Sunny climate, stormy climate | Weekly Digest #42
We talk about the Hesaraghatta grassland near Bangalore becoming a protected region, Antarctica greening at an alarming rate and heat related deaths in the Chennai air show
Hello folks!
The weekly news digest has reached the magical number 42 :)
Here are my favourite climate stories from last week. Hope you like them!
🌞 Sunny news 🌞
1. Bengaluru’s Hesaraghatta grassland declared a conservation reserve
What are we talking about?
The State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) on Monday notified 5000 acres of land around the Hesaraghatta lake, 30 km to the Northwest of Bangalore as a conservation reserve.
The proposal to declare this region as protected was first made in 2013, but has stirred political controversy and been held up my multiple regimes. Several local leaders had also opposed the move fearing it would affect development in neighbouring villages. There was also a plan a couple of years back to build a 150 acre film city there!
Activists had taken the matter to the high court who directed SBWL to consider the issue. The body finally approved the proposal making it the 15th conservation reserve in the state.
Why does this matter?
The protected region consists of 1912 acres of the Hesaraghatta lake bed
and 365 acres of grassland surrounding the lake bed that is the last remaining grassland habitat near Bengaluru.
The grassland supports unique biodiversity. Around 235 species of birds, 400 species of insects and 100 butterfly species have been spotted at these grasslands.
The lesser florican, an endangered bird species, was rediscovered in Bengaluru after 100 years, at Hesaraghatta in 2011
In 2012, the lilac silverline butterfly, which was thought to be extinct, was rediscovered after a gap of nearly 120 years in the Hesarghatta area.
Lilac silverline (Cigaritis lilacinus) in Hesaraghatta Lake. Photo by Firos AK/Wikimedia Commons. (Taken from Mongabay)
Sources for further reading
🌩️ Stormy news 🌩️
2. Not all greening is good: Antarctica greens at an alarming rate
What is happening?
Plant cover on the continent has increased more than tenfold over the last few decades
Analysis of satellite data found there was less than 1 sq km of vegetation in 1986 but almost 12 sq km of green cover by 2021. The spread of the plants, mostly mosses, has accelerated since 2016.
Antarctica has a total area of 500,000 sq km so this is still a tiny fraction.
“But that tiny fraction has grown dramatically – showing that even this vast and isolated wilderness is being affected by human-caused climate change.” said Dr Thomas Roland who co-led the study
Moss-dominated ecosystems across the Antarctica peninsula (From a paper published in Nature this week).
a, Moss hummocks, Ardley Island (62° S). b, Moss lawn, or carpet, Barrientos Island (62° S). c, Moss bank on bare rock, Norsel Point (64° S). (Source: Nature)
Why does this matter?
This trend echoes a wider pattern of greening in cold-climate ecosystems in response to recent warming
This summer, parts of the continent experienced a record-breaking heat wave with temperatures climbing up to 50 deg F above normal from mid-July.
The more the peninsula greens, the more soil will form and the more likely the region will become more favourable for invasive species, potentially threatening native biodiversity in the region.
The greening could also reduce the peninsula’s ability to reflect solar radiation back into space, because darker surfaces absorb more heat.
Sources for further reading
3. Chennai Air show: Combination of massive crowds and heat turns lethal; 5 dead and 100+ hospitalised
What are we talking about?
There was an air show organized at Marina beach in Chennai to mark the 92nd anniversary of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on October 6.
An unexpectedly large crowd of 12-13 lakh spectators gathered, many coming from nearby districts after some social media posts regarding the event went viral.
Authorities weren’t expecting to see such large crowds and were not prepared to handle them, especially when the crowds were dispersing after the show. While the authorities managed to prevent stampedes, it took people several hours to be able to leave the venue.
This combined with the extreme heat and humidity proved to be lethal. Five people – all men – died while trying to return home from the beach. More than 100 people were hospitalised due to heat exhaustion, dehydration, and medical issues exacerbated by the congestion. Ambulances were available at the event but got stuck in the gridlock
Why does this matter?
This is just another indicator of how hot it it is getting and how dangerous heat can be. We need to plan such events better to protect people from the impacts of extreme heat, which is only going to become worse in the future.
Sources for further reading
You can read previous editions of the newsletter -
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #41
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #40
Sunny climate, stormy climate | News Digest #39
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