January 2026
In short: India's wildlife, climate and conservation news this month — distilled for SI/Constable Prelims.
Current Affairs — India › Environment · 12 min read · Free to read · English & Telugu
Bilingual study notes for the Andhra Pradesh Police SI & Constable exams (SLPRB AP) by AP Police Hub, a product of Anvil Academy.
The UN's High Seas Treaty entered into force just as 2025 set records for ocean heat content and the warmest Arctic year yet, Andhra Pradesh moved to build a satellite-launch pad on a sand-spit inside Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, Project Dolphin launched its second national count, two Bactrian camels marched at Republic Day for the first time, and Amazon's stingless bees became the first insect species anywhere to win legal rights.
January 2026 — At a Glance
Beyond the waste-rules, Ramsar-site and global-report stories already covered in this month's Science digest, January 2026 carried a genuinely separate stream of environment news. The UN's High Seas Treaty entered into force as a landmark marine-biodiversity agreement, even as fresh science confirmed 2025 as a record year for both ocean heat content and Arctic warming. At home, Andhra Pradesh's plan to build a satellite-launch centre on Hope Island inside Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary drew attention, Project Dolphin launched its second range-wide count of river and estuarine dolphins, two Bactrian camels marched at the Republic Day Parade for the first time in history, and a clutch of species and pollution-science snapshots — from Amazon's newly rights-bearing stingless bees to Delhi's secondary-pollutant problem — rounded out the month.
1. Global Environmental Science & Governance
UN High Seas Treaty enters into force
- What — Officially the Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement) — a legally binding UN treaty covering the 'high seas', ocean areas beyond any nation's jurisdiction that make up over two-thirds of the ocean's surface; adopted in 2023, it is UNCLOS's third implementing agreement, after the 1994 Part XI agreement and the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement.
- Key provisions — Addresses four main issues: marine genetic resources with fair benefit-sharing; area-based management tools including marine protected areas; environmental impact assessments; and capacity-building and marine-technology transfer.
- Status — 83 countries have ratified the treaty so far; India has signed but not yet ratified it.
2025 — a record year for ocean and Arctic warming
- Ocean Heat Content record — A study found oceans absorbed an additional 23 zettajoules (ZJ) of heat in 2025, the highest level since 1960s records began; oceans absorb roughly 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases, confirming their role as the planet's primary buffer against global warming — 2025's global mean sea-surface temperature was the highest on record, about 0.5°C above the 1981-2010 average. Effects include weaker ocean mixing and reduced deep-water oxygen supply, more intense marine heatwaves and coral bleaching, and stronger cyclones and storms.
- Arctic Report Card 2025 — Released by NOAA, this report confirms the Arctic is warming far faster than the rest of the world: the past year (October 2024-September 2025) recorded the highest Arctic surface air temperature since 1900, and the last 10 years have been the Arctic's 10 warmest years on record. It also flags 'Atlantification' — warmer Atlantic waters intruding into the central Arctic Ocean, weakening stratification — and 'rusting rivers', where iron released from thawing permafrost has turned over 200 Alaskan watersheds orange, affecting fish and local water supplies.
2. Domestic Wildlife & Conservation
Hope Island and Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary — a satellite launch pad inside a mangrove sanctuary
- What — The Andhra Pradesh government will develop a satellite-launch centre on Hope Island under its 'Space City' project; the island is part of Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary.
- About Hope Island — A relatively new, 16-km-long sand spit formed by silt carried down by the Godavari delta; it protects Kakinada city from storm surges by acting as a natural breakwater that keeps the sea calm — making Kakinada port one of India's safest natural harbours.
- About Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary — Located in East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, where the Godavari River meets the Bay of Bengal; part of the Godavari mangrove forest; declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1978.
Project Dolphin's second range-wide count
- What — A second range-wide estimation of riverine and estuarine dolphins was launched; the previous survey (2021-23) had estimated 6,327 river dolphins in India. This round will, for the first time, also cover the Irrawaddy dolphin (found in the Sundarbans and Odisha) alongside the Ganges and Indus river dolphins.
- About Project Dolphin — Launched on 15 August 2020 under the Centrally Sponsored 'Development of Wildlife Habitats' scheme, aiming to conserve marine and river dolphins and related cetaceans through habitat protection, scientific research and community awareness; steps taken include the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in Bihar and notifying the Chambal river as a dolphin conservation area.
Bactrian camels march at Republic Day for the first time
- What — Two Bactrian camels named 'Galwan' and 'Nubra' marched down Kartavya Path at the Republic Day Parade 2026 — the first time in history that this species has marched at the parade.
- About the Bactrian camel — Named after Bactria, an ancient Central Asian region; a large, even-toed ungulate adapted to cold desert regions such as the Gobi and Taklamakan; has two humps for fat storage and grows a thick winter coat that lets it survive temperatures from -30°C to 40°C. India has roughly 300-400 of them, all found in Ladakh's Nubra Valley. The wild Bactrian camel (Camelus ferus) is Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, distinct from the domesticated Camelus bactrianus, which is not classified as threatened.
3. Species & Pollution Science Snapshots
Species in the news
- Stingless Bees (Meliponini) — Amazon's stingless bees became the first insect species anywhere to win legal rights. One of the world's oldest bee lineages (around 80 million years old), with roughly 500 species globally (over 170 found in Peru alone); they do have a sting, but it is too small to be functionally useful for defence. Their honey, called 'liquid gold', is valued for potent antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, and as ancient pollinators they sustain 80% of the Amazon's flora, including cacao and coffee.
- Freshwater Pufferfish — Scientists confirmed India's first case of pufferfish poisoning. These fish belong to the Tetraodontidae family, with 30-35 subspecies spending their entire life in freshwater, found in the Western Ghats and the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Mahanadi river basins; commonly called toadfish, balloonfish or fugu. They contain tetrodotoxin (TTX), among nature's most potent neurotoxins.
- Mycorrhizal Networks — American biologist Toby Kiers won the Tyler Prize 2026 — often called the 'Nobel Prize of the environment' — for her research on mycorrhizal networks: underground fungal networks in which mycorrhizal fungi connect the roots of many plants through their hyphae, forming a symbiotic relationship where plants supply carbohydrates and receive water and nutrients in return. Dubbed the 'Wood Wide Web', these networks help sequester roughly 13 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in soil every year.
Pollution governance snapshots
- Secondary pollutants — Delhi's PM2.5 problem — A CREA (Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air) analysis found at least one-third of Delhi's annual PM2.5 pollution comes from secondary pollutants, chiefly ammonium sulphate — formed when sulphur dioxide oxidises into sulphate, which then reacts with atmospheric ammonia, unlike primary pollutants that are emitted directly from a source such as a vehicle or power plant.
- Blue Category of Industries — The CPCB classified Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs) — along with sewage treatment plants, waste-to-energy plants, and biomining/composting units — as 'Essential Environmental Services' under the Blue Category of industries; this classification uses a Pollution Index built on the Precautionary Principle.