The rising temperature of the world's oceans has become a major threat to coral reefs globally as the severity and frequency of mass coral bleaching and mortality events increase. In 2005, high ocean temperatures in the tropical Atlantic and Caribbean resulted in the most severe bleaching event ever recorded in …
India hosted the XIX Common Wealth Games (CWG) 2010, in New Delhi, for the first time. It is only the second time that these games have been organized in Asia. A distinctive feature of the CWG 2010 was the emphasis of the organizers on environment; they wanted these games to …
HOW cloudy is it outside? Will it rain? The answers may depend on the level of atmospheric pollution in one’s region. Cloud-forming microscopic particles, called aerosols, absorb and reflect solar radiation. These particles have the ability to modify cloud formation and encourage or suppress precipitation. They can be released from …
The cold wave in 2009 that led to the shutting down of Eurorail and flight delays in Europe and the US indicates an inverse relationship between technological advancement and vulnerability to natural elements. But Indian policymakers, by and large, hold economic growth and technological advancement as panacea to climate change. …
CLIMATE change issues often get obfuscated in technical jargon. www.realclimate.org tries to demystify climate change mumbo-jumbo. The site contains work by prominent climate scientists for the public and journalists. It also attempts to provide quick response to developing stories and give the context sometimes missing in mainstream commentary. The site …
Till September 6, Gujarat’s Secretariat campus in Gandhinagar boasted the largest installation of solar panels in India. Now it has another distinction— the campus has become home to the country’s first smart grid. A smart grid transmits and distributes electricity using information and communication technology. It helps control electricity use …
If climate change is perceived as a global threat, this can mean that too little attention is paid to the ways in which it affects local populations and settlements. This also means too little attention to the importance of locally driven adaptation, both to reduce risks and to be better …
The draft of Green India Mission submitted to PM's Council on Climate Change aims at addressing climate change by enhancing carbon sinks in sustainably managed forests, adaptation of vulnerable ecosystems and adaptation of forest-dependant communities. This Mission document envisages an approach that is innovative in several ways: First, it proposes …
IN ALL probability, the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 32nd plenary between October 11 and 14 in Busan, South Korea, will be overshadowed by a 100-page report on its workings. The InterAcademy Council (IAC), a multinational organisation of science academies that reviewed the workings, has asked IPCC to bring …
We are in a critical situation globally. We have economic and ecological crises running at the same time. What do you bring to mainstream politics? You have not mentioned the third one. The social crisis. People do not believe in anything anymore. Greed and growth have revealed the problems with …
This latest IEA annual report contains estimates of CO2 emissions by country from 1971 to 2009, selected indicators such as CO2/GDP, CO2/capita, CO2/TPES and CO2/kWh & CO2 emissions from international marine and aviation bunkers.
A cloud burst over arid Himalayan town of Leh in Ladakh on August 6, pouring some 250 mm of rain in an hour. The sudden downpour triggered flash floods and mudslides, killing over 180 people and wiping out the old town of Leh and two villages. Weathermen say the high-altitude …
FISHERS’ folklores are full of them but the creatures of the deep sea are still a mystery. An inventory of marine species, to be released in London on October 4, would answer the age-old question— what lives in the oceans? The Census of Marine Life, a network of researchers from …
On World Environment Day this year I was at a five-star hotel. It was among the older ones in Bengaluru. The hotel had organized a week-long initiative to green Bengaluru. The idea was hackneyed. Of course, we need as many trees as we can get to absorb the carbon we …
Scientists at the Australian Academy of Sciences have issued a statement on dangers of global warming. The statement notes carbon emissions need to be cut by more than half by 2050 to keep temperature rises to less than two degrees. This is the first time the influential institute has taken …
