Sustainable Nitrogen Management

Desideratum of the Decade and Afar. In this article, Dr Anil Pratap Singh highligths that there is an urgent need for sustainable nitrogen management as nitrogen pollution threatens to become a major environmental challenge in the years to come.

Vegan Leather

Prevents Pollution and Animal Cruelty. The leather industry is not only death for animals but also extremely dangerous for us as the rivers are polluted with toxic chemicals. The industry is a major contributor to global warming. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi writes about plant-based leather or vegan leather, the ethical and cruelty-free alternative to traditional leather.

New NASA Earth System Observatory to Help Address Climate Change

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will design a new set of Earth-focused missions to provide key information to guide efforts related to climate change, disaster mitigation, fighting forest fires, and improving real-time agricultural processes.

‘Paani Bachao, Paisa Kamao' Scheme

Another Innovation in Punjab. To address the electricity–water–agriculture nexus problem in Punjab that has long confined the farmers, power utilities, consumers, and governments, an innovative approach was the need of the hour. In this article, Apoorva Bamal, Prajnasish Swain, and Amit Kumar tell us about the innovative ‘Paani Bachao, Paisa Kamao’ scheme in Punjab.

Who Killed Assam's 18 Asiatic Elephants?

Thunderbolt or Man–Animal Conflict? Can a herd of wild Asiatic elephants be killed by a thunderbolt? What would be its impact on the soil and trees if such a massive lightning strike at all hit the planet? Why the surrounding villages could not experience the sound of thunder along with bright rays of light? In this article, Nava Thakuria tries to find answers to these questions.

Restore Land; Sustain Lives; Promote Equality

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. In this article, Biba Jasmine helps deconstruct various ways in which the rate of land degradation and desertification can be seized. Given an understanding, desertification has an impact on the land area causing poverty rise, food insecurity, and high mortality rates, among other hardships, further leading to impoverishment, migration, and conflict. It is imperative to gauge ways in which land degradation and desertification have implications on ecosystem functioning and livelihoods. Let us come together this World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought and identify need for the concurrent attainment of social equity, environmental health, and economic wealth through addressing the challenge of land desertification, and degradation.

“CDRI Promotes Resilient Infrastructure to Withstand Climate and Disaster Risks”

Sandeep Poundrik is the Director-General, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI). Here, he is in an exclusive email conversation with Abhas Mukherjee for TerraGreen.

Inviting Birds of All Feathers

What We Must Do for the Birds. Urbanization poses a major threat to bird diversity. Preeti Mehra tells us about a study backed by Azim Premji University that suggests ways to help combat it.

Sultanpur National Park

A Paradise for Birds and Birdwatchers. In this series of articles, Amarjeetsingh Bishnoi and Shakti Bishnoi share their wonderful experiences with their family in the lap of nature in Sultanpur National Park in Haryana. Last month, you read that they went to visit the sanctuary from their home in Delhi during the winter season. Now, read more about their vivid experiences there from winter to summer season…

Green Warrior

Risking Life and Limb to Save Plants. Amid the chaos caused by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, only a handful of ‘unsung’ green warriors such as Dharmesh Barai have risen to the occasion to ensure lives, beyond human, stay protected too. Read on to know more about his green endeavour…

Antarctica Gives Birth to World's Largest Iceberg

A giant slab of ice bigger than the Spanish island of Majorca has sheared off from the frozen edge of Antarctica into the Weddell Sea, becoming the largest iceberg currently afloat in the world, the European Space Agency said recently.

Altered River Flows and Nature's Fury

Need for Efficient Water Resources Management The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is Ecosystem Restoration. Ecosystem restoration can take many forms, such as growing trees, greening cities, rewilding gardens, changing diets or cleaning up rivers and coasts. In this regard, Simi S Nair says that human-induced drivers, such as dams, sand mining, over-extraction of groundwater, land use land cover changes, and indiscriminate disposal of untreated non-biodegradable solid wastes have significantly altered river ecosystems, impaired river water quality, and simultaneously increased the severity of disasters, such as droughts and floods.

Electronic Pollution - An Environmental Monster

Air pollution, water pollution, soil pollution—these forms of pollution have been widely written about and spoken on. Ironically, not many know about electronic pollution, that poses a major challenge to the environment. What makes it even more detrimental for the environment is that it significantly contributes to all the other forms of pollution. Namrata Gulati Sapra talks about the monster called electronic pollution, which has been digging its toxic claws throughout Planet Earth and feeding off its energy more rapidly than the mind can imagine…

‘Heat Hampers Productivity at Work'

While weather conditions are known to impact productivity, a recent study has revealed that it gets harder for people to work when it gets hot, and this may lead to a reduction in national output in warmer years. Dr Anant Sudarshan, South Asia Director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), co-authored this study with E Somanathan of the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi; Rohini Somanathan of Delhi School of Economics; and Meenu Tewari of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Sweet and Sticky Success - Sundarbans' Honey, for Nature and People

This article talks about an initiative by WWF India with the support of multiple partners across 16 villages of Sundarbans, which is enabling the moulis in the region to reduce incidents of human–tiger conflict with innovative apiary management practices. From collecting wild honey inside mangrove forests, members of the cooperatives are now harvesting apiary honey from Sundarbans forest camps and packaging bottles of honey, which are sold under the brand name Bonphool Natural Mangrove Honey

Sultanpur National Park - A Paradise for Birds and Birdwatchers

In this series of articles starting this month, Amarjeetsingh Bishnoi and Shakti Bishnoi share their wonderful experiences with their family in the lap of nature in Sultanpur National Park in Haryana.

Rejuvenating Kedia - Using Multipoint Intervention

Although the Ganga–Yamuna doab is known to be the most fertile region of India, one is persistently struck at the impoverishment among agriculturists here. Delving into the problem some years ago, Greenpeace activists decided to look into the dynamics that lie at the root of it. Dr Rina Mukherji brings out the fact that it is to Kedia village’s credit that her farmers and householders are showing the way by fighting climate change, using re-discovered, time-tested, home-grown methods on small landholdings.

Rajaji National Park - A Biodiversity-rich Landscape in the Lap of River Ganga

Rajaji National Park is a magnificent ecosystem nestled in the Shivalik range and the beginning of the vast Indo-Gangetic Plains, representing rich floral and faunal diversity. The Park constitutes an important repository of the wild fauna and the last refuge of a number of threatened animal species in the lesser Himalayan zone and upper Gangetic plains. Considering the abundance of nature’s bounties heaped in and around the Park, the area attracts a large number of wildlife conservationists, nature lovers, and eco-tourists. On the occasion of International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22), Dr Ritesh Joshi and Kanchan Puri have expressed their views about the wilderness and biodiversity of the Rajaji’s landscape, which is also a haven for Asian elephants.

Pointless Plants - Incredible Story of Nathan from Planes to Plants

Twenty-three-year-old Nathan Raab lost his job as a commercial airline pilot during COVID-19, and decided to make a change from spraying jet-fuel over the planet to set up his own eco-friendly company instead, Pointless Plants. Here, we present his amazing journey and his pioneering initiative.

Less is More

Most people don’t need more protein. They need less. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi exposes the mythology of protein and explains why it should come from plants, not animals.

India's RE Capacity Goal by 2030 - To Offset Major Carbon Emissions

In this article, Ramya Ranganath says that once all the sanctioned renewable energy projects attain fruition in 2021, and all the gaps are plugged, India is well underway towards achieving both its 2022 and 2030 target of 175 GW and 450 GW of renewable capacity, respectively. It will help India in achieving its intended nationally determined contributions.

A Circular Economy for All - ‘What Goes Around Comes Around!'

In this article, Sarah Berry highlights that for a rapidly developing country such as India, the adoption of a circular economy is of paramount importance, not only because of the rate of growth the country is undergoing and projecting, but also because of the numerous benefits this concept brings with it.

Joining the Dots Ecosystem services. Climate change. Global pandemic.

In this article, Biba Jasmine reflects on the linkages among ecosystem services, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. The important components of ecosystems are also discussed with a focus on policies in place.

The Elf of Plants They Call Mushroom

Thomas Carlyle had said once, ‘Thou fool! Nature alone is antique, and the oldest art a mushroom; the idle crag thou sittest on is six thousand years of age.’ Isn’t it a fact that we haven’t yet grown big enough to realize the benevolence of nature that has long been arming us to the teeth against all odds?—writes Rajshekhar Pant.

Calamitous Earth Reheats International Efforts to Curb Emissions are Needed

‘The year 2020 has been an unprecedented year for people and planet. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives worldwide. At the same time, the heating of our planet and climate disruption has continued apace. Record heat, ice loss, wildfires, floods and droughts continue to worsen, affecting communities, nations, and economies around the world,’ United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, said recently. In this article, Dr Anil Pratap Singh discusses the urgent need to accelerate and deepen global actions with the political commitment and governments’ willingness. It would forge new partnerships while maintaining the tempo for mitigation and ways of cooperation to support international efforts to curb emissions.

Young Women Lead the Green Brigade in India

India, like the rest of the world, is facing the scourge of rising pollution levels, particularly in the urban pockets of the country. In the fight against pollution and environmental degradation, many youngsters are proactively working towards spreading environmental awareness, designing ‘green’ products and technology to prevent environmental degradation and reduce pollution and creating ‘sustainable’ enterprises for a cleaner and greener planet. Among the youngsters, it is the women who stand out for their sheer conviction and drive.

Railway Children India

Who might have ever wondered that locking down ourselves in our own little spaces of comfort would someday be out of an obligation than a personal choice made? During the lockdown when everyone was asked to stay home, where do you think the children living on railway platforms went who knew of platforms as their only home ever since they woke up to this life?

Recycled Plastic Bricks

Some Environmental Initiatives

Earthquake Risk Signs of Nature Should Not be Ignored

In this article, Baseera Rafiqi talks about earthquake risk factors in Jammu and Kashmir while reiterating that ignoring signs of nature could prove detrimental for the region in the long run.

WSDS 2021 Redefining Our Common Future: Safe and Secure Environment for All

Due to the unprecedented global impact of COVID-19, the 20th edition of TERI’s flagship event the World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS) was held entirely online from February 10–12, 2021. In two decades, the Summit series has achieved a position of repute in bringing together governments, policymakers, business leaders, academicians, scientists, youth and civil society in the fight against climate change and in promoting the agenda of sustainable development.