Feature Article

The challenge of development lies in balancing competing water demands

Sixty-four per cent of Orissa's industrial units are using groundwater through bore wells. Going by government data, 145 of the 225 industrial units in the state are using groundwater, while the rest

An explosive outbreak in a remote corner of France--and fears that it may threaten Europe and the United States--have brought fresh attention to an exotic virus.

Research with abandoned children does not necessarily involve exploitation.

Climate is reaching its

Survival questions
Are glaciers in the Himalayas melting faster than the natural rate? What will be the impact on hydrology

Despite incontrovertible and mounting evidence, the rich world does not take the threat of climate change seriously. It is high on rhetoric but low on action. Industrialized countries have created the problem of excessive and dangerous emissions.

As far as climate change is concerned, the world is running out of time and options. We now know that the global atmospheric concentration of co₂ has increased from a pre-industrial level of 280 parts per million (ppm) to 379 ppm in 2005. We also know that if this increase continues at the current rate, global temperatures could increase by 5-7

We know that the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions come from the use of energy

What are India's greenhouse gas emissions? The only estimate of India's inventory comes from the government's 2004 national communication to the un Framework Convention on Climate Change (unfccc). Unfortunately, this data pertains to 1994, the year after the country ratified the convention. The government is currently working on its next communication, which has to be submitted in the coming years.