Order of the National Green Tribunal regarding ozone pollution across urban India, 21/03/2025

Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of News Item titled “CSE report finds dangerous increase in ozone pollution across urban India” appearing in Down to Earth dated 06.08.2024. The Principal Bench of the NGT heard the matter on March 21, 2025. In the original application, registered suo …

Traditional Knowledge relating to use of flora and fauna as indicators in predicting annual seasons among Karbi tribe of Assam

There exist a sound Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) among Karbis relating to prediction of annual seasons using flora and fauna and physical factors as indicators. Floral characters include leaf fall, formation of new leaves, flowering, fruiting and ripening, formation of tubers, etc. while faunal characters include courtship and mating, egg …

Study and analysis of surface weather parameters over Haryana using ERA-15 data (1979-93)

Total atmospheric moisture content present in the atmosphere is less than 1% of total atmospheric composition. The atmospheric moisture variability accounts for nearly 10% variation in global hydrological cycle. The atmospheric moisture variability occurs in the form of cloud cover and hence in to the precipitation. A prior knowledge of …

Monsoon rainfall cycles as depicted in ancient Sanskrit texts

Year to year variation of Indian monsoon rainfall is described qualitatively in some ancient Sanskrit texts. Interestingly, these are cyclic with periods of 3, 5, 7, 18 and 60 years. Time series analysis of actual seasonal rainfall data shows that at very near the above periods the spectrum has significant …

Understanding and predicting the Indian summer monsoon

This is a brief response to Sunita Narain's thought-provoking piece on the role of monsoon in our lives. As scientists actively involved in understanding the Indian monsoon and its prediction, we have attempted to elucidate what we know about this intriguing phenomenon, which is a tantalizing mixture of order and …

IITM cloud seeding drive from July

As the country saw drought-like situation in most regions and recorded 22 per cent less than normal rainfall last year, city-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) under the India Meteorological Department has charted out its cloud seeding programme for the rain shadow regions in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka …

Vasco facility to study ozone layer in Goa

Shweta Kamat PANJIM, APRIL 12 The extent of the much feared ozone depletion over Goa will now be known to researchers through a facility planned to come up at Vasco. Goa is one amongst the 20 stations, where the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune will spearhead the country

South Asian climate meet kicks off

Pune In a bid to address improvements needed in weather and climate forecasts with the help of South Asian countries, the South Asian Climate outlook Forum (SASCOF) commenced its first meeting on Tuesday at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology here. The meet , which will conclude on Thursday, will …

Saving the Ozone

Try punching the air in front of you. Does it leave a hole? Surely not. But the ozone layer that exists in the stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere just above us, does have a hole. Not quite technically perhaps. But in May 1985, Joseph Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan …

‘Predictions wrong, but give indications’

On many occasions monsoons have failed leading to droughts, but IMD did not predict them. Why? Our predictions for rainfall during droughts were wrong only in 2002 and 2004. Between 1988 and 2001, our forecast for normal monsoon was qualitatively correct. It is true that we were not correct on …

Ozone hole has dried Australia, says study

Shift in rainfall patterns across Southern Hemisphere The Antarctic ozone hole is about one-third to blame for Australia's recent series of droughts, say scientists. Writing in the journal Science, they conclude that the hole has shifted wind and rainfall patterns right across the Southern Hemisphere, even the tropics. Their climate …

Get swayed

For surfers who like high waves, time holds promise. Researchers from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, collated satellite data of 23 years and found the wind speed over the ocean has increased substantially. They found that between 1985 and 2008, increased wind speed led to an increased wave height. The …

Beyond CO2

PLANTS soak more atmospheric pollutants than thought. A study by US scientists shows that apart from carbon dioxide, plants rid the air of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, the most abundant class of carbon-based chemicals in the atmosphere. Automobile exhaust, coal burning and industry are some of the major sources …

Cloud view clears up

HOW cloudy is it outside? Will it rain? The answers may depend on the level of atmospheric pollution in one’s region. Cloud-forming microscopic particles, called aerosols, absorb and reflect solar radiation. These particles have the ability to modify cloud formation and encourage or suppress precipitation. They can be released from …

Science and Environment - Briefs

BIOLOGY Yellow pigment clue to evolution Bilirubin, responsible for the yellowish tinge in the skin, eyes and nails of jaundice patients, has for the first time been identified in plants. The pigment was discovered in Strelitzia reginae Aiton, commonly know as the Bird of Paradise plant. It is indigenous to …

Sun screened

CALL it a conspiracy between cloud and pollution. Stretches of clouds, impregnated with fine pollutants, or aerosols, reflect a large amount of sunlight over India back into space. This could be a major factor in the reduced radiation on the Indian soil, said researchers from Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology …

Size matters

RAIN comes from clouds. But where do clouds come from? Through the process of evaporation and transpiration, water vapour rises higher into the atmosphere, deposits on fine particles, such as dust, air pollution, pollen and bacteria, condenses and forms the cloud. These particles called aerosols act as a seed to …

Water-starved suburbs pray for heavy downpour as woes pile up

Greeshma Gopal Giri | ENS MERE spattering, brief spells will not suffice for certain parts of Ambattur Municipality this year; the prayers are for heavy rain. Delayed monsoon has led to wells drying up and groundwater level getting depleted. Water scarcity is particularly acute in the localities in and around …

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