Authors- Asfa Siddiqui, Poonam S. Tiwari and Raghavendra Pratap Singh Greenhouse gases, especially CO2 and CH4 are amongst the primary contributors of anthropogenic climate change. Methane (CH₄), a potent greenhouse gas, has a global warming potential over 28 times and 84 times greater than CO₂ over a 100-year and 20-year period, respectively (Saunois et al. 2024). In the wake of Continue Reading »

Rice is the staple food for nearly two-thirds of India's population, particularly in eastern, northeastern and southern India, and is also consumed occasionally in the northern and central parts of the country. Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) is executing a 5-year pilot project on crop diversification (2023–2028) under the National Food Security and Nutrition Mission (NFSNM) in order to Continue Reading »

Authors: Bhoomika Ghale, Kshama Gupta and Arijit Roy Have you ever walked through a park on a hot day and felt the air suddenly cool? Or found peace under a tree while the rest of the city buzzed with traffic? That small moment of calm is more than a luxury - it's the result of planning, policy, and science working Continue Reading »

Sal forests cover 11 million hectares in the Indian subcontinent. They are important for the environment and the economy because they support biodiversity and provide a range ecological services including livelihoods of indigenous people. These forests face a major threat from an insect called the Sal Heartwood Borer, or "Hoplo". When these beetles multiply quickly, they kill thousands of trees. Continue Reading »

Natural dust emission from an arid or semi-arid region occurs when near-surface wind speed exceeds a threshold wind speed which can further be modulated by several factors such as surface roughness, soil texture, soil moisture, vegetation cover etc. Many major dust sources are located in the subtropical dry belt primarily due to the subtropical high pressure system attributed to the Continue Reading »