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  Long-term exposure to manure from cows administered with antibiotics can change soil micro-biome and decrease their ability to store carbon. It also affects soil respiration and elemental cycling. The exposure also caused changes in the soil's fungal and bacterial ratios as well as altered the bacterial community structure. The use of antibiotics in the livestock sector is widespread — they are used to boost animal growth and treat infection. These account for around 80 per cent of the consumption of medically important antibiotics in some countries. Globally, the use of antibiotics in livestock is estimated to spike by 67 per cent by 2030. “There’s no environment on Earth that is free from the effects of antibiotics,”. Soil is a major source of carbon sink. Plants soak up carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere, while making their food, and store it in the soil.  If the volume of the carbon in the soil is more then it is released back into the atmosphere, soils c...

  WHAT ARE DUST STORMS? Dust storm can be explained as a phenomenon when strong winds carry dust over an extensive area . Sand and dust storms are common meteorological hazards in arid and semi-arid regions. They are usually caused by thunderstorms – or strong pressure gradients associated with cyclones which increase wind speed over a wide area. Dust storms arise when a  gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface . Fine particles are transported by  saltation and suspension , a process that moves soil from one place and deposits it in another. These strong winds lift large amounts of sand and dust from bare, dry soils into the atmosphere, transporting them hundreds to thousands of kilometres away. Sand and dust particles are distinguished by their grain size . Storms carrying bigger particles are known as Sand Storm whereas those carrying smaller are called dust Storms . Marginal dry lands are increasingly a s...

Ken Betwa interlinking or Rivers (ILR) project was lauded as the first river inter-link project under the National Perspective Plan (NPP) . It was given the Union Cabinet's approval in July 2014 but was stalled because of protests from environmentalists and wildlife conservationists. In this article, we can see all the aspects about KBLP On the occasion of World Water Day on March 22 , a tripartite memorandum of agreement was signed between Union Minister of Jal Shakti and the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to implement the ambitious Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP). Under this project, water from the Ken river will be transferred to the Betwa river to irrigate the draught prone Bundelkhand region. Both these rivers are tributaries of Yamuna River , which is the largest tributary of the Ganga River . The catchment of the river extends to the states of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. According to the Jal Shak...