-Down to Earth West Bengal, along with Bangladesh, received two million on-ground lightning bolts The region of West Bengal in India and Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable in South Asia to lethal lightning strikes, according to a recent report. West Bengal received the highest number of lightning strikes per square kilometer in 2020, followed by Jharkhand, according to South Asia lightning Report ,2020 by Earth Networks, a global weather intelligence agency. The company’s...

-Down to Earth The disease has been on India’s radar since 2006; need to strengthen disease surveillance, train workforce and build robust laboratories    The death of an 11-year-old boy from Haryana at Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences due to Avian influenza — the first such fatality in the country — has stressed the need to respond to zoonotic diseases in a timely manner.  Experts have flagged the emergence and re-emergence of...

-Down to Earth At least 40 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, Oceania and Africa have been hit by the extreme natural disasters  Extreme weather events have hit several parts of the world in the last few weeks: Europe and Asia have been ravaged by floods, North America by heat wave and Africa by drought. At least 40 countries in Europe, North America, Asia, Oceania and Africa have been hit by the devastating...

-Down to Earth Shoreline armouring can increase damages by $723 million for a single flood event Sea-level rise due to climate change has threatened millions of lives and exacerbated infrastructure costs in building embankments and seawalls. These flood-protection constructions, however, heighten the risks of flooding and cost greater financial damages, according to a new report. "Protection of individual shoreline segments (5 to 75 kilometres) can increase flooding in other areas by as much...

-Down to Earth It is critical for us to adopt the circular water management model of treating and rejuvenating wastewater at source, along with efficient water management strategies to reduce water demand India’s agricultural exports registered a growth of 17.34 per cent, garnering $41.25 billion in foreign exchange for 2020-21 despite the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In rupee terms, this is equivalent to Rs 3.05 lakh crore. For a government faced...