Month: May 2026

    India forest surveillance capabilities have entered a new technological era with the operational rollout of the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite NISAR. Yet experts warn that despite access to near real time environmental data, the country institutional response to forest degradation fires and carbon loss remains alarmingly slow. The issue has once again come into focus after recurring forest fires in Odisha Similipal Tiger Reserve earlier this year, even as advanced satellite systems successfully detected thermal anomalies before they were spotted on the ground. NISAR declared operational in November 2025 after more than a decade of development, is capable of scanning nearly every forested patch in India every 12 days. The satellite can penetrate cloud...

Pre monsoon activity has intensified across southern India, and weather experts say the southwest monsoon remains on track for a timely arrival over Kerala around June 1. Fresh signals from Australia and shifting atmospheric patterns across the Indian Ocean are strengthening confidence in the seasonal forecast. Thunderstorms and heavy rainfall have already been reported in parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The India Meteorological Department has forecast continued rain and thunderstorm activity across the southern peninsula over the coming week, indicating the gradual build up of monsoon conditions. Weather systems across northern and eastern India are also showing signs of seasonal transition, with fluctuating temperatures, lightning, hails...

    India water storage situation is showing signs of increasing stress, with reservoir levels in several states falling below critical levels ahead of the monsoon season. According to the latest weekly bulletin released by the Central Water Commission on April 30, water storage in 166 monitored reservoirs has dropped to 38.72 per cent of total capacity, down from 44.71 per cent recorded earlier in April. The decline has raised concern across multiple regions, particularly in eastern, northeastern and southern India, where several reservoirs and river basins are now operating below normal levels. The Central Water Commission monitors 166 reservoirs across the country including 20 linked to hydropower projects. Together these reservoirs have a live storage capacity of ...

    The critically endangered Timor green pigeon is rapidly disappearing from the wild with researchers warning that the species could face extinction within years unless urgent conservation action is taken. A new long term study based on more than two decades of field research has revealed that only a few hundred birds may now remain across Timor Island and nearby islands in Southeast Asia. Scientists say the species has already become functionally extinct in parts of Indonesia leaving eastern Timor Leste as its final stronghold. The Timor green pigeon is found only on Timor and a handful of nearby islands including Rote, Semau, Atauro and Jaco. The bird depends on lowland forests and does not migrate, making it especially vulnerable to habitat loss and hunting press...

    Researchers have detected microplastics in frog tadpoles and their natural pond habitats in the Amazon Rainforest for the first time, highlighting the growing spread of plastic pollution across one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems. The study was conducted by ecologist Fabrielle Barbosa de Araújo and researchers from the Federal University of Pará in Brazil. The team collected water samples and tadpoles from five temporary rainwater ponds located in Gunma Ecological Park in Pará state during April 2025. The ponds serve as important breeding and larval development sites for amphibians in the Amazon region. Researchers examined 100 tadpoles from each pond belonging to the Venezuela snouted treefrog, a species commonly found across forests and urban enviro...

India recycled nearly 3 million metric tonnes of tyres during the financial year 2024-25, but weak monitoring systems, poor product standards and limited industrial demand continue to slow the growth of the country’s tyre recycling sector. To address these challenges, NITI Aayog has proposed a series of reforms aimed at improving the quality, traceability and commercial value of recycled tyre products. The recommendations were discussed during the national conference “Paryavaran NITI Manthan” held in New Delhi on May 4, 2026. The event was organised by NITI Aayog in partnership with the Material Recycling Association of India. Experts at the conference said India tyre recycling industry remains heavily fragmented despite handling massive volumes of waste tyres. Of the 3 million metri...

    India’s new plastic waste management rules now allow up to 60 per cent recycled plastic content in rigid food packaging, a move that experts say could reduce plastic waste but will require strict safety checks, better recycling systems and stronger industry coordination. Scientists and recyclers in Bengaluru believe the target is ambitious but achievable if the country improves the way plastic waste is collected, cleaned and processed. Suryasarathi Bose, professor of Materials Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, explained that rigid packaging includes food containers commonly used by delivery platforms such as Swiggy and Zomato. According to him, the biggest concern is food safety. He said recycled plastic used for food packaging must p...

    Deep beneath the waters of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered a living structure so vast and so old that it challenges everything we understand about resilience in marine life. Hidden near the remote Mariana Islands, a massive coral colony has been found to be over 2,000 years old, making it older than the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Stretching more than 100 feet in height and nearly 200 feet across, the coral covers an area equivalent to three basketball courts placed side by side. Identified as Porites rus it is now considered the largest coral colony of its kind ever recorded, surpassing previous discoveries by a significant margin. What makes this discovery even more unusual is its location. The coral thrives inside the caldera of an active u...

    Chennai | May 2026 In a significant breakthrough for tackling plastic pollution, researchers in Chennai have identified a naturally occurring freshwater microalgae capable of breaking down plastic waste in polluted water bodies within just three months. A study conducted by the Centre for Advanced Studies in Botany at the University of Madras found that a species called Uronema trentonense isolated from plastic waste in Rajakilpakkam Lake, can degrade up to 27 percent of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and 21 percent of low density polyethylene (LDPE) over a 12 week period under controlled laboratory conditions. HDPE and LDPE are among the most widely used plastics in everyday life, commonly found in bottles packaging materials and household items, making the ...

Bhubaneswar, May 8: One of India’s most pristine wildlife habitats is now showing signs of an invisible threat. A new scientific study has found microplastics across all sampled sites in Odisha Bhitarkanika mangrove ecosystem raising concerns about long term ecological damage in the protected sanctuary. The research published in Water, Air, & Soil Pollution detected microplastics at all 20 locations tested along the Brahmani river, both inside and around the sanctuary. Concentrations reached as high as 50.4 particles per kilogram of dry sediment, with fibres accounting for nearly 89 per cent of the total. Hidden crisis in a thriving ecosystem Bhitarkanika India’s second largest mangrove forest is known for its rich biodiversity, including saltwater crocodiles, migratory birds,...