Why the city that never stops comes to a standstill when it rains
When the rain poured down on Mumbai last week, drowning the city in what now seems like an annual affair, it once again brought up the question – why is…
Snowmelt is a major driver of runoff in the Chhota Shigri catchment
Snowmelt is the largest contributor to average annual runoff for the Chhota Shigri glacier catchment in the western Himalayas, finds a team of researchers from India and France in a…
Wind sector hopes for better times ahead
In the last two years, only 15 percent of India’s annual installed wind energy manufacturing capacity of 10 gigawatts (GW) has been utilised, according to the Indian Wind Turbine Manufacturer’s…
Chennai water crisis once again exposes the city’s climate vulnerability
It is noon and the scorching heat of Chennai’s sun hits across S. Punitha’s face. She has just filled her first pot for the day from a hand pump in…
Parthenium could take over large parts of India under current climate change
At first glance, a one-metre tall parthenium plant looks innocuous. Its tiny cream flowers, borne on several frail, pale green stalks, dance in the wind. However, packed in each mature…
A floral calendar for bee conservation
Researcher K Lakshmi Rao is habituated to bee stings. And in her quest across India, to understand what whets the appetite of the honeybee (Apis mellifera), she has been at…
Is India doing enough to battle desertification?
Close to one-third of India’s total land area, 29.32 percent, was undergoing land degradation during 2011-2013 and with rising impacts of climate change, the figure could increase in the coming…
Poor urban neighbourhoods more vulnerable to extended effects of heat
As India stares at one of the longest heatwaves in three decades, which so far has claimed over 200 lives, experts warn that the spell will impact people in poor urban…
Not fad but to feed: A millennial trains to spruce up farming skills, be a change agent
Twenty-seven-year-old progressive woman farmer Ranjana Kukreti is ecstatic with the fresh produce from her 1.5-acre farm and greenhouse in the Himalayan foothills in Uttarakhand. In the climate-controlled and meticulously monitored…
Low carbon growth: A mirage or a target well in sight?
“The entire Mahindra Group and all its companies would be carbon neutral 10 years before the Paris Agreement deadline by 2040.” Indian business magnate, Mahindra Group’s Chairman Anand Mahindra, made…
