The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
Glaciers , the huge and seemingly sedate rivers of ice, are the source of life and, ironically, death too. These masses not only add to the serene and pristine beauty of the higher reaches of the Himalaya, they are also the source of north Indian rivers. Thus, with global warming …
B etween 40 and 50 million years ago, the Indian subcontinent collided with the rest of the Asian landmass. This collision caused the Earth's crust to buckle and rise forming the Himalaya. The uplift of the Himalaya was a gradual process over a long period. As the elevation of the …
this is Baluchistan, in Pakistan's west. Infrequent floods, a hot, desert-like climate and an isolated location: Baluchistan's people have adapted themselves well to these disadvantages. They have used flood water irrigation (also called spate irrigation) to make the best of whatever little water nature sends their way. It is rather …
Torrential rains killed at least 15 people and displaced more than 100,000 families in the low-lying areas in four provinces in the southern Mindanao island of the Philippines. According to the Southern Command of the Philippine Armed Forces, the deaths occurred over four days. The floods swamped the rice and …
Rising water levels in dams in the northern parts of South Africa have sparked fears of floods after heavy rainfall in the area. With the weather bureau forecasting further rains during the rest of the present season, precautions are being taken to avoid calamities. Already, some sluice gates at the …
The people of China are hoping that last summers flood, the worst since 1954 in the Yangtze River, will be a warning to the authorities that they can no longer take the environment for granted ( Down To Earth , Vol 7, No 10). Over the last few months the …
In the present study, the temporal patterns of monsoon floods on five large rivers of the Deccan Peninsula have been investigated. Analyses of the long-term annual maximum discharge/state data, available for the last 100 years or so, show non-random behaviour in terms of distinct periods of high and low floods. …
IT'S the same story every year. Monsoons, rivers in spate, floods, loss of lives and property. For the people living in the banks of rivers, floods have become a way of life. The intensity varies, as does the damage. One such state which hits the headlines during the monsoons is …
Several river protection councils in Kerala have joined hands to fight the grave dangers threatening rivers in the state. Named the All Kerala River Protection Council (IKRPC), the organisation started work on October 3. It proposes to bring together all local organisations and individual activists who are engaged in the …
The 5,462 km-long Yellow River, also known as 'China's sorrow', for its disastrous floods over the centuries, is drying up. The second largest river of the country, Hwang Ho has become the victim of excessive water use and pollution. To save the river, a group of Chinese conservationists, the Yellow …
To make the world aware of the crisis, Bangladesh has I launched a website highlighting the century's worst floods, that ravaged the country this year. Bangladesh's flood " fact Album-1998 entitled "Century's, worst floods in Bangladesh", can be seen at www.bangladeshonline.coml gob/floods98. According to government officials, the website was being …
AN EXPERT team which visited Kaziranga National Park in Assam to assess the damage caused by floods reported that nearly 1,070 animals died due to starvation or were washed away. The floods led to the death of 40 one-horned rhinos, seven elephants, 983 hog deers, 19 wild boars, 13 sambhars …
THE rains have stopped. The sun is out. But there is water, water and water everywhere in Bangladesh. We are not talking about drinking water here. It's the stinking, stagnant flood waters that have submerged entire fields, waterlogged streets, and affected 30 million people, out of which 10 million are …
Two-thirds of Bangladesh is under floods, which show no sign of receding. It is feared that there will be a delay in planting of the next crop, which may further worsen the situation. The floods, which have affected 51 out of 64 districts, may lead to a shortfall of four …
After a year of droughts and famines, South Asia is bracing itself for La Nina, the other half of El Nine weather phenomenon which had wreaked havoc all over the world last year. Malaysia has already begun gearing up for the fight against thunderstorms and floods. Based on the data …
Large dams bring poverty in their wake to the thousands who get affected by their construction. The latest is the Kainji Dam, built on Niger river in Nigeria. According to reports from the BBC World Service, at least 100,000 people in western Nigeria were forced to flee their homes after …
On why Indian towns cannot take the pressure of heavy rainfall: Town planning is always based on certain probabilities. If the flood level is higher or the rainfall is much heavier than what is anticipated, it may be difficult to protect the town. As far as flood management is concerned, …
NORTH BIHAR. The people here have resigned themselves to their fate. Theirs' is a waterworld, trapped almost perpetually amidst the swelling waters of Kosi, the "sorrow of Bihar". Though floods are not rare here, this year has been the worst. And the people, with their food and drinking water supplies …
The most devastating feature of Kosi, Bihar's sorrow, has been its ruthless course shifts. In the last 200 years, it has moved westwards by as much as 110 km averaging some 0.5 km every year. Up to the beginning of the 12th century BC, it was flowing through the eastern …
Despite the claims made by the Chinese authorities about an improved flood management system, the floods in northeast China have killed 2,000 people and left 14 million people homeless. Analysts believe that the situation would worsen if the Three Gorges Dam on the river Yangtze is built. Though the authorities …
