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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
recently, us researchers have proved for the first time that the water vapour exhaust trails or contrails that are left by cruising jet planes have an insulating effect on daily temperatures. Andrew Carleton from us-based Pennsylvania State University and colleagues measured the effect of contrails during the three-day grounding of …
It is for the first time that the Bush administration has linked an increase in global warming to human activities in the us. The Climate Action Report 2002 of the us government says, "Greenhouse gases are accumulating in Earth's atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing global mean surface …
a new computer model by National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) can now indicate exactly where rain or snow originate across the world. The model simulates water movement in the atmosphere around the world and traces it from the places where it evaporates to the places where it falls back …
a severe heat wave swept across the southern, central and northern parts of India in May. More than 1,100 people are said to have succumbed to the scorcher. In Andhra Pradesh, the unusually intense and prolonged heat claimed more than 1,000 lives. This prompted state chief minister Chandrababu Naidu to …
over the past half-century, Earth's entire surface or the lithosphere has warmed up significantly and is gaining energy at approximately the same rate as the atmosphere and cryosphere (the portion of Earth's surface where water is in solid form such as sea ice, snow cover, glaciers, ice caps and permafrost). …
An estimate of the global emission of mercury from anthropogenicsources in 1995 has been prepared. Major emphasis is placed onemissions from stationary combustion sources, non-ferrous metalproduction, pig iron and steel production, cement production andwaste disposal. About three quarters of the total emission,estimated to be about 1900 tonnes, was from combustion …
