Endemic trees in Western Ghats show climate resilience

The Western Ghats is the overhead water tank for peninsular India. The health of the forests in the mountains can help preserve the water flow in the peninsular rivers. The current drought and the drying up of even the mighty Godavari and Krishna showed that this relationship was fragile. A recent study shows that the forest ecosystems with endemic tree species of the Western Ghats have remained stable overall for the past 150,000 years. Thus, those habitats if preserved have chances of improving the climate resilience of the mountains and also the rivers flowing into peninsular India. Unfortunately, only a third of these stable environments are covered by the protected area network, and thus are prone to much man-made degradation. MORE … 

Amaravati site floods thrice a year

Amaravati, the new capital city being planned for Andhra Pradesh, is at a site which alternates between floods and dry season. In this it shares the characteristics which Chennai, which went through devastating floods recently. The difference, however, is that the Krishna is a larger river when compared to the Adayar. MORE ...