Construction material giant, Ultratech Cement has committed to Climate Group’s RE100 initiative at Climate Week NYC 2021. Through this ultimatum, UltraTech targets to meet 100 per cent of its electricity needs through renewable and non-exhaustive sources by 2050.
A waste management company, based in London has announced today its plans to grow the “world’s biggest” single-site energy from waste (EfW) decarbonisation initiative. The enterprise by the name Cory intends to establish CCS technology at its current facility which has a capacity of about 750,000 tonnes capacity. The new plant is expected to be operational by 2026 in Belvedere, southeast London.
The Resort Hotel will be holding an E-waste awareness drive for its guests
As the world is realising the extent of climate depletion governments and businesses all over the world are revamping their policies to limit the carbon emission at different levels. In terms of country-wise contributions to CO2 emissions, some nations rank above the others. To push the efforts further, the European Union has started the Carbon Border Tax.
Black carbon is the leftover junk from burning plants or fossil fuels. Researchers estimate that soot, or black carbon pollution in the most popular and accessible part of Antarctica is causing an extra inch of snowpack shrinkage every year. Soot in Antarctica comes primarily from the exhaust of cruise ships, vehicles, airplanes and electrical generators, although some pollution travels on the wind from all parts of the globe.
Concrete is the second most used commodity in the world, water comes first. From skyscrapers, roads to bridges, concrete also has one of the most carbon-intensive manufacturing processes. It is made by heating limestone and melting it. Not only does heating emit lots of carbon dioxide, but the chemical process also releases a lot of carbon dioxide. Steel is also one of the most important modern materials which is responsible for lots of carbon emissions.
India surprised everyone at the COP26 by putting a date on the carbon neutrality goal, although it is 20 years later than what the developed countries have set and 10 years more than China. It is justified, because during the last decade when the climate change initiatives started to gather momentum around the world, India was just making it into the list of large carbon emitters. American and European nations have had enough time to pump the atmosphere with greenhouse gases, establish cities with good infrastructure and pull their people out of poverty before starting out on this ambitious journey of cutting carbon.
According to a new Lancet study, more than 2.3 million Indians died prematurely in 2019 making it the highest among the other countries. The latest Lancet Commission on pollution and health report laid out some shocking numbers highlighting that about 9 million people lost their lives due to pollution.
India is breaking records again, but these new highs are no reason to celebrate! People living in India's northern and central regions are experiencing severe heat waves. The temperature in Delhi crossed 45 degrees celsius, while UP’s Banda district registered a record high temperature of 49 degrees celsius. Although, high temperatures are typical in April and May, this year’s temperatures are unprecedented. India is witnessing its hottest summer in 122 years. Climate experts are pointing towards compound events as the major reason behind the increased frequency of heatwaves in the past few years. A compound event is one where two or more weather events which may not be necessarily dangerous occur together to create severe impacts. The heatwaves result from the compounding effect of global warming, weather pattern changes and existing weather cycles. An IPCC report released in August 2021 warned India might experience more frequent heatwaves. This was confirmed by a recent report by NASA which observed urban ‘heat islands’ in the Delhi NCR region. Although concrete is considered a good material for construction, it is notoriously known for absorbing and reflecting large amounts of heat. These concrete structures create heat islands that aggravate the impact of heatwaves where even the nights seem to offer no relief to the common people. While Delhi and its neighbouring areas recorded night time temperatures of 35 degrees celsius, the rural fields cooled off to 15 degrees celsius. The major differentiating factor was the lack of green spaces in urban areas.
World’s leading fossil fuel firms are secretly planning around 195 to 200 projects across nations like the US, Russia, Australia and India which could trigger “catastrophic climate breakdown”. The environmentalists are referring these projects as ‘carbon bombs’. It’s stated that, the emissions released from these projects collectively will overshoot the emissions that had been agreed in the Paris Agreement 2015, which was to contain the global rise in temperature to 2°C.
The data of the Central Pollution Control Board highlights that the air in Delhi is the cleanest after 2016 in the month of July this year. According to the CPCB, the AQI in Delhi was in the 'moderate' category for five days in July this year. On the other hand, not a single AQI has reached the 'poor or very poor' category so far this month.
The Union Environment Ministry announced the recognition of four more Indian sites - two each from Gujarat and Haryana, as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. India now has 46 such sites in total.
The study published in the Science Advances Journal highlighted that more than 1 lakh people died prematurely due to exposure to air pollution in 8 Indian cities. The researcher analyzed the data from Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Surat, Pune, and Ahmedabad between 2005 and 2018.
The UN Environment Programme and the Secretariat of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control are launching a campaign for spreading awareness about the plastic contents of cigarettes. Cigarette butts and filters are made up of a kind of plastic which, if not properly disposed ends up breaking into microplastics and releasing toxic heavy metals that are increasingly becoming an environmental and healthcare concern
The level of air pollution in Maharashtra is increasing day by day. A 99 percent increase in the pollutant particulate PM 2.5 has been recorded in the last two decades. The matter was revealed in the 'Clean Air Collective' webinar held on Thursday, where the representatives from all the states were present in this webinar through virtual conferencing.
Even before the departure of the monsoon, the level of pollution in the air in the national capital Delhi and the cities of NCR has increased. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi has reached in the poor category. According to the data of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the air quality i.e. AQI 240 was recorded at 7 am today (Wednesday), 21 September in Anand Vihar, Delhi. However, there has been a significant improvement in the AQI as compared to the previous day. Actually, on Tuesday i.e. 20 September, AQI 418 was recorded in Anand Vihar, which comes in the severe category.
After three consecutive days of rain in Delhi-NCR, a change in the weather was seen today. But, as the winters are approaching the capital so is the fear of deteriorating air quality. After three days of rain, now the heavy rain has stopped.
In collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA), an Egyptian public agency, hosted the first preparatory meeting to go over the components of a new initiative on climate change and the sustainability of peace.
Cairo has long been ranked as one of the world’s most polluted cities due to its poor air and water quality, congested traffic, and long-standing waste management issues.