Background The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations’ apex scientific body for assessing climate change. 📌 Important clarity for beginners:👉 The IPCC does NOT do experiments or original research.👉 Instead, it assesses, evaluates, and synthesizes existing global scientific research on climate change. Think of IPCC as: 🧠 The world’s most authoritative…
Overview Global warming is no longer a distant or abstract phenomenon confined to scientific reports; it has emerged as a multi-dimensional reality reshaping Earth’s physical systems, ecosystems, and human societies simultaneously. Rising global mean temperatures—driven primarily by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions—are altering the fundamental energy balance of the planet, triggering a cascade of interconnected impacts…
Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) To compare how countries are responding to climate change, an independent ranking system called the Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI) is used. What is CCPI? Institutions Behind CCPI How Does CCPI Measure Performance? CCPI evaluates countries using 14 indicators, grouped into 4 categories: Category Weight GHG emissions 40% Renewable energy…
Climate sensitivity tells us how strongly Earth’s temperature responds to carbon dioxide. Formal Definition Climate sensitivity is defined as the increase in global average temperature that occurs when the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere doubles compared to pre-industrial levels. Why is this important? In other words, climate sensitivity links science directly to climate policy….
The carbon footprint is a measure of the total carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions caused directly or indirectly by an activity. Key features of Carbon Footprint 👉 In simple terms, it answers one question:“How much CO₂ am I responsible for emitting?” India’s Commitment on Carbon Footprint India has pledged to reduce the emissions intensity of its…
Introduction Certain gases present in the atmosphere have a special physical property—they can absorb and re-emit outgoing infrared radiation from the Earth’s surface. These gases include: Because they trap heat and prevent it from escaping back into space, they are called greenhouse gases (GHGs), and the warming they cause is known as the greenhouse effect….
When we talk about Climate Change (CC), we are referring to long-term shifts in Earth’s climate system—not just temperature, but also rainfall patterns, snowfall, wind systems, and ocean circulation. These changes occur over hundreds of years and can arise due to natural factors as well as human activities. Role of Human Activity (Anthropogenic Causes) While…
Introduction We have already studied about land degradation and conservation in Biogeography. Here we will mostly focus on land degradation and conservation from environment point of view. However, before starting let’s revise a bit what we had studied: Soil Degradation Causes of Soil Degradation Soil Erosion Soil Conservation Increasing Degraded Land in India Land is…
When we study environmental regulation in India, a major focus is on industries that have a disproportionately large impact on air and water quality. The government identifies these industries, categorises them, and then monitors them through specialised systems. Let’s understand this: Highly Polluting Industries (HPIs) The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has…
Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world, and also one of the most dangerous, because it mixes:→ hazardous substances→ heavy metals→ toxic chemicals→ plastics & flame retardants……with valuable metals such as gold, silver, copper, platinum. What is E-Waste? E-waste includes discarded or end-of-life:→ electronics→ electrical equipment (EEE)→ appliances (TVs,…
