This week: The Indian Supreme court recognizes sacred groves as forests, Thailand passes a law that bans import of plastic waste and California sees a devastating wildfire in the middle of winter.
Welcome to 2025’s first weekly digest of climate news, where I bring you 3 climate stories from India and the world. Hope you like them!
If you missed it earlier, I did an annual review of 2024 here: ‘India's year in climate: 2024's top climate headlines’
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1. Indian Supreme court recognizes sacred groves as forests
What are we talking about?
- Orans are sacred groves in Rajasthan.
- On 18 December, the Supreme Court passed a judgement that said protecting Orans as forests under the Forest (Conservation) Act “is imperative for upholding both ecological sustainability and cultural heritage.”
- The Court ordered the Rajasthan government to conduct an on-ground and satellite mapping exercise of each sacred grove in the state. There are more than 25,000 Orans in the state.
- The Court also recommended the central government identify sacred groves across the country and formulate a policy for their protection.
- Orans are a diverse set of land and forest parcels believed to be inhabited by local deities, and have therefore been conserved by communities or left untouched.
- However, over the years they have been subjected to encroachment, environmental degradation, or ambiguous land rulings opening them up for conversion.
- This statement by the court can be an important tool in protecting these biodiversity rich sites across the country
Sources for further reading
2. Thailand bans imports of plastic waste to curb toxic pollution
What are we talking about?
- Thailand has passed a law that bans plastic waste imports after years of campaigning by activists
Why is Thailand importing plastic waste?
- Thailand is one of several south-east Asian countries that has historically been paid to receive plastic waste from developed nations.
- The country became a leading destination for exports of plastic waste from Europe, the US, the UK and Japan in 2018 after China, the world’s biggest market for household waste, imposed a ban.
- Thai customs officials said more than 1.1m tonnes of plastic scraps were imported between 2018 and 2021.
- The plastic waste received were often mismanaged, with many factories burning the waste rather than recycling it.
- Plastic pollution is now recognised as not only an environmental crisis but also a critical human health crisis. There are substantial health risks from microplastic exposure, including increased risk of stroke, heart attack and death. Also, burning waste causes several health risks due to harmful gases that get released as well besides the GHG emissions.
- The developed world cannot simply pass the burden of waste management and along with it, the substantial risks to the environment and health to the developing countries.
- Measures like these will force the developed world to address their waste problem themselves and in their own geographies rather than passing on the problem elsewhere.
Sources for further reading
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3. Devastating California wildfires fueled by one the driest winters in the region
- A fast-moving wildfire erupted in Los Angeles county on Tuesday, quickly consuming more than 3000 acres and forcing evacuation of more than 30,000 residents.
- Several major L.A. roadways were jammed as residents attempted to flee the area, with many being forced to abandon their vehicles in the road and walk.
- There are forecasts for strong winds in the coming days indicating that the situation is likely to get worse.
- This wildfire has been caused by a ‘Santa Ana wind event’. The Santa Ana winds are the strong, dry and often warm winds that blow west from the deserts of Nevada and Utah to Southern California. The air of the Santa Ana winds is unusually dry because it originates in the desert environment of the Great Basin.
- The Santa Ana winds have the potential to create life-threatening fire weather conditions. They can lift embers from an existing fire into an unburned area, where they may ignite a new fire, spread existing fires and inhibit firefighting operations.
- Dry conditions and fires in Southern California are not uncommon this time of the year. However, this year it is unusually dry.
- Southern California is extremely dry right now, with huge portions of the region having seen less than a quarter-inch of rain in the last eight months. The landscape is parched and vegetation is withered, making the area dangerously susceptible to burning, an unusual situation for January.
- Southern California generally trends drier than in the north, but the region has usually received a shot or two of rain by the end of December, and certainly by early January. Not this year.
- The National Weather Service gauge in downtown Los Angeles, a good indicator for rainfall in Southern California, has recorded only 0.29 inches of rain since May 1, 2024. This is second-least amount of rain ever measured in this roughly eight-month time period, with records going back to 1877.
Sources for further reading
