Swine flu grips India tighter and tighter

The number cases of the disease have crossed 6,600-mark this year in the country

Counting the cost of catastrophe

With changing climate, the frequency of extreme weather events in India is rising and so is the price we pay for it.

Climate Equity: Whose CO₂ emissions are more than their share?

Climate change poses the greatest threat to those least responsible for it–generally people that are already vulnerable to deep-rooted challenges such as poverty. Conversely, those who have contributed the most to climate change have much better capacity to protect themselves from its impacts. In a completely equal world, each country's share of the world's Carbon dioxide emissions …

India's Health Crisis

Insufficient allocation for the health sector pushing 7% of Indians below the poverty line and about 23% of the sick can't afford healthcare

Emission impossible

We need to change the way we farm, we eat and we think as agriculture is the largest source of non-CO2 greenhouse gas emissions

Losing our stripes: A success story gone wrong?

With 414 tiger deaths in four years (2015-18), India records highest toll between two censuses. Almost half of tiger deaths in the last three years were reported outside tiger reserves.

Bhopal Gas Disaster

Thousands killed; a generation left to struggle-but does the world's biggest industrial disaster resonate with today's indians, two-thirds of whom were born after 1984

The Invisible Killer: a hidden danger in the air

Autumn in India is smog season, the worst time of year for some of the world's most polluted cities. The air pollution that we breathe every day is largely invisible but it is killing us. The fact is that pollution levels in north India, Delhi and its surroundings were alarmingly high in the past month. The PM2.5 concentration was in the emergency category, it was (and remains) very bad for …

Hunger can't wait

While the decline in hunger and undernutrition has been robust in some parts of the world, many countries still suffer the indignity of food insecurity and displacement.

Social cost of CO2 emission

India’s country-level social cost of carbon emission was estimated to be the highest at $86 per tonne of CO2. It means the Indian economy will lose $86 by emitting each additional tonne of CO2. India is followed by the US, where the economic damages would be $48 per tonne of CO2 emission. Saudi Arabia is close behind at $47 per tonne of CO2 emission.

Dying Kingdom

In the past decade, eight bird species have been confirmed as extinct or close to extinction. Globally, there are more than 16,000 animals on the list of endangered species. In India, Gangetic Dolphins are on the verge of extinction due to rampant damming of River Ganga. In fact, in Jammu & Kashmir alone, at least 30 species of animals and plants are nearing extinction, according to the …

'Extreme' is new normal

It is time to accept that we are beginning to see the impact of climate change in the form of increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, and this would get worse with rising temperature. The trend of extreme weather events in the last 118 years suggests that the definition of 'normal' is changing.

Activism under attack

Intimidation, unlawful detention and unjust prosecution: activists and journalists across the country are increasingly subjected to harassment for advocating the rights of tribals and marginalised communities and raising voice against environmental degradation. Instead of being recognised and protected by the State, the defenders of human rights are now branded as anti-nationals, terrorists …

Extreme anomaly

Floods in Kerala were a rude reminder that once-in-a-century rain can happen more frequently and hit us with greater intensity. Nagaland, which has witnessed one of the driest monsoons till recently, suddenly finds itself in the list of flood-hit states. This anomaly has several faces. Sometimes it manifests itself in the form of unprecedented storm season, which battered large parts of the …

India's health workforce crisis

Doctor-patient ratio in India is much less than the WHO-prescribed limit of 1:1000  

Financing Fossil Fools

Africa has to build resilience to both energy and climate crisis, but analysis of public finance flowing to energy infrastructure in Africa from 2014 through 2016 has revealed a worrying trend. Between 2014 and 2016, nearly 60 per cent of Government-backed finance for energy in Africa went into supporting fossil fuel projects

Extreme Is The New Normal

The world has seen 16 record-breaking hottest years since 2000. In fact, global surface temperatures are already rising about 20 times faster than the Earth’s fastest natural climate change, during the transition in and out of ice ages. There has been an 8-inch rise in global sea levels over the last century. The rate of rise has nearly doubled in the last two decades. Human-induced …

Count Your Carbon Footprints

If you are a resident of Hong Kong, or for that matter, Abu Dhabi or Doha, you have to admit that you have a much larger carbon footprint than most other cities. Our friends in the US are not leaving behind a small carbon footprint either. Each of them is emitting at least 20 tonnes of CO2 every year, which is equal to the per capita carbon footprint of about 14 individuals in Mumbai—…

India's emission capitals

The national capital region of Delhi has the highest annual carbon footprint in the country. In fact, Delhi’s annual CO2 emission of 69.4 million tonnes is equal to the CO2 emission of Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai put together. When it comes to per capita CO emission, Chandigarh and Vadodara are far ahead of the rest with 3.9 tonnes and 3.5 tonnes respectively.

Dark spots in Ujjwala

Connections-based approach does not necessary bolster usage A scheme that was introduced to ensure better penetration of clean energy in the hinterlands of the country, reduce indoor pollution levels and in turn, the deaths it caused, has become successful in terms of numbers but not in intent. Transition from biomass to LPG cylinders has not happened in real sense. Expense, perception of LPG …

What's polluting the air of India's major cities

Out of the 15 most polluted cities in the world in terms of PM 2.5 concentration, 14 are in India. The country is certainly one of the riskiest places in the world to breathe. While Delhi, India’s capital city, may be notorious for smog episodes and choking air that is now changing the colour of Taj Mahal, at least dozens of other Indian cities are dealing with severe pollution too. …