Environment Part-1| Latest Burning Issues 2018

AIR QUALITY INDEX

• AQI is a number used to communicate to the public how polluted the air currently is or how
polluted it is forecasted to become.
• These pollutants are:
• Ground-level Ozone or O3
• Particulate Matter (soot and dust) – PM 2.5 and PM 10
• Carbon Monoxide or CO
• Sulphur Dioxide or SO2 and
• Nitrogen Dioxide or NO2
• Ammonia or NH3

FAT BERGS

• It is a term used to denote the giant lumps of floating waste produced due to leftover cooking
oils and grease washed down the sink mix with solids in the sewers.
• A UK company, Argent Energy, is now converting these fat bergs into usable fuel (Bio diesel)

• Roughly a quarter to two-fifths of a fat berg is converted into bio diesel.
• Fat berg fuel is far more environmentally friendly than, a crop-based bio diesel like the one from palm oil—
• palm farming has caused destruction of rain forests in South East Asian nations.

PET COKE

• Petroleum coke or pet coke is a final carbon rich solid material that is derived from oil
refining.
• It is a bottom-of-the-barrel residue while refining crude oil, which is high-calorific value
petroleum residue, helps to conserve natural resources.
• It is over 90 percent carbon and emits 5 to 10 percent more carbon dioxide (CO2) than coal
on a per-unit-of- energy basis when it is burned.

Meisenheimer Complex

It is a chemical compound which has been found to be highly effective in removing
fluoride and metal ions from drinking water.
• The metal ions include lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, and iron.

BIO REMEDIATION

• Bio remediation is a system of sewage treatment where microbes are used to
degrade flowing sewage into carbon dioxide and water.
• It includes premeditation (plants) and rhizoremediation (plant and microbe
interaction).
• Under the process, bacteria are cultured in bulk and applied to the flowing sewage.

PROJECT MIDAS

It is a U.K.-based Antarctic research project that has been looking at the ice shelf for many years
• Scientists from Project MIDAS have said the formation of icebergs is natural.
• And there seems no link to human-induced climate change was available in this case.
• Yet, the impact of such a loss on the stability of the ice shelf itself may not be good.

EARTH OVERSHOOT DAY

• Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) means the day when human consumption exceeds the earth‘s capacity in that particular year to regenerate natural resources.
• It is the day the world completely consumes all the natural resources produced that year.
• It is calculated by Global Footprint Network.
• August 2, 2017 is the Earth Overshoot Day of the year 2017.
• Since 1987, the EOD has been moving up the calendar, from December 19 in 1987 to August 2, 2017.
• Just seven months into the year, the world has consumed all the natural resources, reveals the shocking rate at which environmental degradation is taking place.
• Global Footprint Network, founded in 2003, is an independent think tank originally based in the United States, Belgium and Switzerland.

KUBUQI MODEL

• Kubuqi Model in Desertification Control
• Kubuqi Desert in ordos, Inner Mongolia (Autonomous region in China) is the first desert in the world to achieve large-scale desertification control.
• The Project of greening of Kubuqi desert was under taken by China and it has become a name card for China‘s desertification control efforts.
• The core pillars of the Kubuqi Model are government policy support, industrial investment,
market-oriented participation of farmers and herdsmen and sustainable ecological improvement.
• It relies mainly on increasing local people‘s income in the greening efforts via the combination of ecology and industry, enterprise development and ecological management.
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was adopted in 1994 and
entered into force in 1996.
• UNCCD is the only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the problem of
desertification.

GEF

• The Global Environment Facility was established in 1991 as a pilot program in
the World Bank to assist in the protection of the global environment and to promote
environmental sustainable development.
• The UNDP and UNEP and the World Bank were the three initial partners implementing
GEF projects.
• In 1992, at the Rio Earth Summit, the GEF was restructured and moved out of the World Bank
system to become a permanent, separate institution.
• Today it is an international partnership of 183 countries, international institutions, civil society
organizations and the private sector that addresses global environmental issues.
• Since 1994, the World Bank has served as the Trustee of the GEF Trust Fund and provided
administrative services.
• GEF funds are available to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to meet the objectives of the international environmental conventions and agreements.
• The GEF is a financial mechanism for 5 major international conventions
• The Minamata Convention on Mercury,
• The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs),
• The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD),
• The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

GCF

• Green Climate Fund is a financial mechanism under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• It was set up by 194 countries that are part of UNFCCC, at the Conference of the Parties-16 (COP-16) in Cancun in 2010.
• The Fund‘s investments can be in the form of grants, loans, equity or guarantees.
• The funds come mainly from developed countries, but also from some developing countries, regions, and one city (Paris).
• It aims to deliver equal amounts of funding to developing countries for mitigation and adaptation to climate change.
• It focuses on investing in low-emission and climate resilient development projects.

PAT

• India‘s Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) launched its ‘Perform, Achieve and Trade’ (PAT) Scheme in 2012 to make the industrial sector energy efficient.
• The scheme has set energy efficiency targets for industries.
• PAT is a market based mechanism in which sectors are assigned efficiency targets.
• Industries which over-achieve will get incentives in the form of energy saving certificates.
• These certificates are trade able and can be bought by other industries which are unable to
achieve their targets.
• These certificates will be trade able at two energy exchanges: Indian Energy Exchange and
Power Exchange India.
• The price of these certificates will be determined by the market.

• PAT has been launched under the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, one of the eight missions under the umbrella National Action Plan on Climate Change.

M-STRIPES

• M-STRiPES (Monitoring System For Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) is an app developed by Wildlife Institute of India.
• The app will be used for the first time in All India Tiger estimation.
• It is already in place in some national parks but it has been made mandatory for the fourth All-India Tiger estimation.
• It is expected that the app would ensure more robust estimate by eliminating human errors in the survey.

PERMACULTURE

• The term ―Permaculture was coined by Australian researcher Bill Mollison.
• It refers to permanent agriculture and permanent culture‘ and designed to
bring a harmonious synergy of people and land to preserve and enhance
natural ecosystems.
Permaculture is not exclusive – its principles and practice can be used by anyone, anywhere:
• City flats, yards and window boxes
• Suburban and country houses/garden
• Allotments and smallholdings
• Community spaces
• Farms and estates
• Countryside and conservation areas
• Commercial and industrial premises
• Educational establishments
• Waste ground B4
• B4 – the Brahmaputra Biodiversity and Biology Boat‘, was launched to safeguard the Asia‘s largest riverine island – Majuli island.
• The research will be carried out on floating B4‘ boat labs along the Brahmaputra River to study the changes caused by dams, climate change, human interventions and the eventual effects it has on the river ecosystem.

• Majuli is the first island district of the country and also known for being the
seat of Assam‘s Vaishnava monasteries.

SUNREEF

• SUNREF (Sustainable Use of Natural Resources and Energy Finance) Housing India
programme is to be launched by the National Housing Bank (NHB) along with French
Development Agency (FDA) and the European Union.
• It is aimed at scaling up green housing projects in India by providing €112 million to
NHB.
• Green residential buildings demonstrate more efficiency in energy, water and building
material use.

BIRD LIFE INTERNATIONAL

It is a global partnership of conservation organisations (NGOs).
• Each Bird Life Partner (Conservation organisation) is an independent environmental not-for-profit organisation.
• Its global office is located in Cambridge, UK.
• It identifies Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas.
• An IBA is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations.

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

• It is a pan-India wildlife conservation research organization, has been promoting the cause of
nature conservation since 1883.
• It is the partner of Bird Life International in India.
• It has been designated as a ‘Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation’ by the
Department of Science and Technology.
• It created Internet of Birds which is an online tool for birdwatchers that identifies birds based
on their photos.

CLIMATE CHANGE PERFORMANCE INDEX

• Recently, India has been ranked 14th in Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).
• It is issued by German watch, the New Climate Institute, and the Climate Action
Network.
• The report ranks 56 countries and the European Union, which together are
responsible for 90% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Countries are ranked across four categories — Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Renewable
Energy, Energy Use, and Climate Policy.
• India improved it’s ranking from 20th in 2017 to 14th in 2018, on account for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adopting more clean sources of energy.

GLOBAL SEED VAULT

• It is a state-of-the-art seed protection facility, famously called the ‘Doomsday’ or the
‘Apocalypse’ Seed Bank or ‘Noah’s Ark for seeds’.
• It is situated in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago.
• It was established in 2008 and serves as the primary backup for the world’s other seed
banks currently holding nearly one million seed samples from the world’s gene banks
• It is a secure seed bank on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near Long year by
en in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipel ago, about 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) from the North Pole.

India’s seed vault

• It is situated at Chang La, Ladakh • Built jointly by the Defence Institute of
High Altitude Research (DIHAR) and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic
Resources (NBPGR) in 2010 under the aegis of Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO), this permafrost seed bank is the second largest in the world.

Kigali Agreement

• It aims to reduce the emissions of hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs) with the potential for
reduction up to 0.5 degrees Celsius of global warming by year 2100.
• The Kigali Amendment amends the 1987 Montreal Protocol to now include gases
responsible for global warming and will be binding on countries from 2019.

• As per the agreement, these countries are expected to reduce the manufacture and use
of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by roughly 80-85% from their respective baselines, till 2045.
• This phase down is expected to arrest the global average temperature rise up to 0.5o C by 2100.
• Kigali agreement is an amendment to Montreal Protocol.
• The Montreal Protocol is a most effective international environmental treaty to phase out the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs) from the atmosphere.
• It came into force in 1989.
• It has 197 member parties to the protocol and become a first international treaty with complete ratification.
• It has undergone several amendments and Kigali amendment is the eighth amendment to this protocol.
• It has successfully curbed the 98% production of chlorofluorocarbons and other ODSs and significantly contributed to the repair of the ozone hole.

RAMSAR CONVENTION ON WETLAND

• The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an international
intergovernmental treaty for conservation of wetlands. India is a party to the treaty.
• It provides framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation
and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

Major obligations of countries which are party to the Convention are:
• Designate wetlands for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance.
• Promote, as far as possible, the wise use of wetlands in their territory.
• Promote international cooperation especially with regard to trans boundary wetlands,
shared water systems, and shared species.
• World Wetland Day is observed every year on 2nd February. This day marks the
adoption of Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
• The theme of 2018 is “Wetlands for a Sustainable Urban Future”.

COMPENSATORY AFFORESTATION

• It refers to the afforestation and regeneration activities carried out as a way of compensating
for forest land which is diverted to non-forest purposes.
• The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 provide that whenever a forest land is to be diverted for non forestry purposes, the equivalent non-forest land has to be identified for compensatory
afforestation and funds for raising compensatory afforestation are to be imposed.
• Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016
• It established National Compensatory Afforestation Fund (NCAF) under the public account of India and State Compensatory Afforestation Funds under public accounts of state.
• National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) for
management and utilisation of NCAF.
• State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority for utilization of State Compensatory Afforestation Fund.

BLUE FLAG

• The environment ministry has launched a pilot project ‘Blue Flag’ for beach clean-up and
development.
• Under the project, each state or union territory has been asked to nominate a beach which will be funded through the ongoing Integrated.

Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) Program

• The prime objective is enhancing standards of cleanliness, upkeep and basic amenities at
beaches.
• The ‘Blue Flag’ is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its stringent standards .

DROUGHT

• In the ‘Manual for Drought Management’ released by the government in December 2016, the ‘moderate’ drought category has been deleted.
• Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) replaced the word “drought” to describe poor rainfall with “deficient year” and “large deficient year”, while incorporating standard practices from across the world.
• The change means drought-hit areas will now be categorized as ‘normal’ and ‘severe’.
• Only in case of ‘severe’ drought, a state would be eligible for central assistance from
the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF is defined in Section 46 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, is constituted to supplement the funds of the State Disaster Response Funds.)