EQ: Jallikattu, Nothern Lights, Melting Arctic Ice and More

EQ: Your weekly quotient of environmental news.

Arctic ice is melting fast, and it will have devastating consequences all around the world. (Photo Courtesy: Flickr/mariusz kluzniak)

E-India

• Challenges for the new environment minister: As India’s new environment minister is sworn in, a report looks at some of his biggest challenges and whether this could herald a “new beginning” for the environment ministry.
  

Anil Madhav Dave after taking charge as Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Independent Charge) in New Delhi on 6 July. (Photo Courtesy: PIB)

• 30% of India’s land undergoing degradation: An ISRO-led study has examined satellite images to conclude that almost a third of Indian territory is undergoing desertification and degradation.
  

Climate change could exacerbate desertification. (Photo Courtesy: Flickr/Daniel Bachhuber)

• Jallikattu ban to be lifted? Just months after the Supreme Court affirmed the ban on jallikattu and bull racing, the government has prepared an amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in an effort to allow such practices.
  

Bullock cart-racing in Tamil Nadu, India. (Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia/எஸ்ஸார்)

E-Transport

• Green Transport plans: India’s Transport Minister recently outlined his vision for “greening” India’s transport sector through a number of initiatives, including planting trees alongside national highways and using ICT to monitor environmental initiatives.
  

Trees can capture carbon and offset some of the pollution cars pump out. (Photo Courtesy: Flickr/Mark Danielson)

E-Renewables

• Onwards and upwards! Solar Impulse 2, the solar-powered plane which is currently undertaking a record breaking flight across the globe, has now completed the US leg of its journey.
  

A view of the Solar Impulse 2 after taking off from Al Bateen Airport in United Arab Emirates. (Photo: Reuters)

E-Law

• The Chief Justice of India (CJI) on Climate Change: Arguing for a fairer global approach towards the climate change problem, the CJI argued that the “polluter pays” principle should be applied to countries like the US.
  

Paper mill in Canada. (Photo Courtesy: Flickr/Billy Wilson)

E-Stat

• 17,000: The number of solar cells on Solar Impulse 2’s wings.
  

Solar Impulse is seen on flight after taking off at Al Bateen airport in Abu Dhabi. (Photo: Reuters)

E-International

• Arctic sea-ice levels crash: Ice is melting at the North Pole at a record rate leading to fresh worries about one of the globe’s most fragile ecosystems and the impact this might have on global warming levels.
  

Ice is melting fast, and that’s problematic for coastal communities. (Photo: iStock)

E-Nature

• Overfishing threatening to wipe out fish stocks: A new UN Report has declared that 90% of the world’s fish stocks are being fished at levels at or above what is sustainable. Even more alarmingly, production is set to rise 17% by 2025.
  

Human consumption is clearing the seas of their fish. (Photo: iStock)

E-Video

• Have you ever wondered why the Northern Lights occur? Watch this video to find out:
  

E-Quiz

Which of the following Tiger Reserves in India is also a World Heritage Site?

(a) Bandipur (b) Corbett (c) Manas (d) Simlipal

Shalini Iyengar is a lawyer and Research Associate at the International University College of Turin.