Glaciers and Polar Ice Caps

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December 6, 2019
India’s tryst with climate change
Dr. Aradhana Yaduvanshi, a hydro meteorologist at WOTR, talks to us about what current research on global warming shows, and possible adaptation and coping mechanisms.
Flooding in Mumbai during the monsoons (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
December 6, 2019
Holistic approach needed to clean the Ganga
A report by the India Rivers Forum highlights the need to focus further than the main stem of the Ganga river.
Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
November 6, 2019
300 million people will be vulnerable to annual coastline flooding by 2050
The number of people vulnerable to floods triggered by climate change by 2050 is triple that of previous estimates, according to a new study.
Aerial view of Chennai during floods 2015 (Image: Veethika, Wikimedia Commons, CC-SA 4.0 International)
October 24, 2019
Ice stupas, the contested water towers of Ladakh
While ice stupas have been hailed as sustainable solutions to the water problems of Ladakh’s villages, the locals think otherwise.
Ice Stupas near Phyang monastery (Image Courtsey: Sumita Roy Dutta, Wikimedia Commons)
October 2, 2019
Monsoon withdrawal delayed; more extreme weather events the new trend
News this week
Image used for representational purposes only. Image source: India Water Portal on Flickr
September 30, 2019
The Water Future Conference in Bangalore: Towards a Sustainable Water Future
The recently concluded 4 day conference in Bangalore looked at the current state of global water resource challenges & future pathways to achieve the SDGs, while ensuring equity in access to all.
Charles Vorosmarty, Chair, COMPASS Initiative, Water Future at the opening plenary on advanced water system assessments to address water security challenges of the 21st century.
Over 97 million Indians were currently being exposed to extreme floods: Report
News this week Swati Bansal posted 3 weeks 4 days ago

75 percent districts in India are hotspots of extreme climate events: Report
75 percent districts in India are hotspots of extreme climate events (Source: IWP Flickr photos))
The fast disappearing glaciers of Kashmir
The glaciers located in the Kashmir Himalayas are melting at rapid rates posing a threat to water security in the region!. How is Kashmir coping? aartikelkar posted 4 months ago

Kashmir’s glaciers are melting at frightening rates. Kolahoi glacier, the largest glacier in Kashmir Himalayas, has lost 23 percent area since 1962 and has fragmented into smaller parts!

Glaciers, frozen rivers of ice
Kolahoi glacier in Kashmir (Image Source: Irfanaru via Wikimedia Commons)
Book review: Future Earth
The book outlines how to reverse the short- and long-term effects of climate change over the next three decades. Amita Bhaduri posted 4 months 3 weeks ago
Climate change (Image: Kai Stachowiak; Public domain pictures)
"Everything’s devastated, and no one is listening to us!"
Surrounded by flood waters, and taking shelter at rooftops with a limited supply of food and drinking water, people of Bihar wait for the floods to end. Swati Bansal posted 5 months 1 week ago

"All of a sudden, water entered the house at night. Goods and cattle were submerged. There is no place to eat or drink. We have been in trouble for three days, but no one has come to help us.” The elderly Gauri Singh complains, with mixed feelings of anger, pain and helplessness. 
Floodwater enters Satjoda village of Chapra (Source: Umesh Kumar Ray)
Global infections from water poised to rise with climate change
As climate change handshakes water contamination, we pass by very much uncertain times. aartikelkar posted 8 months 3 weeks ago

Climate change triggered heat waves threaten water availability

Ninjallama rues as she remembers, " It was a terrible summer. The heat wave was killing. Three people died in my village. People with skeletal fluorosis suffered .. "

Water contamination, a growing concern (Image Source: IWP Flickr photos)
A climate change wake-up call
Climate change can lead to large-scale economic knock-on effects, says a McKinsey Global Institute report. Amita Bhaduri posted 11 months 3 weeks ago

A new McKinsey Global Institute report, ‘Climate risk and response: Physical hazards and socioeconomic impacts’, suggests that many assumptions about the pote
Heat-exposed work has produced about half of India’s GDP, and employs about 75 percent of the labor force. There will be a need to shift working hours for outdoor workers and undertake heat management efforts (Image: Ian D Keating, Flickr Commons, CC BY 2.0)
India’s tryst with climate change
Dr. Aradhana Yaduvanshi, a hydro meteorologist at WOTR, talks to us about what current research on global warming shows, and possible adaptation and coping mechanisms. aartikelkar posted 1 year 1 month ago

Global warming has given rise to unprecedented extreme events such as cyclones, floods, heatwaves and droughts in India. Why are these threats increasing?
Flooding in Mumbai during the monsoons (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Holistic approach needed to clean the Ganga
A report by the India Rivers Forum highlights the need to focus further than the main stem of the Ganga river. Amita Bhaduri posted 1 year 1 month ago

The National Mission for Cleaning Ganga was set up in 2014 and the Namami Gange programme was launched the year after, with a budget outlay of Rs. 20,000 crore. The implementation of the flagship programme was followed by the framing of a draft National River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Bill, 2019 to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament.
Distant snow clad mountains, the smaller hills and the Ganga river (Image: Srimoyee Banerjee, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)
300 million people will be vulnerable to annual coastline flooding by 2050
The number of people vulnerable to floods triggered by climate change by 2050 is triple that of previous estimates, according to a new study. Amita Bhaduri posted 1 year 2 months ago

A new research study by Climate Central, a US-based non-profit research group has projected that 300 million people could face annual coastal flooding triggered by climate change by 2050.
Aerial view of Chennai during floods 2015 (Image: Veethika, Wikimedia Commons, CC-SA 4.0 International)
Ice stupas, the contested water towers of Ladakh
While ice stupas have been hailed as sustainable solutions to the water problems of Ladakh’s villages, the locals think otherwise. aartikelkar posted 1 year 2 months ago

Ladakh, the arid Himalayan desert, is a high elevation borderland located close to the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir, in India. Water here originates from glaciers in the high altitude mountains that tower over Ladakh’s villages. Simple earthwork irrigation channels tap meltwater from streams that originate from these glaciers.
Ice Stupas near Phyang monastery (Image Courtsey: Sumita Roy Dutta, Wikimedia Commons)
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