Among the hotspots under India's political boundaries, the Western Ghats. Keeping such services in place is important to minimise the impact of human activities on the environment. India's biodiversity hotspots cover a significant proportion (16.86) of the total global area under biodiversity hotspots. A decline in these services means a decline in the capturing of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon sequestration refers to the long term removal or capturing of carbon from the atmosphere to control or mitigate global warming, and this is done naturally using biological, physical and chemical processes. Not only that but 14 states or UTs in the country have also registered a drop in carbon retention services or carbon sequestration. What adds to the worry is that this year, the weather has been unusually warm, and last monsoon had seen 8.7% surplus rainfall leaving the weather adequately humid for forest fires to spread. That year, the country witnessed 5.41 lakh forest fires, the maximum recorded in the decade. To put this in perspective, 2016 was the hottest year on record and India’s annual temperature that year rose 0.71 degrees Celsius above normal.

By May 1 this year, as many as 4.33 lakh forest fires had been recorded, even though the season for forest fires still had another month remaining. Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh are among the 16 states that have witnessed an increase in this aspect.

Solar storm hits Earth: ISS captures glimmering aurora formed above the atmosphereĪ key issue that has put fires at risk is the forest fires, which have been quite high since the beginning of the year, the report said. Biodiversity refers to the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Biodiversity hotspots in india