Huge fire at Sariska tiger reserve, IAF choppers deployed to put out blaze

 Over 200 people and two Indian Air Force helicopters were pressed into service to control a wildfire spread over 10 sq km of the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Alwar, officials said on Tuesday.

Over 200 people and two Indian Air Force helicopter were pressed into service to control a wildfire spread over 10 sq km of the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Alwar, officials said on Tuesday.

The fire had started on Sunday evening and was brought under control on Monday. A few hours later in the evening, the forest fire flared again and was continuing till Tuesday evening. The Forest Department asked people of nearby villages not to enter the forest area. The officials said no tiger is stuck in the affected area and their movement is being monitored. The Sariska reserve has 27 tigers, they added. Earlier looking at the situation, the district administration sought air assistance from the IAF, which deployed two Mi-17 V5 helicopters to control the fire.

Sariska Field Director R N Meena said the forest staff, nature guides and local people are engaged in efforts to control the fire but they are facing difficulties due to hilly terrain, he said. The fire on hills has been partially controlled, Meena added. District Forest Officer (Sariska) Sudharshan Sharma said the helicopters have made eight rounds till Tuesday evening. The fire has spread over 10 sq km area and efforts are being made to control it. “The area under fire is at a height due to which there are difficulties in firefighting,” he said.

From cyclones to floods, 2019 was a year of record extreme weather events

As this year draws to a close, we take a look at the extreme weather events that hit India in 2019 and their impacts.

The year 2019 saw record extreme weather events triggered by climate change–this July was the hottest July ever recorded, the summer monsoon saw 74% more extreme rainfall events, forest fires were 113% more numerous year-on-year and seven cyclones hit the country. These extreme weather events displaced about 2.17 million people in the first six months of 2019. These figures are bound to rise as the displacements from cyclones and floods in the later half of the year are included.

With most number of deaths due to extreme weather events, India was also considered the fifth most vulnerable of 181 countries to the effects of climate change, IndiaSpend reported on December 5, 2019. As this year draws to a close, we take a look at the extreme weather events that hit India in 2019 and their impacts.

Heatwaves

More than half the population of India was gripped by an intense heatwave in the summer months of June and July 2019, killing over 200 people. The Indian government declares a heatwave when temperatures reach at least 4.5 deg-C above the “normal” temperature for an area for at least two days.

In early June 2019, when intense heatwave scorched large parts of India, some regions experienced temperatures surpassing 45 deg-Celcius (deg-C) for the better part of three weeks. On June 10, Delhi reached its hottest day on record for the month, reaching 48 deg-C, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of Global Climate 2019 released on December 3, 2019.

Don’t hold your breath: Amazon fires aren’t depleting Earth’s oxygen supply

There’s enough oxygen in the air to last for millions of years, and the amount is set by geology rather than land use

Don’t hold your breath: Amazon fires aren’t depleting Earth’s oxygen supply on Business Standard. There’s enough oxygen in the air to last for millions of years, and the amount is set by geology rather than land use

Current Affairs: Fires in the Amazon rainforest have captured attention worldwide in recent days. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who took office in 2019, pledged in his campaign to reduce environmental protection and increase agricultural development in the Amazon, and he appears to have followed through on that promise.

The resurgence of forest clearing in the Amazon, which had decreased more than 80% following a peak in 2004, is alarming for many reasons. Tropical forests harbor many species of plants and animals found nowhere else. They are important refuges for indigenous people, and contain enormous stores of carbon as wood and other organic matter that would otherwise contribute to the climate crisis.

Some media accounts have suggested that fires in the Amazon also threaten the atmospheric oxygen that we breathe. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted on Aug. 22 that “the Amazon rain forest – the lungs which produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen – is on fire.”

The oft-repeated claim that the Amazon rainforest produces 20% of our planet’s oxygen is based on a misunderstanding. In fact nearly all of Earth’s breathable oxygen originated in the oceans, and there is enough of it to last for millions of years. There are many reasons to be appalled by this year’s Amazon fires, but depleting Earth’s oxygen supply is not one of them…