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Subject: Environment

  • Second-generation bioethanol: It is time to launch it headlong

    India has been promoting 2G bioethanol to achieve its E20 target.

    What is Bioethanol?

    • Biomass has always been a reliable source of energy.
    • Cultivated biomass has begun to be used to generate bioethanol.
    • They are categorised as first (1G), second (2G) and third-generation (3G), based on the source of raw material used for bioethanol production.

    Its types

    • 1G bioethanol: Raw materials required are corn seeds and sugarcane; both are food sources. There is not enough food for everyone; so the use of 1G is a major concern. However, some countries have enough raw materials to manufacture 1G.
    • 2G bioethanol: It can be produced using inedible farm waste left over after harvest. Corn cobs, rice husks, wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse can all be transformed into cellulose and fermented into ethanol that can then be mixed with conventional fuels.
    • 3G bioethanol: Algae grown in wastewater, sewage or saltwater can be used to produce bioethanol. Water used for human consumption is not required. The benefit of 3G is that it does not compete with food. Nevertheless, economic viability remains a critical issue.

    Ethanol blending in India

    • India currently blends approximately 8.5 per cent ethanol with petrol.
    • It is estimated that ethanol production in India will triple to approximately 10 billion litres per year by 2025.
    • The 2G plant will play a major role in making bioethanol available for blending.
    • In addition to reducing agricultural waste incineration, it can also help meet the goal of converting waste into energy.

    Moves for production

    • The first 2G ethanol biorefinery is being set up at Bathinda, Punjab.
    • Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) plans to set up four 2G ethanol plants that will convert agricultural waste into biofuel, reducing toxic air pollution in northern India.
    • Additionally, HPCL has plans to build four plants to produce ethanol using grains, such as surplus maize, surplus rice and damaged grain.

    Innovations in this field

    • An Indian company has filed a patent for loop reactor technology.
    • It is a long, serpentine tubular reactor, in which fermentable sugars are converted to ethanol with the help of brewer’s yeast.
    • This sparked an idea to come up with reactive pipeline technology, wherein the pipeline connects the sugar factories where the ethanol is produced to the blending depot at the closest oil manufacturing companies.
    • Reactive pipeline technology is poised to be a game-changer for sugar factories and grain-based distilleries since uninterrupted raw material supply is a major challenge.

    Benefits offered by ethanol blending

    (1) Energy security

    • The Union government has emphasized that increased use of ethanol can help reduce the oil import bill.
    • India’s net import cost stands at $551 billion in 2020-21. It is estimated that the E20 program can save the country $4 billion (Rs 30,000 crore) per annum.

    (2) Emission reduction

    • Use of ethanol-blended petrol decreases emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), the expert committee noted.
    • Higher reductions in CO emissions were observed with E20 fuel — 50 per cent lower in two-wheelers and 30 per cent lower in four-wheelers.

    Some issues to be addressed

    (1) Fuel efficiency

    • There is an estimated loss of six-seven per cent fuel efficiency for four-wheelers and three-four per cent for two-wheelers when using E20, the committee report noted.
    • These vehicles are originally designed for E0 and calibrated for E10.

    (2) Recalibrating engines

    • The use of E20 will require new engine specifications and changes to the fuel lines, as well as some plastic and rubber parts due to the fuel’s corrosive nature.
    • The engines, moreover, will need to be recalibrated to achieve the required power, efficiency and emission-level balance due to the lower energy density of the fuel.

    Conclusion

    • The country’s target of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol (E20) by 2025 can play a key role in reducing crude oil imports and bolstering India’s energy independence.
    • But India may miss an earlier goal set by him in 2015 — of reducing crude oil import dependency 10 per cent by 2022.
    • The target is far from being met and the country’s import dependency is only increasing.
    • The country’s target of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol (E20) by 2025 can play a key role in reducing crude oil imports and bolstering India’s energy independence.

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    Back2Basics: EBP Programme

    • Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme was launched in January 2003 for the supply of 5% ethanol blended petrol.
    • The programme sought to promote the use of alternative and environment-friendly fuels and to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.
    • OMCs are advised to continue according to priority of ethanol from 1) sugarcane juice/sugar/sugar syrup, 2) B-heavy molasses 3) C-heavy molasses and 4) damaged food grains/other sources.

  • The message from the IPCC report

    Context

    The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released the Working Group I contribution to the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6). It is the first of four that the Panel will issue over the next one and a half years.

    What does the report say?

    • Global surface temperature is now higher by 1.07oC since the pre-industrial era.
    • The impact of climate change on the atmosphere, oceans and land is unmistakably of human origin and this impact is picking up pace.
    • Carbon dioxide is the dominant source of warming.
    • Aerosols contribute to reducing the impact of warming by other greenhouse gases, by almost a third.
    • Methane reduction, while needed overall, is particularly significant only as part of the endgame as the drastic reduction of aerosols actually leads to an increase in warming.
    • The report expectedly projects an increase in climate extremes due to global warming, with heatwaves, extreme rainfall events and occurrence of extreme sea levels all expected to intensify and be more frequent.
    • A major finding of the report is that air pollution reduction and steep climate change mitigation are not complementary goals but require independent efforts over the short and medium-term
    • With the inclusion of the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s Earth System Model among the climate models used in AR6, India too has joined the climate modelling fraternity.

    About the net-zero emission targets

    •  The report’s clear message is that reaching net zero was not the determining factor for the world to limit itself to a 1.5oC , or 2oC, or indeed any specific temperature increase.
    • The report is clear that it is the cumulative emissions in reaching net zero that determine the temperature rise.
    • India’s Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change was quick to note this point about net zero in a statement, adding that “historical cumulative emissions are the cause of the climate crisis that the world faces today”
    • The limitations of the remaining carbon budget for 1.5oC are so stringent — a mere 500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide for an even chance of keeping to the limit — that they cannot be met by promises of net-zero 30 years from now.
    • Equally, the disconcerting finding is that the world is set to cross the 1.5oC limit within 10-15 years.

    Implications for India

    •  India has contributed less than 5% of global cumulative emissions to date, with per capita annual emissions a third of the global average.
    • India is also the only nation among the G20 with commitments under the Paris Agreement that are even 2oC warming-compatible.
    • India needs its development space urgently to cope with the future, one where global temperature increase may be closer to 2oC.
    • Even if India completely stops its emission which is 3 billion tonnes in carbon dioxide equivalent terms, for the next 30 years, with others’ emissions remaining the same, will buy the world less than two years of additional time for meeting the Paris Agreement temperature goals.

    Way forward

    • Equity: Focusing on definite cumulative emission targets keeping equity and historical responsibility in view,
    • Immediate reduction by developed countries: Immediate emission reductions by the developed countries with phase-out dates for all fossil fuels.
    • Investment: Massive investment in new technologies and their deployment,
    • Climate finance: a serious push to the mobilisation of adequate climate finance is the need of the hour.

    Conclusion

    This is the message that the IPCC report has sent to this year’s climate summit and the world. The message is a dire warning, all the stakeholders should heed the warning.

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  • Species in news: Slender Loris

    The Kadavur hills in central Tamil Nadu’s Karur district are home to the Kadavur Reserve Forest. These forests are home to the shy and reclusive slender loris, a species of primate.

    Slender Loris

    • Slender loris (Loris tardigradus) is secretive and has nocturnal habits. It usually travels from the canopy of one tree to another. But, at times, it also comes down to bushes at the ground level to feed.
    • It is also found in the adjoining forest areas on the eastern, southern and western slopes of the Kadavur hills.
    • It sleeps by day in the foliage or in a hole or crevice. It comes out at dusk in search of prey.
    • They are fond of lantana berries and also eat insects, lizards, small birds, tree frogs, tender leaves and buds.
    • They are usually solitary but sometimes found in pairs.

    Conservation

    • The slender loris has been listed as ‘Endangered’ by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
    • It has been brought under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 in order to provide the highest level of legal protection.

    Threats

    • As it is believed that these animals have some medicinal properties, they are captured and sold.
    • Since there is great demand for keeping these animals as pets, they are illegally smuggled.
    • Habitat loss, electrocution of live wires, and road accidents are other threats that have caused its populations to dwindle.

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  • Species in news: Greater Adjutant Storks

    In a first, Bihar has decided to tag endangered greater adjutant storks (Leptoptilos dubius), locally known as ‘Garuda’, with GPS trackers to monitor their movement as a part of their conservation.

    Greater Adjutant Storks

    • Bhagalpur’s Kadwa Diara floodplains area is the third-most-popular breeding centre for the greater adjutant stork in the world after Assam and Cambodia.
    • Historically the range of the Greater Adjutant covered India and Southeast Asia, but today the endangered storks are mostly found in the Indian state of Assam and in Cambodia.
    • In India, the Greater Adjutant is now confined to the northeastern state of Assam, their last stronghold.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Q.If you walk through the countryside, you are likely to see some birds stalking alongside the cattle to seize the insects, disturbed by their movement through grasses. Which of the following is/are such bird/ birds?

    1. Painted Stork
    2. Common Myna
    3. Black-necked Crane

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 3 only

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”8rjevzut5″ question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here:[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

    Their conservation

    • The greater adjutant is one of the most threatened stork species of the world and is widely considered to be a rare bird.
    • However, the global population of the Greater Adjutant Stork is estimated to be roughly not more than 1,500 now.
    • Hence it is classified as ‘endangered ‘on the IUCN’s Red List 2004 of threatened species and listed under Schedule IV of the Indian Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
    • The Bombay Natural History Society will help and work along with the state forest, environment, and climate change department to start the process of tagging greater adjutant storks with GPS tracker.

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  • Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021

    The Environment Ministry has notified the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, which prohibits identified single-use plastic items which have low utility and high littering potential by 2022.

    What is the new Amendment?

    • Pollution due to single use plastic items has become an important environmental challenge confronting all countries.
    • The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of following single-use plastic, including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, commodities shall be prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022:
    1. ear buds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene [thermocol] for decoration
    2. plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films around sweet boxes, invitation cards and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron, stirrers
    • The thickness of plastic carry bags has been increased from fifty microns to seventy-five microns and to one hundred and twenty microns with effect from the 31st December, 2022.

    Extended Producer Responsibility

    • The plastic packaging waste shall be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable way through the Extended Producer Responsibility of the Producer, importer and Brand owner (PIBO), as per Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
    • For effective implementation the Guidelines for EPR being brought out have been given legal force through Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021.

    Plastic waste in India

    • As much as 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste was generated in India in 2018-19, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report 2018-19.
    • This roughly translated to 9,200 tonnes a day (TPD).
    • The total municipal solid waste generation is 55-65 million tonnes; plastic waste is approximately 5-6 per cent of the total solid waste generated in the country.
    • Goa has the highest per capita plastic waste generation at 60 grams per capita per day, which is nearly double of what Delhi generates (37 grams per capita per day).

    The problem

    • Only nine percent of the plastic waste produced between 1950 and 2015 was recycled globally, according to a study by researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and others.
    • Out of the nine per cent, only 10 per cent was recycled more than once; 12 per cent was incinerated, and 79 per cent ended up in landfills or oceans and other water bodies.
    • There are reports suggesting a huge gap between the demand and supply of plastics; we are being sold plastics at a much higher rate than we need.
    • Recycling is a rather benign word used by plastic manufacturers.
    • Most plastics that we claim can be recycled in India are rather down-cycled to some other material.
    • A classic example is that of PET bottles being recycled to t-shirts.

    Way forward

    • Managing plastic waste requires effective knowledge, not only among those who produce the plastic but also among those who handle it.
    • Brand owners, consumers, recyclers and regulatory authorities need to take long strides in ensuring that we first invent the total amount of plastic waste that we generate by means of proper calculations.
    • The second step would be to identify the avenues where the use of plastic can be minimized.
    • Third, the brand owner and manufacturer should try and understand the fates a plastic packaging material would meet after its purpose of packaging has been served.
    • Last, as consumers, we should ensure that all plastic waste leaving our homes is segregated and is not contaminated with food waste.

     

  • Four new Wetlands added to Ramsar list

    Four more wetlands from India get recognition from the Ramsar Secretariat as Ramsar sites.

    What are Wetlands?

    • A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water, either permanently or seasonally, where oxygen-free processes prevail.
    • The primary factor that distinguishes wetlands from other landforms or water bodies is the characteristic vegetation of aquatic plants, adapted to the unique hydric soil.

    Significance of Wetlands

    • Wetlands provide a wide range of important resources and ecosystem services such as food, water, fibre, groundwater recharge, water purification, flood moderation, erosion control, and climate regulation.
    • They are, in fact, are a major source of water and our main supply of freshwater comes from an array of wetlands that help soak rainfall and recharge groundwater.
    • They provide many societal benefits: food and habitat for fish and wildlife, including threatened and endangered species; water quality improvement; flood storage; shoreline erosion control; economically beneficial natural products for human use; and opportunities for recreation, education, and research, etc.

    Which are the new sites added to the Ramsar List?

    • Thol and Wadhwana from Gujarat and
    • Sultanpur and Bhindawas from Haryana

    With this, the number of Ramsar sites in India are 46 and the surface area covered by these sites is now 1,083,322 hectares.

    (1) Bhindawas Wildlife Sanctuary

    • Bhindawas WLS, the largest wetland in Haryana is a human-made freshwater wetland.
    • Over 250 bird species use the sanctuary throughout the year as a resting and roosting site.
    • The site supports more than ten globally threatened species including the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Pallas’s Fish Eagle, and Black-bellied Tern.

    (2) Sultanpur National Park

    • Sultanpur NP from Haryana supports more than 220 species of resident, winter migratory and local migratory waterbirds at critical stages of their life cycles.
    • More than ten of these are globally threatened, including the critically endangered sociable lapwing, and the endangered Egyptian Vulture, Saker Falcon, Pallas’s Fish Eagle and Black-bellied Tern.

    (3) Thol Lake Wildlife Sanctuary

    • Thol Lake WLS from Gujarat lies on the Central Asian Flyway and more than 320 bird species can be found here.
    • The wetland supports more than 30 threatened waterbird species, such as the critically endangered White-rumped Vulture and Sociable Lapwing, and the vulnerable Sarus Crane, Common Pochard, and Lesser White-fronted Goose.

    (4) Wadhvana Wetland

    • Wadhvana Wetland from Gujarat is internationally important for its birdlife as it provides wintering ground to migratory waterbirds, including over 80 species that migrate on the Central Asian Flyway.
    • They include some threatened or near-threatened species such as the endangered Pallas’s fish-Eagle, the vulnerable Common Pochard, and the near-threatened Dalmatian Pelican, Grey-headed Fish-eagle and Ferruginous Duck.

    Back2Basics: Ramsar Convention

    • The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (better known as the Ramsar Convention) is an international agreement promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands.
    • It is the only global treaty to focus on a single ecosystem.
    • The convention was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975.
    • Traditionally viewed as a wasteland or breeding ground of disease, wetlands actually provide fresh water and food and serve as nature’s shock absorber.
    • Wetlands, critical for biodiversity, are disappearing rapidly, with recent estimates showing that 64% or more of the world’s wetlands have vanished since 1900.
    • Major changes in land use for agriculture and grazing, water diversion for dams and canals, and infrastructure development are considered to be some of the main causes of loss and degradation of wetlands.

  • 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

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”8fqs423tt2″ question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here: [/wpdiscuz-feedback]

    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

     

    Post your answers here: [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”pxfhhzah0l” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″][/wpdiscuz-feedback]

  • 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 26ºC 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

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