Author Archive

Did climate change cause those floods?

Hindu: Over the past several years, headlines on weather-related extreme events have included heavy downpours followed by floods, droughts, storms, heat and cold waves, and wild fires. Such events typically destroy lives, property and ecosystems while stretching the capacities of disaster management departments and coffers for emergency funds in various parts of the world. "Protecting people before and after major floods, storms, and extreme events is a core part of our business," said Karsten Löffler,...

India: Disasters in the making

Hindu: On September 6, when the floodwaters first started appearing in the Rambagh neighbourhood of Srinagar, Shakeel Ahmad and a dozen of his neighbours stood under a ceaseless downpour, shouting at each other for sandbags. In surprise, they stared at the small cement drain that meandered through their neighbourhood. Torrents of waters came rushing through it, inches away from overflowing its small embankments and pouring into their low-lying houses on both sides. The drain, they rued, would be the one...

India: ‘Monsoons could last 10 days longer’

Hindu: One of the many consequences of global warming could be dramatic changes in the annual southwest monsoon, Govindswamy Bala, associate professor at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc.), has said. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has predicted an increase in the duration of monsoon by 10 days and an increase in rainfall intensity by 10 per cent by the end of this century, said Dr. Bala, who is faculty with the IISc.’s Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences. He was delivering...

India: Jellyfish proliferating along Kerala coast

Hindu: Jellyfish population is abounding along the Kerala coast, threatening other species and creating havoc for fishing operations. Scientists studying the phenomenon feel that the proliferation of the species indicates the impact of human activities on the marine environment. In the latest incident, a large number of dead jellyfish were washed ashore on the Thumba beach in Thiruvananthapuram in the last week of October. "Mass mortality of jellyfish and fouling of beaches are becoming more frequent,"...

India: Mercury on the rise in city, says study

Hindu: Mean rainfall has shown a declining trend between 1951 and 2010 in Kochi. A scientific assessment has revealed that Kochi is vulnerable to extreme weather conditions linked to climate change. The assessment was made as part of a study carried out by Sushil Kumar Dash of the Centre for Atmospheric Sciences of the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. The findings were revealed during the AsianCitiesAdapt: Learning Exchange programme, a climate change conference that concluded in the...

Climate change is a major challenge faced by rain-fed areas

Hindu: B. Venkateswaralu, Director, Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, speaking at a workshop in Coimbatore on Saturday. Climate change is a major challenge faced by rainfed areas through long spells of drought and followed by heavy rains causing floods, according to the Director of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), B. Venkateswaralu. Speaking at the two-day national workshop on "Dryland Development and Maximising Crop Productivity" at Tamil Nadu Agricultural...

China’s spreading sands

Hindu: On China's western frontiers, a massive afforestation drive to battle the spread of the desert reveals fast-expanding efforts to combat climate change.