DownToEarth The Aral Sea, the world’s fourth-largest lake until the early 1960s, dried up after that decade in Soviet Central Asia and became a byword for environmental disaster later, almost on the lines of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Now, a new study has found that the desert which emerged due to the drying up of the lake, has made Central Asia a much dustier place. Not only is the dust more hazardous...

-Scroll.in In theory, natural gas is 'cleaner' than coal, but while producing the gas a certain amount of methane ( a greenhouse gas) leaks into the atmosphere. RK Singh, the Union Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy, said on December 5 that natural gas is just as responsible as coal for global warming, if not more. “In COP26 they added a line, they wanted to add… phase-out of coal. But thereafter India...

-Scroll.in Complex livestock production systems in countries like India safeguard entire economies, societies and ecosystems. Amid growing calls to “reboot food” and shift to plant-based and lab-grown diets, world leaders failed to address the climate and livestock debate at COP27 – the United Nations 27th Climate Conference held in Egypt from November 6-20. Drawing from the report “Are livestock always bad for the planet?”, published by the Pastoralism, Uncertainty and Resilience or PASTRES...

-The Hindu Is the use of nuclear power and hydrogen critical for India to transition to a carbon neutral economy? Besides the use of electric vehicles, what are some of the other plans on the anvil to help the country achieve net zero by 2070?   The Climate Change Conference (COP27) at Sharm el-Sheikh was to end on Friday but the deadline was extended to the weekend because there were divisions among member...

-Livemint.com Just as much of today’s world is locked into fossil-fuel dependence, Indian farmers are in a trap of water-guzzling crop production that is not environmentally sustainable. The annual United Nations climate conference underway in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, has entire days devoted to two crucial sectors that directly impact the lives of millions in India: agriculture and water. At a time of stagnant incomes and groundwater depletion, we must enable farmers to...