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Breaking waves are the stuff of romance and poetry, but the spray they generate is serious business. Just ask Vicki Grassian, who thinks about what crashing waves mean for clouds and, ultimately, our ability to understand and adapt to our changing climate. In more than 20 years as a professor in the University of Iowa’s chemistry department, Grassian earned the title “dust queen” for her studies of how mineral particles make their way from land into the sky. The specialized tools and expertise required to study dust eventually drew her to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, where investigators have spent much of the past decade tackling a tantalizing question: How does the ocean affect Earth’s atmosphere? At first glance, the answer would appear to be simple and obvious: Water evaporates at the surface of the sea, eventually rising to form clouds. Grassian, now distingished chair of p...

The sixth Kubuqi International Desert Forum was held from July 29 to July 30 in the Kubuqi Desert in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. Participating guests from other countries visited Kubuqi and witnessed the successful practices of Kubuqi’s desertification control. The forum offered them better understanding of the Kubuqi Model. They believe that the Kubuqi Model will play an important role in desertification control in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative. International conferences held in China are becoming attractive platforms for sharing effective experiences in promoting global ecological development. Effective systematic planning The core pillars of the Kubuqi Model are government policy support, industrial investment, market-oriented participation of farmers and herdsmen and sustainable ecological improvement. Former Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said the systematic design of the Kubuqi Model was a unique success, and that its reproducibility was worthy of study. ...

A staggering 130 new amphibians have been discovered in the Western Ghats since the year 2000. So what does this mean for science? Dusk descended slowly in tones of grey and ink blue: just what wildlife biologist Robin Abraham and his team were waiting for. It was dark in the freshwater swamp they were standing in, under the dense canopies of enormous evergreen Myristica (native nutmeg) trees. Water trickled quietly under a mesh of half-foot-high aerial Myristica roots. Flicking off leeches and swarming mosquitoes, and undistracted by the strong, muddy smell of wild elephants in the vicinity, the team combed the drenched ground and bushes with a torch for some rather under-appreciated denizens of these forests—frogs. And then they heard it: a call they had never heard before. Trk...trrrrrr. Trk...trrrrrr. A faint call from a low-hanging vine. The team huddled in excitement: a roughly 5 cm long, rust-brown arboreal frog with little bulbous toe tips and yellow-tinted eyes. It was ...

Many countries have become more efficient in using natural resources and the services provided by the environment, generating more economic output per unit of carbon emitted and of energy or raw materials consumed. Yet progress is too slow, and if emissions embodied in international trade are included, advances in environmental productivity are more modest, a new OECD report shows. Green Growth Indicators 2017 uses a range of indicators covering everything from land use to CO2 productivity and innovation to show where 46 countries rank on balancing economic growth with environmental pressures over 1990 to 2015. It finds that Denmark, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Slovak Republic have made the most progress on green growth since 2000. The report shows that no country is performing well on all green growth dimensions and most of the countries studied are yet to fully disconnect economic growth from fossil fuel use and pollutant emissions. Progress has often been insuffi...

Global population will touch 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, a revised 2017 forecast by the United Nations published recently says. The revision raises previous predictions of 8.5 billion in 2030 and 9.7 billion in 2050. The main reason behind the revision is the growing population rate in India and Africa. India’s population, currently at 1.3 billion, is expected to surpass China’s in the next seven years. Nigeria, with the world’s fastest growing population, is projected to overtake the United States to become the third most populous country before 2050. Africa’s baby boom Africa is experiencing continued high rates of population growth. The report predicts between 2017 and 2050, the populations of 26 African countries will expand to at least double their current size. In an interview given to Down To Earth earlier via mail, John F May, visiting scholar of the US-based Population Reference Bureau, pointed out three reasons behind Africa’s (...

Many countries have become more efficient in using natural resources and the services provided by the environment, generating more economic output per unit of carbon emitted and of energy or raw materials consumed. Yet progress is too slow, and if emissions embodied in international trade are included, advances in environmental productivity are more modest, a new OECD report shows. Green Growth Indicators 2017 uses a range of indicators covering everything from land use to CO2 productivity and innovation to show where 46 countries rank on balancing economic growth with environmental pressures over 1990 to 2015. It finds that Denmark, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Slovak Republic have made the most progress on green growth since 2000. The report shows that no country is performing well on all green growth dimensions and most of the countries studied are yet to fully disconnect economic growth from fossil fuel use and pollutant emissions. Progress has often been insuffi...

Many countries have become more efficient in using natural resources and the services provided by the environment, generating more economic output per unit of carbon emitted and of energy or raw materials consumed. Yet progress is too slow, and if emissions embodied in international trade are included, advances in environmental productivity are more modest, a new OECD report shows. Green Growth Indicators 2017 uses a range of indicators covering everything from land use to CO2 productivity and innovation to show where 46 countries rank on balancing economic growth with environmental pressures over 1990 to 2015. It finds that Denmark, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Slovak Republic have made the most progress on green growth since 2000. The report shows that no country is performing well on all green growth dimensions and most of the countries studied are yet to fully disconnect economic growth from fossil fuel use and pollutant emissions. Progress has often been insuffi...

Our oceans are facing multiple problems and the world is trying to find solutions to deal with these at the UN Ocean Conference in New York. Carl Gustaf Lundin, director of Global Marine and Polar Programme at the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Switzerland, talks to Vibha Varshney about the solutions the world community is expecting to save the oceans. What is the status of our oceans? Every second breath we take is from the oceans and we have many reasons to care about them. Over the years, we have done a lot of damage to our oceans. India, for example, has lost most corals, mainly due to human activity. This year, we have lost reefs from across the world. Australia has lost nearly half of its coral reefs due to warming waters. Maldives has lost as much as 90 per cent in some parts of the country in the past year. Due to warming, there is as much as 3 per cent less oxygen in the water and this makes it very difficult for fast-moving fish like tuna, as it sh...

State of India's Environment 2017 In Figures is India's first and only e-book that not only communicates environmental issues through facts and figures, but arms readers with insights and perspectives to help you form an informed opinion on issues that matter. Backed by over 25 years of data-driven and research-based journalism and curated by veteran data journalists, this annual publication makes a statement on state of environment through meaningful infographics. It compares India's development with global parameters, while giving State-wise environmental performance within the country.

There is no such thing as an environment-friendly or environment-neutral tobacco industry, especially when you know that tobacco kills more than seven million people a year and is currently the world’s single biggest cause of preventable death. In case you don’t know, about 560 cigarette manufacturing facilities in the world produce more than six trillion cigarettes every year. “Growing tobacco and manufacturing tobacco products have severe environmental consequences, including deforestation, the use of fossil fuels and the dumping or leaking of waste products,“ says Oleg Chestnov, WHO Assistant Director-General. Life cycle of tobacco – from cultivation to consumer waste. Credit: WHO Life cycle of tobacco – from cultivation to consumer waste. Credit: WHO On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day, we bring to you the highlights of the latest WHO report titled “Tobacco and its environmental impact: an overview”. What does it do to soil and forests? Tobacco is often grown withou...

In an attempt to raise awareness on conservation of tortoise and turtles, and on illegal trafficking, May 23 is celebrated as World Turtle Day. We take a look at various threats faced by the reptiles in India and the initiatives taken to save the animal. Smuggling One of the greatest threats facing turtles and tortoises in India is smuggling to East Asian and Southeast Asian markets. Many freshwater turtles and tortoises are considered delicacies just across the Bay of Bengal in Southeast Asia. TURTLEMOHAMMEDYOUSUF3jpg This has led to the creation of massive smuggling rings on the east coast of India that send live turtles to those countries. Some of these turtles are also smuggled to be kept as pets. In 2016 alone, 30,000 live turtles were confiscated from smugglers by the Indian government. In addition to live specimens, thousands of sea turtle eggs are dug up and sold as delicacies in Southeast Asian countries. West Bengal has become a focal point of the turtle smuggling t...

On May 10, the Center for Biological Diversity along with Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future sent their comments to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), asking the regulatory agency to not expand the use of a medically important antibiotic for citrus crops. A US crop protection company, Nufarm Americas Inc., had sought registration of an antibiotic, oxyteracycline, for use in citrus crops and in dried citrus pulp from the EPA. The agency called for comments from the public by May 10. The Centre said in its press release that Nufarm Americas Inc. has already been permitted emergency exemption to use the antibiotic in Mycoshield to treat citrus greening disease in Florida starting January 2017 till end of the year. The release added that exposure to antibiotics can have serious unintended side effects on wildlife, including adverse drug reactions, and can also cause changes in the chemical composition and pH of water and soil with potentially serious consequences. “Si...

The black-necked crane (BNC) is the only species of the crane family that lives on high altitudes. Perhaps due to the difficult terrain, inhospitable climatic conditions and inaccessibility, it is the last of the world’s crane species to be discovered in 1876 by a Russian naturalist, Nikolay M Przhevalsky, in the Chinghai province of China, and remained the least-known crane species till the 1960s. BNC is a tall bird with a height of about 135 cm, a wingspan of about 62–64 cm and a conspicuous red crown on the head. The crane’s scientific name is Grus nigricollis, and it is distributed over the alpine regions of India, China and Bhutan. Buddhists consider it a sacred bird and a symbol of good luck. Bhutan celebrates the arrival of this flamboyant bird every winter, and it is also the state bird of Jammu & Kashmir. Its current population in the distribution range is between 10,000 and 11,000. Though it is stable and increasing, its presence in India is abysmal. A migratory bird...

Around 250 million years ago, life on Earth nearly came to an end, in a mass extinction between the Permian and Triassic periods known as the Great Dying. Some 90% of the species in the oceans and 70% of vertebrate families on land were killed, and the great marine life experiment of the Palaeozoic era was brought to a halt. The Conversation What does this have to do with nickel? Well, as part of my recent work as a mining geologist, which involves studying the world’s most valuable nickel ore deposits in Siberia, I uncovered evidence of a link between ore genesis – how the nickel got there – and the onset of the Great Dying. These results were recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It was an exceedingly strange world 250 million years ago, and finding the culprits for the world’s worst mass extinction is like putting together a puzzle. Earth, fire, water This catastrophic episode was triggered by several different events, which in turn kill...

The Art of Living’s three-day cultural festival in March 2016 destroyed the entire floodplain area between DND flyover and the Barapulla drain used during the event, according to the expert panel appointed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The committee, headed by Shashi Shekhar, secretary of Ministry of Water Resources, submitted its report to NGT on March 12. According to the panel’s estimate, rehabilitation of Yamuna floodplains will cost more than Rs 42 crore and at least 10 years. The AOL Foundation has, however, called the committee report “flawed, unscientific and biased”. Committee’s observations The report estimates that a total of about 180 hectares (about 420 acres) of floodplains of the Yamuna have been affected ecologically at different magnitudes. The seven-member committee also submitted a time-bound action plan for physical and biological rehabilitation of the affected floodplain. The physical component is estimated to cost around Rs 28.73 crore and the b...

Almost a year ago, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) introduced new pollution norms, but the Indian cement industry, which accounts for the world’s second largest production of cement, is still struggling to meet the norms, the deadline for which was 31st March 2017. This is when the norms have been relaxed in accordance with various consultations with members from the Cement Manufacturing Association and regulators. The new pollution limits were notified on 9th and 10th May 2016 with the condition the cement plants will comply with them by 31st March 2017. From 50-150 milligrams per cubic metre (mg/Nm3), the new norms reduced the limit for particulate matter (PM) emissions to 30 mg/Nm3. This limit depends upon the age and location of the plant. An industry official, who refused to be named, complained of “limited availability of technology suppliers and that technological and process-related change required at least two years to comply.” B...

It's not the first time that algae bloom has appeared in the Arabian Sea, but the bloom now stretches from the shores of Oman on the west to India and Pakistan on the east. The build-up of green slime is an ominous sign for the local ecosystem as it triggers release of ammonia, causing sea stench and poisoning nearby marine life. This bloom isn’t regularly seen until the past decade. Now, they are not only forming twice a year in the Arabian Sea, but its extent is also growing. What causes algae bloom? The algae bloom is caused by Noctiluca scintillans—microscopic dinoflagellates that feed on plankton and suck up energy from the sun through microscopic algae living within their cells. In a marine ecosystem, dinoflagellates make up only a small part of the food chain. However, when there's a build-up of plankton, it leads to massive algae blooms that start dominating the local area. When the cell of these dinoflagellates breaks down, ammonia is released. It changes the ...

It's not the first time that algae bloom has appeared in the Arabian Sea, but the bloom now stretches from the shores of Oman on the west to India and Pakistan on the east. The build-up of green slime is an ominous sign for the local ecosystem as it triggers release of ammonia, causing sea stench and poisoning nearby marine life. This bloom isn’t regularly seen until the past decade. Now, they are not only forming twice a year in the Arabian Sea, but its extent is also growing. What causes algae bloom? The algae bloom is caused by Noctiluca scintillans—microscopic dinoflagellates that feed on plankton and suck up energy from the sun through microscopic algae living within their cells. In a marine ecosystem, dinoflagellates make up only a small part of the food chain. However, when there's a build-up of plankton, it leads to massive algae blooms that start dominating the local area. When the cell of these dinoflagellates breaks down, ammonia is released. It changes the ...

The development and evolution of the chemical industry is directly responsible for many of the technological advancements that have emerged since the late 19th century. The Conversation However, it was not until the 1980s that the environment became a priority for the chemical industry. This was prompted largely by stricter environmental regulations and a need to address the sector’s poor reputation, particularly due to pollution and industrial accidents. But the industry is now rapidly improving, and this changing mindset has provided the backdrop for the emergence of green chemistry. What is green chemistry? Sustainability is becoming increasingly important in almost every industry and chemistry is no different. Green chemistry aims to minimise the environmental impact of the chemical industry. This includes shifting away from oil to renewable sources where possible. Green chemistry also prioritises safety, improving energy efficiency and, most importantly, minimising (an...

n 1992, more than 170 countries came together at the Rio Earth Summit and agreed to pursue sustainable development, protect biological diversity, prevent dangerous interference with climate systems, and conserve forests. But, 25 years later, the natural systems on which humanity relies continue to be degraded. The Conversation So why hasn’t the world become much more environmentally sustainable despite decades of international agreements, national policies, state laws and local plans? This is the question that a team of researchers and I have tried to answer in a recent article. We reviewed 94 studies of how sustainability policies had failed across every continent. These included case studies from both developed and developing countries, and ranged in scope from international to local initiatives. Consider the following key environmental indicators. Since 1970: Humanity’s ecological footprint has exceeded the Earth’s capacity and has risen to the point where 1.6 planets would...