Month: February 2026

    Rain once a rare occurrence on the frozen expanse of Antarctica, is becoming more frequent particularly along the Antarctic Peninsula and scientists warn it could fundamentally reshape the region’s glaciers, ecosystems and research infrastructure. According to new research led by Bethan Davies of Newcastle University, the peninsula already the fastest-warming part of the continent is likely to see more precipitation falling as rain rather than snow this century under all greenhouse gas emission scenarios. The findings suggest that as temperatures increasingly rise above 0°C, rainfall will accelerate surface melt, destabilise ice shelves and place growing stress on wildlife. Extreme events are already offering a preview of what lies ahead. In February 2020, temperat...

    In the dense forests of the Western Ghats and beyond, small pools of rainwater collected inside tree hollows are quietly sustaining entire ecosystems. An international study published in Ecology Letters has revealed that these water-filled cavities often described as “islands in the sky” host complex aquatic micro-communities of insects and larvae. Though modest in size, they play a disproportionately large role in maintaining forest health. Researchers found that these miniature habitats support intricate food webs that contribute to nutrient cycling and energy flow across forests. Their survival, however, depends on more than just rainfall or water quality. Forest connectivity is critical. When landscapes become fragmented, species struggle to disperse between t...

Climate change has added an average of 30 extra days of harmful heat each year to India’s coffee-growing regions between 2021 and 2025, according to new analysis by Climate Central. During this period, India recorded roughly 118 days annually with temperatures above 30°C the threshold at which coffee plants begin to suffer. Of those, about 30 days each year were directly attributable to climate change, based on modelling that compared today’s carbon-polluted world with a scenario without human-driven emissions. India produces about 3.5% of the world’s coffee, much of it cultivated across the Western Ghats. The state-level impacts are stark. Kerala saw an annual average of 65 additional extreme-heat days linked to climate change. Tamil Nadu experienced 43 extra days, while Karnataka t...

    Land-use change and rising elevation are reshaping spider communities in the north-western Indian Himalayas, with consequences that could ripple across fragile mountain ecosystems, according to new research published in Insect Conservation and Diversity. Scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India examined spider assemblages across forests, agricultural lands and human-dominated areas along an elevational gradient from 1,500 to 4,500 metres in Himachal Pradesh. Their findings suggest that biodiversity in the Himalayas may be shifting toward functional regimes with lower resilience. Unlike simple species counts, the study focused on functional diversity the range of ecological roles species perform. Spiders are both predators and prey, consuming vast numbers of...

Forests have long been credited with reducing flood risk. But when it comes to the largest and most destructive floods, many scientists have argued that trees make little difference. A new study from the University of British Columbia suggests that conclusion may be based on flawed measurements rather than flawed forests. Published in the journal Ambio, the research challenges the widely used “before-and-after” method of comparing single flood peaks following logging, wildfire, or land-use change. According to the authors, floods are shaped by complex and variable conditions including soil moisture, snowpack, and storm intensity making simple peak-to-peak comparisons unreliable. Instead, the team argues that flood risk should be evaluated probabilistically. In other words, rather tha...

    As climate-driven storms, floods and water shocks intensify across Southeast Asia, adaptation and resilience are emerging not only as urgent necessities but as major economic opportunities, according to a new analysis by the World Economic Forum (WEF). In a commentary published on PreventionWeb, authors Anne Christianson and Ying Jie Tan argue that climate adaptation and resilience could represent a trillion-dollar annual investment opportunity globally by 2050. Yet, nearly 90 per cent of current adaptation finance still comes from public sources, highlighting a significant gap in private-sector participation. The warning comes amid a string of extreme weather events in the region. During the 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Brazil, Typhoon...

    Devastating rainfall and flood-related incidents across Jammu and Kashmir in 2025 claimed 152 lives, left 179 people injured and caused extensive damage to homes, livestock and infrastructure, according to official data. Figures released by the Disaster Management, Relief, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Department (DMRRRD) show that Jammu division bore the brunt of the calamity, accounting for 151 of the fatalities, while one death was reported from the Kashmir Valley. Among the most tragic incidents were separate cloudburst and landslide events in August that together killed around 100 pilgrims. In Kishtwar district, a cloudburst in Chisoti village on August 14 claimed 63 lives and left several injured, with 30 people initially reported missing. Days later, on...

    The Uttarakhand government has proposed developing helipads at the portals of key mountain tunnels to bolster disaster response infrastructure in the Himalayan state, where road connectivity is often disrupted by landslides and extreme weather. The plan, put forward by the Uttarakhand Civil Aviation Development Authority (UCADA), aims to use strategically located tunnel entrances as rapid-response hubs for helicopter-based rescue and relief operations. UCADA Chief Executive Officer Ashish Chauhan said air services are critical in emergencies in mountainous terrain. “Road routes in hilly areas are often blocked or time-consuming. In such situations, helicopter services can be the most effective means of delivering rapid relief,” he said, adding that helipads at tun...

    A groundbreaking artificial intelligence system is transforming ocean forecasting in the Mediterranean, generating detailed 15-day predictions in just seconds while significantly reducing computational costs. Developed by researchers at the Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) in collaboration with the University of Helsinki, the new high-resolution forecasting system, known as SeaCast, leverages AI to deliver faster and more energy-efficient forecasts than traditional physics-based models. The research describing the system has been published in Scientific Reports. A New Benchmark in Regional Ocean Forecasting SeaCast stands out from existing global AI forecasting models by integrating both oceanic and atmospheric variables, capturing the ...