The HKH Snow Update 2025 highlights a significant decline in seasonal snow across the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, with snow persistence 23.6% below normal — the lowest in 23 years. This trend, now in its third consecutive year, threatens water security for nearly two billion people. All twelve major river …
On the basis of a climate modelling study, Lal et al. predicted that during the winter months there will be 5–25% less rainfall and in the summer season the monsoon rainfall will be not only 10–15% more than the normal, but also quite variable and specially irregular in Central India. …
The Amarnath Yatra was temporarily suspended on Sunday because of the inclement weather and landslides along the yatra route. And as the Met office has predicted more rains in the valley, more interruptions in the annual pilgrimage are likely. This is for the second time in past three days that …
Haridwar: Following the ban on their activities in 2010, Himalaya stone crushers first obtained a stay order against which Nigamanand went on a fast-unto-death. The sadhu died and now Himalaya stone crushers have appealed against the ban in the Supreme Court. In December 2010, the court had banned its operations, …
The first decade of the 21st century was the hottest since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Global warming is real and, if present trends continue, its possible effects worry publics and governments around the world. Could it foster armed conflict for resources such as food and water? Will Western …
Direct measurement of soil erodibility, resistance offered by the soil to both detachment and transport processes, is not only costly but time consuming also. So, efforts have been made to predict it from the soil physical properties.
Two microwatersheds namely Arnigad and Bansigad near Mussoorie, equipped with hydrometeorological instruments were selected to monitor the impact of forest cover on stream discharge. Arnigad microwatershed is having dense forest cover and Bansigad is with degraded forest.
Approach to conserve biodiversity for sustainable development should be targeted at different levels, from improving living standards to changing the attitude of people. If Himalayan medicinal plants are to continue to serve the needs of the people without being reduced to a dangerously unstable resource base, they have to be …
Q&A;: M Shashidhar Reddy, NDMA M Shashidhar ReddyNational Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has taken a slew of initiatives on disaster management by involving states and concerned agencies. In an interview with Sanjay Jog, NDMA vice chairman M Shashidhar Reddy takes reviews the present state of disaster management. Excerpts: Is India …
Siliguri, June 17: A first-of-its-kind study to prepare an inventory of the Himalayan glaciers in the Indian sub-continent has revealed a loss in the glacial cover in the Teesta basin in the past fourteen years and the absence of snow in the sub-basins of the river like the Rangit. The …
SEVENTY-five per cent of the Himalayan glaciers are thinning, states a recent analysis of satellite pictures taken by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). But before the alarm button is pressed, more detailed studies must be conducted, say scientists. Of the 10,000 glaciers present in the Himalayan ecosystem, ISRO studied …
AHMEDABAD: It is official now. Gujarat has one of the largest wetland covers in the country. Of the 10 million hectares of wetland in India, three million hectares are in Gujarat alone. This fact has been highlighted in a comprehensive study carried out by the Space Application Centre (SAC) of …
This paper addresses the effect of pollution on dissolved oxygen content (DO) in a Shivalik Himalayan stream during early hours of day in the summer season (May 2009-June 2010). The study showed that the dissolved oxygen in the stream is below 4 mg/L in a stretch of 2600 m and, …
This paper looks at the progress made in the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in the eight countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region using the national reports to the CBD as the primary source. The paper concludes that all the Hindu Kush-Himalayan countries are making efforts to …
THE Himalayas are warming at a rate higher than the global average. A recent study documents how this has affected cropping patterns and vegetation in the past 10 years. The questionnaire-based study examined changes people observed between the altitudes of 600 metres and 2,200 metres in the Himalayas. Published in …
The Inter-governmental Meeting to finalise the text of the draft SAARC Agreement on Rapid Response to Natural Disasters concluded in Male last Thursday with a broad agreement on the issue that needed to be addressed. According to the global database on disasters, over the past forty years, South Asia faced …
The U.N. committee of climate scientists will fix any future errors "within a week or so," its head said on Wednesday, after coming under fire last year for bungling a forecast of when Himalayan glaciers would thaw. "I think we now have a firm procedure by which we are going …
