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 …
This year, the arrival of southwest monsoon current over the south Bay of Bengal and south Andaman Sea was delayed by 3 days due to non-conducive conditions for the development of convection over the region and it set in over the region on 23rd May. With the strengthening of cross …
Flash floods on the edge of high terrain, such as the Himalayas or Rocky Mountains, are especially dangerous and hard to predict. The Leh flood of 2010 at the edge of the Himalayan Plateau in India is an example of the tragic consequences of such storms. The flood occurred over …
A report to the 24th Meeting of Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, celebrating past achievements and looking ahead to future challenges.
BHUBANESWAR: The South West Monsoon withdrew from most parts of Odisha on Monday signalling the end of rainy season which recorded a rare zero percent deviation this year. The India Meteorological Department announced that monsoon withdrew from Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Balangir, Nuapada, Sonepur, Kalahandi, Deogarh and parts of the …
The main objective of this note is to affirm that if trend of all-India rainfall, 4 weeks in advance is the sought objective, then this is achievable; in particular, this applies to the Indian summer monsoon 2012. (Correspondence)
Data are presented that support the idea of an oxygenation event in the immediate aftermath of the Marinoan glaciation, pre-dating previous estimates for post-Marinoan oxygenation by more than 50 million years.
Tropical cyclones over the Arabian Sea in the pre-monsoon season (May–June) have intensified since 1997 owing to significant reductions in storm-ambient vertical wind shear (VWS) in the troposphere; these reductions have decreased on average by about 3 m s−1 from the pre-1997 epoch (1979–1997) to the recent epoch (1998–2010)1. The …
Arabian Sea tropical cyclones have become stronger over the past 30 years owing to a reduction in vertical wind shear (VWS) brought about by radiative forcing from pollution aerosols1. Wang et al.2 argue that the decline in VWS results from a systematic shift in storm genesis date, which may be …
Analysis of observations on six continents reveals a global preference for afternoon rain to fall on locally drier soils—contrary to the predictions of large-scale climate models, and suggesting that such models may exaggerate the occurrence of droughts.
KOLKATA, 18 SEPT: In observation of International Ozone Day, the West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) held a conference with environmental scientists and industry representatives to discuss strategies for reducing the emission of Chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) into the environment today at Paribesh Bhavan. International Ozone Day commemorates the date that the …
August 2012 was the fourth-warmest August globally since 1880 and the 330th consecutive month in which temperatures worldwide were above the 20th-century average, the US National Climatic Data Center said. The average temperature on land and over the ocean was 61.2 degrees Fahrenheit (16.2 Celsius), 1.1 degree above the century’s …
A European satellite that will acquire data critical for weather forecasters has launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. A Soyuz rocket carried the four-tonne Metop-B spacecraft aloft for a flight to orbit that lasted just over the hour. The spacecraft will ensure there is continuity of observations following Metop-A, which was launched …
The hole in the ozone layer, the earth's protective shield against ultraviolet rays, is expected to be smaller this year over the Antarctic than last, showing how a ban on harmful substances has stopped its depletion, the United Nations said on Friday. But the hole is probably larger than in …
One of the most important European space launches of the year takes place from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, later. A Soyuz rocket will put the four-tonne Metop-B satellite in orbit to acquire critical data for weather forecasters. The spacecraft will ensure there is continuity of observations following on from Metop-A, which was …
The Ozone Secretariat of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) conferred a honor to the Chinese government for its contribution to ozone layer protection in an event marking this year's International Ozone Layer Protection Day that fell on Sunday. Zhang Lijun, vice minister of environmental protection, said at the event …
Biomass burning (BB) contributes large amounts of black carbon (BC) and particulate organic matter (POM) to the atmosphere and contributes significantly to the earth’s radiation balance. BB particles can be a complicated optical system, with scattering and absorption contributions from BC, internal mixtures of BC and POM, and wavelength-dependent absorption …
It's a season that inspires and engages everyone, from the farmer to the policy maker. From the scientist to the travel writer. From the economist to the music critic, and from the botanist to the epicure. In a year in which the monsoon has played truant, Down To Earth invited …
China said Thursday it will take more active steps to enhance weather modification, in a bid to better serve agricultural production and disaster relief work. The country aims to build a relatively complete weather modification system by 2020 and make significant improvements in providing basic guarantees and security management, according …
Despite the heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of the seven lakes that supply drinking water to the city for last two days, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is still adamant about going ahead with the cloud seeding on September 1. According to the civic hydraulic department, the present collective …
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is likely to defer the cloud-seeding experiment, which was slated to be carried out from September 1, pending clearance from aviation regulator DGCA. "The DGCA has sought reply on certain things like who will be responsible for the cloud seeding operations, how the civic …
