TREES ARE nature’s secret keepers. Over their long lifetime—some trees can live hundreds, even thousands, of years—they experience a variety of weather conditions, right from floods, droughts, storms and extreme rainfall to forest fires, snowfall, frost, and volcanic eruptions. The information gets stored in the tree trunk as rings—two for each year. Deconstruct these rings and they will narrate how old the tree is and what the weather conditions were like during each year of its life. They are now sought-after repositories of information among climate scientists who are trying to see the big picture.
Meteorologists have been keeping a tab on climate data since the 1850s, but climate scientists want to know about long-term changes in weather conditions and alterations in the frequency or strength of natural events. That would help them ascertain whether the shifting patterns of such events in the recent decades are random, cyclical or part of a trend triggered by global warming. A group of tree ring scientists, or dendrochronologists, are now aggressively scanning dead and living trees for such information that has remained unknown till now.
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Denne historien er fra February 01, 2020-utgaven av Down To Earth.
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Trade On Emissions
EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, a tariff on imports, is designed to protect European industries in the guise of climate action.
'The project will facilitate physical and cultural decimation of indigenous people'
The Great Nicobar Project has all the hallmarks of a disaster-seismic, ecological, human. Why did it get the go-ahead?
TASTE IT RED
Popularity of Karnataka's red jackfruit shows how biodiversity can be conserved by ensuring that communities benefit from it
MANY MYTHS OF CHIPKO
Misconceptions about the Chipko movement have overshadowed its true objectives.
The politics and economics of mpox
Africa's mpox epidemic stems from delayed responses, neglect of its health risks and the stark vaccine apartheid
Emerging risks
Even as the world gets set to eliminate substances threatening the ozone layer, climate change and space advancement pose new challenges.
JOINING THE CARBON CLUB
India's carbon market will soon be a reality, but will it fulfil its aim of reducing emissions? A report by PARTH KUMAR and MANAS AGRAWAL
Turn a new leaf
Scientists join hands to predict climate future of India's tropical forests
Festering troubles
The Democratic Republic of Congo struggles to contain mpox amid vaccine delays, conflict and fragile healthcare.
India sees unusual monsoon patterns
THE 2024 southwest monsoon has, between June 1 and September 1, led to excess rainfall in western and southern states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, while others like Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab recorded a deficit.