Research Papers

Deteriorating landscapes and threatened ecosystems of Jammu and Kashmir
Rapid urbanisation and faulty land use policies are rapidly destroying forests, grasslands and wetlands in Jammu and Kashmir, India and the ecosystem value services they provide. Can these valuable ecosystems be saved? Posted on 06 Oct, 2022 09:34 PM

Landscapes are important features and shape the economy and survival of a region. However, developmental activities in recent years are not only threatening landscape features, but also affecting landscape ecosystems and livelihoods of people who depend on it.

Deteriorating ecosystems of Jammu and Kashmir, India (Image Source: tkohli at Flickr via Wikimedia Commons)
Dirty drains 'drain' health
This study found that the sanitary quality of neighbourhood drains, in addition to toilets, affected sanitation and hygiene and incidences of ill-health in rural households. Posted on 26 Sep, 2022 02:00 PM

Poor access to adequate and good quality sanitation and hygiene facilities can give rise to a number of water borne diseases in populations.

Dirty drainages, harbingers of illhealth. Image for representation only (Image Source: SuSanA Secretariat via Wikimedia Commons)
Dengue expands with climate change in India
Dengue is witnessing an alarming rise in India. And climate change induced changes are to blame. This study attempts to predict the present and future distribution of dengue vectors under different climate change scenarios in the country. Posted on 26 Sep, 2022 12:20 AM

Dengue is witnessing an alarming rise in India in recent years and the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (2020) data shows a five fold increase in cases of dengue from 28,066 cases in 2010 to 157,315 cases in 2019.

Dengue and climate change

 	Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, beginning its blood-meal (Image Source: James Gathany, CDC via Wikimedia Commons)
Harnessing energy from wind
Study looks at critical aspects of wind power development Posted on 20 Sep, 2022 10:24 PM

India’s ever-increasing energy demand is putting a heavy load on energy generating agencies. Shifting towards renewable energy entails a series of judicious steps in consultation with the government bodies, energy developers, market valuation, and consumers.

Over 23% of India's energy production comes through renewable energy sources (Image: Eric Wilde, Wikimedia Commons)
Renewable energy sector financing must go up to $600bn to meet 2030 goals
Investors deploying sizable capital as they are confident of India's long-run robust demand for renewable energy (8–10 GW/year) Posted on 20 Sep, 2022 07:51 PM

India is amidst a monumental energy transition—with global consequences. India's population is primed to continuously grow, industrialize, urbanize, and electrify their lives.

RE tariffs will be determined by PV module costs and financing costs.  (Image: ODT, Flickr Commons)
New landslide reporting tool uses social media and artificial intelligence
The system can detect landslide reports with a precision of 76% Posted on 16 Sep, 2022 10:57 AM

When landslides occur, their impacts are usually not discovered immediately beyond the attention of first responders or government agencies. Reliable spatial data becomes available to users based on the satellite return path and the route that it takes, image quality and processing time.

Social media data has great potential for near-real-time reporting of landslide events and their associated impacts (Image: Eurico Zimbres, Wikimedia Commons)
Climate change and disappearing forests
Measuring climate change velocity can greatly help to provide additional information on spatial variability of climate change and its implications for forest loss. Posted on 09 Sep, 2022 04:44 PM

Forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate world over with tropical forests - hot spots of biodiversity experiencing the largest declines.

Threatened forests of India (Image Source: India Water Portal)
Fishing turns fishy as climate change plays truant
Climate change is here to stay. How will it affect freshwater resources and inland fisheries in India? A study explains. Posted on 28 Aug, 2022 11:32 PM

Inland aquatic fisheries form an important source of livelihood for a significant proportion of population in India. Climate change is projected to have a huge impact on inland aquatic ecosystems and the fisheries sector in India. While there are a number of studies on the impacts of climate change on freshwater ecosystems and fish, most of these are from the temperate countries.

Fish in the Tunga river at Sringeri (Image Source: Dineshkannambadi via Wikimedia Commons) Li
Himalayan lakes can potentially become long-term sinks of microplastics
Study looks at microplastic types in lakes of Ladakh Posted on 27 Aug, 2022 03:36 PM

Microplastic pollution is a growing environmental concern. Microplastics are plastic particles with sizes ranging from 1 μm to 5 mm. However, a clear consensus on the definition of microplastics is lacking and even the lower size limit varies among different studies.

(Vinay Goel, Wikimedia Commons)
Heavy metals being discharged into coastal waters
Assessing heavy metals in the coastal environment is a critical challenge Posted on 21 Aug, 2022 11:37 PM

In recent years, the impact of the wastes discharged in the Bay of Bengal has been significant due to high effluent inflow from secured sources. It was observed that the heavy metal concentrations in the Bay coast sediments were considerately high and varied among sampling points.

Heavy metal contamination causes significant harm to marine ecology and aquatic life, including humans (Image: Priyadarshi Chaudhuri)
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