Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Ancient Microbes Responsible for Breathing Life Into Ocean 'Deserts'

More than two and a half billion years ago, Earth differed greatly from our modern environment, specifically in respect to the composition of gases in the atmosphere and the nature of the life forms inhabiting its surface. While today's atmosphere consists of about 21 percent oxygen, the ancient atmosphere contained almost no oxygen. Life was limited to unicellular organisms. The complex eukaryotic life we are familiar with -- animals, including humans -- was not possible in an environment devoid of oxygen.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Monsoons: Magic or Mayhem


Since time immemorial, rains have fascinated mankind. Monsoon has been a deliverer for farmers across the sub continent. Monsoon clouds have decided the weather patterns in the sub continent. Poets and bards have extolled the colour and magic she spins. After a parched and treacherous Indian summer, the animal kingdom too loves it.

Yet as global warming stares at us ominously, mankind is just about beginning to see her ferocious mood. The Pak floods, the sudden cloudburst in Ladakh, the landslides in China all hark to one reality: the earth is getting hotter and it isn’t doing us any good.
read here