An increase in short duration precipitation extremes pose challenges for stormwater design in rapidly urbanizing India. The recent Paris Agreement aims to limit the global mean temperature (GMT) below 1.5 °C (and possibly below 2.0°C) from the pre‐industrial level. However, the changes in sub‐daily precipitation extremes in India remain unrecognized …
MUCH has been talked about how climate change poses risk to ecosystems and individual species. But no one has analysed how global warming will affect the genetic diversity hidden within the species. DNA studies have revealed that traditional species contain a vast amount of “cryptic” diversity—such as different lineages or …
SOME are petrified while others squeal at the mere sight of these scaly reptiles. Lizards that scurry past walls to hide and sometimes free-fall into the kitchen sink with a splat face a serious threat across the world. Scientists say climate change is one of the biggest reasons. There are …
IN 1860, Charles Darwin encouraged cattle owners to maintain data on a special breed of cows living in Northumberland county, northern England. Little did he know that 151 years later these records, which included births and deaths, would provide evidence of how climate change is affecting breeding patterns in Chillingham …
AFFORESTATION, a key climate change reduction strategy recommended by the United Nations, will not have much effect on global temperatures. Instead, if carried out in high altitudes, it may lead to climate warming, according to a study carried out by scientists in Canada. The scientists assessed the impact of replanting …
The biggest problem with the Rio conference has been its petty-mindedness. It has consistently refused to look into the basic processes that lead to environmental destruction. The world’s political leaders have shown great fear of the economic and political restructuring that such an approach would demand. The result is a …
THERE have been many indicators that global warming could be hurting the world food production, lowering yields and increasing prices. Turns out the warming of the planet over the past three decades has already led to a measurable reduction in crop production of wheat and maize. Researchers from Stanford University …
A LAB study shows global warming that increases sea-surface temperatures would make cold-blooded creatures of the sea vulnerable. A slight increase in temperature may be conducive to growth. Above a certain temperature threshold, the metabolic demands of tissues such as supply of oxygen progressively limit the energy available for growth …
THE Himalayas are warming at a rate higher than the global average. A recent study documents how this has affected cropping patterns and vegetation in the past 10 years. The questionnaire-based study examined changes people observed between the altitudes of 600 metres and 2,200 metres in the Himalayas. Published in …
VEHICLES and fuels must be seen as a system and not in isolation. Even a clean fuel like CNG may emit high air pollutants if the vehicle engine technology is inefficient to burn the fuel. This is the message from the first detailed testing of CNG three-wheelers in Delhi by …
TWO recent studies have clinched enough empirical data to repudiate any climate change sceptic. For the first time, the studies have pinned down greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for frequent extreme weather events like rainfall and floods. In one study, UK and Switzerland researchers analysed one of the worst floods in …
IMAGINE a hill station without pines. Worse, Canada sans the maple tree. This could be a reality. Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel claim many tree species that depend on the wind to disperse their seeds like pines and maple might become extinct due to climate change. …
Global climate change will have multiple effects on human health. Vulnerable populations—children, the elderly, and the poor—will be disproportionately affected. We reviewed projected impacts of climate change on children’s health, the pathways involved in these effects, and prevention strategies.
Climate change is expected to have large impacts on health at low latitudes where droughts and malnutrition, diarrhea, and malaria are projected to increase. The main objective of this study was to indicate a method to assess a range of plausible health impacts of climate change while handling uncertainties in …
GLACIERS, reservoirs of fresh water on the earth, are assumed to be major indicators of climate change. Since their melting contributes to drinking water, water for agriculture and hydropower in densely populated regions in South and Central Asia, glaciers have become a major concern for these regions. Himalayan glaciers are …
Increasing sea surface temperature (SST) and its consequences on marine ecosystems are widely discussed. Andaman Sea witnessed a few bleaching events during 1998, 2002 and 2005. The present study was taken up to assess the extent of bleaching during 2010 in selected reef sites in the Andaman through line intercept …
Towards earth system modelling for improving monsoon projections under changing climate by R. Krishnan, Centre for Climate Change Research, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune presented at the South Asian Media Briefing on Climate Change, CSE, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, 24
ORCHIDS that the Victorian era naturalists plucked and carefully pressed onto vellum sheets confine climate secrets. A recent study of these orchids revealed over the years global warming has changed their blooming pattern: the spring flower now blooms prematurely in the UK. Researchers from University of East Anglia, University of …
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 …
