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 …
paper manufacturers in Europe, the us and other industrialised countries are up in arms against a proposed European Union ( eu ) plan to adopt eco-labelling for paper. The eu scheme, which is to come into effect soon, entails paper manufacturers to affix an eco-label on their products not only …
following a widespread ban on the production of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons ( cfc s), researchers in the us are now attempting to turn massive stockpiles of these substances into useful or at least benign materials. Chlorine atoms from cfc s are known to destroy stratospheric ozone, thereby causing exposure to harmful …
malaria research has thrown up yet another factor which determines why the disease varies in its manifestations in different people, from children to adults. Nitric oxide, a toxic gas and an air polluter, is also found in the human body. It can attack fungi, parasites and bacteria, either by killing …
Guangdong is one of the fastest growing economic regions of the country. It is now gearing up to tackle rising pollution levels, especially in the Pearl river delta. Over the next five years, the government is planning to spend up to us $120 billion on pollution control measures. Besides, the …
A proposed power station on Lamma Island has met with opposition from environmentalists. Hong Kong Electric is planning to build two 600- mw generating units next to its existing 2,955- mw -plant on Lamma, with the first unit to be commissioned by the year 2003. Criticising the proposal, Mei Ng …
with a view to mapping the country's natural resources, the Delhi-based Tata Energy Research Institute ( teri ) has initiated a project which will be supported by twelve major companies. The project
in the ongoing saga of unravelling the mysteries of the universe, the latest pictures sent by the Hubble space telescope opens a new chapter on how galaxies are possibly born. The new images show what, according to astronomers, may be galaxies being formed in the early universe out of a …
realising the need to redress the growing burden of neuro-psychiatric and behavioural disorders, the World Health Organization ( who ) has launched a worldwide inter-agency programme called the
the P rime Minister's announcement on September 10, that all fast track power projects requiring less than Rs 1,000 crore investment will be henceforth cleared by state governments is a clear attempt to dilute the powers of the Centre in a sector which needs its attention the most. It is …
the ultimate goal of economic development is to improve human welfare by raising living standards, enriching education, bettering health systems and providing equal opportunities for all. This process is crucially dependent on the environment and natural resources to provide the goods and services which directly and indirectly generate socio-economic benefits. …
the issues of environment and ecology are intricately embedded in the socio-economic milieu in India. The coexistence of a substantial number of forest-dependent tribals and the mismanagement of resources is the reason for this. Poverty, and an indifferent bureaucracy add to the complexity of the situation. So what should be …
D Deve Gowda, the present Prime Minister ( pm ) of India, was the chief minister of Karnataka when my colleague, Supriya Akerkar, interviewed him. We were then trying to document the records of different political parties in environmental management. And Deve Gowda, deeply involved with the controversial Cogentrix power …
one of the problems facing the world today is effective and affordable healthcare for its five billion-odd inhabitants. The prohibitive costs that Western or allopathic school of medicine (which often involves serious side effects) engenders is increasingly turning people towards the haven offered by alternative medical systems. The term "alternative" …
there seems to be more bad news pertaining to the ozone layer. The growing ozone hole has allowed for a cooler stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere 10-50 km above the Earth. Scientists led by Ramaswamy Venkatachalam from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the us, measured temperatures and …
with problems of the disposal of plutonium reaching alarming heights in us and Russia, Canada has offered to help in its recycling. Both us and Russia have stocks of tonnes of the highly toxic fuel removed from unused weapons. Canada, out of the nuclear arms race for over 30 years …
the best way to ascertain whether or not manufacturers are complying with pollution laws related to toxic hazardous metals, is to monitor what comes out of their smokestacks. Till now, scientists have been periodically monitoring emissions by studying samples from these factories in their laboratories. A study at source is …
water in the us will now flow with a guarantee. President Bill Clinton recently signed a bill designed to upgrade municipal water systems in view of the deteriorating water standards. The new law also lays the onus on local water agencies to inform the public annually on the chemical contents …
Liuminying, a small village south-west of Beijing, is an environmentalist's dreamland. It has emerged as a world-famous model of a perfect ecological village. The United Nations Environmental Programme (unep) has recognised the farm's leader Zhang Zhanlin as one of the 500 global environment specialists. Recently, journalists from several countries visited …
A massive security cover has been thrown around the capital, Ulan Bator, in a bid to check the spread of cholera that has killed six people and infected 39 so far. Authorities isolated two major northern cities, Erdenet and Darkhan, the capital of Selenge province, on August 10. "There is …
speculating on life in space has suddenly become everybody's favourite pastime. If it was Mars which hogged the headlines some days ago, it is now the Jovian planet that is having the benefit of astronomists' deliberations. Scientists have for sometime now, thought of Jupiter's satellite - Europa - as a …
