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Climate Change Will Make Lightnings More Frequent, Deadlier Over India

Chandigarh: Lightning strikes killed at least 74 people across Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on July 11, 2021. Of these, 41 were reported from Uttar Pradesh. Allahabad topped the charts among districts with a toll of 16, while 11 tourists lost their lives when lightning struck them at Amer Fort near Jaipur. According to a report by the National Crime Records Bureau, India reports 2,500 deaths every year that are due to lightning and thunderstorm-related events. According to the second annual report of the Lightning Resilient India Campaign, some 18.5 million lightning strike were recorded over the country from April 2020 to March 2021 – an increase of 34% from the period of April 2019 to March 2020. A few states in particular reported a very high increase in the number of strikes: Bihar 168%, Haryana 164%, Puducherry 117%, Himachal Pradesh 105% and West Bengal 100%. The 18.5 million strikes killed 1,697 people. Of late, thunderstorm with lightning has been the most lethal natural disaster in India, killing around 2,000 people every year. A study published in 2015 estimated that between 1979 and 2011, strikes killed 0.25 persons per million population per year in the country. “This is astonishingly low considering most of these deaths are in the rural areas, with low levels of literacy and few buildings with lightning protection,” V. Sasi Kumar, a former scientist at the Centre for Earth Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, wrote for The Wire Science last year. One possible explanation, he continued, “is the low level of reporting, especially from rural areas. The actual fatality rate could possibly be higher in many other parts of India, too, with a good fraction of deaths going unreported.” In 2019, the National National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) published a report: it stated that between 1967 and 2012, lightning strikes accounted for 39% of deaths due to natural disasters in India. And in 2013, 2014 and 2015, lightning killed 2,833, 2,582 and 2,641 people, respectively. Tall objects such as trees and skyscrapers are the most common targets for lightning, as are mountains: their tops are closer to the base of storm clouds. “Remember, the atmosphere is a good electrical insulator,” G.P. Sharma, a meteorologist with Skymet Weather, told The Wire Science. “The less insulation the lightning has to burn through, the easier it is for it to strike.” But height alone doesn’t determine the lightning targets. The bigger determinant is “where the charges accumulate,” according to Sharma. “Lightning can strike the ground in an open field even if the tree line is close by.” Atmospheric conditions are more conducive to the formation of severe thunderstorms during the pre-monsoon season, with some pockets of weather – with fast winds and heavy rain – rendering storms more ferocious. “Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, and the Indo-Gangetic plains of north India including Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, and hilly areas in the north and the northeast, are vulnerable to fatal lightning strikes,” Sharma said. Natural hazards have been wreaking more and more damage around India, and climate change is expected to keep this climbing trend growing. However, scientists also expect thunderstorm and lightning will also become more frequent and more deadly. This is because as Earth’s surface warms, the air above it also warms, becoming able to absorb more moisture, which in turn has been correlated with more lightning. In 2015, scientists from New York and California reported that if the average global temperature increases by 1º C, the frequency of lightning strikes over the planet is likely to increase by 12%. In March this year, another group of researchers reported that the Arctic hosted around 35,000 strikes in 2010 – but over 240,000 in 2020. (Lightning also accentuates climate change, albeit marginally: strikes produce nitric oxide that then combines with oxygen in the atmosphere to form nitrogen dioxide, and these nitrogen oxides are important ‘indirect’ greenhouse gases.) The monsoons In 2021, the southwest monsoon was slow to move into northwest India, allowing the land in these parts to heat up for longer, and more. “We see the development of more thunderclouds during the pre-monsoon season, which possess great energy,” Mahesh Palawat, Sharma’s colleague at Skymet, said. “There is also a lot of instability in the atmosphere, on account of change of winds and high temperatures.” Sharma added that the time to look out for strikes is when the “air mass” undergoes certain changes. “Similar to what we witnessed in the last few days – the entire northwestern plains were going through a changeover, from pre-monsoon season to monsoon,” he explained. “Due to this, the atmosphere was unstable, making the region prone to lightning events.” He said Rajasthan remained susceptible to strikes over the last week (of July 19) as well. But during the monsoon season itself, Palawat continued, “the atmosphere is quite stable, temperatures drop and convection is lower” – so there are fewer strikes accompanying the rains. “However, it is quite evident that climate change has resulted in increased lightning incidence.” Apart from being dangerous to people working in the outdoors, lightning strikes can also prove deadly by triggering forest fires. “Scientists from the Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Srinagar and IIT Kanpur have studied the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in different weather conditions in the central Himalayan region, and found a five-time higher concentration of CCN in the atmosphere during forest fires as during rains,” Kiran Pandey, programme director of the Centre for Science and Environment’s resources unit, said. “In May 2021, researchers in Australia linked excess CCN to the increased number of lightning strikes during the 2019-2020 Australia forest fires.” Even more recently, the devastating Oregon wildlire raging in the US this month was found to have been set off by a lightning strike. Another study by scientists at the Indian Institute of Science, Benagluru, and the National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, Tirupati, and under review with the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, warns that the frequency and intensity of lightning strikes in India are expected to rise by 10-25% and 15-50%, respectively, over the next eight decades. Prevention over cure The study of lightning strikes and our ability to predict their evolution over many years highlights, on the flip side, the fact that India’s governments haven’t done well as institutions to reduce the risk of death by lightning. For starters, there are no national guidelines for mitigating the impact of thunderstorms and lightning strikes to date. This said, the rising number of fatalities prompted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to begin issuing lightning forecasts from April 1, 2019. The Lightning India Resilient Campaign, a joint initiative of several bodies including the Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council, the NDMA, the IMD and the Union Earth sciences ministry, also aims to reduce the number of deaths due to lightning to less than 1,200 a year by 2022. The IMD has also issued safety guidelines to follow in the event of an impending lightning storm (reproduced with edits for brevity): Postpone all outdoor activities Go indoors if, after seeing lightning, you can’t count to 30 before hearing thunder Stay indoors for 30 minutes after hearing the last clap of thunder If you are out in the open, DO NOT take shelter under a tree Get out of the water if you’re in water – including getting all small boats out as well – as well wet agricultural fields If you can, get inside a pukka structure or a hard-top automobile (not convertibles or open truck) and close the doors and windows If you can’t access protective shelter, get into the lightning crouch: squat or sit in a tight ball, arms wrapped around your legs; keep your feet touching together, your head lowered, your ears covered and your eyes closed – to make yourself as small a target as possible Avoid contact with electrical equipment, landline telephones, and unplug any electronic devices Don’t touch metallic plumbing, including metal pipes

Dabur expands honey range to spreads and syrups

Dabur Honey Tasties has been launched in two flavours—Chocolate and Strawberry, priced at ₹120 for a 200 gm pack NEW DELHI: Fast moving consumer goods company Dabur India Ltd, on Thursday announced its entry into the syrups and spreads category with the launch of flavoured honey. Dabur Honey Tasties has been launched in two flavours—Chocolate and Strawberry – priced at ₹120 for a 200 gm pack. The product will be retailed in select stores and on e-commerce platforms. Late last year, the company’s honey brand along with several other popular honey brands sold in the market were found to be adulterated with sugar syrup according to a report released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Dabur has since denied claims. It has instead moved to launch more products under its Dabur Honey brand including 'organic' honey earlier this year. The new launch marks its entry into the spreads space. Hershey’s and Ferrero sell spreads and syrups in India. “Millennial moms are increasingly looking for products that offer great taste while being healthy for their little ones. They are also finding ways of giving the goodness of honey to their kids. Dabur Honey Tasties, a one-of-its-kind innovation in the honey category, provides a tasty treat that kids will love," Prashant Agarwal, marketing head for health supplements at the company said in a statement. The product can be added into milk, spread on bread as well as pancakes and waffles and used to make desserts. Dabur India sells products across foods, beverages, immunity boosters, personal care and Ayurvedic supplements. Its brands include Dabur Chyawanprash, Dabur Honey, Dabur Honitus, Vatika, Dabur Red Paste and Real juices.

Creeping disaster: Over half of India’s soil is degraded

Only a radical reimagining of how farming is done in this country can avert disaster. India is staring at a major crisis. A little over half of its soil is affected by varying degrees of degradation. And extractive agricultural practices, heavy chemical and fertilizer use, and poor irrigation management are mainly to blame. Healthy soil contains three major nutrients – phosphorus, potassium and Nitrogen. They are imperative for healthy vegetation and, thus, directly decide the quality of food we grow and consume. Another, and arguably more important, constituent of healthy soil is organic matter, the plant and animal residue that eventually decomposes to release the macronutrients required for the growth of vegetation. Indian soils traditionally have low nitrogen and phosphorus content, but high potassium. As per the 2019-20 Soil Health Survey conducted by the Indian government, 55 percent of the country’s soil is deficient in nitrogen, 42 percent in phosphorus and 44 percent in organic carbon. To compensate for this nutrient deficiency, Indian farmers have to use chemical fertilisers. Indeed, fertilizer use is indispensable for Indian agriculture today. But while fertilizers can increase crop yields and, thereby, ensure food security – as the Green Revolution most famously demonstrated – they extract a big cost in soil health. Fertilizers and sundry agricultural chemicals seep easily into the ground, toxifying the soil and groundwater. A 2019 report by the Centre for Science and Environment on the fertiliser industry in India – the world’s largest producer and consumer of fertilizers after China – warns that nitrogen pollution in surface and groundwater has reached “alarming levels”. Yet a shift away from chemical-based agriculture is a distant prospect, particularly in places such as Punjab where nitrogen content is “very low” almost everywhere. Nutrient deficiency is not the only problem harming Indian soils and farming. India is also the 13th most water-stressed country, with 256 of its 700 districts having surpassed the safe limits for groundwater extraction. Punjab, again, the cradle of the Green Revolution, is witnessing a disaster, with three quarters of its districts having already overexploited groundwater resources. Is there a way out of this crisis? There is, yes, but it will require a radical reimagining of how farming is done in this country. There are many sustainable practices that the most stressed states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh could adopt, not least from the Northeast. Mostly untouched by the practices of the Green Revolution era, the Northeast Indian states have maintained traditional organic systems of farming. Seven of the 10 states with the highest organic matter content in the soil are in the Northeast, Tripura being the sole outlier. In 2016, Sikkim became the world’s first region to have fully organic farming. “In many ways, we are fortunate that the Green Revolution did not reach the Northeast,” says Siddhi Karnani, co-founder of Parvata Foods, an agribusiness startup helping small organic farmers in the Northeast access international markets. “Since the soil wasn’t harmed by the use of chemicals, it retains natural form and provides us with abundant natural flora and fauna. The organic matter content in the soil is higher than in other parts of the country. However, the driving force for organic farming in the region, I would say, is that for our farmers organic is not just a way of farming, it is a way of life.” Similar practices are gaining traction elsewhere in the country. In the 2019 budget session of the Parliament, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman advocated for the adoption of Zero Budget Natural Farming, a more sustainable form of agriculture using traditional and organic farming methods such as intercropping and zero chemicals. While the Modi government hasn’t yet produced a detailed economic and agricultural plan for the adoption of Zero Budget Natural Farming, states like Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have started pushing it at a local level. Transitioning to a fully natural agricultural system and arresting the degradation of the soil, however, will require an overhaul of the entire food ecosystem – from governments compensating farmers for low yields in the initial years to consumers shelling out more for food of better quality.

क्यों दबे रह जाते हैं गंभीर पर्यावरणीय अपराध

भारत में पर्यावरण के हाल का सबसे विस्तृत ब्यौरा देने वाली स्टेट ऑफ एनवायरनमेंट (एसओई) रिपोर्ट के मुताबिक पर्यावरण से जुड़े 50 हजार से ज्यादा मामले अदालतो में लंबित हैं. फैसलों में देरी का असर पर्यावरण पर पड़ता है.रिपोर्ट में आधिकारिक आंकड़ों के हवाले से बताया गया है कि अदालतों में आने वाले नए मामलों की तुलना में मामलों को निपटाने की दर बहुत कम है. और इससे लंबित मामलों का ढेर ऊंचा होता जा रहा है. 2019 में पर्यावरण से जुड़े करीब 35 हजार अपराध दर्ज किए गए थे. सात हजार से ज्यादा मामलों की पुलिस जांच चल रही है और करीब 50 हजार मामले अदालत में सुनवाई पूरी होने और फैसले का इंतजार कर रहे हैं. पर्यावरण से जुड़े विशेषज्ञों ने चिंता जताई है कि जिस रफ्तार से पर्यावरणीय अपराध बढ़ रहे हैं, उनकी सुनवाई और निपटारों की प्रक्रिया सुस्त और बोझिल है. पर्यावरण की प्रतिष्ठित संस्था सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरमेंट (सीएसई) और विज्ञान और पर्यावरण की उसकी पत्रिका 'डाउन टू अर्थ' मिलकर हर साल यह स्टेट ऑफ इंडियाज एनवायरमेंट (एसओई) रिपोर्ट तैयार करते हैं. अभी तक उपलब्ध आंकड़ों के मुताबिक देश में 2019 और 2020 के बीच वन्यजीव अपराधों की संख्या में गिरावट आई थी. इसके बावजूद भारत में हर रोज दो मामले दर्ज किए जाते हैं. कुल वन्यजीव अपराधों के 77 प्रतिशत मामले उत्तर प्रदेश, राजस्थान और महाराष्ट्र में दर्ज किए गए. जिन राज्यों में ऐसे अपराध बढ़े उनमें गुजरात, बिहार, पश्चिम बंगाल और पूर्वोत्तर राज्य भी बताए जाते हैं. मामलों की कछुआ चाल पर डाउन टू अर्थ का कहना है, "एक साल में मौजूदा बैकलॉग खत्म करने के लिए अदालतों को हर रोज 137 मामले निपटाने होंगे.” अदालतों पर दबाव का आलम यह है कि 2019 में औसतन करीब 85 मामले निपटाए जा सके थे. पर्यावरण संरक्षण अधिनियम के तहत दर्ज मामलों को निपटाने में अदालतों को 20 साल से ज्यादा समय लग सकता है. वन्यजीव संरक्षण अधिनियम के मामलों के लिए 13 साल चाहिए. अगर थोड़ा पीछे जाएं तो इस निराशाजनक सिलसिले का पता चलता है. राष्ट्रीय अपराध रिकॉर्ड्स ब्यूरो (एनसीआरबी) का डाटा बताता है कि 2016 और 2017 के बीच पर्यावरणीय अपराधों में आठ गुना वृद्धि हुई थी. एनसीआरबी के अपराध डाटा के मुताबिक 2016 मे पुलिस ने 4,732 पर्यावरणीय अपराध दर्ज किए थे. 2017 में ये मामले बढ़कर 42,143 हो गए. करीब 30 हजार मामले तो तंबाकू कानून के थे. उसकी तुलना में वायु और जल प्रदूषण के 36 मामले ही दर्ज हो पाए. जबकि एक सच्चाई यह भी है कि दुनिया के 20 सबसे प्रदूषित शहरों में से 14 भारत में ही है. ध्वनि प्रदूषण की नई श्रेणी के तहत पुलिस ने 8,400 मामले दर्ज किए. पुलिस ने अगर अन्य कानूनों के तहत अपराध दर्ज भी किए हैं तो वे जंगलों में रहने वाली जनजातियों और आदिवासियों पर ही अधिक हैं. वन अधिनियम और वन्यजीव संरक्षण अधिनियम के तहत 3,842 मामले दर्ज हुए थे. अक्सर यह सवाल पूछा जाता है कि अगर जंगलों, संरक्षित वनों, अभ्यारण्यों और आरक्षित क्षेत्रों में अवैध कटान, अवैध खनन, अवैध निर्माण, अवैध शिकार, वन उत्पाद और जानवरों के अंगों की तस्करी आदि गैरकानूनी और अपराध माना जाता है, तो फिर कुदरती लैंडस्केप और पर्यावरण और पारिस्थितिकी के अत्यंत नाजुक तानेबाने को छिन्नभिन्न करने वाले और कई संवेदनशील प्राकृतिक हलचलों को ट्रिगर कर देने वाले कथित निर्माण को क्या कहेंगे. विकास के लिए कुछ समझौते करने पड़ते हैं या कुछ कीमत चुकानी होती है जैसी दलीलें उस कोप से नहीं बचा सकती हैं जो प्रकृति अपने भीतर दबाए रहती है और रह रह कर उसे हमारी ओर फेंकती रहती है. विकास के पक्षधर कह सकते हैं कि अगर इसे अपराध कह देंगे तो फिर देश कैसे तरक्की करेगा. लेकिन बुनियादी चिंताओं की अनदेखी एक किस्म का नैतिक अपराध तो है ही. पर्यावरणीय नैतिकता या पर्यावरणीय आचार की हिफाजत भी कोई कोरी या खोखली बातें नहीं हैं, उनके वास्तविक अर्थ हैं. विकास कही जाने वाली वो चीज आखिर किस कीमत पर हासिल होती है, यह छिपी बात नहीं हैं. कुदरती तबाहियों से हम जानते हैं, इसीलिए बात सिर्फ शहरों के प्रदूषण, गंदगी और कूड़े के ढेर, वाहनों के शोर, हाईजीन, पेयजल, सैनिटेशन, सीवेज आदि की नहीं है, बात पहाड़ों, नदियों, जंगलों और उनके जीव-जंतुओं और वनस्पतियों और जंगल में रहने वाली जनजातियों और आदिवासी समुदायों के अस्तित्व की भी है. इसीलिए अनापशनाप विकास की होड़ के बीच बार बार समावेशी विकास पर जोर देने की बात की जाती रही है. जानकारों का कहना है कि अंततः उसी से सतत और टिकाऊ विकास संभव है. सुप्रीम कोर्ट भी समय समय पर अपनी टिप्पणियों और फैसलों के जरिए इस बारे में आगाह कराता रहा है. पेड़ों को बचाने के ऐतिहासिक चिपको आंदोलन के लिए प्रसिद्ध उत्तराखंड के रैणी गांव के पास छोटी नदियों पर जलबिजली परियोजनाओं का निर्माण हो चुका था, हो रहा था. लेकिन पिछले दिनों वहां आया जल प्रलय क्या सिर्फ कुदरती कोप कहकर टाल दिया जाएगा या उस परिघटना के मूल कारणों की तलाश करते हुए यह देखा जाएगा कि वह आपदा मानव निर्मित भी हो सकती है और एक तरह का अपराध ही है. लेकिन ऐसा नहीं माना जाता. केदारनाथ हादसा हो या भूस्खलन की घटना या बाढ़ या भूकंप. बेशक कुदरत की यह कभी स्वाभाविक कभी अस्वाभाविक करवटें हैं, लेकिन इस अस्वाभाविकता को भड़काने वाले फैक्टरों की जांच भी तो आखिर की जानी चाहिए. इसके अलावा पर्यावरणीय अपराध का मुकम्मल डाटा हासिल करने के लिए सभी राज्यों के प्रदूषण नियंत्रण बोर्डों और तमाम पर्यावरणीय नियामक संस्थाओं का सोर्स डाटा भी लिया जाना चाहिए. विशेषज्ञों के मुताबिक एनसीआरबी के पास इतने कम पर्यावरणीय अपराधों का डाटा इसलिए हैं क्योंकि वह सिर्फ आपराधिक मामलों को दर्ज करता है, जबकि पर्यावरण से जुड़े कई मामले सिविल प्रकृति के होते हैं. संयुक्त राष्ट्र कह चुका है कि पर्यावरणीय अपराध सतत विकास और राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा को खतरे में डालने की क्षमता रखते हैं.

National Green Tribunal seeks CNG status report from Bengal govt

The bench also asked the state to bring on record 'the district-wise action plan' about laying the gas pipelines The eastern zonal bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday asked the state government to submit the status report on bringing the environment-friendly compressed natural gas (CNG) to Calcutta and other areas of the state. The bench, comprising Justice Amit Sthalekar and expert member Saibal Dasgupta, also asked the state to bring on record “the district-wise action plan” about laying CNG pipelines. Earlier, the tribunal had only stressed on transporting CNG to Calcutta and Howrah. “The judicial member said he is from a smaller city compared to Calcutta. Even in his city CNG has been available for quite some time. He expressed surprise as to why Calcutta still does not have the green fuel,” said a lawyer who participated in the virtual hearing. “The expert member pointed out that 10 years have already elapsed since the state signed an agreement with the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) on bringing CNG,” the lawyer said. “In 2011, the state government had signed an agreement with GAIL to bring CNG to Calcutta but nothing has happened on the ground so far,” alleged petitioner and environment activist Subhas Datta. Monday’s order was passed after GAIL informed the bench that “the acquisition of RoU (right of user) in West Bengal has been very slow” and pointed out that so far only 65 per cent of the land required for laying the pipelines had been acquired. The agency informed the bench that no land had been acquired so far for the stretch between Hansghara in Hooghly and Calcutta, the lawyer said. All other states involved in the 858km pipeline project — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand — have already completed acquiring the required land, the agency said. Only after the acquisition process is complete can work on laying the 100km pipeline work for Calcutta start, GAIL said in its submission to the green tribunal. The pipes will run through the districts of Hooghly, Nadia and North 24-Parganas. “The NGT’s decision may be prompted by the fact that air pollution is increasing everywhere,” said an environment department official. The Telegraph recently reported how all the districts in the state, barring Kalimpong, have been impacted by the air pollution. “In March 2020, the tribunal had directed the then chief secretary Rajiva Sinha to personally monitor compliance of its order on bringing CNG to the city after reminding the state that it had taken almost no steps to expedite the supply of CNG in the last few years. But nothing happened on the ground. We expect the situation to change after the current order,” an environmentalist said. Anumita Roy Choudhury, an air pollution expert from the environment think tank Center for Science and Environment, pointed out that bringing CNG to Calcutta and other urban areas is crucial to minimise air pollution.

Higher lightning strikes linked to climate change

As many as 18.5 million lightning strikes were recorded in India between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, according to India’s second annual report on lightning released by the Lightning Resilient India Campaign (LRIC) recently. This is an increase of 34% compared to previous year; at least 13.8 million strikes were recorded between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020. As highlighted by the Down to Earth (DTE) magazine, the LRIC study states that at least 1697 people died due to lightning between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. Of this, 401 died in Bihar, followed by Uttar Pradesh (238 deaths) and Madhya Pradesh (228 deaths). At least 156 people died in Odisha, which accounted for over 13.5% of the total lightning strikes in 2020-21. The state witnessed over two million strikes during this period. Lightning strikes increased in Punjab 331%, followed by Bihar (168%), Haryana (164%), Puducherry (117%), Himachal Pradesh (105%) and West Bengal (100%). But states like Odisha and Andhra Pradesh were able to reduce fatalities by almost 70% in a short time, the report noted. The lightning incidents recorded during the period revealed that seasonality of lightning was different for different states. Andhra Pradesh, for example, recorded maximum incidences in June 2019 and October 2019. Bihar recorded the maximum incidences in September 2019; and Odisha in June 2019. It was thereby important that lightning risk management programme for each state was customized according to the seasonality, intensity and frequency of lightning, the report noted. Within each state, the seasonality and severity may vary for different areas, namely, coastal, hilly, river basin, urban and industrial areas, flagged the annual report. The report has suggested that states should undertake lightning micro-zonation for the regions depending on their geography to handle the disaster and death risks better, the report suggested. The LRIC is a joint initiative of the Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), the National Disaster Management Authority, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Union Ministry of Earth Science, World Vision India, UNICEF, among others. The campaign aims to reduce the number of deaths to less than 1200 a year by 2022. The number of such days across India increased significantly every month progressively, the IMD and CROPC said in its report that was released in September 2019. There was, however, a minor decrease of four per cent between the financial year 2020 (April 1, 2019-March 31, 2020) and 2021 (April 1, 2020-March 31, 2021). This decrease, the report claimed, was due to the dedicated efforts by the governments of the most-vulnerable states: Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. However, 87 lives were lost in incidents of lightning strikes across Bihar on June 25, 2020. The Annual Lightning Report 2020-2021 also contained the map of lightning strikes over India and all 37 states and Union territories. The rise in fatalities due to an increase in frequency and intensity lightning strikes prompted the IMD to start lightning forecasts from April 1, 2019. The campaign, through multi-stakeholders engagement at national and state level with governments, academia, non-profits and communities, has been successful in bringing down deaths by more than 60% within two years, the report claimed. The DTE report highlights another study published in Geophysical Research Letters in March 2021, too, which has established links between climate change and rising incidences of lightning in the Arctic region. The number of lightning strikes recorded during the summer months between 2010 and 2020 shot up from around 18,000 at the start of the decade to more than 150,000 by 2020, it said. Monitoring of lightning for climate science and services was limited. Hence, lightning was added to the Global Climate Observing System’s list of Essential Climate Variables in 2016. In 2017, Atmospheric Observation Panel for Climate was asked to create a task team. Experts then concluded that a majority of evidence on natural time scales showed an increase of lightning with warming, though that is not finally proven. The main aim of the task team was to identify the potentials and challenges for lightning as climate variable and propose a plan on how to establish operational monitoring of lightning for climate applications. The DTE report also points out that according to a pre-print accepted for journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics recently, the frequency and intensity of lightning strikes in India are expected to increase by 10% to 25% and 15% to 50% by the end of this century. Coastal areas may be at the highest risk.

Open ‘DEAL’ initiative of Africa

Under the Africa Open DEAL project, Africa has become the first continent in the world to complete the gathering of accurate, comprehensive, and harmonized digital land use and land use change data. About Open DEAL project DEAL stands for Data for the Environment, Agriculture and Land Initiative. This initiative is led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the African Union Commission (AUC). The initiative that covered the period between 2018 and 2020, disclosed more forests and arable lands than were previously detected. The survey covered 100 parameters on each sampling point of about 0.5 hectares and included tree counts, farmlands, wildfires and existing infrastructure. The data was analysed to highlight land use change over the past 20 years and the potential for restoration at the national level for every country in the African continent. This initiative showed that science and innovation could provide real solutions and that collaboration and pooling experience led to the best results. Collect Earth software for the survey A free and open source software called Collect Earth, developed by FAO, was used to collect data through Google Earth. It is part of the set of tools called Open Foris and was developed in 2017 in collaboration with Google Earth, Bing Maps and Google Earth Engine. Key findings As per the open data, there are around seven billion trees outside forests in Africa, the continent-wide survey revealed. It also disclosed more arable lands in Africa than before. The initiative also revealed that 350 million hectares of cropland are cultivated in Africa. This is an increase by 25 per cent over the crop land in the continent. In 2018, 279 million hectares of crop land was cultivated in the continent. Significance The information received from the Africa Open Deal could help in the fight against hunger in the continent.

Bad diet hits kids with obesity

Especially in these times of the pandemic, they must avoid industrially processed food Kids and adolescents are particularly suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic, forced as they are to limit their social interactions. Addingto their agony is the callousness of the society and the food industry in mindlessly dishing them unhealthy food that imperils their health in the long run. Ultra-processed foods such as packaged baked goods and snacks, fizzy drinks, and sugary cereals are some of the unhealthy foods- often containing high levels of added sugar, fat, and/or salt, but lacking in vitamins and fibre — that coupled with physical inactivity are fast emerging as a serious health challenge. Excess TV watching, stress, overeating due to easy home delivery options, and low cost of these foods is the over whelming routine during the pandemic, complicating matters further. The children are threatened by obesity. India is next to China, with 14.4 million obese kids. Changing life styles and eating habits on account of Covid-19 may push the number to an alarming 17 million by 2025. Excess sugar/salt laced foods can lead to NCDs like diabetes, tooth decay, heart disease, bad cholesterol, and fatty liver. Psychological, emotional, and developmental problems may also crop upbecause of a poor diet. The Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) has widened the definition of junks and suggested a new acronym ‘JUNCS’ foods, to cover a wide variety of concepts related to unhealthy foods (Junk foods, Ultra-processed foods, Nutritionally-inappropriate foods, Caffeinated/colored/carbonated foods/beverages, and Sugar-sweetened beverages). Consumption of these foods and beverages is associated with higher free-sugar and energy intake, higher body mass index, and possibly with adverse cardiometabolic consequences in children and adolescents. The IAP recommends children and adolescents avoiding ‘JUNCS’ by limiting limit their consumption to not morethan one serving per week. Recently, the World Health Assembly (WHA) agreed to a global framework for evidence-based cut-offs for anti-nutrients like sugar, salt, and saturated fat present in packaged food. The WHO has identified Front of Package Labeling (FOPL) as “one of the policy tools that can support healthy diets”. So far, 11 countries have enacted laws making FOPL mandatory while India is yet to show seriousness in the matter. It is still holding consultations to find a viable model. It is that the Indian government introduces FOPL. What is worse, junk food advertisements are frequently shown on TV, food manufactures do not display energy contents in packaged foods, and there are confusing messages about nutrition. Industrial food processing modifies foods to change their consistency, taste, color, and shelf life by using mechanical or chemical alternation to make them more palatable, cheap, appealing, and convenient. Home-cooked meals avoid such processes. A recent survey by the Centre for Science and Environment presented a grim scenario of almost every child consuming packaged sugar-sweetened beverages (92.1 per cent), salted packaged food (94.3 per cent), and sweet packaged food (95.1 per cent). Over 50 per cent of the children consumed packaged food or beverages atleast once a day. Other studies show a high prevalence offast-food consumption among school children and undergraduates. The most common junk food items are samosas, patties, burgers, manchurian, noodles, pizza, chips, chocolate, bakery products, soft drinks, sugar-sweetened beverages, and caffeinated drinks. It is imperative that the government fixes scientific limits and labelling for salt, sugar, saturated fats, and other harmful ingredients in these products. The government should ban advertisements of unhealthy foods, discourage consumption of ultra-processed foods by raising taxes on these products. and making the right to eat healthy a public movement. (The writer is President-Elect, International Paediatric Association (IPA) and renowned paediatrician. The views expressed are personal.)

Lightning Strikes See 34% Jump From Previous Year; Experts Link It To Climate Change

India witnessed 18.5 million lightning strikes, between April 2020 and March 2021, recording a significant jump of 34 per cent from 13.8 million strikes in a similar period from the previous year, a study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down to Earth found. According to a Hindustan Times report, CSE, an environment think-tank, attempted to find out the link between increased number of strikes, climate change, and unchecked urbanisation As many as 1,697 people were killed after they were struck by lightning between March last year and April this year. Experts think that the rise in lightning strikes could be because of climate change. “There is growing scientific evidence that climate change may be sparking more lightning across the world. Rapid urbanisation and population growth have guaranteed an intensification of human exposure to lightning hazards,” the report quoted Down To Earth managing editor Richard Mahapatra. States such as West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry have seen a sudden jump in incidents of lightning strikes in recent months. While Punjab saw an exponential 331% annual rise in such incidents, Bihar recorded a 168% rise and as many as 401 deaths. The National Disaster Management Authority listed thunderstorms accompanied by lightning strikes are the single-largest killers among natural disasters in India. As per the report, a study conducted by California University in 2015 projected that a rise in average global temperatures by 1ºC would increase the frequency of lightning by at least 12%. Kiran Pandey, programme director of CSE’s environmental resources unit said that scientists from the Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Srinagar, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, have studied the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in different weather conditions in the central Himalayan region. “They have found a five-time higher concentration of CCN in the atmosphere during forest fires as against during rains. In May 2021, researchers in Australia linked excess CCN to the increased number of lightning strikes during the 2019-20 Australia forest fires," said Pandey. However, India has made some progress to mitigate the adverse effects of lightning strikes. The rise in fatalities prompted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to start lightning forecasts from April 1, 2019. In an attempt to reduce the number of deaths due to lightning strike to less than 1200 a year by 2022, Lightning India Resilient Campaign (LRIC) has been established through a joint initiative of several bodies such as Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), National Disaster Management Authority, IMD, Union Ministry of earth sciences. Lightning India Resilient Campaign (LRIC), a joint initiative of several bodies such as Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), National Disaster Management Authority, IMD, Union ministry of earth sciences and others aims to reduce the number of deaths due to lightning strikes to less than 1,200 a year by 2022. A senior reporter with Down to Earth, Akshit Sangomla said the LRIC campaign helped bring down lightning-related deaths by more than 60% within two years of its launch. “Dedicated efforts by governments of states like Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have led to a 70% reduction in fatalities,” Sangomla added. Pandey said the recorded incidents of lightning revealed that the seasonality of bolt is different each state, and laid stress that the lightning risk management programme is customised for each state according to their seasonality, frequency of occurrence and intensity. “States should undertake lightning micro-zonation for the regions inside their boundaries, depending on their geography, to handle the disaster and death risks better. These are LRIC’s recommendations and they make a lot of sense,” Pandey added. Mahapatra was of the view that even though fatalities from lightning strikes cannot be reduced to zero, their numbers can be decreased. He spoke on the need to create general awareness about universal safe practices, such as staying indoors for up to 30 minutes after the last flash if the time between a lightning flash and thunder is less than 30 seconds. “The next steps would involve making use of the evolving science and technology on the subject and decentralising predictions and risk management,” Mahapatra said.

क्लाइमेट चेंज की वजह से मॉनसून सीजन में आसमां गिरा रहा है मौत की बिजलियां, जानें क्या बोले एक्सपर्ट

प्रकृति के साथ छेड़छाड़ करना एक न एक दिन भारी जरूर पड़ने वाला है। क्लाइमेट चेंज की वजह से मानसून सीजन में आकाशीय बिजली गिरनी की घटनाओं में बृद्धि देखने को मिली है। सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट (सीएसई) और डाउन टू अर्थ द्वारा किए गए एक अध्ययन में पाया गया है कि इस साल अप्रैल 2020 और मार्च के बीच भारत में 18.5 (1 करोड़ 84 लाख) मिलियन बिजली गिरनी की घटनाएं देखी गई हैं। इस साल और पिछले साल की तुलना की जाए तो लगभग 37 फीसदी की वृद्धि देखने को मिली है। पिछले साल 13.8 (138 लाख) मिलियन बोल्ट आकाशीय बिजली गिरी थी। पिछले साल मार्च से इस साल अप्रैल के बीच बिजली गिरने से 1,697 लोगों की मौत हो गई थी। विशेषज्ञों का मानना ​​है कि बिजली गिरने की घटनाओं में वृद्धि जलवायु परिवर्तन के कारण हो रही है। इस बात के वैज्ञानिक प्रमाण बढ़ रहे हैं कि जलवायु परिवर्तन से दुनिया भर में बिजली चमक रही है। डाउन टू अर्थ के प्रबंध संपादक रिचर्ड महापात्रा कहते हैं इसके पीछे तेजी से शहरीकरण और जनसंख्या वृद्धि भी जिम्मेदार है। इन राज्यों में बिजली गिरने की घटनाओं में तेजी हाल के महीनों में पश्चिम बंगाल, झारखंड, बिहार, पंजाब, उत्तर प्रदेश, मध्य प्रदेश, हरियाणा, हिमाचल प्रदेश और पुडुचेरी जैसे राज्यों में बिजली गिरने की घटनाओं में अचानक तेजी आई है। पंजाब में ऐसी घटनाओं में 331 फीसदी वार्षिक वृद्धि देखी गई है, जबकि बिहार में इस साल के दौरान बिजली गिरने से 401 लोगों की जान चली गई है। रिकॉर्ड 168 फीसदी की वृद्धि दर्ज की गई है। तापमान में वृद्धि बड़ी वजह राष्ट्रीय आपदा प्रबंधन प्राधिकरण ने गरज के साथ बिजली गिरने (आमतौर पर प्री-मानसून और मानसून के महीनों में) देखने को मिलता है। 2015 में कैलिफोर्निया विश्वविद्यालय द्वारा किए गए एक अध्ययन में अनुमान लगाया कि औसत वैश्विक तापमान में 1 डिग्री सेल्सियस की वृद्धि से बिजली की फ्रीक्वेंसी कम से कम 12 फीसदी बढ़ जाएगी। जर्नल एटमॉस्फेरिक केमिस्ट्री एंड फिजिक्स में हाल ही प्रकाशित होने वाले एक पेपर में यह भी चेतावनी दी गई है कि भारत में बिजली गिरने की फ्रीक्वेंसी हर साल 10 से 25 फीसदी तक बढ़ने की उम्मीद है और सदी के अंत तक 50 फीसदी तक बढ़ सकती है।

लखनऊ: पानी की समस्या से निपटने के लिए वेबमिनार का आयोजन

लखनऊ: भीमराव अंबेडकर विश्वविद्यालय लखनऊ के पर्यावरण विज्ञान विभाग द्वारा भूजल सप्ताह का आयोजन किया जा रहा है। 22 जुलाई 2021 तक चलने वाले इस कार्यक्रम में आज दिनांक 19 जुलाई 2021 को राष्ट्रीय वेबिनार का आयोजन किया गया। वेबिनार का हुआ आयोजन यह वेबिनार “अंडरस्टैंडिंग द रोल ऑफ ग्राउंड वाटर इन अर्बन डेवलपमेंट” विषय पर आयोजित किया गया। वेबिनार विश्वविद्यालय के कुलपति आचार्य संजय सिंह के संरक्षण में आयोजित हुआ। भूजल से पानी की आ रही समस्या वेबिनार के मुख्य वक्ता डॉ सुरेश के. रोहिला, सीनियर डायरेक्टर, सेंटर फॉर साइंस एंड एनवायरनमेंट, नई दिल्ली ने वेबिनार में शहरी क्षेत्रों में जल प्रबंधन और सतत शहरी विकास से जुड़े विभिन्न मुद्दों पर चर्चा की। उन्होंने बताया कि किस तरह से भारत में शहरी क्षेत्रों में इंफ्रास्ट्रक्चर और अन्य विकास कार्यों में अनियमित भूजल के प्रयोग से पीने के पानी की समस्या खड़ी हो गई है। अच्छी बारिश के बाद भी पानी समस्या उन्होंने विभिन्न शहरों की हाइड्रोलॉजिकल एवं जियोलॉजिकल पहलुओं की जानकारी के आधार पर जल संरक्षण व संचयन की योजना बनाने, बेहतर शहरी विकास योजना, भूजल के सतत प्रयोग, जल निकायों का सर्वेक्षण के बाद उसके विकास से जुड़ी योजनाएं बनाने एवं वाटर रिचार्ज से जुड़े कई अहम सुझाव भी दिए। विश्वविद्यालय के डीन एकेडमिक अफेयर्स प्रोफेसर राणा प्रताप सिंह ने अपने अध्यक्षीय उद्बोधन में भूजल से जुड़ी कई समस्याओं पर चर्चा करते हुए कहा कि अलग-अलग शहरों की भूजल से जुड़ी कोई भी माइक्रो लेवल स्टडी उपलब्ध न होने के कारण सही जल संरक्षण योजना तैयार नहीं हो पाती। उन्होंने बेहतर जल संरक्षण योजना बनाने के साथ ही उसके सख्ती से पालन की आवश्यकता पर बल दिया। पर्यावरण विज्ञान विभाग के अध्यक्ष नवीन कुमार अरोरा ने कार्यक्रम में सभी का स्वागत करते हुए बताया कि अच्छी बारिश के बाद भी हम पानी की समस्या झेल रहे है। जिसका मुख्य कारण वाटर रिचार्ज, रीसायकल और रेन वाटर हार्वेस्टिंग के नियमों का पालन नहीं होना है। इसके साथ ही हमें बेहतर जल प्रबंधन नीतियों की भी आवश्यकता है। वेंकटेश दत्ता ने मुख्य वक्ता का परिचय प्रस्तुत किया। साथ ही उन्होंने बताया कि इस भूजल सप्ताह में विवि द्वारा कई कार्य किये जा रहे हैं। विवि द्वारा गोद लिए गए पांच गांवों में जल की गुणवत्ता जांचने के साथ ही जल निकायों की स्थिति का भी सर्वेक्षण किया जा रहा है। लोगों को जल संरक्षण के प्रति जागरूक भी किया जा रहा है। कार्यक्रम का संचालन राजश्री द्वारा किया गया। इस अवसर पर कार्यक्रम में आयोजन मंडल के सदस्य एसके द्विवेदी, प्रो. शिखा, डॉ. जीवन सिंह, डॉ. नरेंद्र कुमार, एन.क.एस मोरे समेत विवि के अन्य शिक्षक, विद्यार्थी एवं शोध छात्र उपस्थित रहे। कार्यक्रम के अंत में डॉ राजश्री ने सभी को धन्यवाद ज्ञापित किया। भूजल सप्ताह में विवि के विद्यार्थियों के लिए “वाटर कंसर्वेशन इज़ ए रेसोल्यूशन, देयर इज़ नो ऑप्शन ऑफ इट” विषय पर एक पोस्टर प्रतियोगिता का आयोजन भी किया गया है। इच्छुक विद्यार्थी दिनांक 21 जुलाई 2021 तक दिए गए विषय पर अपने द्वारा बनाये गए पोस्टर eventsdes2021@gmail.com पर भेज सकते हैं। सर्वश्रेष्ठ तीन चयनित विजेताओं को सर्टिफिकेट प्रदान किया जाएगा।

Lightning strikes jump by 34%; experts point to climate change

India saw 18.5 million lightning strikes between April 2020 and March 2021, marking a significant jump of 34% from the 13.8 million strikes that occurred over the corresponding period in the previous year. This data has been released by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and the Down to Earth magazine. Experts have linked the worrying surge to unchecked urbanization and climate change. In this article 1,697 people lost their lives due to lightning Lightning is single-largest killer among natural disasters: NDMA Climate change may be leading to more lightning incidents Growing forest fires also a cause for concern Global warming is also responsible What steps has India taken to reduce impact? How can you protect yourself from lightning strikes? Details 1,697 people lost their lives due to lightning 1,697 people lost their lives due to lightning A total of 1,697 people were killed after being struck by lightning strikes during the said period. States and union territories such as West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Puducherry have witnessed a sudden surge in lightning incidents in recent months. Of them, Punjab saw the biggest spurt of 331% in such incidents. Details Lightning is single-largest killer among natural disasters: NDMA Lightning is single-largest killer among natural disasters: NDMA The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has labeled thunderstorms accompanied by lightning strikes as the single-largest killers among natural disasters in India. In fact, lightning strikes have been killing 2,000 people, on an average, every year, since 2004, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Prior to 2004, less than 1,500 such deaths were reported annually. Concerns Climate change may be leading to more lightning incidents Climate change may be leading to more lightning incidents Experts have warned that the significant increase in lightning incidents is due to climate change. "There is growing scientific evidence that climate change may be sparking more lightning across the world. Rapid urbanization and population growth have guaranteed an intensification of human exposure to lightning hazards," Down To Earth Managing Editor Richard Mahapatra said, according to Hindustan Times. Concerns Growing forest fires also a cause for concern Growing forest fires around the world have also been blamed for the surge in lightning incidents, studies have revealed. "In May 2021, researchers in Australia linked excess CCN (Cloud Condensation Nuclei) to the increased number of lightning strikes during the 2019-20 Australia forest fires," said Kiran Pandey, the program director of CSE's environmental resources unit. Information Global warming is also responsible In 2015, a study by the California University had projected that an increase in the average global temperature by 1º Celsius would raise the frequency of lightning by as much as 12%. Measures What steps has India taken to reduce impact? What steps has India taken to reduce impact? However, India has taken some measures to lower the injuries and fatalities linked to lightning strikes. Lightning forecasts were started by the IMD from April 1, 2019. Further, the Lightning India Resilient Campaign (LRIC), a joint initiative of several government bodies, has set an aim to reduce the number of deaths from lightning strikes to less than 1,200 per year by 2022. Precautions How can you protect yourself from lightning strikes? Experts recommend that people find shelter indoors in case of lightning. It is advisable to suspend outdoor activities until at least 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder. You should call emergency services if needed as it is safe to use mobile phones during lightning. Victims should be moved to a safer location as soon as possible.

'Bolt From The Blue' - Lightning Strikes Killing More People Than Ever !

New Delhi, July 19 (TNA) The number and frequency of lightning strikes is increasing globally. The proverbial bolts from the blue are killing more people every subsequent year. Between April 2020 and March 2021, 18.5 million lightning strikes were recorded in India. This was a 34 per cent increase from the 13.8 million strikes between April 2019 and March 2020. These statistics were shared at a webinar on lightning strikes recently organised by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down To Earth magazine. The webinar attempted to understand why lightning strikes were increasing in numbers, and their connection to climate change and growing urbanisation. Punjab, UP On The 'Hit List' Some of the states that have been at the receiving end of these strikes are Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal. In Punjab, the increase in number of lightning strikes has been a staggering 331 per cent annually, while in Bihar — where 401 people lost their lives to lightning strikes during the year — there was a 168 per cent rise. Overall, 1,697 people were struck down dead by lightning in India between March 2020 and April 2021. “There is growing scientific evidence that climate change may be sparking more lightning across the world. Rapid urbanisation and population growth have guaranteed an intensification of human exposure to lightning hazard,” says Down To Earth managing editor Richard Mahapatra. The evidence Enough global studies are now emerging about this phenomenon. A 2015 California University study has projected that an increase in average global temperatures by 1ºC would increase the frequency of lightning by 12 per cent. Another paper, soon to be published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, warns that the frequency and intensity of lightning strikes in India are expected to increase by 10-25 per cent and 15-50 per cent respectively by the end of the century. A foreboding dimension of the surge in lightning strike numbers is their link to forest fires. “Scientists from the Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Srinagar, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, have studied the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in different weather conditions in the central Himalayan region. They have found a five-time higher concentration of CCN in the atmosphere during forest fires as against during rains. In May 2021, researchers in Australia linked excess CCN to the increased number of lightning strikes during the 2019-20 Australia forest fires,” says Kiran Pandey, programme director of CSE’s environmental resources unit. What can be done to prevent deaths? Some progress has been made to counter the adverse effects of lightning strikes. The rise in fatalities has prompted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to start lightning forecasts from April 1, 2019. Lightning India Resilient Campaign (LRIC), a joint initiative of several bodies such as Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), National Disaster Management Authority, IMD, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences and others aims to reduce the number of deaths due to lightning strikes to less than 1,200 a year by 2022. “The LRIC says its campaign has been successful in bringing down deaths by more than 60 per cent within two years. Dedicated efforts by governments of states like Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have led to a 70 per cent reduction in fatalities,” says Akshit Sangomla, senior reporter with Down To Earth. “The lightning incidents recorded reveal that seasonality of lightning is different for different states. Therefore, it is important that the lightning risk management programme for each state is customised according to the seasonality, intensity and frequency of lightning. States should undertake lightning micro-zonation for the regions inside their boundaries, depending on their geography, to handle the disaster and death risks better. These are LRIC’s recommendations and they make a lot of sense,” says Pandey. Says Mahapatra: “We may not be able to prevent every single lightning fatality, but we can definitely decrease their number substantially. The first step is to create general awareness about some universal safe practices, for example, to stay indoors for up to 30 minutes after the last flash if the time between a lightning flash and thunder is less than 30 seconds. The next steps would involve making use of the evolving science and technology on the subject and decentralising predictions and risk management.”

Lightning strikes in India see 34% rise than previous year, finds CSE study

Experts find link between lightning strikes and climate change trigerred by unchecked urbanisation. They feel following safe practices can reduce fatalities. Between April 2020 and March this year, India witnessed 18.5 million lightning strikes, marking a significant 37% increase in 13.8 million bolts from the blue in the similar period the previous year, a study by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down to Earth found. Laying stress on the trend that the number and frequency of lightning strikes have increased globally, the environment think-tank attempted to find out their link with climate change and unchecked urbanisation. As many as 1,697 people were killed after they were struck by lightning between March last year and April this year. Experts are of view that the increase in incidents of lightning strikes are owing to climate change. “There is growing scientific evidence that climate change may be sparking more lightning across the world. Rapid urbanisation and population growth have guaranteed an intensification of human exposure to lightning hazard,” says Down To Earth managing editor Richard Mahapatra. In recent months states such as West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry have seen a sudden spurt in incidents of lightning strikes. Punjab has seen an exponential 331% annual rise in such incidents while in Bihar — where 401 people lost their lives to lightning strikes during the year — recodes a 168% rise. National Disaster Management Authority listed thunderstorms accompanied by lightning strikes (usually in the pre-monsoon and monsoon months) are the single-largest killers among natural disasters in India. A study conducted by California University in 2015 projected that a rise in average global temperatures by 1ºC would increase the frequency of lightning by least 12%. A soon-to-be-published paper in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics also cautioned that the frequency of lightning strikes in India are expected to increase by 10% to 25% every year and could grow by 50% by the turn of the century. Experts have found that a foreboding dimension of the rise in incidents of lightning strike is their link to growing forest fires. “Scientists from the Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Srinagar, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, have studied the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in different weather conditions in the central Himalayan region. They have found a five-time higher concentration of CCN in the atmosphere during forest fires as against during rains. In May 2021, researchers in Australia linked excess CCN to the increased number of lightning strikes during the 2019-20 Australia forest fires,” says Kiran Pandey, programme director of CSE’s environmental resources unit. However, India has made some progress to mitigate the adverse effects of lightning strikes. The rise in fatalities prompted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to start lightning forecasts from April 1, 2019. Lightning India Resilient Campaign (LRIC), a joint initiative of several bodies such as Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), National Disaster Management Authority, IMD, Union ministry of earth sciences and others aims to reduce the number of deaths due to lightning strikes to less than 1,200 a year by 2022. A senior reporter with Down to Earth, Akshit Sangomla said the LRIC campaign helped bring down lightning-related deaths by more than 60% within two years of its launch. “Dedicated efforts by governments of states like Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have led to a 70% reduction in fatalities,” Sangomla added. CSE’ Kiran Pandey said the recorded incidents of lightning revealed that seasonality of bolt is different each state, and laid stress that the lightning risk management programme is customised for each state according to their seasonality, frequency of occurrence and their intensity. “States should undertake lightning micro-zonation for the regions inside their boundaries, depending on their geography, to handle the disaster and death risks better. These are LRIC’s recommendations and they make a lot of sense,” says Pandey. Mahapatra was of the view that even though fatalities from lightning strikes cannot be reduced to zero, their numbers can definitely be decreased. He spoke on the need to create general awareness about universal safe practices, such as staying indoors for up to 30 minutes after the last flash if the time between a lightning flash and thunder is less than 30 seconds. “The next steps would involve making use of the evolving science and technology on the subject and decentralising predictions and risk management,” Mahapatra said.

‘Punjab witnessed 331% increase in lightning strikes’

Bathinda: The number and frequency of lightning strikes is increasing globally with bolts from the blue killing more people every subsequent year, data shows. Between April 2020 and March 2021, 18.5 million lightning strikes were recorded in India, a 34% rise over 13.8 million strikes between April 2019 and March 2020. These statistics were shared at a webinar on lightning, organised by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) and Down To Earth magazine. Some of the states at the receiving end of these strikes are Punjab, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Puducherry, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal. It was claimed that in Punjab, the increase in number of lightning strikes has been a staggering 331% annually, while in Bihar — where 401 people lost their lives to lightning strikes during the year — there was a 168% rise. Overall, 1,697 people were struck down dead by lightning in India between March 2020 and April 2021. Congratulations! You have successfully cast your vote Login to view result “There is growing scientific evidence that climate change may be sparking more lightning across the world. Rapid urbanisation and population growth have guaranteed an intensification of human exposure to lightning hazard,” says Down To Earth managing editor Richard Mahapatra. A 2015 California University study has projected that an increase in average global temperatures by 1ºC would increase the frequency of lightning by 12%. Another paper, soon to be published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, warns that the frequency and intensity of lightning strikes in India are expected to increase by 15-50% respectively by the end of the century. A foreboding dimension of the surge in lightning strike numbers is their link to forest fires. “Scientists from the Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Srinagar, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, have studied the concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in different weather conditions in the central Himalayan region. They have found a five-time higher concentration of CCN in the atmosphere during forest fires as against during rains. In May 2021, researchers in Australia linked excess CCN to the increased number of lightning strikes during the 2019-20 Australia forest fires,” says Kiran Pandey, programme director of CSE’s environmental resources unit. Some progress has been made to counter the adverse effects of lightning strikes. The rise in fatalities has prompted the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to start lightning forecasts from April 1, 2019. Lightning India Resilient Campaign (LRIC), a joint initiative of several bodies such as Climate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council (CROPC), National Disaster Management Authority, IMD, Union Ministry of Earth Sciences and others aims to reduce the number of deaths due to lightning strikes to less than 1,200 a year by 2022. “The LRIC says its campaign has been successful in bringing down deaths by more than 60% within two years. Dedicated efforts by governments of states like Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have led to a 70% reduction in fatalities,” webinar was told. “The lightning incidents recorded reveal that seasonality of lightning is different for different states. Therefore, it is important that the lightning risk management programme for each state is customised according to the seasonality, intensity and frequency of lightning. States should undertake lightning micro-zonation for the regions inside their boundaries, depending on their geography, to handle the disaster and death risks better. These are LRIC’s recommendations,” says Pandey.

Cocktail drug cures Covid in 2-3 days, but at steep cost

Priced at Rs 1.19L, set of 2 monoclonal antibodies can treat 2 patients BENGALURU: Monoclonal antibodies, a single-shot drug cocktail given to former US President Donald Trump against Covid, is gaining popularity in Karnataka, as doctors and patients vouch for its effectiveness in preventing deaths. Manipal Hospitals in Bengaluru alone has administered this drug on more than 80 patients, and seen all of them recover. However, researchers call for more such drugs so they become affordable. “I have myself administered this miracle drug on nearly 80 patients, and have seen all of them recover in 24-48 hours. It is unfortunate that this drug was not available during the peak of the second wave, or we would not have seen so many hospital admissions or deaths among those who could afford this treatment,” said Dr Sathyanarayana Mysore, pulmonologist, Manipal Hospitals. Last November, the US FDA issued emergency use authorisation to REGEN-COV, which contains two monoclonal antibodies — casirivimab and imdevimab — to be administered together for treating mild to moderate Covid patients. India granted emergency use authorisation in May. Therapy is directed against the spike of protein of SARS-CoV2. “I have treated 4-5 patients. It reduces the chances of hospitalisation by 70% in patients with mild to moderate symptoms. The cocktail blocks the virus’s attachment and subsequent entry into human cells,” said Dr Sanjay Gururaj, consultant physician, Shanti Hospital and Research Centre. A pack of REGEN-COV contains one vial of casirivimab (1200mg) and one vial of imdevimab (1200mg) and is priced at Rs 1.19 lakh. One pack can be used for two patients, thus the cost per patient comes to Rs 59,750. Some doctors have refrained from using this due to the cost. However, Dr Sathyanarayana says, “If the medicine is prescribed at the right time, the patient can be saved from the stage of needing oxygen and ICU bed, which cost more than what the medicine does.” Meanwhile, a few doctors don’t want to administer this as it has been used only on an experimental basis. Dr Shashikiran Umapathy of Manipal, Udupi, says, “We stick to anticoagulants and medicines which we have used in the first wave, and seen good success rate, including Remdesivir.” At a recent webinar organised by Centre for Science and Environment, Chief Scientist, World Health Organisation, Soumya Swaminathan said while the world had moved fast on vaccines, not much was being done on the therapeutics front for Covid. “There are no antivirals, as such, and not many drugs that can be prescribed for patients in the early stage of Covid. All we have is a set of two drugs — corticosteroids and interleukin-6 blockers — for severe patients. Monoclonal antibodies may be given to patients before reaching the severe stage, but it is a costly cocktail of treatment,” she said. WHO CAN BE GIVEN THE DRUG, AND WHEN? Earlier the better, mostly on Day 5 of onset of symptoms. Has been given up to 10 days too Patient should be at risk of progressing to worse symptoms, onset of cytokine storm Aged above 65, in most cases. Technically, anyone above 14 can be given ‘At risk’ people -- those with neurological illness, taking immunosuppressives, have coronary artery disease, renal issues, malignancy etc Oxygen level should not be at risk Can be even given as day care treatment Patient should come to hospital with RT-PCR positive report within 72 hours, for maximum benefit What are monoclonal antibodies? When our bodies are attacked by an infection caused by viruses or bacteria, they produce natural antibodies or proteins to fight back. These antibodies are crucial in our immune system’s defence mechanism. Monoclonal antibodies are similar to natural antibodies, except they are laboratory-made. They are designed to target a specific disease and are often referred to as ‘designer antibodies’.