The Karnataka government’s opposition to UNESCO’s heritage tag for the Western Ghats is being strongly criticised by greens and environmental scientists as illogical and another example of the BJP administration’s ignorance about global issues.

Melting sea ice and global warming are elevating Arctic temperatures up to four times faster than the global average, according to latest research.  Ian Simmonds, professor from the University of Melbourne School of Earth Sciences and study co-author, said the findings showed this combination at ground and atmospheric levels played a key role in elevating Arctic warming rates.

The 160,000sqkm Western Ghats, which are older than the Himalayas, has been included in the prestigious World Heritage List. On July 2, the world heritage committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) recognised 39 sites of the Western Ghats as being among the rare natural heritage spots in the world. Of the 39 sites, six are in Maharashtra.

The Western Ghats issue has become hotter with the biodiversity hotspot being bestowed with a Unesco World Heritage Site tag.  Now, with the Karnataka government declaring that it is against the move and will not sign any proposal, the issue has taken another twist. In this backdrop, MK Ashoka spoke to Anantha Hegde Ashisara, the chairman of the Western Ghats Task Force. 

Bangalore: Karnataka Government today deferred taking any decision on the UNESCO declaring 10 locations of Western Ghats in the state as heritage spots.  Though the issue was mentioned at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, it was not discussed, sources told PTI here.

Madhav Gadgil, lead author of the ecology expert panel report on the Western Ghats, wants its recommendations to be discussed at public forums. “The recommendations are not the final voice. They are the starting point for public discussion in deciding how natural resources must be utilized,” Gadgil said. “The 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution mandate that locals must be involved in decision-making but the government has been reluctant to do this,” he added.

Research from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows that sea levels are rising much faster between North Carolina and Massachusetts than anywhere else in the world. The news comes less than two weeks after North Carolina’s Senate passed a bill banning state agencies from reporting predictions of increasing rates of sea-level rise.

The World Heritage Site tag is unlikely to affect life and land-use patterns in the Kerala part of the Western Ghats. Life is expected to go on unhindered in the sites and adjoining areas despite the tag. There will not be any fresh restrictions on activities that are currently permitted in the forest areas of Kerala, say authorities.

What would you do if dandruff bothers you? Either you apply a hair conditioner or seek medical advice. But A. Muthumari of Chathirapatti uses the leaves of ‘Poduthalai’ herb to get rid of the trouble permanently. In fact, most of the people in rural areas turn to nature for any health problem. “Not many in the cities bother,” says E. Gopalakrishnan, an agriculturist. “Even if the people are told, they refuse to accept the benefits of medicinal herbs or organic farming and brush it aside as not worthy. The common knowledge of rural populace is found lacking among the urbanites,” he rues.

About 1.3 million homes and businesses in the eastern United States remained without power amid a heat wave on Tuesday, and storm damage and high temperatures forced many Fourth of July celebrations to be canceled.