Monday Feature: Green News and Media Roundup for Week 51, 2014

Weekly environmental news roundup from across different media networks for week 51 (starting December 15, 2014) 2014.

1. DDA forms new panel for Yamuna

The Yamuna now has a new custodian in the city. On Friday, Delhi Development Authority announced that it has set up a 29-member committee called Unified Centre for Rejuvenation of River Yamuna (UCRRY) to protect, redevelop and beautify the river, a task on which Rs 6,500 crore has already been spent.

2. To clean up air in cities, govt. plans biofuel, electric buses

The government is set to come out with policies to introduce clean fuels such as biodiesel, bioethanol and electricity for public transport vehicles and school buses in big cities to tackle air pollution, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

3. City air ‘hazardous’, docs sound caution

Air quality in the city deteriorated to “hazardous” levels on Friday with the US embassy’s pollution monitoring station advising people to “avoid all physical activity outdoors”.

4. 241 projects accorded environment clearance, maximum in Gujarat

Environment Ministry has approved maximum number of 55 projects in BJP-ruled Gujarat followed by and Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra since the NDA government came to power at the Centre.

5. Deal at Lima saves climate talks, India says it’s satisfied

A compromise draft on national pledges to cut global carbon emissions saved the UN climate talks from a collapse and kept hopes alive for a global deal in Paris next year to combat climate change.

6. Paris climate talks may have to pay for Lima compromise

Is the outcome at Lima a recipe for a weak climate deal in Paris? Compromises on many key issues in the draft negotiating text that will serve as the basis for the next round of negotiations, beginning in February in Geneva, hint at such a possibility.

7. Forests at greater risk due to climate change than previously believed

A new study has revealed that forests around the world are affected by man-made climate change, suggesting that degradation of woods cannot be ruled out for the future.

8. NASA Satellite’s 1st Carbon Dioxide Maps of Earth Revealed

This past summer, NASA launched its first satellite devoted to measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas that is driving global warming.