Greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere hit new record highs in 2022, with no end in sight to the rising trend, according to this new report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). This Bulletin represents the latest analysis of observations from the WMO GAW Programme. It shows globally averaged surface …
Charles David Keeling, the climate scientist whose meticulous measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide (co2) levels warned of human activity changing the composition of the atmosphere, is no more. He died of a heart attack on June 20, 2005. "Keeling's measurements of global co2 levels are the single most important environmental …
South Asian emissions of fossil fuel SO2 and black carbon increased 6-fold since 1930, resulting in large atmospheric concentrations of black carbon and other aerosols. This period also witnessed strong negative trends of surface solar radiation, surface evaporation, and summer monsoon rainfall. These changes over India were accompanied by an …
function chart() { var popurl="files/images/20040630/28-illus.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=650,height=350,scrollbars=yes") } Over the ages, human civilisations have excelled and fallen depending on the availability and use of limited resources. Fossil fuels, minerals, land, freshwater and food are often the measuring sticks of relative wealth. These limited resources determine just how long exploitation can continue …
function loop() { var popurl="image/20040630/32-illus.jpg" winpops=window.open(popurl,"","width=430,height=375,scrollbars=yes") } In nature, nitrogen remains constant. The Earth's atmosphere has 78 per cent nitrogen, but very little of this vital nutrient can be absorbed by plants. A chain of chemical reactions deposits atmospheric nitrogen in rain and then takes it to the soil. Nitrogen-fixing …
Desolate, cold, inhospitable, relegated to the backyards of exploration and knowledge. Antarctica did not emerge from this unfortunate fate till less than 100 years ago, before which, whalers and seafarers were its only visitors. Cartographers barely acknowledged its presence (or chose to ignore it altogether). And the first explorations, which …
It is the earth's final frontier. Antarctica, a gigantic mass of ocean-encased rocky islands south of the Antarctic Circle, is the earth's southern-most continent. There is no place colder or drier. Stark but majestic, uncompromisingly bleak but alluring, 98 per cent of the continent's 14 million kilometres (km) is sheathed …
A 1996 expert group report on the Indian Antarctic programme says: "The programme has so far been working in complete isolation with no substantial element of international cooperation. While actual attempts are being made by various countries through the aegis of SCAR (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research) to join hands …
On a hot June day in 1981 S Z Qasim, then environment secretary, reached out to answer a telephone. The caller was Indira Gandhi, the prime minister. The conversation was brief and to the point. "Can India reach Antarctica?' asked the prime minister. Qasim, who had only an academic knowledge …
indian scientists have embarked on a programme to study clouds from close range. This was revealed at the recently concluded 90th Indian Science Congress session in Bangalore. Space Commission member Roddam Narasimha said that the satellite would help understand how the water cycle affects atmospheric climate processes over the tropics. …
ALIENS are now no longer confined to our childhood fancy. Early last year, they were found floating some 41 kilometres above the Earth's surface - an area devoid of life. What's more, the aliens - a kind of fungus and two species of bacteria - are similar to commonly found …
an unprecedented study may force certain countries to do some soul searching. Contrary to what a few policy makers advocate, the study reveals that high levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (co2) can retard plant growth. The three-year study, conducted at the Stanford University, California, usa, is raising questions about a …
industrial emissions of Asia, particularly China, are a major source of mercury in rainwater that falls along the California coast of usa. So says a new study by researchers from the Santa Cruz-based University of California (ucsc). However, the researchers acknowledge that mercury in rainwater is not a health threat. …
the weather gods seem hell-bent on proving the India Meteorology Department (imd) wrong. Barely had it recovered from the embarrassment of forecasting the monsoon incorrectly when the winter wrong-footed it. An unusually severe nightly fog, enveloping a vast stretch of the Indo-Gangetic belt from Punjab to Kolkata, has confounded the …
This paper presents maps of anthropogenic Hg emissions worldwide within a 1°×1° latitude/longitude grid system in 1995. As such, the paper is designed for modelers simulating the Hg transport within air masses and Hg deposition to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Maps of total Hg emissions and its three main chemical …
large amounts of soot particles and other pollutants are causing adverse changes in precipitation and temperatures over China, indicates a new research done by Washington dc-based National Aeronautical Space Administration (nasa). The soot is partially responsible for the increased incidences of floods and droughts witnessed by China during the last …
the refreshing breath of sea air may do more than raise the spirits. The salty sea spray encourages rain that washes out dust and other pollutants, thereby cleaning the atmosphere. These are the findings of a new study conducted by researchers from Jerusalem-based Hebrew University. "We have discovered a process …
