The UN’s latest major climate report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the IPCC WG1 – evidence displaying the “physical science basis” for climate change’s effect on monsoons. India, like many countries, relies on this seasonal rainfall for the sustenance of livelihoods, food supplies, and the upkeep of ways of life […]
agriculture
Did stubble burning fuel Delhi’s third wave?
New research claims that the practice of stubble burning may have been a key driver of Delhi’s third wave of COVID-19 infections. The study, published in Urban Climate, identified a tenfold increase in the national capital during the biomass burning season which sees agricultural workers in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Punjab burn the […]
Climate change is leading to abandonment of villages and ‘forced immobility’ across Uttarakhand
Vulnerable to both slow- and rapid-onset climate change hazards, threats facing the northern state of Uttarakhand are resulting in climate migration challenges such as abandonment of villages and ‘forced immobility’, according to new research. Insights from the state published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre note that climate change-related weather factors have seen disruption to […]
What is being done to help the Bay of Bengal adapt to the threat of climate change?
India’s vulnerability to climate change is well-known among scientists and to most members of the lay public. Climate modeling from the Ministry of Earth Sciences amongst other agencies display projections that serve to underline how susceptible it is to climate change risks. Whilst more regional projections can sometimes become less certain, the risks for the […]
Delhi a ‘gas chamber’ once more. Crop burning to blame?
Pollution has once again turned the national capital into a ‘gas chamber’ according to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal – and he says that crop burning in neighbouring states is to blame. Every year, paddy field farmers burn between seven and eight million tonnes of crop waste, principally in Haryana and Punjab. Crop burning has been […]
Did the state budget promise relief for farmers in Rajasthan?
Towards the end of June, 45-year-old Sohan Lal Kadela was found dead in the town of Raisinghnagar in Rajasthan. Lal was a farmer, who took out a crop loan of Rs 2.5 lakh. Unable to repay, and facing pressure to do so, he committed suicide by ingesting pesticides. “People have been troubling me and demanding […]
World Environment Day highlights a health crisis
World Environment Day is observed annually on June 5th to commemorate the importance of conserving our environment from the many threats it faces. For India, World Environment Day offers a valuable opportunity to recognise one of the major issues confronting the nation: its poor environmental health, ranked as the worst in the world in the […]
Turn away from trans fats, but don’t look to palm oil
The steps taken by the World Health Organization (Who) to eliminate trans fats from our global food supply are important. However, a key piece of the conversation is missing. What are the alternatives? Trans fats are bad for our health: the WHO reminded us this week that five billion people worldwide are exposed to the […]
When voters boycotted polls because of water scarcity in Gujarat
In Gujarat last month, voters turned to the polls to protest water scarcity in the state – by sitting them out entirely. The 17th Lok Sabha polls in Ahmedabad was the scene of fanfare on April 23rd, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi cast his vote in this year’s elections. However, elsewhere in the state, many […]
India’s water woes are bigger than you think
It is not even summer season and great swathes of India’s land are suffering from drought, recently published data reveals. This is according to an IndiaSpend analysis of figures from the Drought Early Warning System (DEWS), which contains dire implications for an enormous number of Indians and a sizeable proportion of the country’s land. At […]