December 2025 - Page 4 of 18

Dec252025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Carob Plant Emerges as a Potential Lifeline for Chocolate under Climate Stress

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As climate change and crop diseases tighten their grip on global cocoa supplies, scientists are exploring unexpected alternatives to protect the future of chocolate. Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have found that carob, a hardy and underused plant, could be transformed into a viable and sustainable substitute for cocoa through innovative enzyme-based techniques. Cocoa production depends heavily on the Theobroma cacao tree, which grows only in narrow climatic conditions and is increasingly vulnerable to rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and disease outbreaks. These pressures have prompted scientists to look beyond traditional cocoa cultivation. Carob, derived from the tree Ceratonia siliqua, has emerged as a promising candidate due to it...

Dec252025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Nearly Half of India PM2.5 Is Formed in the Air, Not Emitted Directly, CREA Study Finds

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A significant share of India’s deadly PM2.5 pollution is not released directly from chimneys or vehicle exhausts but is chemically formed in the atmosphere from precursor gases, a new analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air has revealed. The findings challenge the country’s current air pollution control strategies, which largely focus on visible and primary emission sources. According to the assessment, up to 42 per cent of India’s PM2.5 burden consists of secondary particulate matter, with ammonium sulphate emerging as the dominant component. This pollutant forms in the atmosphere when sulphur dioxide reacts with ammonia and other compounds, highlighting the crucial role of gaseous emissions rather than direct particle release. India currently...

Dec252025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Why the Aravallis Are Delhi’s Last Natural Defence Against the Advancing Thar Desert

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As debate intensifies over the Supreme Court’s December 20, 2025 verdict on the Aravalli hill range, environmental experts have warned that redefining the ancient landscape could weaken a critical natural shield protecting Delhi and large parts of the fertile Indo-Gangetic Plain from the expanding influence of the Thar Desert. The Aravallis, among the oldest hill ranges on Earth, were formed through nearly two billion years of tectonic activity and geological upheaval. Despite enduring lava flows, submergence, uplift and erosion over geological time, the range has survived as a vital ecological and climatic barrier. However, over the last four decades, illegal mining, deforestation and real estate expansion have severely degraded the hills, leaving them vulnerable to...

Dec252025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Plastic Pollution Can’t Wait for Global Consensus: Scientists Urge Governments to Act Now

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Scientists have warned governments against delaying action on plastic pollution, stressing that waiting for a binding Global Plastics Treaty could cost the world several more years of environmental damage while plastic waste continues to grow unchecked. In a new article published in Nature Reviews: Earth & Environment Antaya March, director of the Global Plastics Policy Centre at the University of Portsmouth in the United Kingdom, argued that although international negotiations remain stalled, governments already have the policy tools needed to confront the plastics crisis and should use them immediately. The most recent negotiations under the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee, known as INC-5.2, ended without agreement in August. As talks ...

Dec252025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Strong Winds Bring Relief as Delhi AQI improves to ‘very poor’, fog Dense

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Strong surface winds brought temporary relief to Delhi on Wednesday morning as air pollution levels showed a slight improvement, though air quality remained firmly in the ‘very poor’ category. According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board, the air quality index stood at 342 at 8 am. Despite the marginal improvement, pollution levels had been far worse the previous evening. On Tuesday night, Delhi recorded a 24-hour average AQI of 412, placing it in the ‘severe’ category and marking the fourth severe air day this month. Forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System indicate that the relief is likely to be short-lived. The system has predicted that air quality will remain in the ‘very poor’ category through Wednesday and continue at similar levels u...

Dec252025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Scientists uncover Bizarre Deep Sea phenomenon 1,300 Metres Below Pacific Active volcano

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Scientists exploring the depths of the Pacific Ocean have uncovered a rare and bizarre geological phenomenon that is challenging long-held assumptions about how Earth’s ocean floor works. More than 1,300 metres beneath the surface, near an active volcanic zone off Papua New Guinea, researchers discovered a deep-sea site where two normally incompatible geological systems are operating side by side. The discovery was made during a deep-sea expedition in mid-2023, when scientists used a robotic submersible to explore the seafloor near Lihir Island. The team found a location where superheated hydrothermal vents and cooler methane-rich hydrocarbon seeps exist within just centimetres of each other, creating a chemical and biological environment never documented before in t...

Dec252025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Women in Bihar Move From Beneficiaries to Builders of Rural Value Chains, Study Finds

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Women farmers in Bihar are no longer just participants in development programmes but are increasingly shaping and leading rural value chains, a new long-term study has found. The research highlights a shift in women’s roles from beneficiaries of support schemes to co-creators of enterprises, governance systems and local innovations across the state’s agrarian economy. The seven-year Personal Transformation Index (PTI) study tracked more than 1,200 rural women in northern Bihar and assessed changes that go beyond income growth. Developed jointly by international livestock non-profit Heifer International, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Old Dominion University, the PTI measures dimensions such as confidence, leadership, agency and social capital to understand deeper, long-la...

Dec252025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Karnataka Highway Tragedy Five Killed, Over 20 Injured as Bengaluru–Gokarna Bus Catches Fire

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At least five people lost their lives and more than twenty others were injured after a private sleeper bus travelling from Bengaluru to Gokarna caught fire following a collision with a container truck on National Highway-48 in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district late Thursday night. The accident occurred around midnight near an HP petrol pump at Javanagondanahalli village when the bus rammed into a container truck coming from the opposite direction. Police officials said the collision was likely caused by the truck driver’s negligence. The impact was so severe that the bus burst into flames within minutes, trapping several passengers inside. Four passengers were burnt alive inside the bus, while the container truck driver also died after being caught in the fire. Superintendent of Polic...

Dec242025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Grassroots forest protection revives Nepal’s degraded hills where planting drives fall short

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In the forested slopes of Muse Danda in central Nepal, 75-year-old Hasta Bahadur Sathighare Magar still remembers when the land above his village looked lifeless. Dust storms swept across barren hills as cattle roamed freely, leaving little behind but eroded soil. Today, those same slopes are shaded by sal, sisau, jamun and bakaino trees, a transformation brought not by large-scale planting campaigns but by local people simply protecting the land and letting nature heal itself. The revival of Muse Danda Community Forest in Nawalpur district is part of a growing body of evidence from Nepal showing that degraded land can regenerate naturally when communities enforce basic conservation rules. By banning open livestock grazing, restricting access, fining illegal logging ...

Dec242025 by Editor DeskNo Comments

Delhi to Deploy 32 High-capacity machines to Clean Yamuna Drains

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The Delhi government has approved the deployment of 32 high-capacity specialised machines to stop untreated waste from entering the Yamuna, marking a significant step in the city’s long-running effort to reduce pollution in the river. Officials said all machines will be made operational between January and March, with mechanical cleaning work scheduled to begin at the Najafgarh drain, identified as the largest contributor of pollution to the Yamuna. The initiative focuses on intercepting pollution at its source through large-scale mechanical desilting and the removal of sludge, solid waste and aquatic weeds from major drains before they discharge into the river. Cleaning operations will begin with the Najafgarh drain and will later be extended to other identified dra...