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 …
Increasing amount of soot, sulphates and other aerosol components in atmospheric brown clouds (ABCs) are causing major threats to the water and food security of Asia and have resulted in surface dimming, atmospheric solar heating and soot deposition in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan-Tibetan (HKHT) glaciers and snow packs. These have given …
Geography coupled with high levels of poverty and population density has rendered South Asia especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The impacts of climate change in the form of higher temperatures, more variable precipitation, and more extreme weather events are already felt in South Asia.
This conference will address the challenges posed by climate change on biodiversity and food security in relation to sustainable management. It envisages bringing policy planners and researchers from the South Asian region to a common platform to share knowledge and experience, so as to progress towards a sustainably developed society. …
This report by SDMC documents the indigenous knowledge of different communities living in multi-hazard zones Nepal, Sri Lanka and India. Shows that communities use the indigenous knowledge to anticipate natural hazard that afflicts them to prepare better to face the disaster. The SDMC-ADRC joint project, under the SAARC
The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a systematic qualitative analysis of the costs and benefits of constructing embankments in the lower Bagmati River basin, which stretches across the Nepal Tarai and into northern Bihar. This paper analyzes the costs and benefits of both structural flood …
Vultures in genetic bottleneck as vulture population declines in south Asia, scientists have warned of a possible risk. The oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis), classified critically endangered by the iucn, may soon lose its genetic diversity unless immediate measures are taken. The bird was numbered tens of millions in India, …
Rising air pollution levels in South Asia will have worldwide environmental consequences. Transport of pollutants from the densely populated regions of India, Pakistan, China, and Nepal to the Himalayas may lead to substantial radiative forcing in South Asia with potential effects on the monsoon circulation and, hence, on regional climate …
United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Sri Lanka's Ministry of Water and Drainage, and the Ministry of Provincial Councils and Local Government have sponsored a national workshop in Sri Lanka to disseminate best practices in sanitation management.
This report focuses on three major river basins in South Asia: the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, the Indus and the Helmand. A composite Water Vulnerability Index
Current day concentrations of ground level ozone (O3) are commonly reducing crop yields by between 5 and 35 % at agriculturally important locations across South Asia. O3 induced economic crop losses could be in the region of $4 billion per annum for staple crops in South Asia; such losses are …
Diarrhoea is the leading cause of child deaths in South Asia. Universal access targets have been set in the region and changes made, yet governments are still failing to act with the urgency required. At current rates of progress, the 2015 MDG target for sanitation will not be met in …
Aarti Dhar NEW DELHI: With 75 per cent of the population or 2 billion people in the Asia-Pacific region at risk, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has asked the member states to take concrete measures urgently in order to control the spread of dengue. The severity of the public health …
The World Bank Group extended loans, credits, grants, equity investments, and guarantees totalling over $5.5 billion to South Asia in fiscal year 2008. The funding supports 79 new projects designed to overcome poverty and boost growth through practical plans enhancing the business and investment environment and empowering poor people, says …
South Asia's endangered Great One-horned Rhinoceros is being driven out of its natural habitat in search of food into the hands of illegal poachers, experts said on Thursday. A meeting of the Asian Rhino Specialist Group in Nepal said that the massive animal's feeding grounds were being invaded by "exotic …
This book brings together current knowledge and cutting edge interdisciplinary perspectives from renowned scholars on the histories, politics, ecologies and cultures of water in South Asia. It explores the complexities of the issues and challenges thrown up by contemporary water management practices in the South Asian region. It also attempts …
This report presents South Asia-wide review of climate change adaptation research, intended to identify present knowledge, gaps on adaptation and application including the practice of research. This scoping study makes a distinction between planned and autonomous adaptation strategies including ways in which social and physical infrastructure enable adaptation. This chosen …
This report looks at the importance of effective management of trade in wild species in order to maximize its potential to deliver on the MDGs. It also presents the findings of three case studies: the wild meat trade in East and Southern Africa; the skin and wool trade in Latin …
