In the past 123 years, the warmest February of our country was in 2023. A little later, Biparjoy became the most long-lasting cyclone of our last half-century. Currently, Delhi has recorded the highest rainfall in four decades. Flash floods, landslides, and extreme weather events are wreaking havoc across the country. India's battle with natural disasters is reaching alarming proportions. As all this fury becomes the new normal, experts attribute it to the escalating levels of climate crisis and global warming.
A ground-level report from the GSP Annual Climate Quiz for Schools—The Bout hosted on 21 February 2023 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
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Young people are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change but they are also playing a significant role in climate action. The youth is increasingly aware of the dangers that climate change poses in today’s time and are actively fighting it with their resilience and stewardship...
Flood, drought, rainfall, snowfall, heatwave, cold wave, storm, cyclone, cloudburst, forest fire… You name it, we have it! But the biggest question is how and why?
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The modern life we have created is good for us but not for the environment. This energy-hungry human lifestyle is heating up the world at a rate that is not sustainable for the planet. In the past 170 years or so, industries have flourished and have made the Earth hotter by over 1oC. India, for instance...
A novel carbon-capturing method involving old basalt rocks—this proposal won a gold medal for India at the International Earth Science Olympiad 2022.
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Global warming is a burning issue affecting the earth. Discussed in all forums at the international and regional levels, this issue is a worry worldwide because its impact is devastating. Various methods are being proposed to effectively combat this problem...
Well, Christmas is not much of a fairytail for the future, as it is faced with the consequences of climate change.
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This summer, I got a chance to visit Santa Claus--the real one—in the Arctic Circle. Growing up we’ve all heard stories about the spirit and wonders of Christmas, either in school or home, or through movies and TV.
When we think of Antarctica, long swathes of ice come into mind. But, could you ever imagine plants flowering in the Antarctic region?
The pristine Antarctic ecosystem is being overturned by the climate crisis, according to a new study published in the journal Current Biology. It studied Signy Island, part of the South Orkney Islands of Antarctica. As the summers in the region are warming, two flowering plants have been multiplying fast...
How often does an older relative strike a conversation with you that begins with ‘back in our days...’? And how often do you switch off after hearing this apparently insipid conversation starter? If you do it often, then hang on! We have some news for you. These stories of the past from your elders, particularly about the environment, can provide a lot of crucial information and insights to you…
In the last year, young people have seen more climate events happening than elders might have experienced in the last couple of decades. So, it is no surprise that 2021 has been declared the 5th hottest year on record.
Carbon is a chemical element found widely in the universe. It is the basis of our life. But what about ‘blue carbon’?
Honeybees are an integral part of mountain farming in Himachal Pradesh. They are a source of income, nutrition, and medicine for mountain communities. These tiny superorganisms help in the pollination of plants, which increases the productivity of crops and maintains the biodiversity of the region.
Between 1891 and 2020 only 50 cyclones have formed in September in the Indian subcontinent. They are mainly formed in October and November -the main cyclone regenerating months.
Since cyclones started getting officially monitored in 1975, only 11 have formed in September – 6 in the Bay of Bengal and 5 in the Arabian Sea. But cyclone ‘Gulaab’ has achieved the rare feat of forming over both. Watch the video to know how and why.
On September 1, 2021, New Delhi recorded the highest single-day rainfall in about 2 decades—112.1mm. The highest rainfall recorded in the national capital is 172.6mm on September 16, 1963. The city received rainfall just as schools had reopened 17 months after COVID restrictions. The rainfall led to water-logging in several parts of the city leading to severe traffic jams. On average, Delhi receives 125.1mm of rainfall in September every year.
Rainfall is probably the most common natural weather event on this planet. But it is not that common when it comes to the ice sheets of Greenland, where temperatures seldom cross the freezing point. But on August 14, 2021, something unprecedented happened. The Summit of Greenland, which is the highest point of its ice sheets, received rain for the first time in recorded history.
1,697 people killed in India after being struck by lightning between March 2020 and April 2021. Lightning strikes kill more people than cyclones, earthquakes and floods every year. As the Earth heats up, the number of extreme weather events like heat waves and thunderstorms are also increasing. Warming adds to moisture levels in the atmosphere not just in coastal areas but also the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
On July 1, 2021, Delhi experienced a heatwave, when the maximum temperature rose to 43.5°C. At the same time, Ganganagar, in west Rajasthan, reported India's highest temperature of 44.5°C. Some pockets of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, north Rajasthan and west Uttar Pradesh still continue to face heatwave conditions. This issue is now prevalent world over. But the world is not only getting hotter but also wetter or more humid.
IPCC’s* sixth assessment report (AR6) has bad news for the future. The warming beyond 1.5°C or 2°C will be breached much earlier. Average global temperatures will continue to rise and could increase by 5.7 °C by the end of this century compared to 1850–1900.Consequently, the land surface will continue to warm more than the ocean surface. The Arctic will continue to warm more than global surface temperature. Extreme changes become larger with every addition to global warming.
China’s central Henan province witnesses its heaviest rainfall in 1,000 years. At least 25 people, including 12 subway passengers, have been killed in the rainstorm so far.
After days of heavy rainfall in northern and eastern states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, rivers have risen above the danger mark affecting more than 50,000 people.
Climate change has made the Indian Ocean more unpredictable than ever. On one hand, there are more cyclones emerging out of this ocean, and on the other hand, they are intensifying very rapidly, gaining more power in a very short time. This is called rapid intensification.
