The story of how a village got its first toilet.
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G Nandakumar is a young farmer in Diguvapalem, a remote hamlet and a chronically drought-prone area in southern Andhra. In 2019, I met him on a school hiking trip, as part of our Geography classes. 'Nandu,' fondly addressed as so, was keen to upgrade his village by pursing some sustainable environmental practices, like organic farming. However, he lacked the resources to execute his vision. So, as a young student, I was very inspired by his ideas and wanted to help...
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...
In summers this year, some European rivers had dried substantially, causing drought in many parts of the region. It revealed to their surface, some ancient stones with intricate engravings on them. Their markings used to indicate the water-level of these rivers, which served as a common forecasting tool for famines. Such stones were called hunger stones. One such is disclosed at the banks of the Elbe River. Dated to 1616 AD, its rock is etched with a warning in German...
What we decide to do today is bound to have an impact on our tomorrow. Therefore, it is up to us to determine the kind of world we want to develop for our future and leave behind for our next generation. We are already witnessing manifold consequences of rising global warming and climate change in the form of extreme weather events. Think about droughts, floods, forest fires, and many such catastrophes.
We all are aware that increasing carbon emissions are largely responsible for disturbing our climate...
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…
Salem is one of the largest cities in Tamil Nadu, India. More than 1 million people live here. Piyush Manush is the convener of the Salem Citizen's Forum (SCF). SCF is an informal group, involved in protecting Salem's environment. The lake was built by the British for irrigating nearby farmlands. The lake is spread across 58 acres and used to be a major water body of the city. But gradually it became a dumpsite for Salem's municipal solid waste. In 2010 SCF took over the work of cleaning the lake. But first, they had to get rid of the garbage and then desilt the waterbody.
Carrying water by trains could be an emergency measure. Chennai has a strong tradition of water harvesting. But the problem is that most of these structures are either defunct or poorly maintained. Chennai which had 19 major lakes covering an area of 1130 hectares. But these waterbodies have been heavily encroached upon reducing their spread to just about 645 hectares. Its time that we understand the importance of water harvesting.
Every monsoon the incidences of caving in increases. Nature or human activities–who is to blame?
Why is the Indian monsoon so slippery?
The monsoon of the Indian subcontinent is also shaped by the heating of the Tibetan plateau, the shape of continents and mountains, Eurasian snow cover, temperature difference between eastern and western flanks of the Indian ocean, and, arguably the most important, El Niño (“little boy” in Spanish as this event occurs around Christmas), a weather event triggered by a greater heating of the eastern Pacific near Ecuador than its western counterpart. A strong El Niño, more often than not, implies a weak monsoon. In the last 100 years, 19 out of 43 deficient monsoon years were linked to a strong El Niño, while six went against the dominant pattern. This is one of the many irregularities characteristic of the monsoon that makes long-range forecasting extremely difficult.
