The stratosphere ozone layer is slowly recovering and the recovery will be complete in most parts of the atmosphere in the coming decades, according to the latest bulletin by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The bulletin with the updated status of the ozone layer by WMO-Global Atmosphere Watch bulletin returned …
Albedo modification (AM) is sometimes characterized as a potential means of avoiding climate threshold responses, including large-scale ice sheet mass loss. Previous work has investigated the effects of AM on total sea-level rise over the present century, as well as AM's ability to reduce long-term (Gt103 yr) contributions to sea-level …
Geo-engineering schemes like reflecting solar radiation or sucking CO2 out of the sky will not be a feasible way to reduce emissions for the next several decades, a new EU-funded report has warned. The analysis comes from the European Trans-disciplinary Assessment of Climate Engineering (EuTRACE), a multinational project set up …
Jharkhand is all set to get an ambitious solar power policy in July. The policy that ultimately sets target to harness at least 2,000 MW of power in the next four-five years would roll out red carpet for large as well as small entrepreneurs in the field of solar photovoltaic …
Urban agriculture requires local water to replace 'hydrologic externalities' associated with food produced outside of the local area, with an accompanying shift of the water footprint (WF) for agricultural production from rural to urban areas. Water requirements of urban agriculture have been difficult to estimate due to the heterogeneity of …
Rough assessments put state's gross renewable energy potential at 53,820 Mw To tap the opportunity in the non-conventional sources of energy, the Odisha government plans to come out with a new policy for development of the sector in the state. "Instead of formulating separate policies for different sources of renewable …
Presentation by A. Jayaraman, Director, National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Department of Space, Government of India at the Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2015: Poor in climate change, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, March 11 – 12, 2015
Presentation by Ellen Baum, Climate and Health Research Network & Tami Bond, University of Illinois at Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2015: Poor in climate change, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, March 11 – 12, 2015.
In this paper, we investigate the coagulation of interstitial aerosol particles (particles too small to activate to cloud droplets) with cloud drops, a process often ignored in aerosol-climate models. We use the GEOS-Chem-TOMAS global chemical transport model with aerosol microphysics to calculate the changes in the aerosol size distribution, cloud-albedo …
Australians no longer believe a tan is something to aspire to, but too many still get sunburnt and put themselves at risk of potentially deadly skin cancers, the Cancer Council says. Almost 600,000 Victorians still get sunburnt on a typical summer weekend, many through incidental sun exposure, a survey released …
Around 30 million cases of skin cancer will be prevented by 2030, thanks to successful implementation of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments says this new report produced by the Environmental Effects Assessment Panel (EEAP) of the Montreal Protocol. The report details various effects of UV radiation on human health, …
Vast areas of deforested tropical peatlands do not receive noteworthy shading by vegetation, which increases the amount of solar radiation reaching the peat surface. Peat temperature dynamics and heterotrophic carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4) fluxes were monitored under four shading conditions, i.e. unshaded, 28%, 51% and …
The use of reflective surfaces offers one low-cost solution for reducing solar loading to urban environments and the Earth that should be considered as part of sustainable urban design. Here, we characterize the radiative benefits, i.e. the additional shortwave radiation leaving the atmosphere, from the installation of highly reflective 'cool' …
Solar energy is widely available throughout the world and can contribute to reduced dependence on energy imports. As it entails no fuel price risk or constraints, it also improves security of supply. Solar power enhances energy diversity and hedges against price volatility of fossil fuels, thus stabilising costs of electricity …
Concentrating solar plants (CSP) generate solar thermal electricity (STE) while producing no greenhouse gas emissions, so it could be a key technology for mitigating climate change. In addition, the flexibility of CSP plants enhances energy security. Unlike solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, CSP plants use steam turbines, and thus can provide …
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage could be used to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. However, its credibility as a climate change mitigation option is unproven and its widespread deployment in climate stabilization scenarios might become a dangerous distraction.
The ozone layer in the upper atmosphere protects humans and other organisms against ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. About 90 per cent of all ozone molecules are found in the stratosphere, a region that begins about 10-16 km above the Earth’s surface and extends up to about 50 km. …
This will be the American company's first project in India US-based First Solar Inc (FSLR), a thin film solar module manufacturer and developer of solar projects worldwide, plans to build a 45-Mw capacity solar power generation project in the new state of Telangana through its Indian subsidiary. First Solar India …
The urban heat island (UHI), a common phenomenon in which surface temperatures are higher in urban areas than in surrounding rural areas, represents one of the most significant human-induced changes to Earth’s surface climate. Even though they are localized hotspots in the landscape, UHIs have a profound impact on the …
UV light is an established carcinogen, yet evidence suggests that UV-seeking behavior has addictive features. Following UV exposure, epidermal keratinocytes synthesize proopiomelanocortin (POMC) that is processed to melanocyte-stimulating hormone, inducing tanning. We show that, in rodents, another POMC-derived peptide, β-endorphin, is coordinately synthesized in skin, elevating plasma levels after low-dose …
