The theme of World Environment Day 2018 is ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. Take a look at the various efforts made by individuals and organisation to curb this pollution?

Researchers from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai are studying the strange phenomenon known as urban heat islands, which leads to a sharp temperature difference between urban and metropolitan areas and the surrounding rural areas, due to human activities. The study also proposes measures to reduce the dire effects of the phenomenon.

Researchers from Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR), Leh-Ladakh and Defence Institute of Physiology and Applied Sciences (DIPAS), New Delhi, under Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), are studying the benefits of Hippophae rhamnoides, generally known as common sea buckthorn, in improving the health of chicken reared in high altitude cold deserts.

Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, explore the effect the eastern ghats had on the floods in Chennai.

Researchers at Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru, are exploring the properties of single walled carbon nanotube (CNT) immersed in aqueous triblock copolymer solution. The newly formed CNT-polymer hybrid could replace the use of carbon nanotubes by itself, thanks to its remarkable mechanical, thermal and electrical properties.

Dr Kamaljit Bawa, President, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, has been awarded the Linnean Medal in Botany by the Linnean Society of London at its annual meeting.

Every passing day we are exposed to a cocktail of chemicals through medicines, cosmetics, pesticides, aerosols, gaseous emissions, pollens, etc. Many of these affect our health; some are allergens, while others could be carcinogens or cause fatal diseases. Although some products are tested to ascertain their safety for human use, the process is tedious, time-consuming and involve testing on animals.

A team of researchers from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany, and University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany have developed a novel silver nanoparticle-graphene hybrid photodetector device with an increased ability to detect Ultraviolet light.

There exists a theory among economists called the ‘pollution haven hypothesis’ that talks about how foreign investments are related to environmental regulations. It states that companies from developed countries often seek to set up manufacturing units in developing countries not only because they can obtain cheap labour and resources, but also because environmental regulations in these countries are usually lenient, reducing the cost of compliance.  But does empirical data support this hypothesis?

Researchers at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), Mumbai, have developed a new minimum opportunity cost targeting algorithm (MOCTA) to help organizations and institutions select the right environmental and conservation projects to pursue.