Tag: Environment news

Question Corner | Why does wildfire smoke swirl only one way in the air?

February 22, 2026 admin

Wildfire smoke in the northeast Pacific Ocean, September 2020. | Photo Credit: NASA A: Sometimes wildfire smoke in the stratosphere collects into a compact bubble of smoke that spins in a coherent vortex, clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere. Two new studies, published in Weather and Climate Dynamics and presented…

Science

Key initiatives honoured with M.S. Swaminathan Award for Environmental Protection

September 29, 2025 admin

Satyakam Arya, (2nd left) Managing Director and CEO of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) presenting 31st edition of Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Environmental Protection 2025 award to N. Devakumar Sahala Samrudha from Mysuru and Veerappan from Cuddalore along RTN Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chairperson, MSSRF, C.K. Ranganathan, Founder of CavinKare group and RTN Balaji Sreenivasan, President Rotary…

Nation

Earlier California fire shows how Los Angeles could rebuild

January 28, 2025 admin

Seven years before wildfires tore through opposite ends of the Los Angeles area, the Tubbs Fire in Northern California’s Sonoma County jumped a six-lane freeway and decimated Santa Rosa’s Coffey Park subdivision, a suburban enclave similar to Pacific Palisades and Altadena. The fire destroyed about 5,000 homes in Santa Rosa and the surrounding area in…

Science

Chile’s giant ‘living fossil’ frog faces threat from climate change and humans

December 19, 2024 admin

Environmental researchers extract genetic material from a Chilean frog’s leg (Calyptocephalella gayi) in a wetland in the middle of a neighbourhood in the city of Quilpue, Chile, December 8, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters A giant frog species that hopped alongside dinosaurs and is considered a “living fossil” is now losing ground in its native…

Science

New AI model ‘GenCast’ can beat the best traditional weather forecasts

December 12, 2024 admin

A new machine-learning weather prediction model called GenCast can outperform the best traditional forecasting systems in at least some situations, according to a new paper. | Photo Credit: NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Jacques Descloitres A new machine-learning weather prediction model called GenCast can outperform the best traditional forecasting systems in at least some situations, according…

Science

Pacific Islands wait for Trump, wary of climate and China stance

December 11, 2024 admin

Pacific Island nation leaders pose for a group photograph with U.S. President Joe Biden during a summit at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 25, 2023. | Photo Credit: Reuters Pacific island nations at the centre of a strategic rivalry between the U.S. and China that brought infrastructure and funding hope President-elect Donald Trump…

Science

Monarch butterfly may gain threatened species status in US

December 11, 2024 admin

Monarch butterflies gather on a shrub at Piedra Herrada sanctuary in the mountains near Valle de Bravo, Mexico, Wednesday, January 4, 2023. | Photo Credit: AP The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the monarch butterfly as a threatened species on Tuesday (December 10, 2024), citing a significant decline in the iconic black and…

Science

Dutch airport Schiphol capped at 478,000 flights per year to reduce noise

December 10, 2024 admin

The first of three KLM passenger planes heading to New York takes off from Schiphol airport in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday April 19, 2010. | Photo Credit: AP Amsterdam Schiphol airport’s total flight capacity will be lowered by 4% next year in an effort to cut noise pollution, the Dutch government said on Friday (December 6,…

Science

World Court To Begin Hearings That May Shape Global Climate Litigation

November 29, 2024 admin

The Hague: The United Nations’ top court next week begins hearings on the legal obligation of countries to fight climate change and the consequences for states of contributing to global warming, the outcome of which could influence litigation worldwide. While the advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) are non-binding, they are legally…

World

Microplastics promote cloud formation, with likely effects on weather and climate

November 12, 2024 admin

Clouds are pictured over the residential buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, November 11, 2024. | Photo Credit: Reuters Clouds form when water vapor – an invisible gas in the atmosphere – sticks to tiny floating particles, such as dust, and turns into…

Science