Climate Science

A thick winter haze is settling over large parts of India, with the weather office issuing fog and cold wave alerts through December 14. Dense to very dense fog has disrupted early travel in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, though temperatures in the capital remain slightly above the mid-December norm.

India’s largest national security question is going unasked. Going by the reports put out by Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India (FSI), the country’s adding forests. The country’s forest cover, says FSI, have grown from 642,401 square kilometres in 1987 to 715,342.61 square kilometres in 2023

A conflict of interest has dominated India’s forest cover estimates for a long time. While the Union Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) oversees the country’s forests, Dehradun-based Forest Survey of India (FSI) monitors their extent and condition. The FSI, however, is not an independent watchdog. It reports to the MoEFCC.

India saw a sharp split in weather this week with the IMD issuing warnings for both heavy rain in the south and an early cold wave in central India. The southern states stayed busy with rain and thunderstorms, especially across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, coastal Andhra Pradesh, and parts of Karnataka.

The second part of this series on the health of India’s native forests looked at the Khair trade in Uttar Pradesh (UP). The tree, whose heartwood is in great demand by the chewing tobacco industry, has vanished from most of the state. All the consequences of timber trafficking — habitat destruction

In the second part of CarbonCopy’s series on India’s native forests, we trace the illicit felling of Khair trees in Uttar Pradesh’s Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary, and how a lucrative kattha trade, weak institutions, and complicit officials are pushing this forest, and others like it, towards collapse

As August sloshed to an end, the people of Chamba badly needed respite — and reassurance. It wasn’t to be. In that last week, rainfall, abnormally high all month, added further intensity. Dumping four times more rain than normal, it would leave Himachal Pradesh with the wettest August in 76 years.

To meet commitments made under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, India launched the National Red List Assessment (NRLA) 2025–2030 vision, HT reported. The NRLA is a framework to assess the extinction risks of about 11,000 species, including 7,000 species of flora and 4,000 species of fauna, across the country.

In the first part of this series, CarbonCopy explored why India’s weather forecasts so often fall short. Despite major investments in satellites, radars, and data networks, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has struggled to predict the intensity of extreme rainfall, flash floods, and cloudbursts,  especially in regions with complex terrain

At least 10 people have died in rain-related incidents across Maharashtra, while more than 11,800 people have been rescued from flood-affected areas. According to the State Disaster Management Department, four deaths were reported in Nashik district alone. Two deaths each occurred in Dharashiv and Ahilyanagar, while one each was reported in Jalna and Yavatmal districts, the Indian Express reported.

A new study showed that wildland fires in the Arctic region are delaying snow cover formation, which is accelerating regional warming and is shortening the snow season. The research paper, titled “Delayed formation of Arctic snow cover in response to wildland fires in a warming climate” by Nature, said that these wildland fires have delayed more than five days in the formation of snow cover.

Five of the most developed geoengineering ideas are unlikely to help the polar regions from melting. A new study titled “Safeguarding the polar regions from dangerous geoengineering: a critical assessment of proposed concepts and future prospects” by Frontiers in Science found that these ideas can harm ecosystems, communities, international relations, and the chances of reaching net zero by 2050.

In the mist-clad valleys of the Himalayas, where villages cling to fragile slopes and rivers roar with monsoon fury, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is grappling with one of its greatest challenges: predicting the unpredictable. Each year between June and September, unusual bursts of

Over 100 people have been killed in Pakistan and at least 55 in India, in Punjab floods. Punjab Revenue Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian said 2,303 villages required urgent relief and resettlement, PTI reported  The Hindu reported people were anxious after suffering massive loss of farm produce and jobs.

One of the best ways to reach net-zero goals is to plant and restore forests. Benefits range from greater carbon sequestration to more oxygen in the atmosphere. However, this requires a great deal of land. Therein lies the problem. Planting and restoring forests also have negative impacts on other factors such as biodiversity, food security, water resources.