WTE plants have a role, but not in the way our planners are envisaging. They should be the last resort to manage high-calorific-value waste that cannot be managed by other technologies Urban India currently produces around 1.5 lakh tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) every day. Of this, only about 25% is processed, i.e, recycled, […]
Read MoreGlobal green leaf area has increased by 5% since the early 2000s, and the main contributors to this have been China and India, accounting for one-third of the greening witnessed during this period. There is finally some good news on the green cover front: a 20-year-long data record by Nasa—two satellites orbiting the planet captured […]
Read MoreInsects are fundamental to ecological balance, so their dying out spells grim news for us humans. The ubiquity of insects means they are a foundational link in food webs and ecosystems. Published in the journal Biological Conservation, a literature review, that has compiled and analysed 73 existing studies from around the world published over the […]
Read MoreThe world needs emergency steps to stop desertification that now grips almost all countries. This emerged clearly after the first day of the 17th Session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation (CRIC17) of the United Nation’s Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Guyana. The preliminary assessment report circulated by the Secretariat of UNCCD finds that in […]
Read MoreHow will global warming affect El Niño in the 21st Century? With available data not sufficient, it is imperative that models be held to very stringent standards on their performance of El Niño behaviour during historic periods, as a test of their reliability for future projections El Niño is the largest climate phenomenon that occurs […]
Read MoreThe number of glaciers in the Himalayan area has increased in the last five decades and this is an indicator of how severe glacier melting has been due to global warming, says the first-ever assessment of climate changeimpacts on the Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region. This assessment, done by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development […]
Read MoreCoastal Regulation Zone Notification: What development are we clearing our coasts for The Coastal Regulation Zone Notification, 2018, has diluted India’s only protection system for the fragile ecology and opened it up to realtors and large-scale development projects As the year 2018 was drawing to a close, the Union Cabinet quietly cleared the Coastal Regulation […]
Read MoreThe Palghar district in northern Maharastra was in a state of Panic on February 1, 2019 as it was rocked by a series of minor earthquakes. Media reported as many 6 tremors on the day, with magnitudes ranging between 3 and 4.1 on the Richter scale. According to a report by the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), […]
Read MoreStudy on receding glaciers in Hindu Kush underlines need for cooperation between countries that share Himalayas. Success in meeting the Paris Climate Pact’s most ambitious target might not be enough, a recent study says, to prevent a serious meltdown in the Hindu Kush Himalayas. Released on Monday, the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development’s […]
Read MoreMethanol (M-15) blended with petrol and used in the existing BS-IV standard cars reduces carbon dioxide emission, a study conducted by Pune-based Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has shown. The finding has been submitted to Union Minister for Transport Nitin Gadkari, who said that the Ministry was keen to support further research on methanol […]
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