Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
Tokyo University's Center for Climate System Research has discovered that the rainfall pattern in midsummer in densely built-up areas such as Tokyo and Yokohama has recently changed from gentle rainfall to tropical squall-type rainfall, involving sudden, violent winds with torrential downpours. The researchers believe the reason is the "heat island …
some recent research into the link between the climate and tectonic activity within the Earth's bowels could have important implications for predicting climatic phenomena. This could be especially important for a country like India, which depends overwhelmingly on the monsoons. Climate modelling and prediction is traditionally based on understanding ocean-atmosphere …
the threat from the melting of polar ice caps is not restricted to a rise in sea levels. Recent studies reveal that ancient viruses are lying trapped in the polar ice. One bout of warm weather might be all that is required to release them into the environment. And the …
The effects of global warming due to rising concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) may not all be bad. Xiahong Feng of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA, says that rising levels of GHGs have led to faster tree growth in arid regions. This would mean that planting trees in …
Hurricanes, like Floyd, which lashed the eastern coast of USA in mid-September, may take a heavy toll on human settlements near the coasts, but there is good news for algae, going by the findings of Marilyn Fogel of the Carnegie Institution of Washington and her colleagues. The researchers discovered that …
The aquatic eco-toxicology division of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) has found a novel way of ascertaining the level of pollution in treated effluents released from industries-- using common carp, a species of fish. The test is being conducted using common carp to verify the ingredients chemicals' individual …
it is an attempt to achieve environmentally-friendly logging. Mil Madeireira, a Brazil-based forestry company, has evolved a way to cut trees in such a way that when a tree is cut, it falls in an area where few other trees would be affected. The company's logging method has been acknowledged …
scientists say that making predictions about greenhouse gas emissions in the next century is not going to be easy. By the year 2010, emissions could be five times as high as today's, twice the level previously predicted, or just possibly, they could be slightly lower than today's. The biggest hurdle …
Many of us believe that bats hunt at night to avoid predators. But, scientist John Speakman of the University of Aberdeen says his observation of bats in the 24-hour daylight of the Arctic summer casts doubts on that theory. Most probably, he says, bats fly at night to avoid competition …
Hurricane Floyd, which lashed the east coast of the US recently has caused a tremendous growth of algae. Scientists from Carnegie University of Washington have found that the photosynthetic activity of phytoplankton off the coast of North Carolina increased five-fold in the four days after Hurricane Gordon in 1994. "The …
a new study has revealed that whale and dolphin products are contaminated with high levels of mercury, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs). The study, which was conducted by a group of researchers from Harvard University in the us and the University of Greenwich in the uk, claims that prolonged consumption …
according to a new report released by BirdLife International, a global wildlife group, one in eight of the world's bird species faces extinction in the next millennium because of damage to the environment. BirdLife International, representing 2.2 million people in 105 countries, said that 1,200 bird species could become extinct …
The Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) has achieved a breakthrough in indigenously developing the substitute for Ozone Depleting Substance (ODS), which is widely used as a refrigerant in airconditioners,refrigerators and chilling plants in India. A pilot plant set up by the IICT in collaboration with two private companies at …
agro-scientists in India are a troubled lot these days because there are indications that the soil in some of the most-productive regions of the country is losing its micronutrient content. “However, in India, little attention is paid to the possible health impact of depleting micronutrients in the soil,” laments V …
The World Conservation Union (iucn) has warned that some of the most ancient trees on Earth face extinction. In a report titled Action Plan for Conifers, IUCN says a quarter of the world's conifer species are threated. Among these conifers, many are survivors from the dinosaur age. Only three specimens …
Biologists in Germany have found that bumblebees repel creatures invading their nests with an ultrasonic hiss. Wolfgang Kirchner of the University of Konstanz and Jacqueline Roschard of the University of Wurzburg showed that the insects produce a conspicuous hissing sound when disturbed, with harmonics of up to 60 kilohertz. The …
So you thought plants are non-polluting? Three studies released recently by German scientists have turned this belief upside down. According to them, stressed plants release toluene, a smog-forming compound. This discovery could complicate pollution measurements. The results of the experiment show sunflowers and Scots pines emit toluene when stressed due …
Geophysicists have been able to construct a moving image of a molten-rock-filled dike buried off the coast of Japan - a technique that could prove better than current methods for predicting volcanic eruptions. The experiment reported in the Oct 29 issue of the journal, Science, involved estimating the volume and …
Justin Marshall of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, has done the unthinkable. He has taught mantis shrimps to distinguish between cubes painted with different polarisation patterns. The human eye cannot detect the orientation of polarised light. There is more to the colourful displays of these shrimps than meets …
Keeping ones mouth shut? Even the sharks know this, if we are to believe David Sims of the University of Aberdeen in the uk . According to Sims, basking sharks know when to keep their mouth shut, while they cruise the coast. He has also calculated that sharks need to …
