NEW DELHI: As per the Annual Frontier’s Report published by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) titled ‘Noise Blazes and Mismatches’, Moradabad is the second noisiest city in the world, after Dhaka, Bangladesh. A total of 61 cities have been listed in the report, out of which, five are in India. Moradabad’s noise pollution level was recorded at 114 decibels (db) while Dhaka stood at a worrying 119 db. This is alarmingly higher than the permissible limit of 55 db for residential areas and 70 db for commercial areas.
The Annual Frontier Report talks about emerging threats to the environment, every year. This year’s reports look at three issues it considers to be threatening to the environment- Noise Pollution, Wildfires and Phenological shifts. Along with enumerating the issues, the report also mentions possible methods to mitigate these issues.
The report urged that traffic, construction, and security alarms constitute ‘urban soundscapes’ and can cause lasting damage to physical and mental health. The solution to the problem lies with nature. Trees and vegetation absorb the noise and create balance in the environment by producing calm soothing sounds like rustling of leaves, etc. Cities need to increase green cover in the form of public parks and more trees.
Another threat from climate change is increasing instances of destructive wildfires. Warming of temperatures contribute to increasing risk of wildfires in the forests. These fires emit harmful particulate matter and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, in turn raising global temperature. Climate Change is also causing phenological shifts, that is, disruption in lifecycles of plant and animal species. This is an alarming trend, since animal and plant life cycles are in sync with climactic conditions. Creating wildlife corridors can provide safe ecosystems to the biodiversity. However, what we most urgently need to focus, is reducing CO2 emissions.
Representative Image TRICHIRAPALLI, Tamil Nadu: Faulty Streetlights on the newly built Kollidam Bridge in Trichy…
Representative Image NEW DELHI: The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) framed by the Supreme Court (SC)…
Representative Image COIMBATORE, Tamil Nadu: The Coimbatore Municipal Corporation (CMC) has installed green shade nets…
Representative Image CHENNAI, Tamil Nadu: The Water Resource Department in the southern state of Tamil…
Representative Image GURUGRAM, Haryana: The Department of Urban Local Bodies in Haryana has decided to…
Representative Image KOHIMA, Nagaland: An official confirmed that the Government of Nagaland has approved to…