Feature
Biodiversity is under threat worldwide. For example, the global mammalian extinction rate of 0.35% of species lost per century since 1600 is calculated to be between 17 and 377 times the mammalian background extinction rate during the past 65 million years, that is, since the mass extinction that removed the dinosaurs. India has considerable biodiversity that is under threat as the table below (which deals only with animals) indicates.
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Tuesday,22 June, 2010 | Hits: 227
Published by the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, The Leapfrog Factor: Clearing the Air in Asian Cities is an excellent reference on a contentious subject. The book looks at pollution caused by transport in our cities and the range of environmental, economic, social and technical solutions available, says Darryl D'Monte.
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Wednesday,02 June, 2010 | Hits: 164
Ground water is an essential and vital component of our life support system. The ground water resources are being utilized for drinking, irrigation and industrial purposes. However, due to rapid growth of population, urbanization, industrialization and agriculture activities, ground water resources are under stress. There is growing concern on the deterioration of ground water quality due to geogenic and anthropogenic activities.
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Monday,21 June, 2010 | Hits: 190
The purpose of this report is to open up a dialogue on an issue that could put the lives and livelihoods of millions of people at risk in the foreseeable future. This issue is water – water as a vital resource and as a potential crisis driver in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. In seeking to foster that dialogue, the report has three specific objectives: [i] to survey various types of potential water-related hazards and crisis drivers that could affect the region; [ii] to foster new types of alliances – including greater attention to what will be called humanitarian policy-maker/science dialogues – for addressing the threats that the region may face; and [iii] to propose first steps that must be taken now to lead to prevention and preparedness measures commensurate with the nature and scale of threats facing the region.
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Wednesday,09 June, 2010 | Hits: 243
Restoring lost and damaged ecosystems-from forests and freshwaters to mangroves and wetlands-can trigger multi-million dollar returns, generate jobs and combat poverty according to a new report compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). It draws on thousands of ecosystem restoration projects world-wide and showcases over 30 initiatives that are transforming the lives of communities and countries across the globe.
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Tuesday,01 June, 2010 | Hits: 224
A livelihoods programme for villages on the fringes of Kaziranga National Park makes big gains in the fight against poaching, and also recognises the importance of locals as stakeholders in wildlife conservation. Ratna Bharali Talukdar reports.
From an infamous rhino poacher who had been imprisoned five times, to a dedicated soldier of anti-poaching operations, life has made a full U-turn for Balak Singh Teron, from Natundanga village in Ghorakati area under the Burapahar Range of the Kaziranga National Park (KNP), famous for its one-horned rhinoceros.
Until June 2008 was an associate of a rhino-poaching gang, trekking up and down the Karbi Anglong Hills at the southern boundary of the National Park, spending his time hiding away from his village. Today, he is leading a happy married life, working as a daily wage earner and simultaneously helping Forest Officials in nabbing poachers. The credit for this transformation goes to the Eco-Development programme initiated by the park authorities for promoting viable livelihood opportunities among the villagers living in the fringe areas of KNP.
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Wednesday,02 June, 2010 | Hits: 184
Finite, vital, much wanted, little understood, water looks unmanageable. But it needn’t be, argues John Grimond [ interviewed here ]
WHEN the word water appears in print these days, crisis is rarely far behind. Water, it is said, is the new oil: a resource long squandered, now growing expensive and soon to be overwhelmed by insatiable demand. Aquifers are falling, glaciers vanishing, reservoirs drying up and rivers no longer flowing to the sea. Climate change threatens to make the problems worse. Everyone must use less water if famine, pestilence and mass migration are not to sweep the globe. As it is, wars are about to break out between countries squabbling over dams and rivers. If the apocalypse is still a little way off, it is only because the four horsemen and their steeds have stopped to search for something to drink.
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Wednesday,19 May, 2010 | Hits: 184
Behavioral economists think big savings in carbon emissions can be gained by nudging people to make small changes that increase energy efficiency and cut waste.A couple of weeks ago President Barack Obama stopped by OPOWER, a small Arlington-based energy company, to talk about green jobs and clean power. The White House doesn't schedule just any company for a Presidential visit, so you might wonder why OPOWER made the cut.
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Tuesday,16 March, 2010 | Hits: 142
The Concept and Rationale of State Level Environmental Sustainability Index
Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) is a comparative analysis of environmental achievements, challenges and priorities among Indian states. It indicates a state’s general environmental conditions, including both the state’s innate resources and the achievements of its policies, by aggregating indicators that track a wide range of sectors such as water, air, land, forest, as well as measures of the impact of environment on human health and ecosystem, policy response and society’s efforts to preserve the environment. It maps the various dimensions of each state’s environmental policies and provides insights into priority areas for states to act towards protecting their environment in the coming years.{xtypo_rounded1}Latest comparative analysis of environmental achievements , challenges and priorities among Indian states. Provides overall picture of state-level sustainability by aggregating data on states’ initial endowment and resource use trajectory, magnitude of pollution and its impact on human health & ecosystem vitality, policy, etc into a composite index . Environmental Sustainability Index (ESI) is a comparative analysis of environmental achievements, challenges and priorities among Indian states. It is designed to sensitize, inform and empower citizens and policy makers. It aggregates quantitative data on states’ initial endowment and resource use trajectory, magnitude of pollution and its impact on human health & ecosystem vitality, policy & societal response to maintain and improve present environmental conditions into a composite index that provides the overall picture of state-level sustainability. ESI is developed with the objectives of: Promoting information and evidence based policy making, Prioritization in policy and budget allocation within the state, and Measuring and monitoring sustainable development at the state level.{/xtypo_rounded1}
Since a state’s long term sustainability is a combination of the stock (resources that a state is historically endowed with) and flow (environmental services and resource extraction leading to depreciation of the stock), ESI is constructed as a composite index from 40 key environmental indicators selected based on the Driving Force-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework. These 40 indicators capture the present state of the environment (State), depletion and pollution (Pressure), resulting impact on ecosystem and human health (Impact), policy and societal efforts to reduce such impacts and protecting the ecosystem (Response) and the driving forces that affect the environment (Drivers). The 40 indicators can also be grouped into nine thematic subindices for interpretation from a policy perspective. The nine sub-indices are: Air Quality and Pollution, Water Quality and Availability, Land use and Agriculture, Forest and Biodiversity, Waste Management, Energy Management, Health Impact, Population Pressure and Environmental Budget. Data are compiled from published government sources for all indicators across 28 states and are converted to a comparable scale through a series of statistical operations so that they can be aggregated into a single point index. As discussed later in this chapter, the indicators are first normalized to be on a comparable scale and then grouped into the policy-related sub-indices, which are then added to form the aggregate ESI. The DPSIR categorization is used to select a comprehensive set of variable and as a framework for comparative analysis of states’ challenges and priorities, but it does not play a role in the calculations to aggregate the data.
The ESI ranking is designed to compare Indian states with their peers rather than indicate an absolute level of achievement. Although there are no clear normative benchmarks or thresholds for “good” performance on many of the aggregate ESI, states are categorized into five groups: most sustainable (top 20 percentile), more sustainable (within 60-80 percentile), medium sustainable (within 40-60 percentile), less sustainable (within 20-40 percentile). A higher ESI for any given state indicates that the state has the benefit of better environmental quality at present and that the state has been able to create the potential to maintain its environment over the long run. A low ESI for a state is a sign of greater pressure on the ecosystem, higher pollution and degradation, vulnerability to environmental predicaments and/or non-responsive institutions and government.
{xtypo_rounded1}View Full Report In PDF{/xtypo_rounded1}
{xtypo_info}Rupanwita Dash{/xtypo_info}...
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Sunday,04 April, 2010 | Hits: 250
The Acorn Foundation India Trust aims to organise ragpickers and train them in scientific methods of waste handling, segregation and recycling, bringing a measure of respect to their work. Freny Manecksha reports. Huge mounds of plastic bags, papers and scrap soar into the skyline - you might call it the Dharavi skyline, quite unlike the one a few kilometers south. At first this appears to be nothing more than a jumbled mass. Slowly one begins to discern some order in the chaos. There appear to be distinct working zones. At the far end near the foetid waters of a mangrove swamp sits an old bath tub with its associations of luxurious living providing a distinctly bizarre touch in this setting. Some men have put the tub to a new use and are washing down bits of metal and iron scrap.
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Sunday,09 May, 2010 | Hits: 241
