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 …
Scientists became aware of acid rain more than a century ago A cid rain is not a recent phenomenon. The term was first coined in 1852 by a chemist, Robert Angus Smith. The 35-year-old chemist, while studying the quality of air in and around his home town Manchester, England, found …
Human activities have made the sky a sewer. Subhash J Rele, writing in The Hindustan Times , estimates that each year, the global atmosphere is on the receiving end of 20 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide, 130 million tonnes (mt) of sulphur dioxide, 97 mt of hydrocarbons, 53 mt of …
A comprehensive two-volume dossier on environmental issues, events, policies, practices and challenges in India, along with statistics on environment-related facts.
This book presents a national overview of the startling array of challenges faced by India - including pollution and waste generation. The book demonstrates how all natural resources, from land and forests to water and biodiversity, are under immense pressure and in turn, compounded poverty. Rapid industrial, agricultural and urban …
THE mid and late-1980s witnessed global tension rise when scientists discovered a hole in the ozone layer of our planet's atmosphere. This, they said, could be dangerous as ozone shields us from the Sun's ultraviolet (UV) radiation that can cause skin cancer. The main culprit responsible for "punching" the hole, …
WATCH out Don Quixote. The windmills are staging a comeback in Europe. Wind energy is the best alternative to reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. By using windmills, the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) believes that Europe will be able to churn out 4,000 mega watts (MW) of energy …
THE Kyoto Protocol, forged in December 1997, appears only to advocate planting and conserving forests (afforestation and reforestation) in order to create carbon sinks in trees and also in soils. Little is said about using trees and other forms of biomass as an energy source to substitute the use of …
A NEW ozone-destroying chemical has been found in the atmosphere, muddying repair efforts of the ozone layer. Halon-1202, a firefighting chemical suspected of being used by the Russian military, has increased five-fold in the atmosphere over the past 20 years, say Australian scientists. For the last two years, the chemical …
IN NOVEMBER, the Earth will run into the worst meteor storm in 32 years. It will be the first space hurricane of the modern satellite era. While it poses no danger to people because the meteoroids will burn up as they enter the Earth's atmosphere, it poses some threat to …
Everybody from governments to ngos has missed a key point about the Kyoto Conference. Everyone has focused upon the problem of global warming and how developed and developing countries should work together to reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The critical issue that we are dealing …
The time taken by the Earth to rotate fluctuates by milliseconds every day. Experts say that it might be due to atmospheric changes, high and low tides, and likely movements in the Earth's core that are constantly shifting the planet's mass. To keep track of the Earth's vagaries, scientists at …
'laboratory' is an odd name for a place that receives 10,000 visitors every year; where various organisations involved, recognise its heritage responsibilities and preserve old buildings and whose historic locations feature on ever more cruise liner tourist brochures. If you have a few thousand dollars to spare, you too can …
A prototype solar device that produces enough hot air from the sun's rays to drive the turbines of a 50 kw power station has brought the prospect of cheap, solar-generated electricity a step closer. The solar energy collector has been successfully tested by Israeli researchers at the Weizmann Institute of …
It has long been hypothesised that the composition of the atmosphere has been modified by processes in the interior of the planets. Now, some researchers have done simulations for the atmosphere of Neptune and reported that some of the gases in its atmosphere are originating from deep within the planet. …
EXTRATERRESTRIAL life has been speculated about by many scientists for long. Some efforts like the search for extraterrestrial intelligence have been going on for some time now, though most of the research has been at the theoretical level. With the discovery of giant planets and other solar systems (planets orbiting …
THE fear of being choked to death by a smog of atmospheric carbon monoxide (co) has prevailed ever since the beginning of the industrial revolution (New Scientist, Vol 151, No 2045). The study of co gas is important because the levels of its emission are much more than that of …
crew members on the American space shuttle Columbia may have been at a loss when a tethered satellite broke free and drifted away. But for Robert J Charlson, an atmospheric scientist with the University of Washington, Seattle, the aborted mission was a blessing in disguise. The astronauts now had the …
human assault on the earth's atmosphere continues. Recently, the World Meteorological Organization ( wmo ), a un agency based in Geneva, revealed that the ozone hole measured over the Antarctic during the South Hemisphere spring, is already twice the size of Europe. The hole, first observed in the Antarctic in …
Annual emissions of anthropogenic Hg to the atmosphere in different regions of the world during the last decade show an interesting dichotomy: the emissions in the developed countries increased at the rate of about 4.5–5.5% yr−1 up to 1989 and have since remained nearly constant, while in developing countries the …
