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December 2022 Current Affairs Notes
December 2022 Current Affairs Notes
Pillar • Pillar coral found throughout the Caribbean from the Yucatan Peninsula and Florida to Trinidad and
coral (Dendrogyra Tobago, has moved from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered, after its population shrunk by over 80%
cylindrus) across most of its range since 1990.
• Threats include Stony Coral Tissue Loss Disease and bleaching caused by increased sea surface
temperatures and excess antibiotics, fertilisers and sewage.
Abalone • 44% of all abalone shellfish species enter the IUCN Red List as threatened with extinction.
o Poaching threatens Endangered perlemoen abalone of South Africa.
o Marine heatwaves have exacerbated abalone diseases worldwide, affecting the Critically
Endangered black abalone in California and Mexico, and the Vulnerable green ormer (H.
tuberculata), found from the English Channel to Northwest Africa and the Mediterranean.
• India specific findings: 239 new species analysed in India have entered the list, of which, 29 are threatened.
Details of some of New Threatened species in India
Species Status Description
White-cheeked Endangered • Only known from a small range with an extent of occurrence of 167 square
Dancing Frog kilometers (km2) in the Western Ghats of Karnataka, a biodiversity hotspot.
(Micrixalus candidus) • Threatened due to loss of their habitat, pollution, changes in temperature,
diseases, pests, invasive species.
Andaman Vulnerable • Shark is found in the Andaman Sea in the Eastern Indian Ocean off the coast of
Smoothhound shark Myanmar, Thailand, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
(Mustelus • It is subject to fishing pressure including trawl, longline, and gillnet.
andamanensis)
Yellow Himalayan Vulnerable • Mostly found in the Himalayas, it occurs in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal
Fritillary and Pakistan.
(Fritillaria cirrhosa) • Species is threatened due to unorganised harvest, over-extraction, unsustainable
and premature harvesting of bulbs, coupled with illegal hidden markets.
• Medicinal uses: This is supposedly antiasthmatic, antirheumatic, febrifuge,
galactagogue, haemostatic, ophthalmic and oxytocic.
• CPCB monitors water quality, under National Water Quality Monitoring Programme, at locations covering rivers,
lakes, creeks, drains, canals etc.
o Water quality management is performed under provision of Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act,
1974.
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5.8.4. ‘RIGHT TO REPAIR’ PORTAL • These standards will play a major role as the 'post-
2020 Global Biodiversity Framework' (adopted by
• Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public United Nations Convention Biological Diversity) will
Distribution unveiled ‘right to repair’ portal on define collective commitments to reverse the loss of
occasion of National Consumer Day (December 24). biodiversity for all relevant stakeholders.
• On the portal, manufacturers would share manual of • Key Proposals include
product details with customers so that they could o Reflect reporting throughout the supply chain
either repair by self, by third parties, rather than o Help organisations prioritise attention on their
depend on original manufacturers. most significant impacts.
o Initially, mobile phones, electronics, consumer o Add new disclosures to connect with the drivers of
durables, automobile and farming equipments biodiversity loss.
would be covered. o Introduce requirements for biodiversity-related
• Right to Repair movement calls for companies to make human rights impacts.
spare parts, tools and information on how to repair o Emphasise location-specific data to ensure
devices available to customers and repair shops to businesses are transparent about the sites.
increase lifespan of products and to keep them from
ending up in landfills. 5.8.6. RENEWABLE ENERGY (RE) REPORT
o Right to Repair has been recognised in many 2022
countries including US, UK and European Union.
• Report was released by International Energy
Association (IEA).
• Key findings of report
o RE will comprise 90 percent of global electricity
capacity expansion in next five years and much of
it will be in India.
o RE’s installed power capacity addition will grow to
2,400 gigawatts (GW) between 2022 and 2027.
o With addition of 145 GW, India is forecast to
almost double its renewable power capacity over
2022-2027.
✓ Solar photovoltaic accounts for three-quarters
of this growth, followed by onshore wind (15
percent) and hydropower providing rest of it.
5.8.7. SINDHUJA-I
• It is an Ocean Wave Energy Converter developed by IIT
Madras.
5.8.5. REVISED DRAFT OF STANDARDS • It consists of a floating buoy, a spar, and an electrical
FOR FIRMS TO SELF-REPORT module.
o Electric module generates electricity by using the
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
relative motion between floating buoy (moving up
• The draft has been published for public comment by and down with waves) and fixed spar passing
the Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB), the through buoy centre.
independent standard-setting body of the Global o It can help India to meet energy needs of its
Reporting Initiative (GRI) Biodiversity Standard. islands and also achieve climate change-related
o GRI is a global entity that helps businesses take goal of generating 500 GW (gigawatt) of renewable
responsibility for their impacts on biodiversity. energy (RE) by 2030.
o GRI Standards are designed to be used by • Seawater stores tidal, wave and ocean thermal
organisations to report on their impacts on the energy, making the harnessing of 40 GW wave
economy, the environment and society. energy possible in India
o GRI disclosures on biodiversity were last revised in o Tidal energy is caused by gravitational interaction
2006. between Earth, sun, and moon.
o Wave energy is caused by wind blowing across
ocean’s surface.
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o Ocean thermal energy is caused by temperature warmer, greener place—greener than many places on
differences (thermal gradients) between ocean Earth are today.
surface waters and deep ocean waters. • Paleontologists have found evidence of lush forests
• Advantages: No pollution, Renewable, Higher available home to bears, beavers, and camel-like creatures in
energy densities, Predictable and Less volatile in extreme northern latitudes.
comparison to some other RE sources.
• Disadvantages: High Initial Cost, Threat to Marine Life 5.8.11. BOMB CYCLONE
and Navigation, Location dependent and risk of • A bomb cyclone, also known as an explosive
damage from natural forces. cyclogenesis, is a meteorological phenomenon that
occurs-
5.8.8. SPONGE BLEACHING
o When a low-pressure system experiences a rapid
• This year, New Zealand recorded the largest-ever and drastic drop in atmospheric pressure.
sponge bleaching event off its southern coastline. o When this rapid pressure drop is accompanied by
• About Sponges – simple aquatic animals with dense, strong winds and can lead to severe weather,
yet porous, skeletons including heavy snowfall, strong winds, and
o Habitat - reefs across the world. thunderstorms.
o Key features • Bomb cyclones are typically associated with the winter
✓ Filter large quantities of water months, but they can also occur during other seasons.
✓ Captures small food particles o They are most common in the mid-latitudes, such
✓ Moves carbon from water column to seafloor as the eastern United States, Europe, and Asia.
where it can be eaten by bottom-dwelling
invertebrates. 5.8.12. CYCLONE MANDOUS
✓ Provides habitat for species such as crabs, • Tamil Nadu and neighbouring areas are bracing for
shrimps and starfish. heavy rainfall with cyclone Mandous expected to
o Threats – Like coral they are prone to bleaching make landfall.
due to heat stress. o It has been named by UAE.
• Tropical cyclones are violent storms that originate
5.8.9. WREN BABBLER
over warm ocean waters near equator.
• Birdwatchers have discovered a new songbird in • Favourable conditions
Arunachal Pradesh which they have named Lisu wren o Large sea surface with temperature higher than
babbler after Lisu community of state. 27° C.
o Bird has a whitish belly and songs were similar to o Presence of the Coriolis force.
that of Naga Wren Babb. o Small variations in the vertical wind speed.
• About Wren Babbler o A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-
o About 20 species of small Asian birds belong to level-cyclonic circulation.
babbler family. o Upper divergence above the sea level system.
o Examples include Grey-bellied Wren Babbler and
long-tailed wren-babbler. 5.8.13. KALASA-BANDURI PROJECT
o They are 10 to 15 centimetres (4 to 6 inches) long, • Centre has given approval for implementation of
rather short tailed, and have a rather short and Kalasa-Banduri canal construction project.
straight bill. • About Kalasa-Banduri project:
o Occur chiefly in southern Asia. o Proposes to divert water from two tributaries of
5.8.10. OLDEST KNOWN DNA the Mahadayi river (also known as Mandovi):
Kalasa and Banduri to the Malaprabha river.
• In permafrost at northern edge of Greenland, o Entire project aims to construct several dams on
scientists discovered oldest known fragments of DNA, the river Mandovi.
offering an extraordinary look at an extraordinary o Aimed at facilitating drinking water for towns in
ancient ecosystem. drought-hit northern Karnataka.
• DNA dates back at least two million years (nearly twice
as old as mammoth DNA in Siberia that held previous
record) and reveals that high Arctic was a much