July ends with 9-10% excess rain across the country, taking the whole season’s total so far to 2% above normal, reported TOI citing IMD data. The weather office said the monsoon’s distribution remains somewhat skewed, with central and south India having received bountiful rain and the country’s northwest and east so far staring at big deficits: till July 30, 36% of India’s districts — 267 of 742 — have received deficient or ‘large deficient’ rains.
The newspaper added that the rain deficient districts include all districts of Jharkhand (24) and Gangetic Bengal (15), 33 of 38 districts of Bihar, 19 of 22 districts each in Punjab and Haryana, five of nine in Delhi, nine of 12 in Himachal & 15 of 20 in J&K. June recorded 12% rain deficiency across the country, HT reported.
Monsoon fury: Deadly landslides hit Meppadi, in Kerala’s Wayanad; 150 bodies found, hundreds feared trapped
Massive landslides struck the hilly areas of Kerala’s Wyanad district. More than 50 houses were destroyed in the landslide that completely swept away the little town of Mundakkai, reports Manorama. The death toll climbed to 150 with several persons reportedly trapped or missing. The state has declared 2-day mourning. Schools and colleges are shut. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued ‘orange’ alert predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall till August 3. According to local officials, most of the victims worked in tea estates and lived at the base of plantations. 3,069 people are in 45 relief camps in Wayanad alone. The heavy rainfall is hampering rescue operations. According to Manorama, the landslides have destroyed the main bridge in Chooralmala, trapping many individuals in various locations affected by the landslides. Mundakkai was hit twice over a period of 4 decades before the latest one wipe it off, reported Manorama.
News agency PTI quotes scientists who said the landslides in Kerala could be the result of a combination of climate change, excessive mining and loss of forest cover in the region. The newswire said a 2021 study on landslide hotspots in India revealed that 59% per cent of the total landslides in Kerala occurred in plantation areas. The report cited 2022 study that found 62% forests in the district disappeared between 1950 and 2018 while plantation cover rose by around 1,800%. The report also mentioned a study that found around 85% of the total area of Wayanad was under forest cover until the 1950s. S Abhilash, director of the Advanced Centre for Atmospheric Radar Research at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) told PTI: “Our research found that the southeast Arabian Sea is becoming warmer, causing the atmosphere above this region, including Kerala, to become thermodynamically unstable.”
The landslides are along the proposed ambitious 4-lane Anakkampoyil-Kalladi-Meppadi twin tunnel road project cutting through the core region of Western Ghats. Heavy rains have frequently exposed the eco fragility of the region. Earlier the Hindu reported that the tunnel alignment passes through highly fragile terrain prone to landslips.
3 students drown after basement of IAS coaching centre gets flooded with rain water
Three students, including two girls, drowned after the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Delhi’s Old Rajinder Nagar was flooded with rain water on Saturday. The water from the road flooded the library in the basement. There were 30 students in all at the coaching centre. Twenty-seven either escaped or were rescued, TOI reported.
The rescue efforts required the intervention of divers. Students at the spot described the situation as “horrific” and one they had never imagined being caught in. Some students also claimed a similar condition a week ago when the street there had waist-deep rainwater. Indian Express reported that the Met department’s PUSA weather station, closest to Old Rajinder Nagar, had reported 31.5 mm of rain between 5.30 pm and 8.30 pm on Saturday.
Karnataka to appeal for equal treatment of Traditional Forest Dwellers
The Karnataka government is set to appeal to the Centre to amend the Schedule Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, 2006, and the rules made under it to treat other traditional forest dwellers equally with forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribe communities, reported the New Indian Express. The state’s Forest, Environment, and Ecology Minister Eshwar B Khandre said 9,136.27 acres belonging to dwellers, including farmers, was acquired to construct the Linganamakki Dam, but the land owners were not notified even though the families have been living in the vacated space for the past 50- 60 years.
“The government has filed an interlocutory petition in the Supreme Court. The same is the case with the Forest Rights Act. In 2006, the Centre implemented the Act, and framed rules in 2008. But the rules have not been notified by the Ministry of Tribal Welfare. But is applicable to the Forest Department. Forest rights are being availed of by the STs living in forests and depending on forests for their livelihood before December 2005. However, the other forest dwellers, have to submit documents to prove that their three generations were staying in the forests to get the benefits under the Forest Rights Act. The Centre must amend the Acts…,” Minister informed the Karnataka Assembly.
Oil and gas exploration likely to threaten Hoolock Gibbon habitat in Assam
The Centre’a green signal to exploratory oil and gas drilling in parts of Assam may put the endangered Hoolock Gibbon at further risk, HT reported. According to the report, Cairn India, the oil and gas unit of the Anil Agarwal-promoted Vedanta Ltd wants to use 4.4998ha of reserved forest land for oil and gas exploration drilling in the notified eco-sensitive zone of the Hoollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, official documents showed. The newspaper said while the forest advisory committee (FAC) of the ministry has deferred its decision, according to minutes of its meeting dated July 4, the project has the blessings of both the state government and the regional office of the environment ministry.
Dilip Chetry, a senior primatologist, who has specialised in the species, explained to the newspaper how the exploration will impact the ecology: “The Hoolock Gibbon is a canopy dweller. Their movement is restricted if their habitat is fragmented. Canopy-based animals just cannot move if any project, be it oil and gas exploration or mining, logging, encroachments, other development projects, agriculture fragments even a small part of the habitat. Gibbons are an indicator for other species. Wherever there are gibbons, there are other primates, schedule 1 species, all other species. So Hoolock Gibbons are a flagship species. They form close-knit families and are monogamous.”
14 years after Gadgil report, Western Ghats eco-sensitive zones yet to be notified
Fourteen years after the first such demarcation was recommended by ecologist Madhav Gadgil’s committee in 2011, the Western Ghats ecologically sensitive areas are yet to be notified by the Union environment ministry, reported HT.
The newspaper added that the Gadgil panel had recommended 75% of the 129,037 sq km area of the Western Ghats be declared environmentally sensitive because of its dense forests and the presence of a large number of endemic species. Many states found it too restrictive. A second panel, headed by rocket scientist K Kasturirangan, scaled down the area to 50%. The Kasturirangan report’s recommendations were further diluted, and four draft notifications have since been issued.
The Centre informed the Lok Sabha that in order to protect the rich biodiversity of Western Ghats, it has issued draft Notification on Western Ghats Eco-Sensitive Area with an area of 56,825 square kilometre spreading over six States (Goa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu). “The States have persistently asked for modification in the Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA) included in the aforesaid draft notification,” government said.
In the latest iteration of the notification (before a new draft was finalised), the area to be notified as an ESA has been shrunk to approximately 37% of the Western Ghats, the HT report said.
California wildfire burns 3,60,000 acres; 8,000 people ordered to evacuate
A devastating wildfire that began last week in California’s “Park Fire” burned through 360,000 acres of land, becoming the largest active blaze in the state, the Independent reported. The report said that a man accused of starting the fire by pushing a burning car into a gully has been arrested on suspicion of intentional arson. According to media reports, nearly 4,000 firefighters are battling the blaze, which has forced some 4,200 people to evacuate their homes. Times reported that “At least 100 structures have been destroyed or damaged and 4,000 more remain under threat, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.” It adds that evacuation orders have been issued to more than 8,000 people, but some are refusing to leave their homes
Canadian wildfires: Famous Rockies resort of Jasper on fire as thousands flee
Wildfires have forced more than 25,000 people to evacuate from the Canadian tourist destination of Jasper, BBC reported, adding that the fire has spread through the national park, causing “significant loss” within the local town. The news outlet said hundreds of wildfires have sparked in the western provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, as the “region has been hit by more than 58,000 lightning strikes within the last week, sparking new blazes after a three-week heatwave”.
Antarctic may be taking up 25% more CO2 than previously thought
The Antarctic (Southern Ocean) may be taking up 25% more CO2 than previously thought, found a new study. Using measurements of the CO2 exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere from seven Southern Ocean research cruises, alongside other datasets, researchers model the total CO2 uptake around Antarctica from November to April. They find that ocean models and other datasets “considerably underestimate the observed CO2 uptake”, which they say “may be due to the lack of representation of small-scale high-flux events”. They conclude that higher resolution is needed when making CO2 flux estimates in order to accurately quantify the fluxes.
Tree bark helps remove methane from atmosphere, study finds
Microbes in tree bark play a “vital role in removing methane from the atmosphere”, researchers have found in their new study that shows trees “have an extra climate benefit thanks to methane-eating microbes”, reported the Guardian. Citing the research the newspaper said microbes living in the bark of trees are absorbing methane from the air, making trees about 10% better for the climate than previously thought.
Air New Zealand drops 2030 carbon target
Air New Zealand has withdrawn its 2030 emissions reduction target, making it “the first major airline to row back on climate aspirations”, Reuters reported, adding that the airline had promised to reduce its carbon intensity by 28.9% by 2030 compared with 2019 levels. The report says the airline cited “delivery delays of fuel-efficient aircraft and high green fuel prices” in its decision, but said it was still committed to the industry-wide target of reaching net-zero by 2050.
The newswire said climate has been a significant part of Air New Zealand corporate messaging for some time. The firm wants to conduct a demonstration flight of an electric plane by 2026 and in December ordered an all-electric five-seat plane. The airline’s 2023 sustainability report describes the 2030 target as aspirational and challenging, with some factors out of its control.”
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