Sustainability News

"This report (Synthesis Report of the IPCC) is a call for action for all countries, especially countries like India, which are very vulnerable to climate change given their location in the tropics. The report provides a menu of climate actions, both mitigation and adaptation actions, which India can implement based on its national circumstances," Mukherjee told PTI in an online interview.

The study shows that India's energy independence pathway would involve the power sector installing more than 500 GW of non-fossil electricity generation capacity by 2030, a goal that was already announced by the government, followed by an 80 per cent clean grid by 2040 and 90 per cent by 2047.

Scientists have discovered that wild birds have been consuming an inordinate amount of plastics, birthing a new disease plaguing their stomachs. Termed 'Plasticosis', the small plastic pieces end up scarring their proventriculus organ – the first part of a bird's stomach.

While there was a slight overall improvement over the previous 2021 levels, our current average PM2.5 concentration of 53.3 micrograms/cubic metre still remains a catastrophic ten times over the World Health Organisation's safe limit. Roughly 60% of the Indian cities in the report exceeded WHO limits by over seven times!

The uncontrolled biomass burning for residential heating and cooking in the Indo-Gangetic plain creates a ton of ultrafine particles, inadvertently affecting the health of 5 per cent of the world's population and impacting the regional climate. Regulating the uncontrolled biomass-combustion emissions may help inhibit nocturnal haze formation and improve health.

Ground-level ozone is one of the byproducts released when UV radiation burns through nitrogen dioxide, the molecules released when fossil fuels burn. Ozone is part of the brown haze-y photochemical smog we see in metro cities. We’ve seen it linked to decreased vision and shortness of breath. Now, it might be time to add cardiovascular diseases such as strokes and heart attacks to the list.

Cancer drugs have already been regulated by the government, but non-scheduled drugs and e-pharmacies are yet to be regulated. Health Minister Balbir Singh noted that till these drugs get regulated, the easiest way to provide affordable medicines to the common people is by opening maximum 'Jan Aushadhi Kendras' in the state.

Climate change will increasingly exacerbate risks to U.S. national security interests as the physical impacts increase and geopolitical tensions mount about the global response to the challenge. The increasing physical effects of climate change also are likely to intensify or cause domestic as well as cross-border geopolitical flashpoints, the report said.

On Sunday, the co-founder of Microsoft and one of the biggest supporters of clean energy and sustainable development, Bill Gates, quite nonchalantly posted a video of himself driving a rather sleek-looking blue and white electric rickshaw through what appeared to be Haryana streets. And the internet loved it, quite obviously.

Self-limiting biases often stem from social & cultural conditioning women experience, which can shape a sense of inferiority. These beliefs lead to "self-limiting" behaviour that often leads to women having stereotypes about their own abilities, talents, opportunities, and goals that could end up holding back one's career.

A group of researchers have developed a machine-learning model that scours through news articles to pick up on key food crisis-related terms and phrases and uses that information to predict which areas face an elevated risk of food insecurity. According to the researchers, this is a vast improvement over current methods.

Beginning with a pilot in Anekal taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru, Frank Water is surveying households and analysing multiple data sources to map how water is used in the area. The organisation uses hydrological modeling and is developing a state-of-the-art decision support process, which puts tools in the hands of the community.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, showed that internal climate variability could increase sea level rise in some locations by 20-30 per cent more than what would result from climate change alone, exponentially increasing extreme flooding events.

Studies have shown that if we just cut meat consumption to the equivalent of two beef burgers per person a week per person by 2030, we could even stand to avoid the climate crisis. When climate scientists gave a 50-minute talk outlining the negative environmental impacts of meat culture, they found that the audience reduced their meat consumption by an average of 9% over the next three years.

Many species of wild animals like the Indian Guar, deer, wild boars, forest pigs have been put in danger of being caught in the spreading wildfire. In most cases, the fire has been extinguished, forest department officials told IANS. They explained that scorching heat and rising temperatures in recent times have led to this increase in forest fire occurrence.

The report outlines focus areas for states to improve their preparedness for transition, such as exploiting wind and solar generation potential and deploying more energy storage solutions, such as batteries and pumped hydro, for better renewable energy integration.

If you have reduced lung function as an adult, you run a greater risk of chronic lung diseases like COPD, cardiovascular disease and premature death. So by improving air quality, we reduce the likelihood of children developing chronic diseases later in life.

4-Day Week Global, a New Zealand-based group advocating for a four-day work week instead of five, have released the results of their largest-ever trial so far, and they're promising. Especially so when it came to workplace satisfaction and, somewhat surprisingly, the environmental impact as well.

As per the guidelines, there is a restriction on people above 65 years from receiving organ and to register for organ donation. However, the Centre has decided to abolish this age limit. Now a person of any age will be able to register for receiving organ, the source has said.

The fashion industry contributes a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and is not doing enough to contribute to systemic change. The Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action is an initiative to hold fashion brands accountable and transform the entire collaborative ecosystem - from cotton farmers to textile machinery producers. However, many brands under the Charter have not yet met their climate targets.

Since the uncertainty behind a robust charging network remains one of the leading concerns for many EV non-believers, the ability to tap into any charging grid — no matter the company — could certainly catalyse the electric transition for many. We can only hope Tesla's example has spurred more Indian companies to develop the appropriate technology to enable sharing among our increasingly diversified portfolio of electric vehicles.

Just last year, we experienced record temperatures teaming up with deadly and prolonged heat waves to do a number on various crops throughout the year, including wheat. This distressed farmers' livelihoods inside the country while severely hurting exports, particularly at a time when the Russia-Ukraine war had already created catastrophic worldwide food shortages.

Sustainable clothing refers to clothing that has contributed to less carbon footprint and has less negative impact on the environment. Currently, certain sustainable brands are in a price range that is not accessible to everyone. While buying sustainable clothing, make sure you know more about the brand you are buying from.

Eco-friendly tyres are the need of the hour, especially considering tyres are a significant determiner of fuel consumption in automobiles. Shockingly, a study by Emissions Analytics had also shown that tyre particles that enter the air due to wear while driving is hazardous, producing a thousand times more pollutants than from car exhaust pipes.

While the car tests a range of 250 kilometres on a single charge (which takes about four hours to charge fully), it also boasts 150-watt solar panels on its roof that hands it about 10-12 extra kilometres per day, or about 3,000 kilometres a year.