in South America, which are the largest tropical forests in the world, were carbon sinks.
    • But eastern parts of these forests have started emitting CO2 instead of absorbing carbon emissions as a result of significant deforestation.

    What’s the difference between gross zero and net zero?

    • Given the impact that carbon emissions have on our planet, you might wonder why we aren’t aiming for zero, or gross zero, rather than net-zero.
    • Gross zero would mean stopping all emissions, which isn’t realistically attainable across all sectors of our lives and industry. Even with best efforts to reduce them, there will still be some emissions.
    • Net-zero looks at emissions overall, allowing for the removal of any unavoidable emissions, such as those from aviation or manufacturing.
    • Removing greenhouse gases could be via nature, as trees take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or through new technology or changing industrial processes.

    What is carbon negativity?

    • It is even possible for a country to have negative emissions if the absorption and removal exceed the actual emissions.
    • Bhutan has negative emissions because it absorbs more than it emits.

    Which countries have recently announced net-zero targets?

    • In 2019, the New Zealand government passed the Zero Carbon Act, which committed the country to zero carbon emissions by 2050 or sooner.
    • In the same year, the UK’s parliament passed legislation requiring the government to reduce the UK’s net emissions of greenhouse gases by 100 per cent relative to 1990 levels by the year 2050.
    • More recently, US announced that the country will cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.
    • The European Union too, has a similar plan, called “Fit for 55”, the European Commission has asked all of its 27 member countries to cut emissions by 55 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.
    • Last year, China also announced that it would become net-zero by the year 2060 and that it would not allow its emissions to peak beyond what they are in 2030.

    What does the Oxfam report say?

    • “Land-hungry ‘net zero’ schemes could force an 80 per cent rise in global food prices and more hunger while allowing rich nations and corporates to continue “dirty business-as-usual”.
    • The report says that if the challenge of change is tackled only by way of planting more trees, then about 1.6 billion hectares of new forests would be required to remove the world’s excess carbon by 2050.
    • Currently, countries’ plans to cut emissions will only lead to a one percent reduction by the year 2030.
    • Oxfam estimates that it could rise by 80 percent by the year 2050.

  • Why cloudbursts could become more frequent?

    Recently, cloudbursts have been reported from several places in J&K, Ladakh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. A

    What is a Cloudburst?

    • Cloudbursts are short-duration, intense rainfall events over a small area.
    • According to the IMD, it is a weather phenomenon with unexpected precipitation exceeding 100mm/h over a geographical region of approximately 20-30 square km.

    What causes Cloudburst?

    • A study published last year studied the meteorological factors behind the cloudburst over the Kedarnath region.
    • They analyzed atmospheric pressure, temperature, rainfall, cloud water content, cloud fraction, cloud particle radius, cloud mixing ratio, total cloud cover, wind speed, wind direction, and relative humidity during the cloudburst, before as well as after the cloudburst.
    • The results showed that during the cloudburst, the relative humidity and cloud cover was at the maximum level with low temperature and slow winds.
    • It is expected that because of this situation a high amount of clouds may get condensed at a very rapid rate and result in a cloudburst.

    Impact of climate change

    • Several studies have shown that climate change will increase the frequency and intensity of cloudbursts in many cities across the globe.
    • As temperatures increase the atmosphere can hold more and more moisture and this moisture comes down as a short very intense rainfall for a short duration.
    • This results in flash floods in the mountainous areas and urban floods in the cities.
    • Also, there is evidence suggesting that globally short duration rainfall extremes are going to become more intense and frequent.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.During a thunderstorm, the thunder in the skies is produced by the:

    1. meeting of cumulonimbus clouds in the sky
    2. lightning that separates the nimbus clouds
    3. violent upward movement of air and water particles

    Select the correct option using the codes given below:

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) None of the above

  • [pib] 14 Indian Tiger Reserves get Global CA/TS recognition

    The Environment Ministry has released the names of the 14 tiger reserves that had received the accreditation of the Global Conservation Assured|Tiger Standards (CA|TS), an accreditation tool agreed upon by tiger range countries.

    Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS)

    • CA|TS has been agreed upon as an accreditation tool by the global coalition of Tiger Range Countries (TRCs) and has been developed by tiger and protected area experts.
    • Officially launched in 2013, it sets minimum standards for effective management of target species and encourages the assessment of these standards in relevant conservation areas.
    • CA|TS is a set of criteria that allows tiger sites to check if their management will lead to successful tiger conservation.
    • The Global Tiger Forum (GTF), an international NGO working on tiger conservation, and World Wildlife Fund India are the two implementing partners of the National Tiger Conservation Authority for CATS assessment in India.

    Which are the 14 reserves?

    The 14 tiger reserves which have been accredited are:

    • Manas, Kaziranga and Orang in Assam,
    • Satpura, Kanha and Panna in Madhya Pradesh,
    • Pench in Maharashtra,
    • Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar,
    • Dudhwa in Uttar Pradesh,
    • Sunderbans in West Bengal,
    • Parambikulam in Kerala,
    • Bandipur Tiger Reserve of Karnataka and
    • Mudumalai and Anamalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu

    Significance

    • CATS accreditation is a global recognition of good tiger governance.
    • This recognition means a lot in the context of adaptation to climate change, sustainability of ecosystem services, and safeguarding disruption of zoonotic cycles, through an umbrella species approach.
    • The aspects monitored for accreditation include the importance and status of a reserve, management, community participation, tourism, protection, habitat management, and tiger populations.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Among the following Tiger Reserves, which one has the largest area under “Critical Tiger Habitat”? (CSP 2020)

    (a) Corbett

    (b) Ranthambore

    (c) Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam

    (d) Sundarbans