“The environment is where we all meet; where all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share” As we are close to World Environment Day with the theme "Biodiversity",

We will be posting different aspects of the environment each day commencing from May 30 to world environment day to acknowledge the value of every small element of the environment operating together to form such a diverse domain through Youth Thinkers’ Society Lamjung. Despite all the benefits that our nature gives us, we still mistreat it which is why we need this observance.

Stay updated and tuned with our page to perceive those insights.

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Day1 – May 30^th

The meltwater stonefly has adapted to a very specific and extreme niche — the cold, clear water that pours off of the melting ice and snow from the glaciers in Glacier National Park in Montana. This bug is on the leading edge of climate change because its frigid mountain habitat is rapidly disappearing. Since 1850, 85 percent of the ice in Glacier has disappeared, and all of it is forecast to vanish completely by 2020.

One of the major components of biodiversity is GENETIC DIVERSITY.

Genetic diversity is important because it helps maintain the health of a population, by including alleles that may be valuable in resisting diseases, pests and other stresses. In extreme situations (e.g. drought, disease epidemics) diversity could even mean the survival of the population.

Unfortunately, the process of domestication tends to decrease the genetic diversity of selected crop species, due in part to the genetic bottleneck imposed when only a few plants are selected and propagated. In addition, consumers tend to prefer uniformity – think of the rows of perfectly round, red apples we see in the supermarket. In nature, this is not a healthy situation. If anything, unusual happens, such as a disease or environmental condition (e.g., a drought), there might not be any plants in the population that carry genes for responding to this new threat.

Hence, we should consider every aspect of our environment and make earth suitable for every species.

Day 2- May 31^st

Soil biodiversity is the variety of life that exists within the soil, including bacteria, fungi, earthworms and termites. A teaspoon of topsoil typically contains a vast range of different species and up to 6 billion microorganisms.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO) estimates the socio-economic value of soil biodiversity exceeds US$1542 billion.

Statistics of soil pollution:

-400 million tons of hazardous waste is produced annually around the globe. This is one of the biggest acts of human pollution

-3.6 million hectares were destroyed by soil erosion in 2011.

-Energy production and food waste are the reason for about 80% of the land pollution.

80% of the items on the landfills are recyclable.

Management techniques:

- crop rotation and reduced tillage increase the quantity and quality of organic matter available to soil organisms and develop a more stable environment that encourages more soil biodiversity.

- using minimum tillage or no-till practices to maintain groundcover and improve soil structure

- maintaining and increasing perennial plants (including pasture cropping)

- rehabilitation of soil through targeted earthworks, water management and seeding.

Remember "the recovery of 1 tonne of paper can save 17 trees"

References:

https://daily.jstor.org/how-global-warming-is-threatening-genetic-diversity/

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/land-and-soil/soil-degradation/soil-biodiversity