The post The Union environment ministry notifies the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021 appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>At the 4th United Nations Environment Assembly held in 2019, India moved a resolution on addressing single-use plastic products pollution by 2022. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on people to stop the use of single-use plastic bags in his Independence Day speech in 2019.
The manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale, and use of some single-use plastic products including polystyrene and expanded polystyrene shall be prohibited from July 1, 2022. These include earbuds with plastic sticks, plastic sticks for balloons, plastic flags, candy sticks, ice-cream sticks, polystyrene for decoration, plates, cups, glasses, cutlery such as forks, spoons, knives, straw, trays, wrapping or packing films used for sweet boxes, invitation cards, and cigarette packets, plastic or PVC banners less than 100 micron and stirrers.
From September 30, 2021, the thickness of plastic carry bags will be increased from 50 microns to 75 microns and 120 microns. This will also allow the reuse of plastic carry bags due to an increase in thickness, an environment ministry statement said.
The plastic packaging waste, which is not covered under the phase-out of identified single-use plastic items, shall be collected and managed in an environmentally sustainable way by producers, importers, and brand owners as per the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016. For effective implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility, the guidelines for it are being brought out and have been given legal force through Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, the ministry said in the statement.
The post The Union environment ministry notifies the Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021 appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The post Irreversible impact of climate change to hit India in recent years appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>Most of these impacts are irreversible and hence cannot be remediated even if greenhouse gas emissions decline dramatically, the IPCC said.
The IPCC report titled ‘Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis’ released on Monday said heatwaves and humid heat stress will be more intense and frequent during the 21st century over South Asia.
The Indian Ocean, which includes the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, has warmed faster than the global average, the IPCC said with “very high confidence”. The oceans factsheet released by IPCC on Monday indicates that sea surface temperature over Indian ocean is likely to increase by 1 to 2 degrees C (°C) when there is 1.5°C to 2°C global warming.
Over high mountains in Asia which include the Himalayas, snow cover has reduced since the early 21st century, and glaciers have thinned, retreated, and lost mass since the 1970s, the IPCC said, although the Karakoram glaciers haven’t recorded any major retreating trend.
Snow-covered areas and snow volumes will continue to decrease during the 21st century, snowline elevations will rise and glacier mass is likely to decline further as emissions rise. Rising global temperature and rain can increase the occurrence of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and landslides over moraine-dammed lakes, the IPCC warned.
The post Irreversible impact of climate change to hit India in recent years appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The post Meteorologists stunned to see successive thunderstorms swept across the icy Arctic appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>Forecasters hadn’t seen anything like that before,” said Ed Plumb, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fairbanks, speaking about the storms that started on Saturday.
Typically, the air over the Arctic Ocean, especially when the water is covered with ice, lacks the convective heat needed to generate lightning storms.
But as climate change warms the Arctic faster than the rest of the world, that’s changing, scientists say.
Episodes of summer lightning within the Arctic Circle have tripled since 2010, a trend directly tied to climate change and increasing loss of sea ice in the far north, scientists reported in a March study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. As sea ice vanishes, more water is able to evaporate, adding moisture to the warming atmosphere.
The post Meteorologists stunned to see successive thunderstorms swept across the icy Arctic appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The post On the occasion of World Snake Day, here are some stunning facts about snakes appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>
Sixteenth of July each year marks the celebration as World Snake Day. The day aims to raise awareness about different kinds of snakes found in the world and to shine a spotlight on the indispensable role they play in the biosphere.
Our planet Earth is home to more than 3,500 species of snakes of which nearly 600 are venomous. Unfortunately, these limbless, elongated reptiles are often misunderstood. This World Snake Day shed your fears and learn more about snakes.
Below are some stunning facts about snakes :
1) King Cobra, the world’s longest snake, is also the only snake species in the world that makes a nest for laying its eggs.
2) Flying snakes exist. These limbless creatures aren’t capable of flying like birds or bats but can glide down from trees by trapping air under their bodies with the help of their ribs.
3) Snakes lack external ears. Then how do they sense sound? Well, bones in the lower jaw of snakes are capable of picking up sound waves from water or ground surface.
4) You’d think that a creature without limbs would a poor climber. But this is not true in the case of snakes. These limbless reptiles can smoothly climb trees with the help of their belly scales.
5) Snake venom is actually modified saliva. Snakes use venom to immobilise and digest prey, and as a defence against threats.
6) Snake venom has the ability to cure. Snake venom components are used for developing certain muscle relaxants, analgesics, and drugs for neurodegenerative disorders.
7) Some snake species give birth to developed young ones instead of laying eggs. Russell’s viper is one of them.
8) Evolution has gifted some snake species infrared vision, also known as heat vision. It helps these cold-blooded reptiles track warm-blooded prey by sensing the heat they emit from their bodies.
9) Snakes have poor eyesight and limited hearing, but they have an impeccable sense of smell. Did you know that snakes smell with their tongues? Snake tongue grabs chemical compounds (that smells are made of) from air, water and ground. That’s why snakes keep flicking their tongues out.
The post On the occasion of World Snake Day, here are some stunning facts about snakes appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The post Proposal for launching “deep ocean mission” gets approved by the Centre appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The decision was taken by the Union Cabinet at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This will support the blue economy and take India into a new era,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar told a press conference after the cabinet meeting.
The proposal for launching the “deep sea mission” came from the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Mr Javadekar said under the mission, a mineral study will be conducted 6,000 metres deep in the ocean. The mission will also study the changes, if any, noticed due to climate change.
Under the mission, he said, a study will also be conducted on more deep-sea biodiversity.
The minister said an advanced marine station will be set up for ocean biology under the mission. There will also be an offshore thermal energy centre, which will help new emerging sectors.
After the US, Russia, France, Japan and China, India will be the sixth country to have this kind of technology, the minister said.
There will be good opportunities for our MSMEs and research. This will also help in our endeavour and vision towards an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Edge Media staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
The post Proposal for launching “deep ocean mission” gets approved by the Centre appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The post Southern Ocean recognized as fifth ocean appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>“Anyone who has been there will struggle to explain what’s so mesmerizing about it, but they’ll all agree that the glaciers are bluer, the air colder, the mountains more intimidating, and the landscapes more captivating than anywhere else you can go,” says Seth Sykora-Bodie, a marine scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and a National Geographic Explorer.
Since National Geographic began making maps in 1915, it has recognized four oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic Oceans. Starting on June 8, World Oceans Day, it will recognize the Southern Ocean as the world’s fifth ocean.
“The Southern Ocean has long been recognized by scientists, but because there was never agreement internationally, we never officially recognized it,” says National Geographic Society Geographer Alex Tait.
The post Southern Ocean recognized as fifth ocean appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The post Ethereum to become more environment-friendly appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The second largest cryptocurrency in the world, Ethereum (ETH), has announced a new infrastructure model that will reduce its energy consumption by as much as 99%.
Ethereum hopes to achieve this by substituting the proof of work system with the proof of stake system.
At the present moment, this virtual currency has a carbon footprint that is comparable to Sri Lanka’s. Many people are sceptical and have raised concerns about the energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining. It may cause increased carbon emissions and climate change.
In addition to addressing this issue, this update also decreases the dependence on powerful hardware in the crypto community.
The post Ethereum to become more environment-friendly appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>The post Videos of large waves crashing on the Gateway of India goes viral. appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>Several videos of this disastrous cyclone are circulated through various social media platforms showing the ferocity of the same. One of the clips contain a video of the Gateway of India getting hit by the ferocious waves. Some of these videos are shot through the Taj Hotel showing the waves hitting the metal barricades. It also portrays the sound of the winds that are continuously howling at a high speed. The video surely shows the ferocious face of the nature.
Tauk- tae Cyclone disaster at Gateway of India.
.17 may 2021.#Tauktae #tauktaecycloneMumbai pic.twitter.com/cwlHOuPs6L
— Dhawal Shah. (@dhawalkshah) May 18, 2021
A terrifying aerial view of heavy rains and gusts at the Gateway of India due to Cyclone Tauktae.#cyclonetauktae #cyclone #gatewayofindia #pinkvillareels #pinkvilla pic.twitter.com/yWX6K3sphg
— Pinkvilla (@pinkvilla) May 17, 2021
The post Videos of large waves crashing on the Gateway of India goes viral. appeared first on The Edge Media.
]]>