Climate Change

Featured Articles
November 6, 2022 In 2020, 559 million children were affected by four to five heatwaves a year; numbers could increase four-fold by 2050, as per a report by UNICEF
Heat-related mortality is four times higher among children under 1 year of age than in persons aged 1–44 years (Image: Taqver, 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)
July 29, 2022 New study from the University of East Anglia challenges the widely held view that restoring areas such as mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass can remove large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere
Mediterranean seagrass (Image: David Luquet, CNRS-Sorbonne University)
July 10, 2022 People in India fleeing disasters like drought more likely to have experienced trafficking or modern slavery than those fleeing floods or cyclones
The country's climate change assessment suggests things are only going to get worse (Image: Saurav Karmakar, India Water Portal Flickr)
July 8, 2022 Indian rivers are experiencing rising temperatures, which can lower the oxygen carrying capacity of their waters and spell doom for living organisms, small and large living in the waters.
The Karamana river in Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala (Image Source: India Water Portal)
June 15, 2022 The River Front Development project planned by the PMC is nothing but a cosmetic makeover for the already choked Mula Mutha river in Pune, argues Dr Gurudas Nulkar while speaking to the India Water Portal.
The highly polluted and encroached Mula Mutha river in Pune (Image: Alexey Komarov via Wikimedia Commons)
2019 was the seventh warmest year on record since 1901: IMD
News this week Posted on 10 Jan, 2020 10:55 AM

2019 was the seventh warmest year on record in 118 years: IMD

2019 was the seventh warmest year on record in 118 years (Photo: IWP Flickr photos)
Aerosols and droughts: Is there a connection?
A study finds that high levels of aerosols in the atmosphere further worsen the impacts of El Nino on the rainfall leading to increased frequency of droughts in India. Posted on 29 Dec, 2019 04:19 PM

Droughts are becoming common in India

The role of aerosols in triggering droughts (Image Source: IWP flickr photos)
Only one out of five river basins in the country resilient to climate change: Study
News this week Posted on 19 Dec, 2019 10:31 AM

Study finds, only one out of five river basins in the country can cope with climate change

Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Trading in virtual water
A study highlights the need to scale down the export of rice, maize, buffalo meat and other items to conserve groundwater in India. Posted on 13 Dec, 2019 09:12 AM

The recent trade war between the United States and China was, among other things, about virtual water - the hidden water in products. Producing anything, whether it is soyabean or clothes, uses water, and has a water footprint.

A farmer uses a hosepipe to irrigate crops at her farm in Nilgiris mountains, Tamil Nadu (Image: Hamish John Appleby for IWMI, Flickr Commons, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Locals reject social impact assessment report of Luhri II hydropower project
News this week Posted on 11 Dec, 2019 12:05 PM

Locals say impact assessment report does not accurately represent the real impact of Luhri II hydropower project

Sutlej river in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh (Image source: Sanyam Bahga, Wikipedia)
Replacing rice will improve India’s climate resilience
A study calls for solutions that can benefit farmers and the environment and positively impact India's nutrition indicators. Posted on 11 Dec, 2019 11:50 AM

A new study finds that introducing coarse cereals such as millet and sorghum could improve India’s national food supply in many ways.

Rice field in Karnataka (Image: Guldem Ustun, Flickr Commons, CC BY 2.0)
India’s tryst with climate change
Dr. Aradhana Yaduvanshi, a hydro meteorologist at WOTR, talks to us about what current research on global warming shows, and possible adaptation and coping mechanisms. Posted on 06 Dec, 2019 04:23 PM

Global warming has given rise to unprecedented extreme events such as cyclones, floods, heatwaves and droughts in India. Why are these threats increasing?

Flooding in Mumbai during the monsoons (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Holistic approach needed to clean the Ganga
A report by the India Rivers Forum highlights the need to focus further than the main stem of the Ganga river. Posted on 06 Dec, 2019 10:39 AM

The National Mission for Cleaning Ganga was set up in 2014 and the Namami Gange programme was launched the year after, with a budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore. The implementation of the flagship programme was followed by the framing of a draft National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Bill, 2019 to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament.

Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
In wake of climate change, prioritise and invest in water security and clean drinking water
To adapt well & build resilience, climate change strategies need to factor in efforts towards water security, writes Vanita Suneja, Regional Advocacy Manager (South Asia), WaterAid. Posted on 04 Dec, 2019 05:33 PM

While climate activists and world leaders were gathering in Paris in the first week of December 2015 to discuss the impact of climate change, the metropolis Chennai in the southern corner of India was inundated with floods.

Image credit: WaterAid/Prashanth Vishwanathan
Looking back into history to understand droughts
The 2015­-2018 drought, the longest, but less severe of droughts experienced by India raises alarm on the negative effects of future droughts on water security in the country. Posted on 04 Dec, 2019 02:53 PM

Droughts in India: types, causes and effects

Droughts are greatly feared in India, impacting food production, the economy and the livelihoods of millions of farmers. 60% of India’s population is engaged in agriculture.

India will see more droughts in the future. (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
×