Killer heatwaves are projected to worsen across India, warn recent reports, cautioning that the current method of analysing the impacts of these extreme events needs to be improved. The country’s…
Domestic livestock differ from wild herbivores in their impacts on soil carbon, and ultimately on climate, a new study shows. And given the increasing use of veterinary antibiotics on domestic…
A new study published in Scientific Reports has mapped priority areas in the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve (SBR) that are highly suitable for mangrove conservation and restoration. The Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve…
India's finance minister has announced two major programmes for mangrove plantation and wetlands conservation in the country's latest annual budget, drawing a mixed response among the conservation academics who welcomed…
India has scored a notable success in mobilising international support for the conservation of two of its endangered freshwater turtles, but there is a huge ground work ahead to translate…
Climate change will worsen the spread of invasive species that tend to show a robust resilience to warming and spread across landscapes, scientists report. A team from the Institute of…
Large grass-eating mammals such as yak and ibex play a crucial role in stabilising the pool of soil carbon in grazing ecosystems that are a big part of the Earth’s…
Coconut-based integrated farming, which allows for other agricultural crops to grow under the canopy, not only offers scope for improving crop biodiversity and farm productivity, but also a means to…
A model for an effective melange of mangrove conservation and development has emerged in a new study along the coast of the western state of Gujarat in India, which offers…
Biochar, charcoal produced from plant material and stored underground for a long time, can emerge as a nature-based solution that could help in climate mitigation and address sustainable development goals,…
Medicinal plants in the Himalayas are under threat due to climate change, which calls for reviewing current conservation strategies, including protected parks in the mountain ranges, new research shows. The…
Researchers have prepared an extensive genome map of the protein-rich chickpea, by sequencing its genetic material, which helped confirm its origin and migration and discover new genes to aid crop…
India’s mangroves along the Bengal coastline, already at risk due to climate change, sea-level rise and land-use changes, are beginning to fast erode, new research shows. West Bengal contributes the…
Citizen apps that help residents collect data, usually with smartphones, could help plug information gaps and track illegal wildlife trade in the biodiversity-rich Himalayas, a new paper says. Investments in…
Scientists have unearthed Asia's first fossil record of mulberry from the Gurha lignite mines near Bikaner in western Rajasthan, a finding that they say, indicates the existence of a warm,…
A "whole-farm" approach or integrated farming systems that supplement traditional crops with farming vegetables, fruits, poultry or fish is re-emerging as a nature-based solution to boosting productivity in climate-stressed regions.…
India's treasure-house of ancient underground Gondwana fishes, in the global biodiversity hotspot of Western Ghats, are under threat due to over-exploitation of its groundwater and poor water governance. The problem…
Land-use changes in the western Himalayan forests, a global biodiversity hotspot with huge numbers of endemic species, have resulted in a massive decline in forest birds in the region, new…
Do biodiversity losses aggravate transmission of infectious diseases spread by animals to humans? The jury is still out but several scientists say there is a 'biodiversity dilution effect' in which…
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) pandemic, believed to have been triggered by the transmission of the virus from animals to humans, has brought into sharp focus zoonotic diseases that are…
T. V. Padma is a science and environment correspondent based in New Delhi.
Her reports have been published in a mix of international and national
publications including Nature, New Scientist, Chemistry World, India Climate
Dialogue and The Wire.
