CATEGORIES

CLIMATE SHAPES SPECIES

Gradual changes in a population that lives in a region with environmental shifts give rise to new species

LEAFY GOODNESS

Leaves of the bottle gourd can be a healthy green addition to the plate

'Story of human origin is still not figured out or over'

Fifty years ago, the discovery of a partial skeleton amid the barren desert landscape of northern Ethiopia transformed our understanding of where humans came from, and how we developed into Homo sapiens. \"Lucy\" was first spotted on November 24, 1974, by the American paleoanthropologist Donald Johanson and his student assistant Tom Gray. Named after the Beatles' Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, a popular song in the their team's camp at the time, it was immediately clear she was a female, because of her small adult size, and that she had walked upright, unlike chimpanzees. Lucy was also very old-at almost 3.2 million years, she was anointed as the then-earliest known (distant) ancestor of modern humans. Over the following decades, rather fittingly given her name, she became a \"paleo-rock star\", going on a US tour from 2006 following a deal with the Ethiopian authorities.

Deadly discharge

Residents of an industrial cluster blame effluent and sewage treatment plants for discharging poorly treated water that contaminates the area, causes skin diseases

US drug regulator faces Trump heat

FAILED REPUBLICAN presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy is making more news now than during his doomed attempt to get the party nomination for president. Ramaswamy's decision to throw in the towel and back Donald Trump after his campaign went nowhere showed acumen, the kind he is famous for in the investment world.

Distorted picture

India's groundwater recovery may be misleading, as new assessment methods inflate annual recharge figures and discontinue on-ground verification

A MAKE OR BREAK YEAR

Expect some stiff targets, radical policy measures and rapid innovations as polycrisis reaches a crescendo this year

Commons in crisis

A landmark 2011 Supreme Court ruling to protect shared resources deepens struggles for India's marginalised communities

Europe faces Russian natural gas supply cuts

UKRAINE'S PRIME Minister Denys Shmyhal said on December 16, 2024, that its gas transit agreement with Russia will expire on January 1, 2025, and will not be renewed. The agreement was to allow transit of natural gas to Europe amid the RussiaUkraine conflict.

Preserving a voice

Non-profit in Madhya Pradesh documents Korku language, makes education accessible for the tribal community

BISHNOIS V DELHIITES: TWO DIFFERENT MINDSETS

FILM STAR Salman Khan's arrest in Jodhpur for killing a chinkara, an endangered animal, and Sahib Singh Verma's resignation as chief minister of Delhi are both developments that hold a message for environmentalists and all those engaged in environmental management.

CLIMATE SHAPES SPECIES

Gradual changes in a population that lives ina region with environmental shifts give rise to new species

Scope for redemption

Two recent reports underline the need for different strategies for a more sustainable world

In leading role again

MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE

One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost

As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated

Return of Rambhog

Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region

Scarred by mining

Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining

Human-to-human spread a mutation away

CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.

True rehabilitation

Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices

INESCAPABLE THREAT

Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions

THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO

Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face

A JOKE, INDEED

A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE

THINGS FALL APART

THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE

VAPOUR ACTION

MOISTURE IS A SILENT FORCE THAT AMPLIFIES GLOBAL WARMING. YET SCIENTISTS UNDERSTAND LITTLE ABOUT THIS GREENHOUSE GAS AND HOW IT INFLUENCES WEATHER SYSTEMS

OPEN AND SHUT CASE

2024 WITNESSED A RECORD NUMBER OF ATTRIBUTION STUDIES THAT SHOW CLIMATE CHANGE AS THE KEY FACTOR BEHIND EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS

TEST OF SURVIVAL

GENERATION ALPHA INHERITS A WORLD IRREVOCABLY WARMER BY 1.5°C

THE YEAR PLANET CHANGED

WE KNOW THAT WE LIVE IN THE AGE OF CLIMATE EXTREMES. WE ARE NOT IN DENIAL. BUT WE ARE NO LONGER THE SOCIETIES THAT WORK FOR COMMON CAUSES

A SPRIG TO CARE FOR

Punarnava, a perennial herb, is easy to grow and has huge health benefits

DIGGING A DISASTER

Soapstone mining near Dabti Vijaypur village has caused many residents to migrate.

REVIEW THE TREATMENT

Several faecal sludge treatment plants in Uttar Pradesh suffer from design flaws that make the treatment process both expensive and inefficient