The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
a new study is yet another proof of the fact that an environmental apocalypse can have wide-ranging impacts. Researchers studying the population living near central Asia's shrinking Aral Sea have found that the residents exhibit a high level of dna damage, which is linked with the region's alarmingly cancer rates. …
The first ever review of scientific studies on the health effects of outdoor air pollution in Asian cities underscores the fact that the impact of the scourge is as lethal in this part of the world as in Europe and the us. The assessment was done by the Boston (us)-based …
the major rivers of northern India and Pakistan will flow strongly for the next 40 years, but thereafter they will be reduced to a mere trickle. This is the message of the first decade-by-decade analysis of the rivers, which are fed by the glaciers of the Himalaya. The analysis has …
How is the world faring in terms of water and sanitation? As per figures, Asia is not doing badly. The real crisis is in Africa and in rural Latin America. According to statistics, developing countries such as India are also doing well. But we should never forget that there is …
India is joining hands with China and Japan in an attempt to unite countries of the region against West Asian oil producers. The latter are charging an extra us $1 for every barrel of crude oil they sell to these countries. This is over and above the prices at which …
wisening up: The Kerala government has announced its decision to undertake a massive rainwater harvesting scheme throughout the state on a war-footing. The move is believed to have been triggered by its experiences in this year's severe drought (see:
Between the 16th and 19th century, a secular Euro-Asian and Euro-American trade boomed, following the voyages of Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama and other explorers. Europeans encountered exotic spices, silk, sugar and gold
Kyrgyzstan's Prime Minister, Nikolai Tanayev, has vowed to prevent the country from becoming a uranium wasteland. His statement followed a public outcry against a Kyrgyz company's plans to process uranium from Germany. "The country needs to solve problems regarding its own uranium waste sites first,' Tanayev said in a cabinet …
The thick brown haze largely seen in the South Asian skies is spreading to newer areas like the Gulf region. V Ramanathan, a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, usa, revealed that the West Asian region, too, is being sucked into the global pollution circuit moving …
Bird Flu Outbreak Avian influenza (ai) is spiralling out of control in Asia. So also is the spin being put to the disease. There was the spectacle of Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his entire cabinet feasting on a smorgasbord of chicken to ease public concern over the ai …
a closer-knit South Asian community is not beyond the realms of possibility now. At the 12th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (saarc) summit in Islamabad from January 4-6, leaders of the region took some of the boldest steps ever since the grouping was first created in 1985. They agreed …
mosquito coils are finally in the dock, after a prolonged deference. Two independent studies indicate that coils commonly used in Asian countries, including India, can be disastrous for human health. While one indicates they contain a cancer-causing substance, the other estimates that a single coil releases particulate matter equal to …
New global models provide the opportunity to generate quantitative information about the world water situation. Here the WaterGAP 2 model is used to compute globally comprehensive estimates about water availability, water withdrawals, and other indicators on the river-basin scale. In applying the model to the current global water situation, it …
reeling under a spate of unfavourable rulings in the World Trade Organisation (wto), the us was dealt yet another blow when the dispute settlement panel ruled recently that tariffs imposed on imports of certain steel products were illegal. Although the decision is an interim one, such rulings are rarely reversed. …
"Is environmental history merely the recording of loss and decline, a narrative about the sinking of the Titanic as it were?' asked Richard Grove at the concluding session of the
The Jamiatul Quresh Meat Welfare Association (JQMWA) in Pakistan has threatened a countrywide strike by butchers unless the government does something soon about the acute scarcity of meat and livestock in the country. Large amounts of meat are exported to West Asia and other Islamic countries at the cost of …
