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Tannu Jain

Tannu Jain works with HT's Page 1 team. She writes on the environment and climate change, with a focus on implications at the local and global levels. She is also the author of Cause and Effect, a weekly column for HT Premium.

Articles by Tannu Jain

How Cape Town averted ‘Day Zero’: A lesson for Delhi

The City of Cape Town’s experience and the decisions of its administrators could hold significant lessons for Delhi, faced with an acute water shortage

In February 2018, people queuing up to collect water from a spring in the Newlands suburb as the city's water crisis grows in Cape Town, South Africa.(Reuters file)
Published on Jun 25, 2024 06:12 PM IST

Delhi's scorching heatwaves call for urgent heat action plans

An in-depth look at the persistent heatwave in Delhi, how heatwaves are classified, and the measures included in the city's heat action plan

New Delhi, India - June 13, 2024: A view of Mirage seen amid heatwave at India Gate in New Delhi, India, on Thursday, June 13, 2024. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times)(Hindustan Times)
Published on Jun 17, 2024 07:21 PM IST

How extreme weather events are leading to severe consequences for food security

Extreme weather events such as heatwaves and droughts are affecting agriculture across the world, leading to reduced crop yields and potential food shortages.

An olive farmer in Portugal (Rafael Marchante / REUTERS)
Published on Jun 03, 2024 10:00 AM IST

Plane rides are getting bumpier due to climate change

Between 1979 and 2020, there has been a 55% increase in annual duration of turbulence over the North Atlantic, one of the world’s busiest routes

An Airbus A350 Singapore Airlines aircraft approaches for landing at Singapore Changi Airport in Singapore on March 24 (AFP FILE PHOTO/Representative Image)
Published on May 21, 2024 10:01 PM IST

Science suggests multiple eco organs of Earth may be failing, says top scientist

Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, warns that things are changing faster than expected and the risks are increasing

Kenya is grappling with one of its worst floods in recent history, the latest in a string of weather catastrophes, following weeks of extreme rainfall scientists have linked to a changing climate. (Credit: AFP)
Updated on May 13, 2024 09:01 PM IST

Deluge in Dubai highlights climate vulnerability and a lack of preparedness

Experts suggest that the city's unpreparedness for such extreme weather events underscores the urgent need for climate-resilient infrastructure.

Floodwater in Dubai. (AP)(HT_PRINT)
Published on Apr 28, 2024 12:19 AM IST

Cause and Effect | Understanding the real threats of a civilisation collapse

Amidst increasing climate-related crises, experts warn that civilisation collapse isn't just a dystopian concept from movies—it's a real possibility.

Humans are experiencing vast shifts in their immediate environment, with the droughts in Africa, fires in much of North America and Canada, floods in Afghanistan, UAE and Pakistan, and heatwaves elsewhere also wreaking havoc across the world, irrespective of the stage of development a region is in. (Reuters)
Published on Apr 20, 2024 09:21 PM IST

Three elections that can arrest temperature rise and help us course correct

This year, about 60 countries or regions are scheduled to go to polls, including some of the major emitters. The policies they bring in can change the Earth

A participant gestures next to an election sign board during the Vote-A-Thon, an awareness campaign organized by the Karnataka's Chief Electoral Office to encourage 100 percent voting turnout for the upcoming 2024 general elections, in Bengaluru on March 17, 2024. India's election commission announced on March 16 that national polls would begin on April 19, with Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly favoured to win a third term in the world's largest democracy. (Photo by Idrees MOHAMMED / AFP)(AFP)
Published on Apr 05, 2024 11:07 PM IST

Anthropocene or not? Scientists put an end to 15-year-old debate

Geologists lacked consensus on whether humanity’s impact should be defined as an “epoch”, a period over thousands of years, or an “event”, a far shorter period

FILE - Work is done on the roof of a building under construction in Sacramento, Calif., on March 3, 2022. New numbers released Friday, March 22, 2024, show California has the highest unemployment rate in the country. Job losses in February were led by a drop in the construction industry. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)(AP)
Published on Mar 23, 2024 02:31 AM IST

The untold story behind climate change: we've known about the crisis for a while

A 351-page report on the quality of our environment is perhaps the first documented evidence of scientists bringing global warming to a US President's attention

Scientists have issued warnings over the last few decades about the impact the burning of fossil fuels was having on the environment. (Reuters)
Published on Feb 23, 2024 07:58 PM IST

February has broken unprecedented temperature records, data shows

Halfway into February and the month has already broken several temperature records, latest data shows, following a trajectory of last year that ended as the hottest ever.

A woman passes by a temperature marker that reads 45 degrees Celsius during a heat wave in San Lorenzo, Paraguay, on February 3, 2024. (AFP)
Updated on Feb 18, 2024 05:08 AM IST
ByTannu Jain, New Delhi

Cause and Effect | What is behind the farmers' protests in Europe

Farmers feel squeezed between environmental regulations and economic viability. Their protests reflect the clash between sustainability and farming realities

French dairy farmers hold cow sculptures bearing national colours and reading
Updated on Feb 16, 2024 05:47 PM IST

The alarming rise in ocean temperatures spells doom for coral ecosystems

The vibrant rainforests of the sea are on the brink of extinction. Coral Reef Watch's new update underscores the urgent need to address temperature extremes

Reefs, complex creatures as it is, require a very specific environment to grow. (Credit: AFP)
Updated on Feb 05, 2024 06:58 PM IST

The rise of climate denial: Social media's role in climate misinformation

A new study points to a rise in "New Denial" on platforms like YouTube. The trend focuses on discrediting climate science and questioning proposed solutions

In its report, the Centre for Countering Digital Hate evaluated content in over 12,000 YouTube videos from 96 channels. CREDIT: AFP
Published on Jan 27, 2024 08:40 PM IST

The shift in snowfall patterns points to an alarming climate trend

Higher temperatures contribute to irreversible shift in snowfall patterns. Snow droughts have severe consequences for the stability of mountain ecosystems.

A guides lead visitors during a horse ride past ski slopes usually covered in snow at a ski station in Gulmarg. Credit: AFP
Published on Jan 20, 2024 08:23 PM IST

Cause and Effect | 2023 was a year of records, it also broke all records

The effects of rising temperatures were felt across the globe, as hot weather baked much of Asia, Europe and the United States

TOPSHOT - Traffic warden Rai Rogers mans his street corner during an 8-hour shift under the hot sun in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 12, 2023, where temperatures reached 106 degrees amid an ongoing heatwave. More than 50 million Americans are set to bake under dangerously high temperatures this week, from California to Texas to Florida, as a heat wave builds across the southern United States. (Photo by Frederic J. BROWN / AFP)(AFP)
Published on Jan 13, 2024 09:13 AM IST

2023 ended 1.5°C warmer than pre-industrial average: Report

Nearly 29% of Earth’s population experienced record warmth in 2023, a year that ended 1.5°C warmer than the pre-industrial average, Berkeley Earth said in its Global Temperature Report for the last year.

FILE - A woman drinks from a public fountain tap in Madrid, Spain, Aug. 9, 2023. The latest calculations from several science agencies Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, all say that global average temperatures for 2023 shattered existing heat records. (AP)
Updated on Jan 13, 2024 05:10 AM IST
ByTannu Jain, New Delhi

Cause and Effect | Why 2023 is a cautionary tale of the worsening climate crisis

The struggle between commitments and real-world actions poses challenges for addressing climate change

While the climate crisis is here, there is still scope for change to if not reverse, at least arrest its impacts. (Shutterstock)
Published on Jan 07, 2024 08:30 AM IST

Cause and Effect | 2024 may well break the 1.5°C-barrier for the full year

2023 broke all weather records: The ocean heat content is at an all time high. Expect global temperatures overall to continue to spike in 2024.

 Bathers cool off in a shower on Copacabana Beach during a heatwave in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in November. (CREDIT: AFP)
Updated on Dec 27, 2023 07:22 PM IST
ByTannu Jain,

99% chance that 2023 will breach 1.5°C avg temp threshold: Study

2023 is predicted to be the warmest year on record, with a 99% chance that the average temperature will be at least 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

A sign board warns of extreme heat in Death Valley, California, during a heatwave in July. (REUTERS)
Updated on Dec 23, 2023 06:08 AM IST
ByTannu Jain, New Delhi

Enforcement challenges loom in the aftermath of Dubai climate deal

Global Stocktake text emphasises transitioning from fossil fuels. However, concerns arise about the lack of robust mechanisms for enforcing these commitments

UN Climate Chief Simon Stiell, COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber and UAE chief negotiator Hana Al-Hashimi with others on Wednesday. (AP)
Published on Dec 14, 2023 12:02 PM IST
ByTannu Jain

The COP flop? Diluted promises threaten to blunt climate action

What may perhaps emerge as the only success story of this year’s talks is the operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund.

This year’s COP28 negotiations signalled a hardening of stance by countries with various ‘climate ambitions’ and compulsions. (REUTERS)
Updated on Dec 13, 2023 07:47 AM IST
ByTannu Jain, New Delhi

The five terms that COP28 is all about

The climate summit is set to end on December 12, and the stakes are high for residents of developing nations

People walk past a COP28 sign at the venue of the United Nations climate summit in Dubai(AFP)
Published on Dec 08, 2023 11:48 AM IST
ByTannu Jain

Current warming risks triggering at least five tipping points: Study

Tipping points are markers beyond which any changes in climate system become self-perpetuating and can lead to abrupt and irreversible impacts.

The UN climate conference opens in Dubai on November 30 with nations under pressure to increase the urgency of action on global warming and wean off fossil fuels, amid intense scrutiny of oil-rich hosts UAE. (AFP)
Updated on Dec 06, 2023 06:39 AM IST
ByTannu Jain

COP28: CCS dependency to cost $1tn a year more than renewables route, study says

A new report from the University of Oxford has found that net-zero pathways heavily dependent on carbon capture and storage (CCS) will cost at least $1tn more per year than scenarios involving renewables. The report highlights the gross underestimation by countries pushing for CCS technology as a substitute for immediate emissions cuts. Transitioning to renewables to reach net zero emissions would cost at least $30tn less. The report also warned that heavy dependence on CCS would be economically damaging and called for governments to scale up investment and stick to essential use cases for CCS.

Leaders and participants at the end of the Tripling Nuclear Energy by 2050 session in Dubai. (AFP)
Updated on Dec 04, 2023 11:45 AM IST
ByTannu Jain

Extreme weather puts hospitals at high risk of shutdown, says study ahead of COP28 Health Day

Over 5,000 hospitals in India, the highest number in any country, are at high risk of shutdowns due to extreme weather events if fossil fuels are not phased out by the end of the century, according to a study by XDI. Worldwide, one in 12 hospitals face a similar risk. The study analysed the impact of climate hazards on over 200,000 hospitals globally and found that 71% of the hospitals at risk were in low- and middle-income countries. The report called for a rapid phase-out of fossil fuels to mitigate the risks to global health.

People at the COP28 UN Climate Summit in Dubai on Saturday. (AP)
Updated on Dec 03, 2023 06:34 AM IST
ByTannu Jain, New Delhi

Cause and Effect | At COP28, world leaders are at a crossroads

Against a backdrop of months of devastating heat, the world is on track for 2.5 to 2.9°C warming, pushing the planet closer to irreversible climate breakdown

The world is currently headed for 2.5 to 2.9°C warming over the pre-industrial period. (CREDIT: AP)
Updated on Nov 26, 2023 04:54 PM IST
ByTannu Jain

Cause and Effect | As global temperatures soar, urgent climate action is needed

A Climate Central report reveals that countries contributing the least to emissions are the hardest hit, emphasising the urgent need for global climate action.

At 1.3°C above pre-industrial climate November 2022-October 2023 was likely the hottest 12-month period in around 125,000 years. (CREDIT: AP )
Published on Nov 17, 2023 09:13 AM IST
ByTannu Jain

Cause and Effect | COP28 runs into controversy as oil execs join advisory board

COP president Sultan al-Jaber is an oil executive; critics say it's like appointing a tobacco honcho to head an anti-smoking treaty

People flock to the Ipanema beach to beat the extreme heat in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in September.
(CREDIT: AP)
Published on Nov 09, 2023 06:50 PM IST
ByTannu Jain

Cause and Effect | A controversial solution to climate change's grand challenge

In the lead-up to theCOP28, experts warn about the consequences of geoengineering, including ozone layer damage and potential delays in emission reductions

 The proponents of geoengineering suggest that humans try and fix the atmosphere they messed up in the first place by deliberately altering natural processes. (Credit: Reuters)
Updated on Oct 27, 2023 05:41 PM IST
ByTannu Jain
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