Highlights from the issue

Highlights from the issue

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Sunita Narain's Desk: Himalayan blunders and beyond

Himalayan blunders and beyond
Illustration: Yogendra Anand/CSE

The Nepal flood is not simply a natural disaster. It is a warning about climate change, reckless development and our belief that nature can be controlled

Cover story: Wake-up call

Wake-up call
Map: Tarun Sehgal/CSE

The ice-and-rock avalanche that brought Nepal to its knees has bearings of a warming Himalayas and geological degradation

Column: Echoes of Chamoli in Nepal disaster

The entire Himalayan region needs a robust, operational early warning system for cryosphere-related hazards
Nepal police personnel conducting combing operations at the site of the Rasuwa tragedy.Photo: @NepalPoliceHQ/X

Himalayan disasters tend to unfold as complex chains of interconnected processes, says Himalayan glacier researcher Aditya Mishra

Column: Two disasters, a Himalayan lesson

Two years, two floods: A vulnerable Himalayan corridor faces growing risk
Langtang National Park.Photo: iStock

The 2025 and 2026 floods on the Lhende Khola show the need to look at the entire upstream-to-downstream hazard pathway in a river environment, says Debasmita Majumder of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Column: Signals of a Himalayan crisis

Nepal, Rishiganga and Dharali are signals of a Himalayan crisis
The arc of the Himalayas, Hindukush and Karakoram ranges.Photo: Wikimedia Commons

In a changing Himalaya, we may also have to keep watch thousands of metres above rivers

Analysis: India on E-Wheels

India on e-wheels: National capital’s march towards e-transition
Delhi is taking earnest steps towards electric transition.Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE

A lot is happening across states to scale the electric vehicle market. But is it all adding up to make the transition to zero-tailpipe emissions? Read exclusive insights from 10 states

Analysis: Shift to zero

India on e-wheels: What Delhi’s transport energy transition teaches India about clean air action
Photo: Vikas Choudhary/CSE

Combustion engines, no matter how clean, have failed to outpace the pollution caused by the rapid growth of the vehicle fleet. Achieving clean air therefore requires a nationwide leap to zero-tailpipe emission targets

Analysis: Right to charge

iStock

Charging your car at home must not be a matter of goodwill

Ozone Day Exclusive: Repair delayed

Repair delayed
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, US(Graphic: Created with AI assistance)

The world will have to wait a bit longer for the complete recovery of the ozone layer

First take: Derailed from the start

Derailed from the start
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

While there is no disagreement that drought is increasingly becoming economically and environmentally devastating, there is no unified global mechanism to fight this crisis

Patently Absurd: Is all fair and legal in the AI world?

Is all fair and legal in the AI world?
Illustration: Yogendra Anand / CSE

Trump’s backing of OpenAI in a copyright infringement case is his latest support for the unfettered growth of the AI industry

Civil lines: Gross trust deficit

Gross trust deficit
Slums and skyscrapers dot the Bandra skyline in Mumbai.Photo: Dmitry Rukhlenko via iStock

Indians seem to strongly support authoritarianism. Is this a result of growing up in a less equal system?

Down To Earth
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