State of the Climate in Asia 2024
<p>The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing
Glacial Melt
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Human behaviour raises global warming fasterx: NASA study
Houston, May 15 Climatic changes induced by humans have affected the flora and fauna, along with the physical environment of the world at a much faster pace than previously thought, scientists have said. A new NASA-led study, noting changes in the physical system, such as glaciers shrinking, permafrost melting and lakes and rivers warming, has linked physical and biological impacts since 1970 with increase in temperatures during that period.
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Gangotri glacier receding at slower pace
Amidst a hue and cry of global warming causing glaciers to melt at a rapid pace, there's some soothing news for environment enthusiasts. A recent study by the National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) says that the receding pace of Gangotri glacier, one of the largest glaciers of the Himalayas, has slowed down during the last two years.
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Attributing physical and biological impacts to anthropogenic climate change
Significant changes in physical and biological systems are occurring on all continents and in most oceans, with a concentration of available data in Europe and North America. Most of these changes are in the direction expected with warming temperature. Here the authors show that these changes in natural systems since at least 1970 are occurring in regions of observed temperature increases, and that these temperature increases at continental scales cannot be explained by natural climate variations alone.
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We're becoming active choreographers of nature'
New York: His new book, Physics of the Impossible, has been on the New York Times Best Seller's list for more than four weeks now. Michio Kaku, co-founder of string field theory and professor of theoretical physics at City University, New York, talks to Narayani Ganesh about the future potential of cutting-edge science: Why do you say we're in transition between the Age of Discovery and the Age of Mastery?
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Seasonal speedup along the western flank of the Greenland ice sheet
It has been widely hypothesized that a warmer climate in Greenland would increase the volume of lubricating surface meltwater reaching the ice-bedrock interface, accelerating ice flow and increasing mass loss. We have assembled a data set that provides a synoptic-scale view, spanning ice-sheet to outlet-glacier flow, with which to evaluate this hypothesis.
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The role of subglacial water in ice-sheet mass balance
Subglacial water can significantly affect the velocity of ice streams and outlet glaciers of ice sheets. Depending on the geometry and capacity of the subglacial hydrologic system, increased surface melting in Greenland over the coming decades may influence the ice sheet's mass balance. Furthermore, subglacial lakes in Antarctica can modulate ice velocities and act as nucleation points for new fast-flowing ice streams.
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Govt says no threat, receding of Gangotri glacier natural
Despite fears that the flow of the Bhagirathi, the main tributary of the Ganga, is falling in volume, the government has said there is no such threat to the river and the "natural' receding of the Gangotri glacier does not require any corrective measures. "Gomukh is the ice cave of Gangotri glacier through which the river Bhagirathi emerges from the glacier. Therefore, the question of Ganga going far away from the main source does not arise,' earth sciences minister Kapil Sibal informed the Parliament.
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Environmentally sensitive Bhutan on the brink
High in the Himalayas, above this peaceful valley where farmers till a patchwork of emerald-green fields, an icy lake fed by melting glaciers waits to become a "tsunami from the sky.' The lake is swollen dangerously past normal levels, thanks to the global warming that is causing the glaciers to retreat at record speed. But no one knows when the tipping point will come and the lake can take no more, bursting its banks and sending torrents of water crashing into the valley below.
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Sikkim gears up to send high-level team to study glacial melting
Sikkim Government is gearing up to send a high-level glaciologists' team to study the meltdown of the glaciers in Sikkim due to global warming and to find out remedies. The team led by Professor S I Hasnain and accompanied by officials and members of various project teams, would visit west Sikkim to study the state of East Rathong glacier during their nine-day expedition starting from April 24, an official said. Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling had set up a commission under Hasnain to study the state of glaciers late last year, the official said.
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Climate change: Losing greenland
When people talk about catastrophic climate change, there's a fair chance that Greenland is on their mind. If they use the term 'tipping point', then it is pretty much a sure thing. One-twentieth of the world's ice is locked up atop that island, and if it were to melt completely, global sea levels would rise by seven metres. The collapse of the Greenland ice sheet is in the front rank of potential climate catastrophes.