Category: Ecology
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Which are the common things harming the environment?
By now, it is common knowledge that human activities have a significant impact on the world’s ecosystem. Human beings have deeply altered the environment. They have directly or indirectly contributed to pollution, global warming, climate change and the destruction of biodiversity. It is high time we took measures to save the planet from further degradation.…
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How Africa struggle locust invasion?
Billions of locusts have been swarming through East Africa, particularly Kenya, which saw the worst outbreak in 70 years. They spread from Ethiopia and Somalia. The massive swarms entered Kenya in December and tore through pastureland in the north and centre of the country. Left unchecked, locust numbers could increase 500 times by this June,…
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How India ward off locust invasion?
The current attack began in January 2019. According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, which monitors and manages locust invasions, between February and June, widespread breeding in Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Iran caused the formation of large numbers of locust swarms. (These areas reported heavy rains in January.) Control operations…
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How do you control a swarm of locusts?
Controlling locust swarms is no easy task. The larger the swarms, the more difficult the task becomes. At present, the primary method of controlling desert locust swarms and hopper bands is to use pesticides, which is applied in small concentrated doses by vehicle-mounted and aerial sprayers. (However, this led to environmental concerns). Natural predators such…
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Which are the dreaded locusts?
The desert locust is potentially the most dangerous of the locusts because of the ability of swarms to fly rapidly across great distances. Plagues of the desert locust have threatened agricultural production in Africa, the Middle East and Asia for centuries. During quiet periods (known as recessions) the desert locust is usually restricted to the…
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Why was the Basel Convention created?
The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal was adopted in 1989 and it came into force in 1992. The convention aims to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects resulting from the generation, transboundary movements and management of hazardous waste and other waste. In…
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Why countries urged to cut down on plastic?
The Southeast Asian importers became swamped with waste posing significant threat to the environment. The sheer quantity of imported scrap not only overwhelmed ports, but also caused a sharp uptick in illegal recycling operations. Illegal recyclers dumped toxic wastewater into waterways and polluted the air with fumes from burning plastic. These countries began to face…
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Why did China stop taking recycling?
China was the world’s biggest importer of scrap plastic, receiving close to half of the world’s global plastic waste for three decades. But serve pollution concerns prompted the country to impose a ban on plastic waste import abruptly in January 2018. This shook up the global garbage/scrap trade. With the primary importer of plastic waste…
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Why some countries are shipping back plastic waste?
For many years now, wealthier nations have been shipping their waste including paper, plastic, metal and electronic items, to developing countries, which recycle them and use them as raw material in their manufacturing businesses. For the former, it’s a cheap way to dispose of their waste, and for the latter, waste is a valuable source…
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HOW DO THE MAIN ECOSYSTEMS DIFFER?
Terrestrial ecosystems are many because there are so many different sorts of places on Earth. Some of the most common terrestrial ecosystems that are found are the following: Rainforests – Rainforests usually have extremely dense ecosystems because there are so many different types of animals all living in a very small area. Tundra – As mentioned above, tundra usually have relatively simple…