Ecology and Environment

Sea level rise and decrease are ancient phenomena related to the geologic glacial/interglacial cycles. But since the 19th century and the industrial revolution, an acceleration of sea level rise has been observed through tide gauge measurements and satellite altimetry.

As observed by the United Nations Environment Program (GRID-Arendal) ice and snow are major components of the climate system. That is why human induced climate change can be first observed in Polar Regions where most of Earth's snow and ice are concentrated. In these areas global warming induces the progressive melting of ice and snow.

Altered frequencies and intensities of extreme weather, together with sea level rise, are expected to have mostly adverse effects on natural and human systems.

The earth is currently warming rapidly. And this warming is bringing about massive changes. Our glaciers are melting rapidly. The artic ice-shelf is breaking apart into pieces and threatens to modify the salinity of the oceans.

Current Science's paper on improvements made in greenhouse gases (GHG) inventory estimation

In the debate over global warming, many a time, there is an attempt to indicate that human contribution to the Greenhouse effect is on a very minuscule scale and is negligible when compared to the scale at which GHGs as a whole work.

A number of films on climate change are available on the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) store. These include:

The UN Panel on Climate Change is informing the world on what damage global warming can cause. But a recent study shows how temperature changes have already hit the global economy and Indian agriculture is suffering the brunt of it.

The document informs that traditionally Indians worshipped both water and rain as “Jala” and “Varuna”. Even rivers were worshipped. Till 3000 B.C., RWH happened without human effort as rain got collected in rivers and natural depressions. Civilizations flourished on river banks all over the world Indus valley civilization in India.

India is gifted with heterogeneous landforms and variety of climatic conditions such as the lofty mountains, the raverine deltas, high altitude forests, peninsular plateaus, variety of geological formations endowed with temperature varying from arctic cold to equatorial hot, and rainfall from extreme aridity with a few cms (<10 cm) to pre humid with world's maxim