Feature Article

US indicators reveal challenges and opportunities as science momentum shifts to China.

Severe flooding that could affect millions of people is the United Kingdom's most pressing climate-change risk, says a study released yesterday by the country's government. The first Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA), published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), examines 100 potential consequences of climate change for the United Kingdom.

Water used by irrigated crops is obtained from three sources: local precipitation contributing to soil moisture available for root water uptake (i.e., green water), irrigation water taken from rivers, lakes, reservoirs, wetlands, and renewable groundwater (i.e., blue water), and irrigation water abstracted from nonrenewable groundwater and nonlocal water resources. Here we quantify globally the amount of nonrenewable or nonsustainable groundwater abstraction to sustain current irrigation practice.

In tropical climates, most freshwater reservoirs, dams and lakes are prone to annual summer stratification during which bottom water layers near the bed become hypoxic (

Genetically modified crops or organisms (GMOs) are produced by the now well-known branch of molecular biology, the recombinant DNA technology or genetic engineering. The share of GM crops in world agriculture is increasing steadily. From 1996 to 2009, the cultivation of GM crops has seen an 80-fold increase. In India, 65% of the agricultural land is still dependent on monsoon. There is need for more investment in biotechnology-driven solutions to increase yields

With growing scarcity of water and deteriorating quality, water resources management in India is becoming more challenging with the passage of time. This article discusses the likely impacts in the water sector and the overarching actions that India need to initiate to overcome/manage them.

Country’s varied topography, space constraint make it an uphill task, they say. The telecom industry is finding it difficult to implement the recent directions issued by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on cutting carbon emissions. DoT had issued directions on January 4, wherein it asked the service providers to frame a Carbon Credit Policy detailing methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Multi-channel analysis of surface waves (MASW) and micrometer array measurements (MAM) have been carried out in the flood-prone areas of Selimpaşa, Kavakli, Ortakoy and Kadikoy in Turkey to understand several soil problems, especially soil amplification during earthquakes.

Heavy rains on 18 and 19 September 2010 in the Ganga watershed associated with a regional monsoon event that occurred between Myanmar and Middle East caused disastrous landslips in Uttarakhand, Indian Central Himalaya and floods in the plains of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Relation between quantum of rainfall per day and slope failure has been examined in the light of similar studies in other parts of Himalaya. The cloud movement and rainfall pattern

When looking at biomass power, we must keep in mind the alternative uses. The nexus between food, water and energy has to be viewed in detail. A country like India produces nearly 500 million tonnes of agro waste annually.
Such agro wastes are used. (Correspondence)