The death toll from floods, earth slips, lightning activity and other mishaps in the wake of torrential rains countrywide rose to 52, Disaster Management Centre (DMC) sources said yesterday.

The world could avoid much of the damaging effects of climate change this century if greenhouse gas emissions are curbed more sharply, research showed on Sunday.

Teeth-chattering cold winds from Siberia to intensify; farmers worried, but wheat crop safe

Icy Siberian winds have chilled northern India and will intensify in the days ahead, making the winter even more severe, and highlighting the uncanny rise in extreme weather patterns such as droughts, hot spells and torrential downpours like the one that swamped Mumbai in 2005. For companies selling beverages, winterwear and heaters, business is booming with sales rising up to 40% in one of the coldest Indian winters in decades, but farmers are getting anxious about the impact on vegetables, pulses and oilseeds although the wheat crop is secure. The weather office says there is no quick relief in the offing.

An agreement by almost 200 nations to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions from 2020 will be far more costly than taking action now to tackle climate change, according to research published on Wedn

Britain in 2012 experienced its second wettest year since records began in 1910 and extreme rainfall has become more frequent, the UK's Met Office said on Thursday.

Natural catastrophes including the US hurricane Sandy caused $160 billion worth of damage in 2012, the world’s leading reinsurer, Munich Re, estimated on Thursday.

The Siachen Glacier has been reduced by 5.9km in longitudinal extent between 1989 and 2009 because of rising temperatures, says a study published recently.

Natural catastrophes including US hurricane Sandy caused $160 billion (122 billion euros’) worth of damage in 2012, the world’s leading reinsurer, Munich Re, estimated on Thursday.