Extreme weather conditions, wildlife worries & much more
The year that is about to end was a mixed bag for climate change, wildlife conservation and critical legislation. Various parts of the country and the world witnessed extreme weather conditions, yet the urgency to arrest global warming immediately hasn’t fully sunk in internationally, if the outcome of the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties 28 (COP28) in Dubai is any indication.
COP 28
The COP28 started with high expectations but ended after two weeks of intense negotiations to signal the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era. That was an incremental forward movement, not a big takeaway. For the first time, turning away from fossil fuels was mentioned in the final COP28 declaration, a phrase it ducked for three decades. However, the strong fossil fuel lobby managed to insert the phrase, ‘fossil gas as bridging technology’, in the final text while turning away from coal and oil. The launch of the Global Loss and Damage fund to support poor and developing nations mitigate the climate change impact was another step in the right direction.
Hottest year in history
The year 2023 was the warmest in the 174-year observational record, surpassing the previous joint warmest years. The global mean near-surface temperature in 2023 was around 1.40 ± 0.12°C above the 1850-1900 average. The previous warmest years were 2016 and 2020. In fact, the past nine years (2015–2023) were the warmest. In India too, February, August (driest) and November were the warmest months since 1901 in recorded history of the IMD. Also, 2023 was an El Nino year. It caused weakening of the Southwest monsoon, which impacted rainfall and food stock.
Water crisis
The deficit in the Southwest monsoon caused tension between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the sharing of water of the stressed Cauvery basin. That apart, the Union Ministry of Water Resource and Management brought out two landmark reports quantifying the groundwater situation. The 6th Minor Irrigation Census shows that rural India is extracting ground water at a faster pace than is replaceable. They have been deepening tube-wells like never before to irrigate crops. Another report, Dynamic Ground Water Resource Assessment Report 2023, too, shows a jump in extraction of ground water.
Wildlife conservation: Challenges in Cheetah Project
The year started on high note with the translocation of a fresh batch of 12 cheetahs from South Africa to Kuno-Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh. However, the journey of the project was unsteady as nine cheetahs died, including three cubs. India is now left with 14 adults and a cub.
High tiger deaths
If 2023 was celebrated to mark 50 years of Project Tiger with India becoming home to the world’s 75% tiger population, the year also registered the highest number of big cat deaths in the country. Current estimates show there were 204 tiger deaths in India while the corresponding figure last year was 143. Of the tiger casualties this year, 55 were killed by poachers. The highest deaths were registered in Maharashtra (52) followed by Madhya Pradesh (45). Another co-predator, leopard, had an all-time high death rate. At least 553 leopards died this year, of which 154 were killed by poachers. On the positive side, the government decided to ban two nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs – Aceclofnac and Ketoprofen – which are toxic to vultures.
Weakening environmental laws
Despite objections from different quarters, the government amended the Forest Conservation Act 1980, to allow non-forestry activities on forest land. It also amended the Coastal Aquaculture Authority to permit coastal aquaculture activities within the environmentally fragile coastal regulation zone (CRZ). Besides, it amended the Biodiversity Act that was seen as taking away the rights of the local community, so as to help the Ayush industry increase its export of Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathic drugs