CURRENT AFFAIRS

The Global Methane Status Report 2025 warns that crop-residue burning is turning India into a global methane hotspot. The report highlights rising methane concentrations, increasing climate risks, and slow global progress toward mitigation commitments.

A Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) occurs when a natural dam: Moraine (debris dam), Ice dam, Rock/glacial dam, suddenly fails or is overtopped, releasing large volumes of water from a glacial lake at high speed. This sudden, destructive flood can cause significant damage downstream.

India’s approximately 7,500 km long coastline makes it highly vulnerable to tropical cyclones. On average, 5–6 cyclones occur in India each year, with most affecting the eastern coast (Bay of Bengal) more severely.

At the COP30 conference held in Belém, Brazil, more than 35 leading global philanthropic organizations from around the world made an initial commitment of $300 million to address climate-linked health challenges. The Belém Health Action Plan (BHAP) was also launched on the same occasion, which will form the foundation for health-focused climate policies in the coming years.

Mangroves are unique littoral plant communities found along tropical and subtropical coastal regions worldwide. They are also referred to as coastal forests, tidal forests, or mangrove forests. These salt-tolerant plants thrive in high temperatures (26–35°C), high rainfall (1,000–3,000 mm), and intertidal zones.

Wetlands are areas that are permanently or seasonally saturated with water. They include marshes, peatlands, floodplains, swamps, lakes, riverine and coastal areas, as well as saline or freshwater zones and coastal waters up to 6 meters deep. Although wetlands cover only about 6% of the Earth’s surface, they provide habitat for 40% of global biodiversity and are often called the natural “ecological kidneys” of the planet.

Recently, several new wetlands in India have been designated as “Ramsar Sites.” With these additions, India now has a total of 94 Ramsar Sites.

Human–Wildlife Conflict (HWC) is emerging as a major challenge worldwide for biodiversity conservation, human safety, and economic stability. In a biodiversity-rich country like India, where millions of people live near forested areas, incidents of HWC are on the rise.

Corals are crucial marine invertebrates that form coral reefs through colonies of calcium carbonate-secreting polyps. They rely on symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae for nutrition. In recent years, climate change has significantly increased coral bleaching events, severely impacting global marine biodiversity.

India is rapidly emerging as a “biotechnology powerhouse” of the 21st century. At the 2nd Foundation Day of the Biotechnology Research and Innovation Council (BRIC), the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology...