The conveyor belt

The World Ocean Circulation Experiment launched in 1990 has helped researchers better understand what is now called the ocean conveyor belt: the planet's life-sustaining circulatory system. Propelled mainly by prevailing winds and differences in water density, which changes with the temperature and salinity of the sea water, oceans currents are critical in cooling, warming, and watering the planet's terrestrial surfaces and in transferring heat from the Equator to the poles.

4 times more CO₂

Freshwater will be in ever-shorter supply as climate change gathers pace. Veteran climate modeller Syukuro Manabe and his colleagues from the US-based Princeton University simulated what effect a quadrupling of atmospheric carbon dioxide from the pre-industrial levels would have on the global hydrological cycle over the next 300 years. They found that both evaporation and precipitation would increase.

Visible impact

rainfall pattern Very erratic in january 2003, rainfall patterns of Lesotho -- a small region in Africa -- altered suddenly, ushering in untimely frost and severe storms that destroyed standing crops. "Frost in summertime! We never used to see weather like this," says Makhabasha Ntaote, a 71-year-old matriarch.

ADAPT

on June 21, 2004 , the Indian government released its first 'National Communications' report on climate change, its first 'official' document detailing the emission levels of ghgs, and present/future impacts. Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (unfccc) -- to which India is a party to -- it is obligatory to prepare such an inventory.

In a pickle

three major mango-producing states -- Andhra Pradesh (ap), Maharashtra and Karnataka -- are reaping the bitter harvest of the weather's vagaries. It is apprehended that the yield of the fruit in ap as well as Maharashtra will be only 40 per cent of the output achieved in 2003.

Shrouded in uncertainty

Imagine a dense forest lush with orchids, mosses and ferns on practically every surface, where each tree branch is like a garden, and the air is cool and damp due to perpetually misty conditions.

The rural weather department

A good mango harvest augurs well for paddy production, says a popular Oriya folklore. So, many farmers in paddy-intensive regions of the state, such as Bargarh district, plan their paddy-selling quota on this basis. Another popular folklore in Orissa links good tamarind harvest to floods. There are many such examples from across the country. With geographical impressions of many generations embedded into it, folklore is a perfect indicator of ecological patterns of an area.

2003's capricious weather

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Bytes

simple remedy: Garlic not only keeps the vampires at bay, but also pests such as slugs and snails, which cause millions of dollars worth of damage in countries with cool or temperate climates. Scientists from the uk-based University of Newcastle upon Tyne have found that the pungent herb could act as an ecofriendly pesticide. They assert that garlic adversely affects the creatures' nervous systems. They believe oils in the herb are the active component but they do not know whether they are acidic.

Mercury zooming

Europe is facing its worst heat wave in decades. While the scorching sun has come as a blessing for holidaymakers, widespread crop failure and forest fires have got farmers and the administration worried. At places, water levels have sunk so low that power companies are unable to generate any electricity and water traffic has come to a standstill.