NEWS UPDATE #136
Scroll reports: In what might be the first heat casualties of 2017, Maharashtra government has announced the deaths of three people due to sunstroke in the last three days. The Meteorological Department has been issuing heat wave warnings across northern, western and central regions of India, particularly in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and northern Maharashtra.
Heat wave in India: Climate change is here, prepare for irregular weather, says senior meteorologist
Prachee Kulkarni, Firstpost
Temperatures across the country have reached soaring highs. A village called Bhira from Raigad district in Maharashtra recorded the worlds second highest temperature of 46.5°C on Tuesday. This was considered abnormal as Bhira lies in the coastal region. What are the reasons for this? Firstpost spoke to Jeevanprakash Kulkarni, a senior meteorologist from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, who is presently associated with a forum called Satarkindia that issues warning based on various climatic scenarios. (Related: Three sunstroke deaths in Maharashtra are the first heat casualties of 2017)
You can’t deprive people of food, livelihood: HC on UP slaughterhouse crackdown
Down to Earth
Private life of an individual is being severely affected due to a crackdown on slaughterhouses, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court observed today while hearing a petition filed by a meat shop owner seeking renewal of the license. The court, accordingto the report by News 18 , has given Uttar Pradesh government 10 days to convene a meeting and decide on the issue so that the livelihood of individuals and their right to carry a trade and profession is not neglected in any way. The next hearing will be on April 13. (Also read: Yogi’s gift to Uttar Pradesh farmers: loan waiver, higher MSP, guaranteed procurement)
Green nod for Neutrino project suspended
Shubashree Desikan & T.K. Rohit, The Hindu
The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal on Monday suspended the Environmental Clearance (EC) granted to the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) that was to come up in Theni and asked the project proponent to make a fresh application. During the arguments, the Tribunal was informed that the Madhikettan Shola National Park in Idukki district of Kerala was just about 4.9 km from the proposed project site and the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border was just a kilometre away, making it a Category ‘A’ project.
NGT issues notices to MoEF&CC and CPCB on Climate Change Petition
ERC India
A Petition raising the issue of impacts of Climate Change and inaction of the Government was filed on 22.03.2017 before National Green Tribunal, New Delhi by nine year old girl, Ridhima Pandey. She is part of a class that amongst all Indians is most vulnerable to changes in climate in India yet are not part of the decision making process. The government has failed to take any effective science-based measure, and there is a huge gap in implementation of the environmental legislations.
Govt introduces bill on inter-state river water row in Lok Sabha
Mayank Aggarwal, Live Mint
A bill proposing a single tribunal to wrap up long-festering inter-state water sharing disputes within four-and-a-half years was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was introduced by water resources minister Uma Bharati who termed it a “revolutionary step” towards the resolution of inter-state river water disputes that can drag on for decades.
Say no to Westinghouse: Why India must not enter into a contract with a bankrupt company
A. Gopalakrishnan, The Hindu
With Japanese conglomerate Toshiba announcing that Westinghouse, the American nuclear major it bought in 2006, has filed for bankruptcy, the road map of the India-U.S. nuclear deal is in jeopardy. Under the deal, Westinghouse is slated to set up six AP1000 nuclear reactors in Kovvada, Andhra Pradesh. The National Democratic Alliance government, after assuming power in 2014, had stood by the contours of the deal signed under the previous government and a preliminary work agreement between Westinghouse and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) to build two reactors in Kovvada was being finalised at the time of the bankruptcy filing. (Also read: ONGC to invest Rs 21,500-crore in India’s deepest gas find)
Mumbai, Kerala among world’s most polluted coasts
Down to Earth
The seas near Mumbai, Kerala and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are among the worst polluted in the world, according to a new study that mapped marine pollution around the world. Seabirds and fish are severely affected by the marine litter, as shown in the latest analysis by researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Germany. For the first time, the researchers have compiled 1,237 scientific studies on marine litter into a single, comprehensive database called Litterbase.
Stubble burning: Punjab govt forms special task force to keep vigil via satellite
Hindustan Times
After failing in persuading the farmers to not burn crop leftover in the fields, the Punjab government has now constituted a special task force (STF) to curb the burning of wheat straw. The STF will carry out vigil of the farm fields round the clock via satellite. The agriculture department and Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) have been taking measures to deal with the problem of stubble burning, but the practice is continuing since many years. The burning contributes to global warming, pollutes the air and causes health hazards, mainly breathing problems.
Government approves unrestricted export of organic agricultural products, move to boost shipments
The New Indian Express
The government today allowed unrestricted exports of all certified organic agricultural products, a move that would help in boosting shipments. The decision in this regard was taken in the meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Poor farmers cannot move WTO
Latha Jishnu, Down to Earth
When the World Trade Organization (WTO) Director General Roberto Azevedo came calling in early February, he was flooded with representations from a host of farmers’ organisations with a list of pressing demands. They wanted a permanent solution to the issue of public stockholding of grains to ensure food security and also sought a focus on special safeguard mechanism (SSM) which protects developing countries from unexpected surges in imports of farm products. But poor farmers from India and the developing world found the dice loaded against them—as usual.
Adani’s giant coal mine granted unlimited water licence for 60 years
Peter Hannam, The Sydney Morning Herald
The proposed Adani coal mine, which will be Australia’s biggest, has been granted unlimited access to groundwater by the Queensland government in a move farmers fear will drain huge amounts of water from the Great Artesian Basin. According to a copy of Adani’s water licence signed last Wednesday and obtained by Fairfax Media, the $16 billion Carmichael mine merely needs to monitor and report the amount of water it extracts under a permit that runs until 2077. (Related: Adani plans to export low quality, high ash coal to India, court told)
Litchi causing encephalitis deaths in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district: study
Kundan Pandey, Down to Earth
A recent study has linked occurrence of neurological disease—commonly known as encephalitis—to consumption of litchi in Muzaffarpur district in Bihar. Published in Lancet on March 31, the study recommends minimising Litchi consumption and also ensuring that the evening meal is not skipped as the latter modifies the effect of eating litchis on the disease, which is quite common in summer season and targets weaker section of society.
No move to ban cycles on roads, says Gadkari
Deccan Herald
Ruling out any move to ban cycling on roads, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said the Government rather wants to promote the activity to curb pollution. “There is nothing like this. I can tell you as the transport minister that we want to promote cycling,” Gadkari told reporters here last evening, responding to recent media reports that a Parliamentary panel is mulling a ban on non-motorised transport on major roads for causing “nuisance”.
17 months after death of Goan activist priest, family may challenge order to bury his body
Pamela D’Mello, Scroll
Even as the Goa State Human Rights Commission on Monday ordered the North Goa Collector to liaise with religious authorities to conduct the last rites of activist Catholic priest Bismarque Dias whose body has been lying in the morgue of the Goa Medical College in Bambolim since his mysterious death in November 2015, his family is preparing to challenge the move. Dias, who was passionate about environmental causes, had been found floating in the estuarine waters of the Mandovi river, 15 km from Panjim.
PETITION: Buy agricultural land in Karnataka – through SAKALA
Landless Farmer, Change.org
As per Section 80 of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961 , non-agriculturists are barred from acquiring agricultural land, except in the case of a person with non-agricultural income of less than Rs. 2 lakh per annum… The intent of the law clearly is to protect the right of the farmer to agricultural land and to ensure that they are not dispossessed by industrial and capitalist classes. While this intent is laudatory, there is extensive evidence of diversion of farm land to various commercial farming, and industrial uses, through dubious means. A matter of great despair is for the person genuinely interested in farming to secure agricultural land for farming, especially when they do not have previous history of farming in the family.
Dead Sea evidence of unprecedented drought is warning for future
Tim Radford, The Guardian
Far below the Dead Sea, between Israel, Jordan and Palestinian territories, researchers have found evidence of a drought that has no precedent in human experience. From depths of 300 metres below the landlocked basin, drillers brought to the surface a core that contained 30 metres of thick, crystalline salt: evidence that 120,000 years ago, and again about 10,000 years ago, rainfall had been only about one fifth of modern levels. (Related: We are heading for the warmest climate in half a billion years, says new study 2) Huge fleet of icebergs hits North Atlantic shipping lanes)
Climate change impacting ‘most’ species on Earth, even down to their genome
Jeremy Hance, The Guardian
Three recent studies have illustrated just how widespread climate change’s effect on life on our planet has already become. A landmark Science study from last year that found that current warming (just one degree Celisus) has already left a discernible mark on 77 of 94 different ecological processes, including species’ genetics, seasonal responses, overall distribution, and even morphology – i.e. physical traits including body size and shape.(Related: Global warming in past caused mammals to shrink, and it could happen again)
Thousands of pollution deaths worldwide linked to western consumers – study
Hannah Devlin, The Guardian
Western consumers who buy cheap imported toys, clothes and mobile phones are indirectly contributing to tens of thousands of pollution-related deaths in the countries where the goods are produced, according to a landmark study. Nearly 3.5 million people die prematurely each year due to air pollution, the research estimates, and about 22% of these deaths are associated with goods and services that were produced in one region for consumption in another.
Green groups condemn UN plan to use $136m from climate fund for large dams
Arthur Neslen, The Guardian
Plans to earmark more than $136m (£109m) of UN money for large dam projects in Nepal, Tajikistan and the Solomon Islands have been angrily condemned by activists, who have warned the projects could have serious environmental consequences. The UN’s green climate fund was set up during the Paris climate agreement to mobilise $100bn a year by 2020 for poor countries looking for innovative and transformational projects. (Also read: U.S. Energy Department Tells Staff to Stop Using Phrase ‘Climate Change’)
Rich countries oppose bid to drought-proof Ethiopian communities
Megan Darby, Climate Change News
Representatives of the US, Canada and other developed countries voiced their opposition to the funding proposal at the Green Climate Fund (GCF) board meeting in Songdo, South Korea, on Wednesday. That reflected an independent expert panel assessment it was “weak” with “little scope for innovation”. But delegates from the developing world defended it, accusing the panel of bias. The experts and donors may prefer infrastructure and tech interventions with easily measurable results, they argued. But this programme, which encourages social and behavioural change, was designed through extensive consultation.
The end of coal: EU energy companies pledge no new plants from 2020
Arthur Neslen, The Guardian
Europe’s energy utilities have rung a death knell for coal, with a historic pledge that no new coal-fired plants will be built in the EU after 2020. The surprise announcement was made at a press conference in Brussels on Wednesday, 442 years after the continent’s first pit was sunk by Sir George Bruce of Carnock, in Scotland. National energy companies from every EU nation – except Poland and Greece – have signed up to the initiative, which will overhaul the bloc’s energy-generating future. (Also read: Diesel vehicles will disappear sooner than expected, says EU industry chief)
Record renewable power capacity installed in 2016
Aruna Kumarankandath, Down to Earth
Installed capacity of renewable energy has touched the 2,000-gigawatt-milestone in 2016, with an unprecedented installation of 161.02 GW during the year. According to the data released by International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in their report Renewable Capacity Statistics 2017 last week, the record increase in installation can be attributed largely to increase in solar capacity across the globe. “We are witnessing an energy transformation taking hold around the world, and this is reflected in another year of record breaking additions in new renewable energy capacity,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Amin during a press release.
Half of all new cars in Norway are electric or hybrid
Rosamond Hutt, World Economic Forum
Norway already has the highest per capita number of all-electric cars in the world: more than 100,000 in a population of 5.2 million. Now, the country has notched up another milestone: electric or hybrid cars make up half of new vehicle registrations. Figures from Norway’s Road Traffic Information Council (OFV) showed electric cars represented 17.6% of new vehicle registrations in January and hybrid cars 33.8%, totalling 51.4%, the news agency AFP reported.
West Papua gives indigenous communities control over forests
Vaidehi Shah, Eco Business
In an unprecedented move for Indonesia’s Papua province, the district government on Thursday gave indigenous communities control of state forests, which grants villagers the right to reject the advances of palm oil, logging and pulpwood companies in favour of pursuing alternative, deforestation-free livelihoods. In a ceremony performed in West Papua’s capital Teminabuan, representatives from the Province of West Papua handed over a 3,545 hectare area of rainforest to leaders from Manggroholo and Sira villages, in an area known as the Knasaimos indigenous territory. (Also read: Arctic Indigenous Peoples leading the way in ecological restoration and climate resilience, says major new study)
The World’s Rarest and Most Ancient Dog Has Just Been Re-Discovered in the Wild
Science Alert
After decades of fearing that the New Guinea highland wild dog had gone extinct in its native habitat, researchers have finally confirmed the existence of a healthy, viable population, hidden in one of the most remote and inhospitable regions on Earth. According to DNA analysis, these are the most ancient and primitive canids in existence, and a recent expedition to New Guinea’s remote central mountain spine has resulted in more than 100 photographs of at least 15 wild individuals, including males, females, and pups, thriving in isolation and far from human contact. (Related: 1) Another giant has left us: the Sumatran rhino is extinct in the wild 2) Gas company to bulldoze Queensland koala habitat)
Members of European Parliament (MEPs) vote to ban the use of palm oil in biofuels
Arthur Neslen, The Guardian
MEPs have voted overwhelmingly to ban biofuels made from vegetable oils including palm oil by 2020, to prevent the EU’s renewable transport targets from inadvertently contributing to deforestation. A new palm oil regulation, minimum sustainability criteria, customs duty reforms and anti-deforestation articles in future EU trade deals were also approved with a 640-18 majority. (Also read: World’s Largest Beer Maker to Ditch Fossil Fuels, Go 100% Renewables)