Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services is the first-ever report released by Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
The report primarily analyzed the impact of economic development on nature and ecosystems.
According to the report, One million animal and plant species are under extinction, and thousands of these would extinct within decades.
Since the beginning of the last century (1900), availability of native species in most of the land-based habitats has declined by 20 per cent. Similarly, 40 per cent of the amphibian species is threatened with extinction.
Almost 33 per cent of reef-forming corals and more than a third of all marine mammals are threatened.
Ecosystems, species, wild populations, local varieties and breeds of domesticated plants and animals are shrinking, deteriorating or vanishing.
This loss is a direct result of human activity and constitutes a direct threat to human well-being in all regions of the world.
Three-quarters of the land-based environment and about two-thirds of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human actions, says the assessment. Nearly 75 per cent of all freshwater resources is now used for crop and livestock rearing activities.
IPBES
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is an independent intergovernmental body, established by member States in 2012.
The objective of IPBES is to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development.
INS VELA
VELA the fourth Scorpene class submarine has been inducted into Indian Navy.
It is a diesel-electric attack submarine of Kalvari-class.
The Scorpene class of submarines can undertake multifarious tasks typically undertaken by any modern submarine which include anti-surface as well as anti-submarine warfare.
INS Vela was first commissioned in 1973 in the Indian Naval Service and continued to serve for 37 years.
It was the country’s oldest submarine when it was decommissioned on June 25, 2010.
Ross Ice Shelf
Antarctica’s Ross Ice Shelf is the world's largest ice shelf roughly the size of France, is melting rapidly.
Recently it is found that the ice cap is melting rapidly leading to global sea-level rise of around 13.8 millimetres over the last 40 years.
The ice shelf is melting 10 times faster than the overall average, due to solar heating of the surrounding ocean surface.
Antarctica comprises 90 per cent of the world’s ice, thus whatever happens to its ice and snow is a matter of serious concern, and if this situation continues, sea-levels would rise up to 60 meters by 2050 and the ocean would engulf coastal cities across the globe.
