Bioplastics: Meaning, Types and Impacts on Environment

Bioplastics are developed as an alternative to the petroleum-based plastics. Increased use of petroleum-based plastics is associated with producing more greenhouse gases. Bioplastics are not just one single product; they consist of a whole family of products with different properties ..

Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect

The growing urbanisation in India has caused rapid changes in land use and land cover within urban areas. These rapid changes have brought a change in the microclimatic conditions particularly with respect to its thermal structure. The phenomenon of increased ..

Dead Sea Disappearance Issue

The Dead Sea, also known as Salt Sea, is located on left side of Jordan and right side of Jerusalem. The land locked lake boasts of salt levels almost ten times that of oceans. Its salinity is attributed to the ..

Beaching of Whales on Tamil Nadu Coast

In the second week of January 2016, around 80 short-finned whales had beached near Mandapu village in Tutucorin district of Tamil Nadu. Of them more than 40 whales were dead and the remaining whales were rescued in a joint operation ..

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill, 2015

The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (FCA) governs diversion or use of forest land for non-forest purposes such as industrial or infrastructure projects. A company diverting forest land must provide alternative land for taking up compensatory afforestation. The company should pay ..

Heatwaves in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha

During the last summer season, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Odisha experienced severe heat waves and there were more than 2000 deaths, making it one of the deadliest in the nation’s history. The reason for occurrence of severe ..

India’s Stand on Montreal Protocol

The Montreal Protocol is the international treaty on protection of Ozone layer from the Ozone Depleting Substances and to phase-out its production and consumption by 1 January 2010. This treaty came in to force in 1987 which was ratified by 197 ..

14th Finance Commission and Environment

Aiming to increase forest cover of India the 14th Finance Commission for the first time has recast its fiscal transfer formula, according to it the share of central tax revenues will be distributed between the 29 states on how much ..