Climateconversations

Amid calls for Indus' geopolitical weaponising, a reminder of how climate change has affected the river in the past

In the days following the Pulwama attack, one suggestion for retaliation has been to “cut off” the waters of the Indus to downstream Pakistan. Can we ‘turn off’ the tap though? After all, the Indus (and her tributaries) are mighty rivers — the annual flow of the Indus is estimated to be upwards of 200 cubic kilometres.

Marrying climate change and financial sustainability: The curious and troubling case of coal in India - II

Coal’s viability is a fight with Economics and Climate ranged on one side vs Democratic realities and Financial stability on the another.

Marrying climate change and financial sustainability: The curious and troubling case of coal in India - I

More than three quarters of India’s electricity is generated by burning coal. The international community would prefer the better part of India’s coal to stay below ground. Indian development enthusiasts would beg to differ. In the stridency of their arguments, the nuances that could lead to a solution — of both climate and finance — can perhaps be missed.

Data, democracy and decision making: A look at climate change and India through the prism of past, present, future

In this column, Mridula Ramesh considers the past, through five pieces of data, the present political context, and three important events in the coming year that are central to climate change and India.

Lessons from Madhya Pradesh, Telangana elections on what works, what doesn't in solving India's water crisis

Can India’s water crisis be conquered? Yes, it can. Israel, that receives far less rain than we do, grows mangoes in its desert, showing water supply is clearly not the problem. Lack of water management is.

Delhi air pollution: Not bans, solutions must be explored to end practice of stubble burning by farmers

If we want to reduce Delhi’s air pollution in winter, then we need to address biomass burning

#MeToo must address the power imbalance that hurts women — which climate change could worsen

The #MeToo movement is a protest against a specific manifestation (harassment) of gender inequality and power imbalance. There are few forces as powerful as climate change in exacerbating that inequality and tilting the power balance away from women, which makes it imperative to ask how a warming climate will affect women.

Amid India's intensifying crisis, why voters don't care about water management — and how that can change

We are a raucous democracy — every day there are protests — large and small. So why are we not protesting the lack of management (not provision) of our common goods, such as water?

World Bank study enumerates climate change consequences for South Asia: Will India act in time?

The World Bank study suggests that transitioning farmers to non-agricultural jobs, providing additional schooling and reducing water stress could reduce the climate change hit on India’s GDP from 2.8 percent to 2.4 percent. But is this feasible, and, pertinently, who should initiate action?

In Portugal, like India, local factors combine with global climate change to worsen its impact

Seeing the same pattern — drought and heatwaves combining with faulty societal decisions — wreaking havoc everywhere, from Portugal to India, brings home the message that we really are living in one world. The only world we have. And it is warming.