Top 10 stories of the week that was (September 9-September 15)

Here are Down To Earth’s top 10 green stories on the week that was:

DTE delved into the environmental angle of the negotiations at Bharat Mandapam.

See more: DTE Coverage of Delhi G20 Summit 2023

Rain departure during August in monsoon 2023 has led to crop failure in western Odisha. Long dry spells have led to water deficiency in many blocks and workers are expected to start migrating for work earlier this year.

See more: Monsoon 2023: Long dry spells in August lead to crop failure in western Odisha

Tracking teams inside Achanakmar Tiger Reserve in Chhattisgarh are undertaking a gruelling task — keeping tabs on a tigress released in April 2023 to augment the reserve’s falling population of the big cat.

See more: To track a tigress: How officials in Chhattisgarh’s Achanakmar are trying to recover big cat numbers

Twelve “male” scientists have been awarded India’s top Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (SSB) for Science and Technology, 2022.

See more: Winners of India’s top science award announced, no women on the list

Around 30 per cent land area in India was under different degrees of drought in the first week of September, 2023, worsening crop failure troubles for farmers and increasing food security concerns.

See more: 30% of India’s land area experiencing different degrees of drought, data shows

A group of researchers, for the first time, has “developed the first publicly available global dataset that quantifies human alterations in 15 million square kilometres of floodplains along 520 major river basins during the recent 27 years (1992-2019)”.

See more: Floodplain loss: Basins of Irrawaddy, Tapi, Indus, Cauvery rivers flowing through India altered most due to human activities

The monsoon 2023 has become active for many districts of  Uttar Pradesh, which saw heavy rainfall for three consecutive days over the last weekend. While the rainfall is a shot in the arm for paddy farmers, vegetable cultivators are reporting huge losses.

See more: Heavy rain in UP: Paddy farmers in east happy, while vegetable farmers in west suffer huge losses

Gains made against malaria in Kenya and the East African region are under threat following the rapid spread of a new deadly mosquito species, according to scientists. The species was recently detected in parts of northern Kenya, raising alarms about its spread and risk of the vector-borne disease.

See more: Fight against Malaria in Kenya, Horn of Africa threatened by Asian vector

Experts have raised questions about the preparedness of Kerala to detect exotic diseases as the wake of the latest Nipah Virus (NiV) outbreak in the state.

See more: Nipah Outbreak: Questions being asked about Kerala’s public health system to detect ‘exotic’ diseases

The world has breached six of the nine planetary boundaries necessary to maintain Earth’s stability and resilience, according to a new study. 

See more: Six of 9 planetary boundaries have been breached because of human activities: Study

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