Oceans and Coasts

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/topics/oceans-and-coasts

Featured Articles
June 7, 2024 Scientists question effectiveness of nature-based CO2 removal using the ocean
Ocean ecosystem (Image: PxHere, CC0 Public Domain)
April 24, 2023 The economic viability of solar desalination methods is the primary obstacle
The challenge is of ascertaining how renewable energy sources can be utilized to operate a desalination system (Image: Vmenkov, Wikimedia Commons)
April 11, 2023 Cultural adaptations to tropical cyclone warnings and impacts are crucial steps in limiting losses
A woman searching for her utensils in debris of her house which collapsed after Cyclone Aila (Image: Anil Gulati, Wikimedia Commons)
August 15, 2022 The impacts as perceived by the community
Catching fish from rivers, lakes and rivulets have good economic value in surroundings markets (Image: Wikimedia Commons)
July 29, 2022 New study from the University of East Anglia challenges the widely held view that restoring areas such as mangroves, saltmarsh and seagrass can remove large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere
Mediterranean seagrass (Image: David Luquet, CNRS-Sorbonne University)
June 22, 2021 Policy matters this fortnight
Yamuna flows under (Image source: IWP Flickr photos)
Groundwater extraction rampant in four states
News this week Posted on 18 Apr, 2017 12:04 PM

Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana vulnerable to severe water scarcity

A well in Rajasthan (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Mumbai beaches are world's most polluted: Study
News this week Posted on 10 Apr, 2017 08:14 PM

Marine litter is heavy along Mumbai’s beaches: Study

Mumbai coast (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Bottled water MRPs to remain the same everywhere
Policy matters this week Posted on 14 Mar, 2017 10:19 AM

No difference in MRPs of bottled water at different places

Mineral water bottles (Source: Pixabay.com)
In harm’s way: Pulicat lagoon
Keeping Pulicat lagoon healthy is paramount to the health of the Chennai’s ecosystem. What is happening instead is its slow degradation. Posted on 06 Mar, 2017 03:34 PM

Along the east coast of India, five massive wetlands--starting from Point Calimere (Kodiakarai) and Pulicat in Tamil Nadu, the Krishna-Godavari basin in Andhra, Chilika in Odisha and Sundarbans in West Bengal--provide the necessary moisture for monsoon winds to precipitate.

Pulicat lagoon is the second largest brackish water body in the country after Odisha's Chilika lake. (Image: Seetha Gopalakrishnan, IWP)
Chennai coast chokes on oil
Lack of preparedness by government authorities in dealing with the massive oil spill on the Chennai coast has transformed it into one of the worst crises on the coast. Posted on 06 Feb, 2017 12:05 PM

Disaster struck two nautical miles off Ennore’s Kamarajar port just before dawn on January 28 when two cargo ships--LPG tanker BW Maple bearing the flag of the UK’s Isle of Man and MT Dawn Kanchipuram loaded to the brim with petroleum oil and lubricants--collided due to poor inter-vessel communicatio

Oil sludge being manually removed from the rocky coast. (Image courtesy: The Indian Express)
The sea mouths crisis
The opening of sea mouths in the Chilika is increasing the salinity of the lake, affecting the fish population and the livelihood of the fishing communities. Posted on 06 Jan, 2017 11:21 PM

Lingaraj Jena is a worried man. At 86, he is one of the older fishermen in Berhampura village, an island on the Chilika lake in Odisha. Though he no longer goes for fishing due to old age, he is worried about the opening of new sea mouths; he knows it is not good news for the fishing communities he is a part of that depend on the Chilika for their livelihood.

A view of the Chilika in the evening.
Soon a single tribunal for all inter-state river disputes
Policy matters this week Posted on 19 Dec, 2016 12:45 PM

Government decides to create a permanent tribunal for all inter-state river disputes

Cauvery river in Karnataka (Source: IWP Flickr photos)
Cyclone Vardah hits TN
News this week Posted on 13 Dec, 2016 07:11 AM

Cyclone Vardah makes landfall in TN, causes massive damage

Tropical cyclone of 2013. (Source: NASA WorldView)
Mumbai’s vanishing coasts
The implementation of the CRZ rules and prioritising the needs of fishing communities by involving them in the process is the right and holistic approach to end coastal deterioration. Posted on 21 Nov, 2016 10:22 AM

The coastal regions of India are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate changes, developmental activities and urbanisation. Sustaining the livelihoods of fishing communities and preserving the health of coastal ecosystem and biodiversity are important challenges that India faces.

The deteriorating coasts of Mumbai. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)
Keeping beach body in shape
Changing coastlines lead to erosion and threaten livelihoods of people dependent on it for survival. Artificial embankments provide temporary relief, but add to the problem in the long run. Posted on 21 Oct, 2016 08:36 PM

Life without sandy beaches is hard to imagine for artisanal fishermen. Beaches serve as boat-landing sites, net-repair yards, as spots to sort and dry fish, all at once. Increased erosion and the resultant loss of beaches essentially means loss of traditional livelihoods, all across the country’s densely-populated coast.

Seawall lines Pondicherry's Promenade beach. (Image courtesy: Lalit Verma for India’s disappearing beaches - A wake up call)
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