A group of seismologists from around 33 countries measured a significant drop of up to 50% in so-called noise produced by humans movement and factories in these hard times of COVID. Scientists said that Earth has had its quietest period in decades during 2020.

The team includes an expert from the Swiss Seismological Service at ETH Zurich and along with other scientists they measured lower noise levels at 185 of the 268 seismic stations analyzed around the world. They reported that urban ambient noise fell by up to 50% at some places as transportation was completely halted, aircraft grounded and factories were shut. It was said that at many places it was quieter than Christmas, the quietest time of the year.

Many experts from the Royal Observatory of Belgium successfully track the "wave of quiet" around the world as lockdown came first in China, then Italy, before spreading across the rest of the world.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced human activities and everything is nearly halted in most parts of the world. Recently it was reported in the news that the virus has even reached the highest peak of the world i.e. Mount Everest

This report was conducted during 2020 but 2021 is also not too far behind this. The Situation is still gruesome in many parts of the world but it is worst in India.

2nd wave of COVID struck India badly. People are not able to get oxygen in the hospitals and due to this patients are dying and the worst part is that they are dying in front of the doctors who find themselves helpless then. We have taken the 2nd wave of COVID lightly. Many researchers and scientists warned India way back in January and February but we did not pay attention to them and we find ourselves in these hard times. India witnessed a situation that anyone could have faced hardly.

India was not prepared at any stage. Our health infrastructure collapsed badly. We were just busy talking about other infrastructures but the one that was needed the most was not there for the people of India. The report that was about the 2020 lockdown may come again for 2021 as we are slowly heading towards the lockdown. This is the only option left for all of us. When all other infrastructures and system fails, lockdown is the only way to contain the spread of the virus.

Lastly, what can we do for now is to stay inside as much possible as we can and try to help each other as much as we can. People are losing lives and the atmosphere outside is not good but we all have to stay strong because many lives are linked with us all and for that, each one should stay POSITIVE. We will get through it all together.

Winter Pollution 

According to the Centre for Science and Environment, smaller and upcoming cities are emerging as pollution hotspots. PM 2.5 in most of the cities are at hazardous levels.

Winter Pollution on rise: The Hindu

PM 2.5 worsened in 43 out of 99 cities whose winter air in two years, 2019 and 2020, was compared by the Centre for Science and Environment. Among these, only 19 cities registered "substantial improvement".

Before the lockdowns were significantly eased, several cities reported improved pollution levels but by winter it reached its previous levels of pre lockdown period. With this, it was stated that local and regional factors play a vital role in a city's pollution levels.

The cities with the worst pollution levels in 2020 over 2019 in Gurugram, Lucknow, Jaipur, Vishakhapatnam, Agra, Navi Mumbai, etc. In the winter season, cool weather traps and spikes daily pollution, especially in north Indian cities.

Now let’s discuss in detail why the pollution level in winter increases. We know that in winter air around the surface is cold and due to this fact it’s much denser than the warm air and hence it traps the pollution which along with the dense air does not move much. In this way, pollutants are not as free to escape and scatter in the cold dense air. Due to this, air pollution in winter remains in place for much longer and is breathed in at a higher rate than during the summer

Average PM 2.5 levels in summer 2020 were much lower than that in 2019 due to nationwide lockdowns. However, PM 2.5 levels in winter have risen to much higher levels as compared to previous levels. There are demands for quicker regional reforms to curb pollution levels from industry, vehicle, power plants, and waste burning to curb the winter pollution.

This analysis is part of the air pollution tracker initiative of the Centre of Science and Environment (CSE). It's based on publicly available granular real-time data from the (CPCB) Central Pollution Control Board. This data is taken from 248 official stations under the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System (CAAQMS) spread across 115 cities in 22 States and Union Territories. The analysts only considered cities that had readings for both years in at least 75% of the winter days.

When the cities were ranked from the most to the least polluted cities, 23 of the most polluted cities are from north India. Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh is the most polluted city in North India. Satna, Vijaypura, Chikkamangaluru, and Maihar are the only cities that have met the national 24-hour standard.

Analysts emphasized that rather than megacities, it was the smaller and upcoming cities that were emerging as pollution hotspots. The report states clearly that this winter pollution problem is not confined to megacities or one specific region. This problem is present everywhere and requires urgent and deliberate action.

We have witnessed many environmental changes in the past and will continue to see them in the future as well unless we do some constructive efforts to control them. We should avoid burning garbage, prevent landfill fires, use public transportation, and many more to minimize winter pollution.

Huge Antarctic iceberg headed towards South Georgia breaks

A massive Antarctic iceberg breaks off in the Southern Antarctic Ocean. It is reported that this break-off happened due to strong ocean currents in the Southern Antarctic Ocean. After breaking off, this large part of a bigger iceberg is approaching the southern coast of wildlife-rich Georgia Island.

 

Royal Air Force A400M was able to investigate further when they were on a routine patrol to the region. This A400M was the first who captured the imagery and video footage of iceberg A68d.

Huge Antarctic iceberg breaks off and headed towards South Georgia island

This large piece of an Antarctic iceberg that breaks off has got the name- A68d whose size is yet not available. There were two new icebergs formed namely- A68e and A68f. Scientists also feared that more breakage is also possible as the two new iceberg fragments are disintegrating further. The real nature of the threat is still being assessed.

Scientists have been watching it for the past few weeks about its movements and it’s a part of a larger iceberg whose name is A68a that has an area of about 4200 square kilometers. Iceberg A68a broke off from the Antarctic peninsula in 2017.

The most important thing which triggered fear in the minds of researchers is that the iceberg is approaching the wildlife-rich island of Georgia and can have drastic effects on its ecosystems. They also feared that it will affect penguin's life as well as they will find it difficult to find their way into the sea for food. Satellite data will be crucial in monitoring the iceberg and it will provide a better picture of its direction.

This problem arises because when the icebergs come closer to the sea bed, it will start breaking into small pieces and eventually block the coasts and thereby creates a hindrance between the landmass and the ocean.

The shelf is changing its course continuously due to the strong ocean currents and that is why it is very important to keep an eye on its movement. In its course, there might be a possibility that it will further break off into several pieces. Other than penguins it also causes an environmental disaster to the local wildlife.

Loss of wildlife is the primary concern to our researchers and scientists. They prevent penguins to get their food, hazardous to the underwater ecosystem. All these concerns are there as they do not know what is going to happen, whether the ice chunks will pass through the island or they get deposited on the coasts of the island. Answers to all these questions are in the pocket of the future.

This is what we are going to see frequently in the future. Climate shift, global warming, shifts in ocean currents as well are some of the gifts that are not given by gods but it is the gift given by us only. This is just like we are instigating nature to show its power and here is what we are experiencing throughout. This is what we see but there are many other things, the disastrous things that we aren’t aware of.

 Surge in greenhouse gases sustained despite   COVID lockdowns- U.N

It was expected by each one of us globally that, the concentration of greenhouse gases will be decreased to some extent due to COVID-19 lockdown. This was a mere theory. The report published by the United Nations agency that measured concentration of gases – methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide which are the key player in warming our planet and trigger extreme weather events.

Surge in greenhouse gases sustained despite COVID lockdowns - U.N

Carbon dioxide, a product of burning fossil fuels is one of the biggest players, and contributor to global warming and touched a record high in 2019. Data is not available yet for 2020 but its trends show that there will be no considerable change in data either. World Meteorological Organization said that such a rate of increase has never been witnessed in the history of their records.

After seeing this report it was difficult to digest that such a long lockdown has no considerable effect on the levels of greenhouse gases. This tells how difficult the global warming situation is. WMO head said in his words that “ Our whole economy and our consumption patterns wire us to extremely high emissions even if we all sit in lockdown”.

Be it a “tiny blip” or not, we are supposed to continue our efforts to reduce the greenhouse gases and thereby a decrease in global warming. Simple and small steps have to be taken to reduce its effects. After seeing this report many people including me were shocked and might have a view that after a long lockdown it hasn’t worked much then what kind of effect it will have after these small efforts. We still have to be optimistic because other than this we can’t do anything.

Despite the ban across various cities in India, people were burning crackers. This shows how concern we are, about our environment. The government should also put some extra effort into these situations. Only official notice will not work, proper implementation and strict punishment will have some impact on the people.

Scientists say that much of the carbon dioxide already emitted decades ago and it remains there and contributes to global warming. Nevertheless, we should keep doing what we can do to reduce emissions. A former president once said that “ You cannot change your future, but you can change your habits and surely your habits will change your future ".

 Polar Bear Extinction

Climate change has impacted Polar bears up to the extent that researchers are saying that they might get extinct by 2100. This research was published in Nature Climate Change Journal. This is worrying for all of us.

Polar Bear

According to the research, there is approximately 25000 polar bear left on Earth. This theory of their extinction was based on the fact that the population of polar bears is decreasing in many places.

This was supported by the fact that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the planet as a whole. Not only increasing temperatures but also the food chain getting affected as they are unable to adapt to the shifting environment.

The authors of the report also pointed out that not only polar bears will get affected but there might be many other species that might go through the same in the coming decades.

It is also being said that even if humanity were able to cap global warming at 2.4 degrees Celcius it would only delay the chances but will not be able to prevent it.

So the question is what can we do for now?

The simple answer is that we have to put in efforts to keep the global warming temperatures below 2.4 degrees Celcius. The superpowers and the developing countries including India should take a unique stand on this.

Today, we are witnessing various problems like Corona Virus but we have to think about other issues as well because in some or other way they are linked to the changing environment.

Efforts are needed from every person in this society and if no actions are taken now then it will be too late to act and it is our children or grandchildren who have to pay the price.