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    India’s winter smog is often seen as a domestic problem, but new research shows that the toxic air choking millions is not confined by borders. Even as the government rolls out policies to control stubble burning, regulate industry and curb vehicular emissions, a significant share of the pollution drifting over Indian cities originates in neighbouring countries. Experts say that without coordinated regional action across South Asia, India’s efforts will continue to fall short. A report by the World Bank, titled Striving for Clean Air, shows that as much as 30 per cent of Punjab’s air pollution comes from Pakistan. Wind patterns carry emissions, dust and smoke across hundreds of kilometres, crossing state and national boundaries. The research also finds that around 30...

India is facing an escalating ecological threat as invasive alien plants spread through forests, grasslands, wetlands and agricultural land at unprecedented speed, according to new research. A peer-reviewed study published in Nature Sustainability this year has provided the most detailed national assessment so far, showing that invasive species are advancing across nearly 15,500 square kilometres of natural areas every year. This rapid spread is displacing native flora, degrading wildlife habitats and endangering the livelihoods of pastoral communities, with researchers warning of long-term ecological disruption. The danger is part of a wider global trend. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has identified invasive species as one ...

    New data presented in Parliament shows that road construction has driven the largest diversion of forest land in India over the past five years. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Union environment ministry reported that more than 22,000 hectares of forest have been cleared to make way for road projects since 2020. According to the ministry, a total of 22,233.44 hectares of forest area were diverted for road building, making it the biggest category of forest loss during this period. Mining projects accounted for 18,913.64 hectares, while hydropower and irrigation projects led to the diversion of 17,434.38 hectares. Power transmission lines were another major driver, requiring 13,859.31 hectares of forest clearance. For perspective, the entire Co...

India is facing an escalating ecological threat as invasive alien plants spread through forests, grasslands, wetlands and agricultural land at unprecedented speed, according to new research. A peer-reviewed study published in Nature Sustainability this year has provided the most detailed national assessment so far, showing that invasive species are advancing across nearly 15,500 square kilometres of natural areas every year. This rapid spread is displacing native flora, degrading wildlife habitats and endangering the livelihoods of pastoral communities, with researchers warning of long-term ecological disruption. The danger is part of a wider global trend. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has identified invasive species as one ...

    A fingernail-sized fish living in a shaded Amazon stream has astonished scientists with an organ that has never been recorded before. Researchers working in the Colombian Amazon have described a new species called Priocharax rex, only about 0.8 inches long, but with a strange skin “wing” on its belly that no other known fish possesses. The discovery, published in the journal Zootaxa in 2025, suggests that even miniature species continue to evolve new and complex structures rather than simply losing parts of their anatomy over time. The research team was led by George Mendes Taliaferro-Mattox, a fish biologist at the Federal University of São Carlos in Brazil. His work focuses on miniature freshwater fishes in South America and how their bodies change when they sto...

    A dangerous borer infestation is sweeping through sal forests in Madhya Pradesh’s Dindori district, putting as many as 100,000 trees at risk and triggering fears of an ecological disaster. Forest workers have begun marking thousands of damaged sal trees, and scientists warn that nearly one-third of the local sal population may already be infected. Local residents say the impact has grown rapidly this year. In Sontirath village, 35 labourers have been surveying a 119-hectare sal-dominated forest, marking every tree affected by borers. Early counts reveal more than 3,000 infected trees in just three hectares, and estimates suggest the total number of damaged trees in the area may exceed 100,000 once the survey is complete. Villagers describe a forest in distress. “T...

    A new definition of what constitutes the Aravali Hills has triggered concern among environmental experts, who warn that large portions of the ancient mountain range may lose protection and become vulnerable to mining and development. The government’s decision, recently accepted by the Supreme Court, classifies only hills with an elevation of more than 100 metres as part of the Aravalis. Specialists say this narrow criterion could “erase” much of the landscape that currently acts as a natural barrier for North India. The Aravalis stretch roughly 700 kilometres, forming one of the oldest mountain systems in the world and playing a crucial role in blocking desert dust, recharging groundwater and providing biodiversity corridors. Environmental scientists say that limitin...

    A farm in Anna Paulowna in the Netherlands is pioneering new methods to conserve fresh water and reduce agricultural pollution through an ambitious project known as Zoetwaterboeren. At the Hoeve Lotmeer farm, experts have installed and tested a circular water system as well as a drainage water purification system designed to protect crops during dry periods and improve local water quality. The project is a joint effort involving Wageningen University and Research, research centre Vertify, Deltares, and installation specialist Pipelife, working in close cooperation with local arable farmer Klaas Schenk. Storing winter water below ground for use in dry seasons The circular system captures fresh drainage water from the fields, stores it underground during winter, ...

    Around seven thousand years ago, two women were buried in a rocky shelter in what is now southwest Libya. Their remains have helped scientists recover the first ancient human genomes from the central Sahara, opening a window into a time when this desert was lush, green, and filled with lakes. The international research team found that these women belonged to a long isolated North African lineage that no longer exists in pure form today. Their DNA is now helping redraw the history of human movement across a much wetter Sahara. The study focuses on Takarkori, a rock shelter in the Tadrart Acacus Mountains. During the African Humid Period, roughly fourteen thousand five hundred to five thousand years ago, northern Africa had fertile grasslands, wetlands, and small lakes...

    Even as Delhi dominates attention for hazardous smog, Odisha is quietly entering its own air pollution crisis. Recent data from the Central Pollution Control Board shows a sharp rise in particulate matter, especially PM 2.5, across several major cities and industrial belts in the state. Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Angul and Talcher are the worst affected, while pollution levels have also climbed in Balasore, Barbil, Rourkela, Rairangpur and Keonjhar. The air quality index categorises pollution levels between good and severe, with values above four hundred marked as dangerous. Until October, most urban centres in Odisha recorded safe or satisfactory levels of air quality. However, from November onwards, conditions began deteriorating sharply. In Bhubaneswar, air quality rem...