Methane Emission Report

• In a study recently published under the title "Wetland emission and atmospheric sink changes explain methane growth in 2020," it is suggested that in 2020, record-high levels of methane emissions were probably caused by warming wetlands and low nitrogen oxide pollution.

What are the Findings?

• Summary: Global methane emissions increased from 9.9 parts per billion (ppb) in 2019 to approximately 15 ppb in 2020.
• Human-related methane emissions decreased by 1.2 teragrams (Tg) annually in 2020.

Contributors:

• Compared to 2019, methane emissions from natural gas and oil decreased by 3.1 Tg annually.
• Coal mining's contributions decreased by 1.3 Tg annually. Additionally, fire emissions decreased by 6.5 Tg annually.
• According to the study, global fire emissions appear to have decreased from 2019 to 2020.
• Agriculture increased its annual contributions by 1.6 Tg.
• Emissions from wetlands grew by 6.0 Tg annually.
• The conditions in water-logged soils are ideal for soil microorganisms, which allows them to produce more methane.
• 2020 saw a 6% decrease in nitrogen oxide levels from 2019. Less nitrogen oxide pollution results in more methane and less hydroxyl.
• Electric power plants and automobile exhaust gases both release nitrogen oxide into the atmosphere.
• Methane levels may be impacted by nitrogen oxides (NOx). NOx and ozone combine in the troposphere, the upper layer of the atmosphere, to create hydroxyl radicals.
• 85% of the methane produced each year is then removed from the atmosphere by these radicals.
• About 7.5 Tg less methane was removed each year as a result of hydroxyl radicals.
• Lower hydroxyl sinks are responsible for about 53% of the methane growth, with natural sources (primarily wetlands) accounting for the remaining 47%.

What is the Study's Importance?

• It may be able to explain why global methane increased in 2020 while many other greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, decreased.
• The findings have important ramifications for our capacity to accurately predict changes in methane in a future world with lower anthropogenic emissions of pollutants like nitrogen oxides and if the world becomes wetter.

About methane:

• The simplest hydrocarbon is methane, which has just one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms (CH4).
• It is flammable and used as fuel all over the world.
• A potent greenhouse gas is methane.
• Over the first 20 years of its lifetime in the atmosphere, methane has a warming effect that is more than 80 times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
• Oil and natural gas systems, agricultural practices, coal mining, and wastes are some of the common sources of methane.
• Impact: Increased global warming In terms of its ability to cause global warming, it is roughly 80–85 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
• This makes it a crucial objective for halting global warming more quickly and reducing other greenhouse gases at the same time.
• Tropospheric ozone air pollution, which results in more than a million preventable deaths each year, is on the rise as a result of rising emissions.

What programs are in place to combat methane emissions?

Indian:

"Harit Dhara" (HD):

• The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has created an anti-methanogenic feed supplement that can increase milk production while reducing methane emissions from cattle by 17–20%.

Greenhouse Gas Program in India:

• A voluntary framework for measuring and managing greenhouse gas emissions, the India GHG Program is led by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and WRI India, a nonprofit organisation.
• The program develops comprehensive measurement and management strategies to lower emissions and encourage Indian businesses and organisations to become more successful, competitive, and sustainable.

NAPCC, or the National Action Plan on Climate Change:

• The NAPCC was established in 2008 with the goal of raising awareness of the threat posed by climate change and the steps to counter it among the representatives of the public, various government agencies, scientists, industry, and communities.

Stage-VI Bharat Norms:

• India changed its emission standards from Bharat Stage-IV (BS-IV) to Bharat Stage-VI (BS-VI).

Methane Alert and Response System (MARS):

• MARS will combine information from numerous current and future satellites that can locate methane emission events worldwide and notify the necessary parties so they can take appropriate action.

Methane Global Pledge:

• Nearly 100 nations joined forces in a voluntary pledge, known as the Global Methane Pledge, to reduce methane emissions by at least 30% from the levels in 2020 by 2030 at the Glasgow climate conference (UNFCCC COP 26) in 2021.

GMI: Global Methane Initiative

• A global public-private partnership is working to lower obstacles to the extraction and use of methane as a clean energy source.

National Policy of Rare Diseases (NPRD)

An MP recently expressed concern about rare diseases, claiming that the new policy has benefited no patients.

Important Points

• Policy: In March 2021, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare notified the NPRD.
• It increased funding support to 50 lahks per patient with rare diseases for their treatment in May 2022.

Current Issue:

• Despite being in place for several months, the benefits of the National Policy for Rare Diseases (NPRD) have yet to reach any patients suffering from rare diseases.
• The Centres of Excellence (CoEinterminable )'s delay and lack of urgency have claimed several young lives and jeopardised the survival prospects of 415 patients, mostly children, diagnosed with rare diseases.
• These illnesses included Lysosomal storage disorders, Gaucher disease, and others.
• Pompe disease, MPS 1 and 2, and Fabry disease are all genetic disorders.
• Many CoEs had yet to seek financial assistance in accordance with the policy for treating patients.

Diseases that are uncommon:

• Rare diseases (also known as "Orphan" diseases) are diseases that occur infrequently in a population, and three indicators are used (the total number of people with the disease, its prevalence, and the availability/inaccessibility of treatment options).
• A rare disease is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having a frequency of less than 6.5-10 per 10,000 people.
• According to estimates, there are 7,000 known rare diseases in the world, with an estimated 300 million patients.

The Difficulties of Fighting Rare Diseases:

• These diseases are defined differently in different countries and have fundamentally different challenges than more common diseases.
• Inherited cancers, autoimmune disorders, congenital malformations, Hirschsprung's disease, Gaucher disease, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophies, and Lysosomal Storage Disorders are examples of rare diseases, according to the Organization for Rare Diseases India (LSDs)
• Less than 5% have therapies to treat them, 95% have no approved treatment, and less than one in ten patients receive disease-specific treatment.
• Where drugs are available, they are prohibitively expensive, putting enormous strain on resources, and the government has been unable to provide them for free.
• This is most noticeable during the clinical development stage when the task is significantly complicated by rarity.
• The small number of patients, the logistics of reaching widely dispersed patients, the lack of validated biomarkers and surrogate end-points, and the lack of clinical expertise and expert centers are all issues.
• In India, there is a lack of epidemiological data on the prevalence here and hence has only classified certain diseases as 'rare'.
• In India, there are an estimated 70 million patients.

National Policy for Rare Diseases, 2021:

• It provides financial assistance for one-time treatment of up to Rs. 20 lakh, implements a crowdfunding mechanism, establishes a registry of rare diseases, and promotes early detection.
• The Centre first prepared it in 2017 but put it on hold due to questions about its formation, criteria, cost sharing, beneficiaries, and so on.
• An expert group was formed in 2018 to review these questions, and it submitted its report in January 2021, after which the policy was made public after another round of consultation.

It divides 'rare disease' into three categories:

Group 1: Disorders that can be treated only once.

• Beneficiaries were eligible for a one-time treatment cost of up to Rs. 20 lakh if they met the definition of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana and were treated in a government tertiary care hospital under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi scheme (RAN).
• RAN provides financial assistance to patients living below the poverty line (BPL) and suffering from major life-threatening diseases in order for them to receive medical treatment at any of the super specialty Government hospitals/institutions.

Group 2:

• Diseases requiring long-term/lifelong treatment, with relatively lower treatment costs and documented benefits in the literature, and requiring annual or more frequent surveillance.

• States could "consider" providing assistance to patients suffering from rare diseases that can be managed with special diets or hormonal supplements.

Group 3:

• Diseases for which there is a definitive treatment but the challenges are an optimal patient selection for benefit, very high cost, and lifelong therapy.

• The government intends to notify selected Centres of Excellence at premier government hospitals for the comprehensive management of rare diseases.
• The Centres of Excellence would receive a one-time grant of up to Rs. 5 crore each for the development of infrastructure for screening, testing, and treatment.

Significance:

• It will place a greater emphasis on indigenous research and medicine production.
• Corporates and individuals will be encouraged to provide financial support through a robust IT platform under crowdfunding.
• The national hospital-based registry will ensure accurate data and comprehensive disease definitions.
• Early detection and screening will aid in the prevention of rare diseases.

Concerns About the Policy:

• It provides no assistance to patients under the previous National Policy for the Treatment of Rare Diseases 2017.
• Patients with Group 3 rare diseases are on their own due to a lack of appropriate selection criteria.

Lord Nataraja

• The Tamil Nadu police recently successfully prevented France from auctioning off a bronze Nataraja idol.
• The rare bronze idol was allegedly stolen from Kayathar in Thoothukudi district half a century ago.

What are the Most Important Facts About Lord Nataraja?

• Nataraja (Lord of the Dance), the Hindu god Shiva as the cosmic dancer, is depicted in metal or stone in many Shaivite temples, especially in South India.
• It is a significant work of Chola sculpture.
• The damru (drum) in the upper right hand represents the sound of creation. The damru's great sound is the source of all creation.
• The eternal fire, which represents destruction, is held in the upper left hand. Destruction is the precursor and unavoidable opposite of creation.
• The lower right hand is raised in the Abhay mudra gesture, signifying benediction and assuring the devotee not to be afraid.
• The path of salvation is indicated by the lower left hand pointing to the upraised foot.
• Shiva is performing a dance on the figure of a small dwarf. The dwarf represents ignorance and an individual's ego.
• Shiva is depicted as the source of all movement within the cosmos, as well as the god whose doomsday dance, represented by the arch of flames, accompanies the universe's dissolution at the end of an eon.
• Shiva's matted and flowing locks represent the flow of the Ganges.
• Shiva's ear is ornamented with a male earring and a female earring. This is often referred to as Ardhanarishwar because it represents the fusion of male and female.
• A snake is wrapped around Shiva's arm. The snake represents the kundalini power, which is dormant in the human spine. True consciousness can be attained if aroused.