Environment & Ecology: June 2022 Current Affairs | Environment for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Red List of Birds in Kerla

Why in the news?

Soon, Kerala will have its own Red list of birds. The regional Red List evaluation will be carried out by the Bird Count India and the Kerala Bird Monitoring Collective, both of which are led by Kerala Agricultural University. Kerala will be the first State to have a region-specific red list of birds once it is available.

What will be the Kerala Red list for birds?

• Kerala will be the first State to have a region-specific red list of birds once it is available.
• The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recommendations will serve as the foundation for the assessment of the Red List of Birds in kerala.
• The current red list is the global IUCN list. However, as the global assessment was developed in a global environment, it has some limitations.
• At the regional level, a species that is common on a global scale could be in danger.
• Additionally, the regional red list assessment will be carried out in accordance with IUCN rules.

What are the limitations of the IUCN red list?

• Issues with the IUCN List: The global evaluation has limits because it was developed in a global environment. At the regional level, a species that is common on a global scale could be in danger.
• Kerala is home to 64 bird species that are listed as endangered on the IUCN global red list. In this, the White-rumped and Red-headed vultures are both in grave danger. Eleven species are considered vulnerable, including the steppe eagle, the banasura chilappan, and the nilgiri chilappan.

What are the criteria that the Kerala Red list will follow?
Kerala’ regional Red List for the BIrd will follow the IUCN guidelines for preparing the red list and have five main criteria.
Criteria:

• The population size reduction measured over 10 years or three generations
• Geographic range on the basis of the extent of occurrence or area of occupancy
• Small population size and decline
• Very small or restricted population
• Probability of extinction in the wild

How will the Regional Red List for Birds be prepared?

• The red list for the State will be created by the Kerala Bird Monitoring Collective in a year.
• Similar to how the Kerala Bird Atlas was created, it will be a decentralized procedure.
• The Regional Red List for Birds of Kerala will be created using the data from the Kerala Bird Atlas, which already has a sizable amount of data.
• The atlas, created between 2015 and 2020, provides a strong baseline data about distribution and abundance of diverse bird species in the State.
• It was conducted as a citizen science-driven activity with involvement from over 1,000 volunteers of the bird watching community.

Since Red List is a part of Red Data Book, here's a document to clear your concepts on the same here:   Shankar IAS: Summary of Animal Diversity Of India 

Four New Corals Were Recorded From Indian Waters

Scientists have recorded four species of corals for the first time from Indian waters. These new species of azooxanthellate corals were found from the waters off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

What are Azooxanthellate Corals?

• The azooxanthellate corals are a group of corals that do not contain zooxanthellae and derive nourishment not from the sun but from capturing different forms of planktons.
• They are deep-sea representatives with the majority of species being reported from depths between 200 metres and 1,000 metres.
• They are also reported from shallow waters unlike zooxanthellate corals that are restricted to shallow waters.

Which are the news species found?

• Truncatoflabellum crassum, T. incrustatum, T. aculeatum, and T. irregulare under the family Flabellidae were previously found in Japan, the Philippines and Australian waters.
• Only T. crassum was reported with the range of Indo-West Pacific distribution.

Significance of the discovery

• Most studies of hard corals in India have been concentrated on reef-building corals while much is not known about non-reef-building corals.
• These new species enhance our knowledge about non-reef-building solitary corals.

Coral Reefs

• Corals are marine invertebrates or animals not possessing a spine.
• Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grows when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
• Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km.
• It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
• Corals are of two types — hard coral and soft coral:
  • Hard corals, also called hermatypic or ‘reef building’ corals extract calcium carbonate (also found in limestone) from the seawater to build hard, white coral exoskeletons.
  • Soft coral polyps, however, borrow their appearance from plants, attach themselves to such skeletons and older skeletons built by their ancestors. Soft corals also add their own skeletons to the hard structure over the years and these growing multiplying structures gradually form coral reefs. They are the largest living structures on the planet.

How do they feed themselves?

• Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae.
• The algae provides the coral with food and nutrients, which they make through photosynthesis, using the sun’s light.
• In turn, the corals give the algae a home and key nutrients.
• The zooxanthellae also give corals their bright colour.

To read more information on this topic:

• Aquatic Ecosystem

Green Hydrogen Policy

Recently, the Ministry of Power (MoP) announced a Green Hydrogen Policy (GHP). Industry participants have largely welcomed it, for it fits in well with the climate-action thrust of India’s budget for 2022-23.

The policy has set a target of 5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of green hydrogen production by 2030, more than 80% of the current hydrogen demand in the country.

It is a watershed moment in India’s energy transition journey, and by doing so, India has become the 18th country to release a comprehensive Green Hydrogen Policy. Ammonia and Hydrogen are seen to be the future fuels to replace fossil fuels.

What is the Green Hydrogen Policy?

• Under the policy, the government is offering to set up manufacturing zones for production, connectivity to the ISTS (Inter-State Transmission System) on priority basis, and free transmission for 25 years if the production facility is commissioned before June 2025.
• This means that a green hydrogen producer will be able to set up a solar power plant in Rajasthan to supply renewable energy to a green hydrogen plant in Assam and would not be required to pay any inter-state transmission charges.
• Besides, producers will be allowed to set up bunkers near ports for storage of green ammonia for export by shipping.
• Manufacturers of Green hydrogen and ammonia are allowed to purchase renewable power from the power exchange or set up Renewable Energy (RE) capacity themselves or through any other developer, anywhere.
• It provides facility for producers to bank any surplus renewable energy generated with discoms (power distribution companies) for upto 30 days and use it as required.

What is the Significance of the Policy?

• India’s largest oil refiner, Indian Oil Corp (IOC) estimates that GHP measures will reduce the cost of green hydrogen production by 40-50%.
• Fuels like Green Hydrogen and Green Ammonia are vital for any nation's environmentally sustainable energy security.
• India has already committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, and green hydrogen will play a significant role as a disruptive feedstock in India's transition from oil and coal.
• The GHP lays a solid foundation for developing a competitive green hydrogen sector in India.

What are the Challenges Associated?

• Charges on Transmission: Producing 1kg of green hydrogen takes about 50kWh of electricity (with electrolyser efficiency of 70%).
  • While India boasts one of the world’s lowest average costs of RE generation, it levies a plethora of charges on wheeling and transmission of electricity between the points of generation and consumption.
• Lesser Cost-Effective than Green Hydrogen: In cases where the green hydrogen is produced from a remotely-located RE plant, the landed cost of power determines the cost of output which ranges from ₹3.70 to ₹7.14 per kWh.
  • At this rate, green hydrogen will be made at a cost of about ₹500 per kg, which is nearly 3.5 times the cost of grey hydrogen.
  • So the landed cost of RE from a distant source will need to at least be halved to make green hydrogen competitive vis-a-vis grey.
• Reluctance of States: Many public sector electricity utilities are unwilling to let go of their monopoly in power distribution. The RE-rich states are either moving away from allowing RE banking or introducing regulations to restrict this facility.
  • Gujarat allows settlement for banked solar power only between 7am and 6pm and levies ₹1.5 per unit as its banking charges for ‘high-tension’ consumers.
  • Rajasthan permits banking of up to 25% of RE generation and settlement on an annual basis, but levies a 10% charge, among the highest in India.
  • Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh do not allow RE banking.
  • Also, most states do not permit banked energy to be drawn during the peak hours.
• Lesser Margins for Producers: The GHP omits to mention any waiver of ISTS losses for green hydrogen and ammonia projects.
  • Also, it provides for discoms to procure and supply RE to makers of green hydrogen/ammonia at the cost of procurement with only a small margin determined by the SERCs.
  • This margin may not be enough incentive for discoms to procure and supply RE to green hydrogen makers on a long-term basis.
• Unwillingness of Industries: Industrial sectors such as chemicals, fertilisers, steel and refineries are unlikely to transition to low carbon alternatives because of the higher associated costs. Such industries might not find the transition viable with no incentives to reduce emissions.

What Steps Can Be Taken?

• Role of State Governments: The measures announced in the GHP would require the active cooperation of state governments (including allotment of land in RE parks and proposed manufacturing zones) and the relevant SERCs.
  • The RE-rich states shall implement the GHP’s banking provisions and levy uniform charges, otherwise, it may not help green hydrogen producers much.
• Role of Central Government: To get the cooperation of RE-rich states, the Centre may consider providing concessional finance to the discoms in such states to clear their dues to power generators, and in return require them to waive the aforementioned surcharges for open-access RE projects and cap RE-banking charges at the level specified in the GHP.
• Demand Generation: While large refiners like Reliance and IOC have plans to set up green-hydrogen production facilities, other manufacturers and RE developers would be hesitant to commit large-scale investments in the absence of demand generators.
  • The GHP measures beside enhancing the supply of green hydrogen at competitive rates shall also aim to make moves to stimulate demand.
• Incentivising Industries: Hydrogen-purchase obligations or other demand boosters are required to support the creation of a green hydrogen ecosystem.
  • The Centre may consider incentivizing petroleum refiners and fertiliser makers to make and use green hydrogen by offering subsidies linked to their level of its utilisation as feedstock.

This would further India’s goal of achieving its net-zero emissions target by 2070.

Since Green Hydrogen is a part of Act and Policies , here's a document to clear your concepts on the same here :  Shankar IAS: Summary of Act & Policies

New Species of Bamboo-dwelling Bat Found in Meghalaya

Why in News?

Recently, Scientists have discovered a new species of bamboo-dwelling bat near the Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary.

What do we Need to Know about Newly Discovered Species?

• The new species of bamboo-dwelling bat has been named Glischropus meghalayanus.
  • Bamboo-dwelling bats are a particular kind of bat living in the internodes of bamboo with specialised morphological characters that help them to adapt to the life inside a bamboo plant.
• It is small in size and has a dark brown colour with sulphur yellow belly.
• The present discovery is the first report of a thick-thumbed bat not only from India but also from South Asia.

What are Thick-Thumbed Bats?

• This bat has typical fleshy pads on the thumb and soles of feet which aid them to crawl over smooth surfaces of bamboo internodes.
• Thick-thumbed bats of the genus Glischropus are currently composed of four recognized species from Southeast Asia.
  • G. aquilus is endemic to Sumatra, G. javanus is restricted to western Java, whereas G. bucephalus is widely distributed north to the Isthmus of Kra and G. tylopus is widespread south to this zoogeographic boundary.
• Earlier, a new species of thick-thumbed bat (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae: Glischropus) from Meghalaya, north-eastern India was discovered.

What are the Recent Discoveries of Bats from Meghalaya?

• From the same forested patches outside Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary, another species of disk-footed bat Eudiscopus denticulus was found which was a new record in India.
• In the past few years, three bamboo-dwelling bats have been reported from the area which highlights the ecological significance of the region.
  • Since the bamboo forest around the wildlife sanctuary has a rich bio-diversity there should be attempts to conserve it.

What is the Number of Bat Species in India?

• Total Number:
  • With this new discovery, the total number of bat species known from India stands at 131.
• Highest Bat Diversity:
  • Meghalaya harbors the highest bat diversity in the country with 67 species, which is about 51% of total bat species in the country.
  • Meghalaya, because of its unique terrain, vegetation and climate condition, was a haven for both flora and fauna.
  • The unique caves in the northeastern State provided roosting opportunities for a large number of bats.
• There were a number of cave-dwelling bats species from Meghalaya, the most common being Horseshoe bat and Leaf-nosed bats.

Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary

• Situated in the Ri-Bhoi district near Lailad village and spread over an area of 29 sq. kms, Nongkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the famous attractions of Meghalaya.
• The Sanctuary falls in the Eastern Himalayan Global biodiversity hotspot.
• The sanctuary supports different species of fauna such as Royal Bengal Tiger, Clouded Leopard, Indian Bison, and Himalayan Black Bear etc.
• Among the birds, the rare species which can be spotted here are Manipur Bush Quail, Rufous Necked Hornbill and Brown Hornbill.
• Other Wildlife Sanctuary in Meghalaya:
  • Siju Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Narpuh Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Baghmara Pitcher Plant Sanctuary
  • Nokrek National Park
    

Since Bamboo - Dwelling Bat is a part of Animal Diversity of India, here's a document to clear your concepts on the same here:  Shankar IAS: Summary of Animal Diversity of India  

Heavy Metal Pollution

Why in News?

Recently, the Center for Science and Environment has reported that rivers of India are facing severe metal pollution.

Three out of every four river monitoring stations in India have observed alarming levels of heavy toxic metals such as lead, iron, nickel, cadmium, arsenic, chromium and copper.

What is Heavy Metal Pollution?

Heavy Metals:

• Heavy metals may be defined as elements with an atomic number larger than 20 and an atomic density greater than 5 g cm-3 that must possess metal-like characteristics. Example: arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, uranium etc.

 Heavy Metal Pollution:

• Heavy metal pollution has been caused in our rivers, soils, and environment as a result of rapidly growing agriculture and metal industries, improper waste management, heavy use of fertilizers, and pesticides.
• Agricultural and industrial operations, landfilling, mining, and transportation are the primary sources of heavy metals in groundwater.
• Through the agricultural water runoff heavy metals reach upto river.
• Discharge of wastewater from industries (like the tannery industry which is a big source of chromium heavy metals) directly into river bodies intensified the severity of the heavy metal pollution.
• Heavy metals have the property of long persistent in plants, animals and environment.

What are the Sources of Heavy Metals?

There are two kinds of sources through which the heavy metals enter into the environment.

• Natural Source: Heavy Metals are naturally present in the earth’s crust. Rocks are the natural source of heavy metals. Heavy Metals are present in the rocks in the form minerals. Examples: arsenic, copper, lead etc
• Anthropogenic Source: Mining, industrial, and agricultural operations are all anthropogenic sources of heavy metals in the environment.
• These heavy metals are produced during the mining and extraction of various elements from their respective ores.
• Heavy metals emitted into the atmosphere during mining, smelting, and other industrial activities are deposited on land by dry and wet deposition.
  • Discharge of wastewaters such as industrial effluents and domestic sewage add heavy metals to the environment.
  • Application of chemical fertilizers and combustion of fossil fuels also contribute to the anthropogenic input of heavy metals in the environment.

What has been Observed in Monitoring of Heavy Metal Pollution?

• There are 764 river quality monitoring stations in India, spread over 28 states.
• Out of the 33 monitoring stations in Ganga, 10 had high levels of heavy metals contaminants.
• The Central Water Commission examined water samples from 688 sites for heavy metals between August 2018 and December 2020.
• Total coliform and biochemical oxygen demand were high in 239 and 88 of the 588 water quality stations examined for pollution throughout 21 states,
• It indicates that wastewater treatment from industry, agricultural, and domestic households is inadequate.
• According to the Center for Science and Environment’s State of the Environment Report 2022, the river, which is the focus of the Namami Gange mission, contains high levels of lead, iron, nickel, cadmium, and arsenic (CSE).
• The report is a yearly compilation of data on environmental development obtained from public sources.
• According to the Central Pollution Control Board, ten states do not treat their sewage at all.
• In India, 72% of sewage waste is dumped untreated.

What are the Consequences of the Heavy Metal Pollution?

These toxic heavy metals entering the environment may lead to bioaccumulation and biomagnifications.

• Bioaccumulation: The net accumulation of a pollutant in an organism from all sources, including water, air, and food, is known as bioaccumulation.’
• Biomagnifications: Biomagnification is the accumulation of a chemical by an organism as a result of water and food exposure, resulting in an increase in concentration that is higher than would have been expected from equilibrium. 
• Some heavy metals have an effect on biological activities and growth, while others accumulate in one or more organs, resulting in a variety of severe diseases such as cancers, skin diseases, nervous system disorders etc. 
• Metal toxicity results in the production of free radicals, which damages DNA. These heavy metals are not readily degradable in nature and accumulate in the animal as well as human bodies to a very high toxic amount.
• Heavy metal intake has been related to developmental retardation, renal damage, a variety of cancers, and even death in extreme cases.