Tag: Environment

A team of scientists has, for the first time in India, identified and genetically characterised a virus that often causes rapid death in captive psittacine birds, raising concerns about the health of exotic pets and conservation of threatened parrot species. Psittacine, which means relating to or resembling a parrot, describes the bird family Psittacidae and...

A massive decline in bovine milk production in India, especially among buffaloes in the trans-Gangetic plains of northwestern India — one of the country’s biggest sources of milk — has now been attributed to climate change. The phenomenon has a profound impact on the milk industry that caters to consumers every day. While climate change significantly undermines livestock...

At the Bonn climate talks in Germany on June 8-18, alongside the usual laundry list of contested themes like climate finance, tipping points became an unexpected source of debate and controversy. According to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, India urged care and clarity in using terms like “tipping points”, which it said would present challenges around...

More than a thousand varieties of mangoes exist in India, the popular ones being Banganapalli, Dassheri, Alphonso, Badaami, Imaam Pasandh, and Mulgoa. There is even a “Lalbagh” variety in Bengaluru. Many of us associate the fruit with a summer childhood memory, of eating it with our bare hands, the mango juice dripping on our clothes....

In the mines of Mongbwalu, the epicentre of an Ebola outbreak in the northeastern Democratic Republic Congo, gold prospectors have no choice but to overcome their fear of the virus and carry on their backbreaking work. “Ebola is real and it scares us. But if I stay at home, what are my children going to...

Birds fly in flocks, fish swim in schools. What bonds them together, without dispersal or collision? Mathematicians from New York University (NYU) explained the method to the madness: the animals move in tandem, like an orchestra with a maestro leading them. A bird’s flapping wings, for instance, produces “vortex wakes” (or travelling waves) with each...

A United Nations (UN) body that regulates deep international waters is preparing to elect its next leader, a crucial position as it faces pressure to either ban, approve or place a moratorium on seabed mining. The upcoming election comes as the Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority (ISA) ended a two-week session on July 26 without reaching...

While the world’s coffee drinkers favour Arabica or Robusta, a newly identified hybrid called Coffea x libex (the X denotes its hybrid status) — or just Libex — could be their brew of choice in future. The world drinks roughly 17,000 tonnes of Arabica and 10,000 tonnes of Robusta beans (pre-roasting) every day. Together, they...

In response to a new heatwave alert across Europe, France has partially banned the consumption of alcohol. Why? The restriction is a public health measure as part of reducing heat-related illnesses. Alcohol affects the body in many ways that become more dangerous if the person is also exposed to extreme heat. It causes the body...

India’s agriculture faces a serious paradox: a large amount of biomass that could improve soil health is instead being burned. This threatens soil health and food security. Punjab and Haryana burn more than 20 million tonnes of paddy straw in their open fields every year. This is due to the short post-harvest periods and a...