Biodiversity in India: Over 90% of the location beneath the biodiversity hotspots in India have been lost. India has 4 biodiversity hotspots and 90% of this location has been lost, according to the Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) new report entitled ‘State of India’s Environment in Figures 2021’. As per the information compiled in the report, the Indo-Burma hotspot is the worst impacted and has lost 95% of its vegetation location, going from 23.73 lakh sq km to 1.18 lakh sq km. Another worrying aspect is that in these 4 hotspots, 25 species have also come to be extinct.
Also study | Bad air top quality, non-biodegradable waste most significant threats for atmosphere Dhruv Bhatnagar, DB Life Sciences
In India, 1,212 animal species are monitored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its Red List, and more than 12% of these species – 148 – are endangered. Among the endangered species are 69 mammals, 23 reptiles as properly as 56 amphibians.
A crucial concern that has place fires at danger is the forest fires, which have been rather higher considering the fact that the starting of the year, the report stated. Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh are amongst the 16 states that have witnessed an improve in this aspect. By May 1 this year, as several as 4.33 lakh forest fires had been recorded, even even though the season for forest fires nevertheless had one more month remaining. To place this in viewpoint, 2016 was the hottest year on record and India’s annual temperature that year rose .71 degrees Celsius above regular. That year, the nation witnessed 5.41 lakh forest fires, the maximum recorded in the decade.
What adds to the be concerned is that this year, the climate has been unusually warm, and last monsoon had seen 8.7% surplus rainfall leaving the climate adequately humid for forest fires to spread.
Not only that but 14 states or UTs in the nation have also registered a drop in carbon retention services or carbon sequestration. Carbon sequestration refers to the lengthy term removal or capturing of carbon from the atmosphere to manage or mitigate worldwide warming, and this is performed naturally applying biological, physical and chemical processes. A decline in these services implies a decline in the capturing of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Keeping such services in spot is vital to minimise the influence of human activities on the atmosphere.