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The Indus Waters Treaty, a Cold War-era landmark signed in 1960, is facing an unprecedented crisis as climate change reshapes the hydrology of South Asia. In December 2025, Pakistan raised urgent alarms regarding "unusual and abrupt variations" in the flow of the Chenab River, suggesting that sudden changes in discharge patterns were impacting downstream water security. These allegations have resurfaced at a particularly volatile time, as the treaty currently stands in abeyance following the Pahalgam terror attacks in April 2025. Experts argue that the framework, which was designed for a world of predictable river flows, is ill-equipped to handle a future defined by glacial melt and erratic weather. A central concern for researchers is the rapid warming of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan re...

    The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has introduced a transformative yet controversial amendment to India's forest conservation guidelines that fundamentally alters how forest land can be used by private and government entities. Issued on January 2, 2026, the new directive reclassifies commercial plantations as a "forestry activity," effectively exempting developers from paying the Net Present Value (NPV) or undertaking mandatory compensatory afforestation. This move, which applies to the Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, has drawn sharp criticism from environmentalists who argue that it removes the last financial and legal safeguards protecting India's natural ecosystems from industrial exploitation. The government defends the policy ...

    Before dawn settled over the open plains and swamps of Amboseli National Park, an unusual stillness spread across the landscape where elephants usually gather at first light. Kenya Wildlife Service rangers stood watch through the night beside a lone, weakening bull elephant whose immense body showed the strain of age and exhaustion. At 3:32 am on January 3, 2026, Craig, one of Africa’s last legendary super tuskers, lay down for the final time and did not rise again. Craig was 54 years old, far older than most wild bull elephants, and his passing marked more than the loss of an individual animal. With tusks that nearly touched the ground and weighed around 45 kilograms each, he represented a vanishing genetic lineage that once defined Africa’s elephant populations. Ve...

While the world celebrated the arrival of 2026, hundreds of families in Bhubaneswar’s Salia Sahi slum one of the city's largest informal settlements spent their nights under the open sky. In a massive eviction drive carried out last November, municipal authorities demolished over 550 homes to make way for a road project intended to ease traffic congestion. However, this pursuit of urban infrastructure has come at a staggering human cost, raising urgent questions about fundamental rights, constitutional protections, and the ethics of urban governance. The displacement in Salia Sahi was carried out without prior written notice, household surveys, or verification, leaving residents many of whom are Scheduled Tribe families residing there for decades with no opportunity for consultation....

New research led by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute suggests that restoring overfished coral reef ecosystems could be a powerful weapon in the global fight against hunger. The study, recently published in the journal PNAS, reveals that healthy coral reefs have the potential to produce nearly 50% more sustainable fish yield than they currently do under heavy fishing pressure. For a world with a population of 8.3 billion people, this restoration could provide millions of extra meals each year, specifically in regions where nutrient deficiencies are most severe. Researchers analyzed data from coral reef territories across the globe, including countries like Indonesia, Panama, Kenya, and the Philippines. The study found that many reef fish populations are currently producing ...

As Indian cities transform into literal heat chambers, a silent crisis is unfolding in the sky. Urban India is warming at an alarming rate, and the once-vibrant morning choruses in built-up neighborhoods are being replaced by an eerie silence. Scientists and wildlife rescuers warn that the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is making cities increasingly uninhabitable for many bird species, pushing the "creatures of the sky" to the brink of survival. The Urban Heat Island Phenomenon An Urban Heat Island occurs when vast expanses of concrete, asphalt, and steel absorb solar radiation during the day and release it slowly at night. This keeps urban centers several degrees warmer than their rural surroundings. In Indian metros like Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, UHI intensity common...

    A new approach to ecological restoration is showing how technology and nature can work together to fight climate change at scale. In a recent TED Talk, technologist and climate advocate Tom Chi revealed that just four people, using drones and mangrove seeds, can plant more than 100,000 mangrove trees in a single day a feat that would have been unimaginable using traditional methods. According to Chi, the drone-based planting process is not only fast but also remarkably effective. Around 90% of the seeds dispersed by drones successfully germinate, and nearly 85% grow into established mangrove plants. These figures challenge the assumption that large-scale ecological restoration must be slow, expensive, and labour-intensive. Mangrove forests are among the most power...

    Deep beneath South Africa’s famous gold fields, scientists have uncovered evidence of a rare and precious gas that has been quietly building up for nearly three billion years. Helium, a non-renewable element critical for medical imaging and scientific research, is trapped inside some of the oldest rocks on Earth in the Witwatersrand Basin. The discovery comes from research led by Fin Stuart of the University of Glasgow’s Centre for Isotope Sciences. His team has been studying how helium forms deep underground, how it moves through rock, and how it can survive intact for immense geological periods. Their findings suggest that ancient rocks beneath the basin have acted like a natural vault, holding helium since long before complex life appeared on Earth. At the cent...

    Gurgaon’s air quality showed a brief improvement on Monday after slipping into the “very poor” category earlier in the week, but experts have warned that the relief may be short-lived. According to official data, the city recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 240, placing it in the “poor” category. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app shows that Gurgaon had registered an AQI of 333 on January 4 and 244 on January 3, while the air quality was relatively better on January 2 with an AQI of 187. The latest readings indicate a marginal improvement, though pollution levels remain a cause for concern. Among the city’s four monitoring stations, Sector 51 and Vikas Sadan recorded AQI levels of 288 and 254 respectively, both falling in the “poor” cate...

    Africa is losing its forests at an alarming pace, and agriculture-driven deforestation has emerged as the biggest reason behind this crisis. According to the State of Food and Agriculture report released last month, sub-Saharan Africa lost nearly 72 million hectares of forest between 2001 and 2023 an area roughly equal to the size of Kenya. As the continent struggles to feed its rapidly growing population, expanding farmland has increasingly come at the cost of its remaining wild landscapes. At the heart of the problem lies Africa’s persistently low crop yields, which are the lowest in the world. On average, African farms produce only about half the yield per hectare seen in India and nearly one-fifth of what farms in the United States achieve. These low productivity...