Climate and Weather

Featured Articles
December 12, 2022 Study looks at behavioral biases in crop insurance adoption
Adoption rate of crop insurance low in India despite government efforts (Image: PxHere, CC0 Public Domain)
September 13, 2022 Heavy rains and floods have battered Bengaluru yet again. Uncontrolled and unregulated development and concretisation of the city that pays no heed to the ecology and hydrology of the region needs to stop!
Urban flooding in Bangalore (Image Source: Thejas via Wikimedia Commons)
August 11, 2022 This could lead to water quality crisis reinforcing the need for basin-specific management strategies
Around the world, more than a fifth of nitrogen released by human activity ends up in aquatic ecosystems (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
May 14, 2022 Climate change is real. What are its implications for India? This book presents a first of its kind national forecast on the impact of global warming on climate in India.
Climate change is real. What does it mean for India? (Image Source: Robert Hensley/Wikimedia Commons)
March 29, 2022 The intensity and duration of heat waves is predicted to increase in India and human induced anthropogenic changes are to blame.
A man sits under the scorching heat of the sun in front of Amer fort in Jaipur (Picture courtesy: Prabhu B Doss, Flickr Commons: CC-By-NC-ND-2.0)
Lakes in Mumbai – A draft report by WWF India
Need to conserve and protect the lakes from further degradation, the study says. Posted on 01 Nov, 2011 08:59 PM

Mumbai lakesThis draft report on the study of lakes by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (India) documents the physical condition of the lakes in Mumbai. Apart from the three lakes - Tulsi, Powai and Vihar that used to provide water to Mumbai residents, there are many lakes in the Bombay Municipal Corporation jurisdiction that are either polluted by human sewage or industrial effluents and have remained neglected with increasing urbanization.

There is very little to no data available on the existence of lakes of Mumbai. Several RTI’s to the government bodies also revealed that there was a lacuna in terms of the availability of the data; as a result most of the water bodies are easily exploited. Under this study the baseline data was prepared with the help of Google Earth website. The areas appearing to be lakes were marked on the Google Earth Images. These were verified by the field staff through onsite visits. The survey was conducted during September and October, 2008 and March, 2009. The study considers only the fresh water lakes which were accessible and saline water impoundments have not been considered.

Zero tillage in the rice-wheat systems of the Indo-Gangetic plains - A review of impacts and sustainability implications by IFPRI
There is need to extend the gains of zero tillage more rigorously to the less endowed areas and farmers, the paper says. Posted on 31 Oct, 2011 06:49 PM

zero tillageThis paper by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) reviews the success of zero-tillage wheat in the rice-wheat systems of the Indo-Gange

Himalayan glaciers: A state-of-art review of glacial studies, glacial retreat and climate change – A MoEF discussion paper
The study presents interesting findings related to the glaciers in the Indian Himalayas. Posted on 30 Oct, 2011 09:02 PM

GlacierThe MoEF discussion paper on Himalayan glaciers studies the phenomenon of glaciations and glacier dynamics, a phenomenon that has attained significant attention in recent years, on account of the general belief that global warming and climate change is leading to fast degeneration of glaciers in the Himalayas. It is argued that this would, in the long run, have an adverse effect on the environment, climate and the water.

Deciphering environmental flows - An article in Seminar magazine - Jayanta Bandyopadhyay
All stakeholders related to water systems need to increasingly understand the basis of various claims of assessing environmental flows, the study says. Posted on 30 Oct, 2011 10:45 AM

Author: Jayanta Bandyopadhyay

This article published in the Seminar 626, October 2011 argues that our current state of knowledge of water systems and ecological modelling related to flows of water, which includes projecting a single quantitative figure of water requirements, is inadequate. Such a unilateral prescription of environmental flows or water requirements of aquatic systems as a method for the resolution of water conflicts may actually become the source of many new conflicts.

Sustainable resources management for food security and sustainable livelihoods - Action - A Newsletter of AFPRO
The newsletter focuses on wider promotion of location-specific-low-cost technologies for better management of natural resources. Posted on 30 Oct, 2011 07:46 AM

These technologies include soil and water conservation measures, integrated farming, diversion based irrigation systems, sustainable agriculture, tree-based farming to name a few.

Environmental flows in water resources policies, plans, and projects - Case studies by IBRD
Environmental flows are really about the equitable distribution of and access to water and services provided by aquatic ecosystems, the report says. Posted on 29 Oct, 2011 06:34 PM

EFlowThis report comprising a set of case studies by International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) presents how environmental flows is dealt with in water resources policies, plans, and projects. It focuses on the integration of environmental water allocation into integrated water resources management (IWRM) and so fills a major gap in knowledge on IWRM.

An inventory of Greater Himalayan wetlands – A manual by ICIMOD
A wetland inventory can provide information to support national programmes and reporting requirements for other international treaties, the report says. Posted on 27 Oct, 2011 03:00 PM

WetlandsThis manual by International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) deals with an inventory of Greater Himalayan Wetlands and has been developed to assist governm

Mapping drought patterns and impacts: A global perspective – A research report by IWMI
Regions with an unreliable and vulnerable nature of river discharge, and having the largest drought deficits and durations are highlighted in this report. Posted on 26 Oct, 2011 08:11 PM

This study by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) examines the global patterns and impacts of droughts through the mapping of several drought-related characteristics – either at a country level or at regular grid scales. Characteristics cover various aspects of droughts – from global distribution of meteorological and hydrological drought risks to social vulnerability and indices related to water infrastructure.

Climate change impact on hill agriculture and farmers adaptive strategies – A case study of Kullu valley in Himachal Pradesh
This study by Bhoomika Partap and Tej Partap deals with climate change impact on hill agriculture and farmers adaptive strategies. Posted on 26 Oct, 2011 06:35 PM

It takes apple as an indicator crop to investigate the positive and negative effects of climate change on farm economy. The research is a field study to determine the agricultural and socioeconomic impact of climate change on the farmers apple economy of the Kullu valley in Himachal Pradesh, India.

Piloting Knowledge Swaraj - A hand book on Indian science and technology - KICS
The document provides some insights on the socialisation of science in India. Posted on 24 Oct, 2011 04:23 PM

This hand book on Indian science and technology was produced at the end of a project entitled “Science, Ethics and Technological Responsibility in Developing and Emerging Countries” (SET DEV) by Knowledge in Civil Society (KICS). The project aimed at:

  • Activating processes of building institutional capacities and skills on science,ethics and STR socialization
  • Defining and understanding perspectives of socialization of science and technology that take into consideration local needs in a multilateral dialogue.

collage of images from the case studies

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