Science
Down To Earth
Drop in the bucket
Adaptation finance needed by developing countries is 10-18 times as high as current flows, says the latest UNEP report
3 min |
November 16, 2023
Down To Earth
Delayed by decades
Centre-state tussle and bureaucratic incompe-tencies withhold compensation for land acquisition in Jharkhand's coal belt
5 min |
November 16, 2023
Down To Earth
Known unknowns
India's apex food regulator has no data on presence of genetically modified organisms in fresh produce imported by the country over past five years VIVEK MISHRA NEW DELHI
4 min |
November 16, 2023
Down To Earth
Scientist, activist, advisor
Saleemul Huq championed locally led climate adaptation and greater involvement of all stakeholders in global discourse
2 min |
November 16, 2023
Down To Earth
Vehicles behind Delhi's poor air quality
ON NOVEMBER 5, 2023, three Indian cities— Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata—recorded some of the worst air quality levels in the world.
1 min |
November 16, 2023
Down To Earth
Lending voice
A journalist in Malkangiri, Odisha, helps tribal girls and women take charge of their own health and share their stories ISHAN KUKRETI
2 min |
November 16, 2023
Down To Earth
Claudia Goldin on Career and Family
A century ago, it was a given that a woman with a college degree had to choose between having a career and a family. Today, there are more female college graduates than ever before, and more women want to have a career and family, yet challenges persist at work and at home. Claudia Goldin, who has won this year's Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences traces in her book Career and Family how generations of women have responded to the problem of balancing career and family as the twentieth century experienced a sea change in gender equality, revealing why true equity for dual career couples remains frustratingly out of reach.
6 min |
November 01, 2023
Down To Earth
COLLABORATE TO RESTORE
Delhi is making efforts to bring back the Sahibi, but the river's true rejuvenation will require its revival in the neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Haryana as well
6 min |
November 01, 2023
Down To Earth
Devastating societies through war and drugs
Generics giant Teva is top among drug firms found guilty of fuelling the US opioid crisis, agrees to pay $4.25 billion
4 min |
November 01, 2023
Down To Earth
Headed for failure
Almost 60% of low-income countries are struggling to repay their loans. This is hurting their development and climate preparedness
8 min |
November 01, 2023
Down To Earth
CAUGHT UNAWARES
In a rapidly changing climate, early warning systems are a critical, cost-effective way of protecting people from extreme weather. But effective implementation of the system to protect every person on Earth by 2027, as envisioned by the UN, is a huge task. Countries highly vulnerable to climate change impacts lack the know-how or finance. Technologies, too, need upgrading to accurately predict disasters.
10+ min |
November 01, 2023
Down To Earth
Easy targets
High-income nations across the world appear focused on agriculture as the sector to enforce emissions cut for meeting national climate goals
5 min |
November 01, 2023
Down To Earth
Bt's takedown
The worst pink bollworm attack in over two decades in north India raises question over the efficacy of Bt cotton in fighting the pest it was created to resist. As the attacks become regular and severe, cultivators quit cotton farming en masse, reports
10 min |
November 01, 2023
Down To Earth
India extends sugar export curbs
CONCERNED OVER the rising prices and the impact of a weak monsoon on sugarcane crops, India has extended curbs on exports of sugar beyond October.
1 min |
November 01, 2023
Down To Earth
Watch and earn
An initiative to protect the Sinhagad fort and forest in Maharashtra also helps people earn a livelihood
2 min |
November 01, 2023
Down To Earth
How companies got their way on biodiversity
Amendments to the Biodiversity Act let companies off the hook on having to share the benefits of using biological resources
4 min |
September 01, 2023
Down To Earth
Flood-proof Himalayas
Spatial planning, nature-based solutions can make cities in Hindu Kush Himalaya climate-resilient
3 min |
September 01, 2023
Down To Earth
RAINY RAJASTHAN
The harsh deserts of Rajasthan bear testimony to human adaptability and ingenuity. They receive just 300 mm of annual rain, making Rajasthan India's driest state. Yet they are home to a third of the state's population and, by some estimates, the most populous deserts in the world.
10+ min |
September 01, 2023
Down To Earth
Hybrid takeover
DALJIT SINGH usually harvests 10 tonnes of rice from his 1.5-hectare farmland. But in 2022, the yield was just 1.9 tonnes. Most of the crop was dwarfed due to a Fiji virus infection. \"I had used hybrid seeds manufactured by German company Bayer.
5 min |
September 01, 2023
Down To Earth
Sterile measure
Maharashtra and Gujarat propose to sterilise leopards to control their booming population, amid rising conflicts between the animal and humans. Is the plan feasible?
5 min |
September 01, 2023
Down To Earth
BLATANT VIOLATIONS
India's flagship health insurance scheme for the poor remains riddled with irregularities and corruption, shows an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India
5 min |
September 01, 2023
Down To Earth
SANITATION CRUSADER
Bindeshwar Pathak's steadfast determination improved the state of public sanitation in India
2 min |
September 01, 2023
Down To Earth
Decoding organic
“FOR THE past three years, my tomato crop has not been infested by a single pest. I have got a healthy and sizable yield. My spinach, too, has flourished,” says Kamraj of Govindapuram village in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu.
2 min |
September 01, 2023
Down To Earth
BOOKS
Book Review
1 min |
August 16, 2023
Down To Earth
Climate Change Behind July Heat
ANTHROPOGENIC EMISSIONS made the heatwaves seen in North America and Europe 1,000 times more likely, according to latest analysis by World Weather Attribution (WWA).
1 min |
August 16, 2023
Down To Earth
World of the gazer
For editor, author and bibliographer Aasheesh Pittie, birdwatching is a lifelong philosophical pursuit rather than a pastime. His latest book, The living air: The pleasures of birds and birdwatching, is a set of essays on his birding journey, written over 30 years. Excerpts:
4 min |
August 16, 2023
Down To Earth
Waterborne monster
A lethal marine bacterium, Vibrio vulnificus, could become a major threat to coastal populations, with warmer oceans and high rainfall creating ideal condition for its proliferation
5 min |
August 16, 2023
Down To Earth
HOW ROBUST IS INDIA'S TIGER CENSUS
During the 50th anniversary celebrations of Project Tiger on April 9 this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the animal's population in India had increased to 3,167. Less than four months later, on July 29, a new set of numbers were released that pegged the population at 3,682 tigers; over 500 more than the April estimate. This has sparked debates over the accuracy of tiger census. RAJAT GHAI speaks to government officials and independent experts to decode the riddle of tiger estimation:
5 min |
August 16, 2023
Down To Earth
ROAD TO CITY COOL
Urban India is a heat trap, but road orientation, building materials and zone-specific master plans can drastically enhance thermal comfort
4 min |
August 16, 2023
Down To Earth
Frittering away Nehru's momentous legacy
India initiated production of critical drugs in 1951 with the aid of UN bodies to keep out patent blocks-a model we have forgotten
4 min |