Extreme weather is outpacing even the worst-case scenarios of our forecasting models

Hurricane Otis gave Acapulco, Mexico almost no time to prepare

ST LUCIA

Phytoplankton influences cloud formation

Study links climate change with wheat blast; warns crop yield could drop by 75% in South America, Africa by 2050

Wheat blast-prone locations could increase due to climate impact; global wheat production could drop by 13%

Male jaguars form ‘coalitions’ too like lions and cheetahs

Panthera study finds male jaguars form multi-year alliances to secure prey, mating opportunities and territories

‘US beef market is why the Pantanal is burning’

Down To Earth speaks to MK Ranjitsinh and others who have visited the iconic wetland of South America

COVID-19: Over 200 organisations sign statement on protection of indigenous Amazonians

They demanded a ban on all industrial activity and proselytisation in indigenous territory in addition to proper health services and law enforcement

The Amazon fire: This and next time

Fires like the current one lead to wholesale irreversible changes in the structure and composition of forest ecosystems, impoverishing both their …

Love in the time of Zika

South American countries have advised couples to not have children for up to two years. This pregnancy advice could have a profound societal …

UNCCD COP14: Desertification, land degradation hit poor hardest

Climate change drives migration but many can’t even move out: Report 

Custard apples belong to South America, or India?

Justice league for people’s rights

In June 1979, an innovation in the field of law and politics came about in the form of Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal. The idea behind it is …

NASA tests autonomous drill to explore signs of life on Mars

The drill can operate without real-time human input. If it gets stuck, it can also dislodge itself

Amazon River Dolphins face extinction risk: Study

Dolphin flesh and blubber is being used as bait to ensnare catfish, endangering the species

Helping slum-dwellers to help themselves

Involving the community in slum improvement has worked successfully in the Philippines and Mexico. Hidebound bureaucrats in the Third World, who …

The hole truth

NASA discovers the largest ever ozone hole over Antarctica. A wake up call for industrialised countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Fewer days for the slumdog

Book>> Welcome to the Urban Revolution, How Cities are Changing the World by Jeb Brugmann Harper Collins Price Rs 450

Hike in soy production in Brazil linked to higher child cancer deaths, finds study

Notes rise in pesticide use with soy expansion; timely mitigation mitigated link between expansion and cancer incidences

Want to eat fish tomorrow? Halt climate change, overfishing today

Stocks could drop by a third if no action taken 

Worst yellow fever outbreak in decades kills hundreds of rare monkeys in Brazil

Over 600 monkeys have died in rainforest region with no provision for vaccinating them

Water mark

2020 US elections: No Democrat candidate offers bold plan for climate action

A number of polls suggest that Democrat voters also consider climate change to be a top-tier issue, as important as healthcare

Deadly dam burst in Brazil puts mining company under scanner

Brazil’s Federal Police accuse mining company Samarco of wilful misconduct in relation to a deadly dam burst in November 2015

WHO to discuss Zika impact on Rio Olympics next week

Concern over the spread of the disease is growing with athletes pulling out of the event and scientists writing to WHO to move or postpone the Games

Hydropower is far from ‘harmless’, says study

Building of Brazil’s largest hydroelectric reservoir has caused loss of animal life in the surrounding area