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 …
Clouds generated by a single jet aircraft can reduce sunshine levels over thousands of square miles, researchers have found. The British Met Office used satellites to watch the vapour trail of an aircraft flying over the North Sea on a sunny day earlier this year. Researchers had expected high-level winds …
IF THINGS move in the right direction, Rajasthan is set to bask in the sunshine. The desert state is likely to attract an investment of Rs 45,000 crore in the solar energy sector. Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation chairman and managing director Naresh Pal Gangwar told ET that 72 power companies …
In arid environments such as deserts, nitrogen is often themost limiting nutrient for biological activity. The majorityof the ecosystem nitrogen flux is typically thought to be drivenby production and loss of reactive nitrogen species by microorganismsin the soil. We found that high soil-surface temperatures (greaterthan 50
Planned adaptation to climate change requires information about what is happening and why. While a long-term trend is for global warming, short-term periods of cooling can occur and have physical causes associated with natural variability. However, such natural variability means that energy is rearranged or changed within the climate system, …
PLANT SCIENCES Never too late Flowers are more resilient than they appear. They shoot up against all odds. The credit goes to genetic matter called microRNA that inhibit protein formation crucial to flowering in young plants. External cues like sunlight make them flower. But in the absence of cues, too, …
Significance of ozone layer for survival underlined Though ozone is present in a small quantity in the stratosphere, it plays a vital role in supporting life on the earth and primarily by absorbing ultra violate (UV) radiation which is linked to various forms of skin cancer, cataracts and even damaging …
Helsinki: A Finnish company has signed a $1.4-million deal with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to provide 60 hi-tech automatic weather stations (AWS) and equipment to predict weather accurately during the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Vaisala, which has been developing environmental and industrial instruments for the past 70 years …
GLOBAL warming will mean that more people die from the heat. There will be a rise in sea levels, more malaria, starvation, and poverty. Concern has been great, but humanity has done very little that will actually prevent these outcomes. Carbon emissions have kept increasing, despite repeated promises of cuts. …
Another clue has been found in the Case of the Shrinking Sheep, an animal mystery in which climate change features as the principal cause. The tale of scientific sleuthing is unfolding on two Scottish islands, Soay and Hirta, in the remote Outer Hebrides. Their sole inhabitants are wild sheep which …
Washington, June 28: The Sun, a star at the centre of the solar system, is known to provide ideal conditions for life to thrive on earth. But, astronomers have claimed that it also leaves the planet wide open to harmful cosmic rays. A joint team from University of Arizona and …
There is increasing evidence that the amount of solar radiation incident at the Earth's surface is not stable over the years but undergoes significant decadal variations. Here I review the evidence for these changes, their magnitude, their possible causes, their representation in climate models, and their potential implications for climate …
Particulate solar absorption is a critical factor in determining the value and even sign of the direct radiative forcing of aerosols. The heating to the atmosphere and cooling to the Earth's surface caused by this absorption are hypothesized to have significant climate impacts. We find that anthropogenic aerosols play an …
Rich nations should cut their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2020 from 1990 levels as part of a new global climate change pact, China said on Thursday, spelling out its stance ahead of negotiations. Photo: Shannon Stapleton BEIJING - Rich nations should cut their greenhouse gas …
Boreal spring climate is uniquely susceptible to solar warming mechanisms because it has expansive snow cover and receives relatively strong insolation. Carbonaceous particles can influence snow coverage by warming the atmosphere, reducing surface-incident solar energy (dimming), and reducing snow reflectance after deposition (darkening).
WASHINGTON - Visibility on clear days has declined in much of the world since the 1970s thanks to a rise in airborne pollutants, scientists said on Thursday. They described a "global dimming" in particular over south and east Asia, South America, Australia and Africa, while visibility remained relatively stable over …
For India to harness the 5,000 trillion kWh equivalent energy that solar radiation makes available in a year, all that needs to be done is dedicate one per cent of the country
Meteorology plays an important role in the design, alignment and orientation of buildings, streets and urban colonies. Mitigative measures to ameliorate adverse impacts in tropical climates are suggested.
The observed increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) since the preindustrial era has most likely committed the world to a warming of 2.4°C (1.4°C to 4.3°C) above the preindustrial surface temperatures. The committed warming is inferred from the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates of …
