Category: ENVIRONMENT

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The report, ‘Status of urban and rural air quality exposure at a national scale: A comparative analysis’, by Climate Trends revealed that air pollution continues to be a significant problem affecting both rural and urban populations.

The Southwest monsoon, that made its onset over the Kerala coast on June 8, has now covered the entire country, including Rajasthan, Haryana, and Punjab, the India Meteorological Department said on Sunday.

The National Highway 6 which passes via Meghalaya crossing Shillong from Guwahati connects at least four northeastern states – Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, and Southern Assam with the rest of India.

The weather department on Saturday predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall for Assam during the next five days due to the persistence of moisture intrusion caused by strong low-level southwesterly winds from the Bay of Bengal to Northeast India.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that there are high probabilities for the development of El Nino conditions over the equatorial Pacific Ocean and positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) conditions over the Indian Ocean during July to September 2023.

At least one person was killed, nine others were injured and more than 100 houses destroyed after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Indonesia's Yogyakarta province, officials said on Saturday.

The 'Juniper' fire in Riverside County was reported at around 2.30 p.m. in the 19000 block of Santa Rosa Mine Road, according to Alex Izaguirre, a spokesperson for the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.

The extreme heat wave that has baked much of the southern US continues to spread to other regions of the country this week, with over 55 million people now under heat alerts.

Scientists of the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in Allahabad University, have found evidence of a strong earthquake that occurred 140 crore years ago on the Chitrakoot-Satna border region.

The authority will have representatives drawn from the departments of Forests, Revenue and Disaster Management, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Public Works, and the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation. 

Late on Saturday, two contract workers fell into a manhole while cleaning up a rain-soaked road at Govandi in north-east Mumbai. They are identified as Ram Krishan, 30 and Sudhir Dhas, 35.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that as on Saturday, the southwest monsoon has further advanced into most parts of peninsular and east India and some parts of central and northwest India.

However, Manipur and Mizoram were described as rain deficit by the Met department officials. The other four states in this region -- Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim -- witnessed normal rainfall.

At 35 degrees Celsius, Srinagar recorded the hottest day in June after 5 years as the MeT Department announced that there would be relief from the sweltering heat from Saturday.

IMD added that the southwest monsoon has moved to some parts of Telangana, most parts of Andhra Pradesh, parts of Odisha, parts of westcentral-northwest Bay of Bengal, more parts of Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar.

"Lightning at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Coastal and South Interior Karnataka," the bulletin read.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday predicted heavy rainfall over 10 states which include Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and coastal Andhra Pradesh.

"While some regions are getting ready for flood control, provinces in northern China that have been gripped by the sweltering weather are finding ways to beat the heat," reported CGTN, a state-run foreign-language news channel.

As the world, including India, stares at extreme weather and climate events like agonizing heat waves, deadly cyclone and drought risks owing to monsoon deficit, the ocean-warming phenomenon El Nino is officially here and could last until 2024, scientists have warned.

An ambitious scheme that aims to promote balanced use of fertilisers along with bio-fertilisers, called Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management Yojana or PM PRANAM, is likely to be formally unveiled by the Centre at the end of this month.

The very severe cyclonic storm Biparjoy, currently over Saurashtra and Kutch which moved northeastwards with a speed of 13 kmph during the past six hours, will weaken significantly on Friday.

The IMD predicts that Biparjoy will make landfall near Jakhau Port this evening. The authorities have alerted residents about the potential risks associated with the cyclone, including damage to structures, uprooted trees and heavy rainfall.

The anti-snare drive was made an integral part of patrolling while bike squads were also formed to check the barbed, razor, and electric wire fencing at agricultural fields located in proximity to the forest area at frequent intervals.

El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), due to which water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean become cooler than normal because of the upwelling of cold water from the bottom of the sea, led to a delay in monsoon, while cyclone Biparjoy also played a crucial role in the delay, said experts.

"Earthquake of Magnitude:5.4, Occurred on 13-06-2023, 13:33:42 IST, Lat: 33.15 & Long: 75.82, Depth: 6 Km ,Location: Doda, Jammu and Kashmir, India," the National Centre for Seismology said in a tweet.