Despite its rich resources like forests and minerals, Bundelkhand is a region of distress and crisis. A study fi nds that the distress of the region simply cannot be explained by the absence or irregularity of rainfall. There are long-term structural problems which have had a cumulative effect over the years.

Like any other field, research on climate change has some fundamental gaps, although not the ones typically claimed by sceptics. Quirin Schiermeier takes a hard look at some of the biggest problem areas.

Whether the characteristics of tropical cyclones have changed or will change in a warming climate — and if so, how — has been the subject of considerable investigation, often with conflicting results. Large amplitude fluctuations in the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones greatly complicate both the detection of long-term trends and their attribution to rising levels of atmospheric greenhouse gases. Trend detection is further impeded by substantial limitations in the availability and quality of global historical records of tropical cyclones.

Rainfall prediction has prime importance in an agrarian country like India, wherein the agricultural production is solely dependent on the monsoon rainfall. Among various astro-meteorological methods for rainfall forecasting, the Antariksha method, which is based on sky observation, is most popular.

Quality of any water is determined by the quantity of source water, its exposure to contaminants during collection, treatment and storage. In a roof top rainwater harvesting system, which consists of a collection system, a conveyance system and a storage system, contamination of water can occur at any of these stages.