Nitin Sethi | TNN

New Delhi: The effect of climate change on India could be far worse than previously estimated. Latest projections indicate that after 2050, temperatures would rise by 3-4 degrees over current levels and rainfall would become both heavier and less regular, posing a grave threat to agriculture. These are part of the research conducted by scientists at Pune's Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, one of the key government institutions studying climate change in India. The findings are currently under review by a well-recognized scientific journal.

In 30 years, most plants in south California moved 200 feet above their previous growth range

LOS ANGELES: Striking new research in the southern California mountains suggests recent warming is behind a massive die-off and rapid migration to higher ground by nine different plants

Andrew C. Revkin

Scientists studying variations in tropical heat and rainfall since the mid-1980s have found a strong link between warm periods and more extreme downpours.

The observed rise in the heaviest rains is about twice that produced by computer simulations used to assess human-caused global warming, said the researchers.

Other studies have already measured a rise in heavy rains in areas as varied as North America and India, and climatologists have long forecast more heavy rains in a world warmed by accumulating greenhouse gases.

Cities on rivers are most at risk from rising water caused by climate change, according to a report from the UN and the World Bank.

The report, Climate Resilient Cities, gives city planners practical advice, noting that eight of the planet's ten largest cities are on rivers or seas and as such vulnerable to flooding, rising sea levels and storms.

With more people living in cities than in the countryside, the advice could save many lives.

Divya Gandhi

Bangalore: The world could see a potentially catastrophic four-degree Celsius rise in temperature by the end of the century, a Guardian report on Thursday has said, and quoted top scientists urging the United Kingdom to "prepare' for such an eventuality.