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Antarctica remains an untouched wilderness has been shattered. In a chilling discovery reported by the Daily Mail, scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have detected microplastics in the snow near remote deep-field camps, proving that plastic pollution has infiltrated even the most isolated corners of our planet. The findings raise alarming questions: If Antarctica is no longer safe from plastic, is anywhere on Earth truly uncontaminated? And more importantly—are we already past the point of no return?

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Rishu Goswami farms six acres of land in Bilawar, a village in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. Agriculture is his only income. For years, he has watched it rain at the wrong time.“It no longer rains as it used to,” he said.

Jammu and Kashmir, the strain on the region’s hydropower sector is growing, exposing the risks facing an energy economy built on snow-fed rivers.The scale of the disruption is already visible in weather data. According to the India Meteorological Department, the Union territory has recorded an overall rainfall and snowfall deficit of 39% during this winter season, with most districts witnessing significantly below-normal precipitation.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. SRINAGAR: In the middle of Chilai Kalan—the 40-day period of harsh winter, typically from 21 December to 31 January, which once defined Kashmir’s coldest months—the Valley is waiting for snow that has yet to arrive. The ground remains bare, sunlight warms the day, and temperatures plunge sharply at night.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Climate Change & You’ is a fortnightly newsletter by Bibek Bhattacharya and Sayantan Bera. Subscribe to Mint's newsletters to get them directly in your email inbox. Dear Reader, Even a few years ago, it would have seemed ridiculous to suggest that Delhi might hit a daytime high of 40 degrees Celsius in late March.

Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) shares will be in focus on Tuesday after the company signed a Rs 62,700-crore contract with the Ministry of Defence for the supply of 156 Made-in-India Light Combat Helicopters (LCH) Prachand for the Indian Army and Air Force. The deal, cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security, marks India's largest-ever defence procurement. In June 2024, HAL received an order for 156 Light Combat Helicopters. Out of these 156 helicopters, 90 will be allocated to the Indian Army and 60 to the Indian Air Force. These helicopters are manufactured at HAL's Tumukru plant in Karnataka.

Myanmar and Thailand on Friday has claimed more than a thousand lives so far. Myanmar’s Junta said on Saturday that at least 1,002 people had been killed and 2,376 others injured. The death toll and injuries are expected to rise. In Thailand, at least eight people died in the capital, where a high-rise building under construction collapsed. The devastation caused by the Myanmar-Thailand earthquake, shown in dozens of shocking videos and photos circulating on social media, has caused concerns in India too. India has recorded 159 earthquakes of varying magnitudes from November 2024 to February 2025, with the latest being a magnitude 4.0 in Delhi on February 17, as per a PIB press release. Many people have observed that earthquakes have been occurring more frequently in recent years. While it may seem like earthquakes are becoming more frequent, actual frequency of earthquakes may not have substantially increased. The feeling that earthquakes are becoming common could be due to more earthquakes being recorded and a heightened awareness of natural disasters due to social media. However, human activities like mining, dam building, and groundwater extraction can trigger earthquakes, leading to an increase in the number of human-induced earthquakes.

Climate change is accelerating the melting of the world's mountain glaciers, according to a massive new study that found them shrinking more than twice as fast as in the early 2000s.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Snowfall is a much-awaited occurrence in India, so much so that the first whiff of snow is followed by posts on WhatsApp groups and social media, and hordes rush from the plains to the Himalaya. Shimla, Manali and their environs become a heaving jumble of cars sliding on ice and fashionably but unsuitably dressed influencers making reels, making any trip to see snow a rowdy affair.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) is beset by problems, with the unbearable amounts of atmospheric pollution being the most acute. But the crisis of livability that the city faces isn’t just confined to this.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When Priti Jain and Arihant Baid set their sights on Iceland—a land of dramatic landscapes, glacier lagoons, and the enchanting Aurora Borealis—they knew they’d face one of the world’s highest travel price tags. Ranked as the second most expensive country in the cost-of-living index, Iceland offers beauty at a premium.

Glacial lakes and other water bodies across the Himalayan region saw a 10.81 per cent increase in area from 2011 to 2024 due to climate change, signalling a heightened risk of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), according to a government report. The Central Water Commission's (CWC) report, which was accessed by PTI, states that with a 33.7 per cent expansion of the surface area, the lakes in India experienced an even more substantial rise. «The total inventory area of glacial lakes within India was 1,962 hectares during the year 2011 which has increased to 2,623 hectares during the year 2024 (September). There is a 33.7 per cent increase in area,» the report said. It also identified 67 lakes in India that witnessed an over 40 per cent increase in surface area, placing them in the high-risk category for potential GLOFs.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. We had booked the tour ahead of our Svalbard trip—a hike up the Sarkofagen mountain 500m above sea level and rising between two glaciers. The activity had a difficulty level of three on five, demanding average fitness.

Roopkund Lake, one of Uttarakhand's premier trekking destinations located 16,500 feet above sea level at the base of Mount Trishul, is facing the impacts of climate change, reported TOI. Forest officials have been alarmed by the lake’s shrinking size, which is approximately two acres with a depth of around 9 feet. A 2019 study by scientists from India, the US, and Germany challenged the belief that the skeletons belonged to a single group that perished in a single event, instead suggesting they were genetically diverse individuals who died over a span of up to 1,000 years. Known as the «lake of skeletons» for the hundreds of human remains, some with preserved flesh, that emerge when snow melts, the lake has captured global attention since forest official HK Madhwal discovered bones in its icy waters in 1942.

About 45 kilometers from the landslide on Ella Island, the tsunami also caused damage to a distant landmark. Waves at least thirteen feet high struck the island, which is frequented by Danish military personnel and scientists. Fortunately, no one was there when the accident happened, even though cruise ships had only been in the region a few days earlier. This seiche lasted longer than any previously documented seiche, as these episodes usually end in a few hours. Also Read: Nate Silver warns Kamala Harris of poll gains post U.S Presidential debate

District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), Tawang, which reached the Sangnga Nehgu lake, which stands near the glacier on Mount Gorichen range, has discovered that there was a glacial lake outburst at lake Sangnga Nehgu on August 14. This washed away more than five log bridges and damaged the Brokpa track at several locations. The team, led by Tawang deputy commissioner Kanki Darang and superintendent of police DW Thongon, observed that there were still chances of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) from the same lake since the glacier on the back side of the lake is melting at a rapid rate, increasing the volume of water in the lake.

The notoriously chilly East Antarctica is currently seeing considerably higher-than-normal temperatures, according to recent research. The usual range of minus 58 to minus 76 degrees Fahrenheit has not held, with temperatures instead reaching minus 13 to minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit. These temperatures are far warmer than average for the Antarctic winter, even if it is still very cold.

Earth's rotation, which determines the length of each day, is being altered by the impacts of human-induced climate change, a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has revealed. The research suggests that polar ice melt caused by global warming is changing the planet's rotation and increasing the duration of each day, a trend expected to accelerate over the coming century as humans persist in emitting greenhouse gases, according to a report from CNN. Although the changes are minute, measured in milliseconds per day, they have significant implications for our technology-dependent world, particularly for computing systems like GPS. This phenomenon underscores the profound influence humans are exerting on the planet. «This is a testament to the gravity of ongoing climate change,» said Surendra Adhikari, a geophysicist at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and a report author. The Earth's rotation speed, which determines the number of hours, minutes, and seconds in a day, is influenced by a complex interplay of factors, including processes in the planet's fluid core, the lingering effects of glacial melt since the last ice age, and the melting of polar ice due to climate change.

Each year, a crush of tourists arrives in Alaska’s capital city on cruise ships to see wonders like the fast-diminishing Mendenhall Glacier

Nanda Devi, in 1936. The book is an account of one of the most spectacular expeditions of mountain exploration ever undertaken, when, in 1934, Shipton, along with compatriot Bill Tilman and the Nepalese Sherpas Ang Tharkay, Pasang Bhutia and Kusang, became the first people ever to find a way into the inner sanctuary of Nanda Devi, in the Garhwal Himalaya. Ever since the dawn of mountaineering, a greater premium has been placed on the summitting of peaks, in large part driven by a colonialist narrative of conquest.

North America continues to be gripped by a heat wave. The heatwave that began in May and continues to affect day to day life in the central and eastern states of the US has already killed many others in Mexico. According to the scientists, this was made 35 times more likely because of anthropogenic factors causing climate change. Human induced activities such as burning of fossil fuels has caused this issue. In neighboring Mexico, this heatwave has already killed 125 people and led to thousands of heatstroke cases. There is bad news as this heatwave like conditions will only intensify if human induced activities do not reduce, according to scientists. This study was conducted by World Weather Attribution which is an international collaboration of scientists who study climate change. Record high temperatures: