nature – आवारा मुसाफिर

Climate change has slowed Earth’s rotation — and could affect how we keep time

March 30, 2024621 Views

The effect of melting polar ice could delay the need for a ‘leap second’ by three years Climate change is starting to alter how humans keep time. An analysis published in Nature on 27 March has predicted that melting ice caps are slowing Earth’s rotation to such an extent that the next leap second — the mechanism used since 1972 to reconcile official time from atomic clocks with that based on Earth’s unstable speed of rotation — will be delayed by three years. “Enough ice has melted to move sea level enough that we can actually see the rate of the Earth’s rotation has been affected,” says Duncan Agnew, a geophysicist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California, and author of the study. FILE PHOTO: Glacial ice from the Greenland Ice Sheet flows around mou...

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Scientists warn deal to save biodiversity is in jeopardy

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

July 1, 2022259 Views

Conservation groups say that a lack of political leadership has bogged down negotiations Some conservation scientists are warning that a global deal to protect the environment is under threat after negotiations stalled during international talks in Nairobi last week. They are calling on global leaders to rescue the talks — and biodiversity — from the brink. Others are more hopeful that, although progress has been slow, a deal will be struck by the end of the year. A southeast Greenland polar bear on glacier, or freshwater, ice is seen in this handout photograph taken in September 2016. Thomas W. Johansen/NASA Oceans Melting Greenland/Handout via REUTERS Negotiators from around 200 countries that have signed up to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) met in ...

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A fifth of world’s reptile species deemed threatened with extinction

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

April 27, 2022924 Views

About a fifth of reptile species - from the Galapagos tortoises to the Komodo dragon of the Indonesian islands, from West Africa's rhinoceros viper to India's gharial - are threatened with extinction, researchers said on Wednesday in the first comprehensive global status assessment for reptiles. The study examined 10,196 reptile species including turtles, crocodilians, lizards, snakes and the tuatara, the only surviving member of a lineage dating back more than 200 million years. They found that 21% of species are critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable to extinction as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the global authority on the status of species. They also identified 31 species that already have gone extinct. FILE PHOTO: A reptile curat...

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What was the life like 50,000 years ago!

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

February 24, 2022874 Views

New genetic analysis of ancient Africans creates a clearer picture Ancient DNA from the remains of nearly three dozen African foragers—groups associated with hunting, gathering, and fishing—sheds new light on how groups across sub-Saharan Africa lived, traveled and settled prior to the spread of herding and farming. The study involved an international team of 44 researchers including experts from Stony Brook University. The findings, to be published in Nature, produced the earliest DNA of humans on the continent, at some 5,000 to 18,000 years old. The new genetic findings add weight to archaeological, skeletal and linguistic evidence for changes in how people were moving and interacting across Africa toward the end of the Ice Ages. Around 50,000 years ago, distinct groups of forager...

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Butterfly festival sensitises travelers on winged beauties of the wilderness

UPENDRA SWAMI

September 20, 2021478 Views1

India Tourism Delhi hosts influencers at ‘Titli Tyar’ in Corbett landscape Corbett National Park in the terai belt of Uttarakhand has long been all about tigers and to some extent wild elephants. The tiger sighting craze of wildlife tourism has lot to do with exploitation of our jungles. Besides, national parks and landscapes like Corbett have long faced the brunt of all negative trends because of their proximity to northern cities, where all travel hungry, party crazy city dwellers will ‘love’ to spend their weekends. There have been many wrongs, and now some serious efforts are being done to turn few of them right. Need was to shift focus on other aspects of nature in and around the national park. Titli Tyar is one of them. But it is a job not possible for any one singlehanded...

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China’s Yunnan vows ecological ‘security barrier’ to limit disease risks

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 18, 20211106 Views2

In the border district of Xishuangbanna in southwest China’s Yunnan province, the global pandemic has put residents of the small ethnic minority village of Mandian under pressure to change old habits. Behind a traditional homestead with a small garden of medicinal herbs and a veranda lined with beehives, a sign posted on the edge of the forest says, “Do not enter the protected zone without authorisation.” “Because of environmental protection, we aren’t allowed to go in anymore,” said local resident Yu Yao. She said inspectors come and visit every month to ensure the new restrictions are being enforced, adding that permission is needed even to fell a tree. Residents sit by a house at Mandian village in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province. REUTERS/David Stan...

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Get surrounded by Nature in the Czech Republic

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 16, 20211183 Views

The picturesque country of the Czech Republic is beautiful destination known for its fairytale like castles, but it is also a country that is home to miles after miles of natural wonders and scenic marvels. The Czech Republic is surrounded by mountains which separates it from its neighbors. When in the Czech Republic, surround yourself with nature and places you will never be able to forget, explore caves and rock cities, walk through fairy-tale like landscapes of nature parks, forests and breath-taking gorges filled with beautiful lakes and rivers. Anyone who appreciates stunning nature, clean air in their lungs, and active movement will feel as if they are in paradise when exploring and hiking through the mountain ranges in the Czech Republic. The highest mountain in the Czech...

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On Hungary’s Lake Balaton, vital reeds cleared to give tourists a view

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 12, 20211736 Views

Imre Vida descends from the ancient people who once fished Hungary’s Balaton, one of Europe’s largest lakes, in boats hewn from oak trunks and who crafted simple shelters from the wetland’s reeds. The reeds lining the shores of the lake are still used today to thatch roofs or are burned for fuel. But conservations says the reeds, which act as a barometer for the health of the water are declining fast, as authorities eye the lake for tourism and the vegetation is sacrificed to give tourists a view. The BalaLand Residence is seen on the shore of Lake Balaton in Szantod, Hungary, February 23, 2021. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo Vida used to spend the winter months on an amphibious truck cutting reeds sustainably to make thatched roofs and sell to customers as far afield as the Netherlands...

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Five new species of shrub frogs found in Western Ghats

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

March 3, 20211628 Views

Researchers from India and the US have discovered five new species of shrub frogs from the Western Ghats, one of the globally recognised biodiversity hotspots. The frogs, belonging to the the Old World tree frog family Rhacophoridae, were discovered by researchers from University of Delhi and Kerala Forest Research Institute and University of Minnesota as part of a long comprehensive study on the Shrub frogs (genus Raorchestes) of the Western Ghats, carried out over a period of nearly 10 years. Study was carried out in Western Ghats including Siruvani in Palakkad district of Kerala Researchers said the new species were identified and found to be distinct based on multiple criteria, such as their external morphology, DNA, calling pattern, behaviour, and other natural history obser...

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Shivalik arboretum opened for public in Jeolikot

AWARA MUSAFIR BUREAU

January 31, 20211425 Views

An arboretum showcasing the floral diversity of the Shivalik hills was inaugurated on Sunday at Jeolikot in Nainital district. One of the unique features of the "Shivalik Arboretum" inaugurated by noted environmental activist Ajay Rawat is that the trees standing there introduce themselves to visitors. Explaining the unique aspect, Chief Conservator of Forests Sanjiv Chaturvedi said the placards hanging on individual trees to describe their qualities refer to them in the first person in a story telling format. For example, the placard hanging from a Koelreuteria paniculata tree at the arboretum reads: "My common name is Golden rain tree. I belong to Sapindacea family. I am native to Eastern Asia. My flowers are used in the treatment of conjunctivitis and epihora. A yellow dye...