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 serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
Disasters are not predictable. They follow no standard operating procedures. Disaster preparedness is about managing the unknown, not a science but a social behaviour that’s responsive, predictive and imaginative.• Effective disaster management depends on four factors: • Preparedness: knowing where and when disaster will hit • Mitigation: through measures like …
Bells jingled, colourful carnivals spread cheer; Asia was filled with festivity, as the people celebrated the Nativity of Jesus Christ. The festival of joy had just begun. But death was just hours away. When the most powerful earthquake in more than 40 years struck deep under the Indian Ocean, the …
researchers from Germany-based Max Planck Institute for Chemistry have recently found that the Indian Ocean region is adversely affected by nitrogen oxide (nox) pollution from Africa and Southeast Asia during the periods between the summer and winter monsoons. nox can adversely affect atmospheric chemistry because it catalyses the production of …
In this paper, a review on worldwide literature on trends in tropical cyclone frequency, intensity, and impact, with special reference to the North Indian Ocean Basin, that is, the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea.
Finally, a rescue effort is underway. Fifteen countries have signed an agreement for conserving the six marine turtle species that inhabit the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asian regions. The project includes Olive Ridley turtles, which are killed in large numbers every year off the coast of Orissa. The first meeting …
india is all set to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (mou) to protect and conserve marine turtles in Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. The mou emphasises on data collection and monitoring programmes to gather information on the nature and magnitude of threats to the turtle population. It encourages the development …
The Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) was sponsored by research agencies within Europe, India and USA, and was mainly concerned with the haze over south Asia and the adjacent Indian Ocean. It excluded other equally or even more polluted areas in Asia. The Asian Brown Cloud is a follow on international …
the un Environment Programme (unep) needs to revamp its publicity department so that it can report with accuracy. With the World Summit on Sustainable Development (wssd) at Johannesburg barely a few weeks away, it chose to release the preliminary study on the Asian haze, which it claims to have sponsored. …
A P Mitra couldn't believe it. He along with 200-odd scientists from India, Europe, Maldives and the us was conducting an intensive six-week field experiment in 1999 to study the effect of airborne tiny particles called aerosols on climate. The tropical Indian Ocean, where clean air from the southern Indian …
RAINFALL Aerosols may be reducing rainfall and threatening the Earth's fresh water supplies, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego. "Initially we thought that aerosols were mainly a cooling agent, offsetting global warming. Now we find that these have a big impact on the water budget of the …
Scientists are yet to unravel all the mysteries about the tiny and yet complex three-dimensional particles. Key details about their properties and their effects remain elusive. So far, it has not been possible to make reliable measurements to determine their distribution and properties on a global scale. Large uncertainties remain …
Human activities are releasing tiny particles (aerosols) into the atmosphere. These human-made aerosols enhance scattering and absorption of solar radiation. They also produce brighter clouds that are less efficient at releasing precipitation. These in turn lead to large reductions in the amount of solar irradiance reaching Earth's surface, a corresponding …
Every year, from December to April, anthropogenic haze spreads over most of the North Indian Ocean, and South and Southeast Asia. The Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) documented this Indo-Asian haze at scales ranging from individual particles to its contribution to the regional climate forcing. This study integrates the multiplatform observations …
the unique species of Christmas Island are being threatened by a deal between the Australian and Russian governments to launch commercial rockets from there. The Australian-run island is located in the Indian Ocean and has a major unexplored cave system. Biologists say that the launch site on the island's south …
greenhouse gas emissions have caused the world's oceans to heat up significantly over the last 50 years, according to two latest studies. The Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans have collectively warmed an average of 0.06
The most visible impact of air pollution is the haze, a brownish layer of pollutants and particles from biomass burning and industrial emissions, that pervades most regions in Asia. A recent international study, the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX), has revealed that this haze is transported far beyond the source region, …
the world's largest rookery of the highly endangered Olive Ridley turtle, Gahirmatha beach in Orissa, is fast becoming their largest graveyard, too. This year's record-breaking mass nesting of 800,000 turtles sent waves of jubilation among conservationists. But, the figure of 6,000 dead turtles washed ashore ebbed this jubilation. Last year …
Latitudinal distribution of radiative flux at different layers has been measured for the first time over the Indian Ocean from 15°N to 20°S during intensive field phase of INDOEX 1999. Simultaneously measurements have been made over three Indian ground stations, viz. Delhi, Pune and Trivandrum. The basic feature of radiative …
the sea squirt, a marine animal that looks like grapes, is being cultured to provide treatment for cancer. It contains ecteinascidin-743, the compound being tested as an anticancer agent. Besides other aquatic regions, the sea squirt is also found in the Indian Ocean. Its population is too small to meet …
