Climate & Earth

For nearly 90% of Earth’s history, our planet’s atmosphere contained almost no oxygen, making it completely uninhabitable for humans and most modern life forms. Then, around 2.5 billion years ago, something remarkable happened: Earth’s atmosphere began to fill with oxygen in what scientists call the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). This atmospheric revolution changed our planet’s chemistry and…

In December 2024, astronomers in Chile spotted a new asteroid streaking through the sky, which they named 2024 YR4. What’s significant about this 100-meter-wide space rock is that it has a small chance of hitting Earth in 2032. Since its discovery, the asteroid’s probability of an impact with our planet has gone all over the place. At…

CHILLING new telescope photos of the “city killer” asteroid hurtling towards earth at 30,000mph have been released. The chance of the space rock smashing into Earth when it loops around in 7 years’ time is estimated at a 1-in-48 chance – or just over two per cent. The striking new images of asteroid YR4 2024 were captured…

Holding long-term global warming to two degrees Celsius — the fallback target of the Paris climate accord — is now “impossible,” according to a stark new analysis published by leading scientists. Led by renowned climatologist James Hansen, the paper appears in the journal “Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development” and concludes that Earth’s climate is more…

President Donald Trump once again withdrew the United States from the Paris climate deal on Monday, removing the world’s biggest historic emitter from global efforts to fight climate change for the second time in a decade. The move places the United States alongside Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries in the world outside the 2015…

Climate change didn’t start the wildfires that are ravaging Los Angeles County this week. But the big swings in weather patterns that have accelerated over the past two decades serve as rocket fuel that intensifies the flames and spreads the devastation. Environmental experts and scientists warn that Southern Californians will have to come to grips with hard…

Delhi AQI Today: The Union government’s Centre for Air Quality Management on Monday decided to reimpose Stage 4 curbs under GRAP in the National Capital Region. Delhi woke up to an ‘severe’ category air quality on Tuesday, with the overall AQI at 421 at around 8 am, according to the central government’s Sameer app, which provides hourly…

When it comes to climate change, a new study finds that our fear over the planet’s health may be “greatly overestimated.” For the first time, researchers have found oceans help cool global temperatures more than anyone previously thought. Specifically, sulfur gas produced by marine life emits a second compound that significantly cools the planet. The discovery will…

This year will be the world’s warmest since records began, with extraordinarily high temperatures expected to persist into at least the first few months of 2025, European Union scientists said on Monday. The data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) comes two weeks after U.N. climate talks yielded a $300-billion deal to tackle climate change,…

Vivek Menon, founder of Wildlife Trust of India and Councillor IUCN, said the jump in the number in the last few years was also because of a major push in getting trees as taxa listed in red list and the work done by many groups to red list trees Bengaluru: As many as 301 species of plants…

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicts that Delhi’s daily average AQI will remain in the ‘very poor’ category in the upcoming days due to unfavourable weather conditions. The CAQM has implemented stage two of the anti-pollution plan. With the air quality index (AQI) in Delhi worsening in the past few days, the Commission for Air Quality Management…

The death toll in Gujarat due to rain-related incidents has risen to 28, after days of incessant downpours and waterlogging have led to a flood-like situation across the state. 17,800 people have been evacuated from flood affected regions and according to Gujarat health minister Rushikesh Patel more than 5000 people were rehabilitated and over 12,000 people rescued…

A large fissure has opened on the Reykjanes peninsula 2.42 miles (3.9km) wide. Lava is already spreading over a large area. Police in Iceland have declared a state of emergency after a volcano erupted, forcing homes to be evacuated. The eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, in southwest Iceland, is the sixth outbreak since December. Iceland’s meteorological office…

The nature-based technology, biochar, could help save the planet. The work it takes to grow crops produces greenhouse gases that trap carbon in the atmosphere and would speed up the planet’s heating. New research finds biochar’s potential to eliminate large amounts of greenhouse gases could make farming more climate-friendly. Biochar is a charcoal-like porous substance made by…

Expert panel formed by state govt has warned that several pockets of the town are sinking due to man-made and natural causes. Locals say report did not factor in Tapovan tunnel. Dehradun: An expert panel set up by the Uttarakhand government has found that several pockets of Chamoli district’s Joshimath town — a gateway to the Badrinath…