Blackflies are carriers of a worm causing river blindness. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT A new study involving DNA barcoding to identify species accurately is expected to lead to better management and control strategies for blackflies, which are carriers of a worm causing river blindness. The findings by a team from the Diptera division of…
File picture of Ahaetulla longirostris from Valmiki Tiger Reserve | Photo Credit: Zeeshan A. Mirza via ResearchGate A rare long-snouted vine snake (Ahaetulla longirostris) has been rediscovered in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, marking its first documented sighting in the state and only the second recorded instance in India, forest officials…
India has pledged to reduce the health impacts of air pollution by 2040, aligning its actions with the National Clean Air Programme at the concluding session of the second World Health Organisation (WHO) conference on air pollution and health. Speaking at the conference organised in Colombian city of Cartagena, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s…
Ice is seen on the Pastoruri glacier in the Peruvian Andes, Peru, May 7, 2024. Image for Representation. | Photo Credit: Reuters China’s glacier area has shrunk by 26% since 1960 due to rapid global warming, with 7,000 small glaciers disappearing completely and glacial retreat intensifying in recent years, official data released in March showed….
When we think about flood management, higher stop banks, stronger levees and concrete barriers usually come to mind. But what if the best solution – for people and nature – isn’t to confine rivers, but to give them more space? This alternative is increasingly being considered as an approach to mitigating flood risk. But allowing…
Permafrost melting is emerging as a unique environmental threat in the Kashmir Himalaya. A new study has found that thawing permafrost could affect 193 km of roads, 2,415 households, 903 alpine lakes, and eight hydropower projects in the mountainous region. Permafrost is any type of ground — soil, sediment, rock, etc. — that has been…
Representational file image. | Photo Credit: Reuters The biggest glacier in the Alps could yet be partially saved if global warming is capped below two degrees Celsius, Swiss scientists said on Friday (March 21, 2025), although significant ice loss is now inevitable. Glaciers around the globe are disappearing faster than ever, with the last three-year…
Earlier this month, Chennai recorded its hottest March in 25 years. With another intense summer ahead in this coastal city, and humidity exacerbating the effects heart, there is a need for conversations on designing climate-responsive cooler homes and outdoor urban spaces of tree-lined parks, lakes and wetlands. Increasing green cover, implementing reflective roofing materials, adding…
The Pacific Ocean as seen from an altitude of 35,000 km above mean sea level by the NASA GOES-18 satellite on September 23, 2023. | Photo Credit: NASA It’s that time of the year again. India waits eagerly for the summer monsoon forecast, tinged with some anxiety about whether it will be ‘normal’. The fate…
In one of his first acts in his second term as president of the United States, Donald Trump fired several hundred employees of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The move triggered a lot of discussion in the climate community and beyond about how it will hurt critical weather and climate services. The…
