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Cement is a fundamental building and construction material for societies around the world. However, its manufacturing process is exceptionally energy intensive and has a substantial contribution to the man-made global warming potential which calls for immediate reduction. In this context, the implementation of green production practices and technologies in the Indian cement sector is of particular interest and global impact given that the country is the second biggest producer worldwide. Furthermore, the literature reveals that although the implementation of green practices in the cement manufacturing sector faces barriers across a variety of aspects, there is only limited research focussing on developing countries. This research covers this gap by concentrating on the barriers encountered by the cement sector of India and proposes strategies for their alleviation based on input from five experts and the use of the multi-criteria decision making method (MCDM) best-worst method (BWM). The results show that the lack of conducive corporate environment is the most important barrier, inadequate skills and attitudes are the second, while capital-related limitations come third. The experts highlight the need for mechanisms promoting cost effective environmental research and training as well as appropriate funding instruments and procurement rules from the government. Furthermore, a clear vision and plan from the management's part are fundamental for the effective incorporation of green practices in the organisational identity and the required employee engagement., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

The world has achieved massive economic progress in the past few decades, along with population explosion and rapid urbanization/industrialization, the effects of which are being realized across the world in the form of global climate change with huge environmental impact. Though climate change is a natural phenomenon, the release of several greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere through human activities has made a greater contribution to global warming. The present paper is a review of Indian climate features/trends and their consequences across the country. Recent countrywide trends in some selected climatic parameters like rainfall and temperature have been depicted. India is an agrarian country and is exposed to various hydro-ecological vulnerabilities, particularly successively occurring, extreme, climatic hazards like drought, flood and cyclone. Based on some indices, possible vulnerable areas due to the effect of climate change have also been depicted. Although the analyses are based on national level secondary data on selected parameters, some region-specific micro-level studies may better reveal the significance of these vulnerabilities. The present paper an attempt to map the climate variability across the nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Almost 70% of women residing in urban areas and 48% of women in rural areas use sanitary napkins in India. According to menstrual health alliance India (MHAI), single sanitary pad will take about 500-800 years to decompose as the plastic used in manufacturing is nonbiodegradable and causes severe noxious effects contributing to global warming through the production of planet warming fuels which eventually have severe impact on environment sustainability. Hence, the study was undertaken to contribute the evidence for the "Clean and Green India". Aim: To know the perception and practice of disposal of sanitary napkins among young college-going females in India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted throughout the country employing a self-administered questionnaire using a survey link sent through social media. Data collected were analyzed and interpreted using SPSS version 20.0. Result: The study population comprised 484 young college girls with a mean age of 20.92 ± 1.86 years and 96.9% of them are using sanitary napkins as menstrual absorbent aids. The most common method employed for the disposal of sanitary napkins was dumping them in the bin (87.4%). About 63.2% of them had no knowledge about sanitary napkin-burning machines. Around 92% think that improper disposal of sanitary napkins can cause health problems. Conclusion: The findings from the study revealed that a significant number of women were practicing noneco-friendly disposal methods and menstrual hygiene aids which are a bane to the ecosystem. Study warrants the education and training of females to achieve a green and clean sustainable India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming caused by CO2 emissions will directly harm the health and quality of life of people. Accurate prediction of CO2 emissions is highly important for policy-makers to formulate scientific and reasonable low-carbon environmental protection policies. To accurately predict the CO2 emissions of the world's major economies, this paper proposes a new fractional grey Bernoulli model (FGBM(1,1, t α )). First, this paper introduces the modeling mechanism and characteristics of the FGBM(1,1, t α ) model. The new model can be transformed into other grey prediction models through parameter adjustment, so the new model exhibits high adaptability. Second, this paper employs four carbon emission datasets to establish a grey prediction model, calculates model parameters with three optimization algorithms, adopts two evaluation criteria to evaluate the accuracy of the model results, and selects the optimization algorithm and model results that yield the highest model accuracy, which verifies that the FGBM(1,1, t α ) model is more feasible and effective than the other six grey models. Finally, this paper applies the FGBM(1,1, t α ) model to predict the CO2 emissions of the USA, India, Asia Pacific, and the world over the next 5 years. The forecast results reveal that from 2020 to 2024, the CO2 emissions of India, the Asia Pacific region, and the world will gradually rise, but that in USA will slowly decline over the next 5 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate plays an important role in design of traditional houses. They are required to achieve human thermal comfort without the use of active systems. These houses have distinct forms and features that responds to local climate. In India, with wide cultural variations, the climatic response takes varied forms in different regions to suit local culture and traditions. Most of the studies while analyzing a traditional house for climate responsiveness lack scientific approach and generally are descriptive without any framework of analysis. With a wide variety of house forms, it is worth analyzing strategies which are used to respond to specific climate. The purpose of this paper is to document and analyze various strategies and house forms designed to achieve ventilation in warm and humid climates. First, based on the review of literature a framework is proposed to analyze climatic response of a traditional house form in warm and humid climate by identifying strategies and resulting features. Second, using this framework, a traditional house in the same climate is analyzed. The results are also triangulated using other methods such as climatic data records and user interviews. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial revolution and fast deforestation in 20th century pushes the earth to face climate change. Climate change became one of the most important global environmental challenges of the 21st century. Besides other weather abnormalities it is potential threat to world food security as agriculture production is directly dependent on various weather parameters. Even a small alteration in climate, adversely affects agriculture by decreasing the production. Global temperatures have already increased by 0.70°C over the past century and prediction of more rise of temperature is there. Possible changes in temperature, precipitation and CO2 concentration are expected to significantly impact crop growth. India could experience a 40% decline in agricultural productivity by the 2080s. Various food grain crops are going to affect badly under the temperature rise situation. It has been projected that under the scenario of a 2.50°C to 4.90°C temperature rise, rice yields will drop by 32% to 40% and wheat yields by 41% to 52%. This paper summarized study related to climate change projections and its impact on production of various crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the advent of environmental era in the aftermath of global warming, companies are focusing on enhancing their environmental performance to strengthen their brand image. Researches are being conducted on Green IT in current scenario and the term 'Green IT' has received significant attention however very few has been done in India. Over the above little has been done to develop a framework integrating Green IT with Competitive advantage, sustainable development, and green brand image. The present study is a mindful effort in that direction. Based on exhaustive literature review a conceptual model has been developed to fill the research gap. The conceptual model establishes hypothesized relationship amongst four constructs: Green IT, Green brand image, Competitive advantage and Sustainable development and develop six hypotheses. The data is collected by means of questionnaire survey method from IT companies in NCR region of India. The empirical results reveal a positive relationship between all the four constructs with the positive relationship between Green IT and Competitive advantage mediated partially by Green brand image. The contributions of the paper lie in developing an original Green IT Brand Image Sustainability Model for Competitive advantage (GITBISC model). The model is generic and empirically tested in NCR region of India for IT companies. The study has great social relevance and holds important managerial implications. The research results would guide academicians, environmentalist, practitioners, policy makers to devise strategies that will help reduce carbon footprint on environment and contribute towards sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetlands provide a great ecological service by accumulating and sequestering carbon in their soils and thus help in mitigating climate change caused due to global warming. However, the capacity and efficiency of different types of wetlands vary considerably depending upon the nature of the wetland, hydrology, biogeochemistry, climatic condition, and many other factors. In the present paper, we have studied the carbon accumulation and sequestration in three different wetlands, one sewage fed, and two floodplain oxbow lakes in the West Bengal state of India. The selected wetlands vary in terms of ecological regimes such as water volume, depth, link channel, agricultural runoffs, primary productivity, macrophyte coverage, and fishery. The carbon accumulation in the wetlands, which varied from 48.53 to 143.17 Mg/ha up to 30-cm depth of soil, was much higher than that in the corresponding upland sites. The difference was much higher in the floodplain wetlands. So the study revealed that wetlands are better carbon sinks than the corresponding reference sites and the carbon sequestration potential varies according to the type of wetlands. A positive correlation was also observed between macrophyte coverage and the amount of C stored in the wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration in a deep coal seam is one of the techniques to reduce global warming and mitigate climate change. The storage of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in a coal seam generally occurs due to the sorption of gas in the porous structure of coal. However, the sorption capacity varies with coal seam due to the variation in reservoir properties and environmental conditions. Therefore, in this paper, the aim of the study was to determine the gas sorption characteristics and their effect on carbon dioxide storage in coal. The volumetric method was used to determine the sorption capacity at variable pressure. Sorption isotherm was developed using the experimental data and correlated with established Langmuir and Freundlich models. Gas sorption capacity of coal samples was determined at 36 °C and 46 °C because of the variation of geothermal temperature in the study area. An increase in sorption capacity was observed with pressure. Decreased sorption capacity has resulted in elevated temperature. The shallower depth was found ideal for the successful CO2 storage. The Langmuir and Freundlich models were most suitable for determining sorption capacity in the study area. The isotherm constants indicated a favorable, normal, and cooperative sorption process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) is being widely used by governments across the world as a policy tool to mitigate the catastrophic effects of global warming and climate change. However, the demand for EVs has been slow in many large automotive markets, including India. To increase the uptake of EVs in India, the central government has introduced a new consumer incentive program and a special tax rate for EVs. In this paper, we estimate the cost-effectiveness of these EV promotion programs in achieving CO2 emission reduction for each State in India. We use emission data of the chosen vehicle and CO2 emission intensity data of each State's power grid for computation. The results are then compared to other benchmark investments in climate change mitigation. The findings indicate that subsidizing EVs may not be the most cost-efficient method to achieve CO2 reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change induced heat stress is predicted to negatively impact wheat yields across the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) of India. Research suggests that early sowing of wheat can substantially reduce this impact. However, a large proportion of farmers sow wheat late across this region, likely resulting in large-scale yield loss. We examined the extent of late wheat sowing across the IGP and which perceptional, management, biophysical, and socio-economic factors are associated with delayed sowing using household survey data from 2429 farmers and the cumulative logit model. Our results indicate that despite understanding that early sowing can be helpful to avoid terminal heat stress, over 50% of farmers sow wheat later than their perceived ideal wheat sowing date. We find that variables related to how wheat fields are prepared prior to sowing are associated with wheat sowing date. Specifically, farmers who had shorter fallow periods prior to sowing wheat and those who used zero tillage were 95% and 65% more likely to sow wheat earlier, respectively. In addition, we found that how farmers managed their rice crop in the preceding cropping season impacted wheat sowing date - farmers who transplanted and harvested rice later and/or planted longer duration rice varieties sowed their wheat later. Our results suggest that policies that promote earlier sowing of rice, such as improved access to irrigation and direct seeding machinery, and reduced field preparation time, such as wider adoption of zero tillage technologies, can help farmers across the IGP sow wheat earlier. This is critical given that warming temperatures will only increase the negative impacts of terminal heat stress on wheat yields across this region over the coming decades., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Scientific research has revealed that global warming is getting irreversible with the passage of time and it is largely a human-induced phenomenon. India is one of the top three emitters of carbon dioxide in the world. However, the general public in India is unaware of what actually causes anthropogenic (human-induced) climate change. This study is undertaken to assess the level of climate change awareness and willingness to adopt mitigation actions by the students (N = 657) of higher education in Tripura, a small state in North East India, bordering Bangladesh on three sides. In addition, the study also attempts to draw whether there exist any correlations between the level of media usage with the level of climate change awareness and the level of climate change awareness with the level of willingness to adopt climate change mitigation actions. The results show that students of higher education in Tripura have a high level of climate change awareness, and the primary sources for climate change-related information are the Internet, TV, and newspapers. The scientists were the most trusted sources of climate change-related information followed by the mass media. The findings also establish that the students are willing to adopt climate change mitigation actions, even if it costs them something extra. The students who are willing (7.6%) and extremely willing (65.4%) to embrace climate change mitigation actions constituted more than 70% of the total respondents of the survey. The paper concludes that the level of willingness to adopt climate change mitigation actions was found to be significantly correlated with the level of awareness of the consequences of climate change when media are key actors in the dissemination of information; however, the level of understanding about solutions for climate change is not correlated with the level of awareness about the causes of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has seen some of the most damaging social and environmental effects of air pollution in recent times. It has also committed at the COP 21 in Paris to help reduce global warming. Following this voluntary agreement, India plans to increase the share of electric vehicles to 30% of total vehicles sold by 2030 to reduce air pollution. This paper studies the major financial incentives and policy measures undertaken since 2015 as part of the EV policy and views it through the lens of the Environmental Policy Framework, which considers five major types of instruments: Regulations and Standards, Green Taxes, Incentives, and Subsidies, Carbon Credits and Voluntary Negotiations. Another instrument called 'Information Dissemination Measures' is added to this framework to help evaluate the current EV policy. We find that while there are good financial incentives, to begin with, charging infrastructure and research in battery technology needs to be increased in India. There is also an urgent need to improve communication and awareness about EVs and their role in the reduction of pollution to help overcome the hesitancy in adopting this new technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the most dangerous threats to human beings, and therefore, it is of great importance for the researchers to inform the policy makers of the threats of climate change and global warming. One of the main causes of climate change is the greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO2 emissions. In this paper, we try to find a nexus between energy consumption, CO2 emissions, and economic growth in the United States, China, and India, known as three most polluting countries in the world. For this purpose, we applied the wavelet correlation and the partial wavelet coherence approaches during the period 1971–2013. The empirical results for the United States show that the GDP is positively correlated with the CO2 emissions and energy consumption in all frequencies. For China, there is a significant positive relationship between the GDP and CO2 emissions/energy consumption for the short-term horizon. However, for India, although there is a significant positive relationship between the GDP and CO2 emissions, the nexus between the GDP and the energy consumption is not clear. Furthermore, the pollution haven hypothesis was confirmed by the obtained empirical results. Based on our study, we suggest the policy makers in these three countries making supportive decisions for the producers to use modern environment-friendly technologies and renewable energies in their products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globe's primary issue is global warming, water temperatures have accompanied it as the sea surface temperature, and it is the primary attribute to balance the energy on the earth's surface. Sea surface temperature prediction is vital to climate forecast. Downwelling currents carry some of this heat to the ocean's bottom layers, which are also heating, covering far behind the increase in sea surface temperature. In deep learning models, the correct loss function will try to reduce the error and converge fast. The proposed improved loss function correctly estimates how close the predictions made by the long short-term memory match the observed values in the training data. This research considers location-specific sea surface temperature predictions using the improved loss function in the long short-term memory neural network at six different locations around India for daily, weekly, and monthly time horizons. Most existing research concentrated on periodic forecasts, but this paper focused on daily, weekly, and monthly predictions. The improved loss function—long short-term memory, achieved 98.7% accuracy, and this improved loss function overcomes the limitations of the existing techniques and reduces the processing time to ~ 0.35 s. In this research, the sea surface temperature prediction using the improved loss function in the long short-term memory neural network gives better results than the standard prediction models and other existing techniques by considering the long-time dependencies and obtaining features from the spatial data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is the average temperature of the earth's surface which has increased over the past century by about 0.6 °C. This rising temperature may vary precipitation patterns, more frequent droughts, rise in sea level and intense storms and can be termed as climate change. To understand uneven precipitation pattern for monsoon dominated region like India, there is a need to study cloud processes at high resolution with the help of cloud microphysical properties. Ocean is the major and primary source of cloud whereas local water bodies and re-evaporated water over land could be secondary source. Paper focuses over ocean (Arabian Sea) as well as over land (central India) to know the effect of global warming on cloud microphysical properties such as cloud effective radius and cloud liquid water content. Warming signal in terms of rise in sea surface temperature (0.1 °C/decade) as well as rise in surface air temperature (0.05 °C/decade) are observed over Arabian Sea and central India respectively. Satellite data show an increasing (0.5 µm/decade) trend in cloud effective radius over Arabian Sea, whereas it decreases (− 0.1 µm/decade) over central India. Increasing trend in temperature and cloud properties is may be due to warming signal. Aerosol concentration over ocean and land further helped to understand cloud processes with cloud microphysical properties. Paper will focus on the effect of warming signal in cloud properties over Arabian Sea and central India. This type of high resolution study may help to understand cloud processes which in turn may help to understand precipitation patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon neutrality of tropical reservoirs is a big concern in recent years as some estimates project high methane emission from these reservoirs. While there are studies available on the impact of physical processes (stratification and mixing) on the biogeochemistry of tropical reservoirs, not much information is available on the inter-annual variability in the low-oxygen conditions and production/accumulation of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and methane (CH4) during summer. This paper presents time series data based on monthly in situ observations from a tropical reservoir (Tillari, Maharashtra) situated in the Western Ghats in India. Sampling was carried out for temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), H2S, and CH4 at a fixed location from March 2010 until June 2014. The reservoir experiences stable stratification during summer (March to June) with complete loss of oxygen and production of H2S (max. ~ 9 μM) and CH4 (max. ~ 185 μM) in the profundal zone. During the summer stratification, the hypolimnion acted as a pool of CH4 with integrated values ranging between 3502 and 41,632 mg m−2. However, the intensity and duration of anoxia varied during different years, influencing H2S and CH4 production. Mixing in the reservoir was observed between July and September in association with the monsoonal runoff, which increased the DO concentrations in the sub-surface layers. Besides, complete mixing was observed between December and February due to winter convection. This, however, was found to play an important role, as weaker mixing in the preceding year was associated with severe oxygen loss in the profundal zone during the following summer with a production of H2S and CH4. In contrast, more robust mixing during winter led to moderate low-oxygen conditions with less production of these gases in the subsequent summer. Based on our observations and considering a large number of reservoirs in the tropics, we hypothesise that with the present trends of global warming and less cold winters, low-oxygen conditions in the profundal zone may become more severe in the future with positive feedback on H2S and CH4 production during summer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is a biggest issue around the world. In this research paper, the temporal and spatial trend analysis of seasonal and annual rainfall on Bhogavo River watersheds in Sabarmati lower basin of Gujarat state of India has been analysed using the data of 11 rain gauge stations installed in Bhogavo watershed. Linear regression, Mann–Kendall Test, Sen's slope test and innovative trend analysis methods are used to carry out monthly and annual rainfall trend analysis. In addition to the rainfall analysis, a number of rainy days change in magnitude as a percentage of mean rainfall have also been analysed using linear regression and Sen's slope method, respectively. The IDW method is used to develop a spatial distribution of annual and seasonal rainfall trend over the study area. From the results, it is concluded that annual rainfall shown increasing (positive) trend at nine stations out of 11 stations. The highest value of change in magnitude of trend as a percentage of mean monthly rainfall has been obtained in the month of July, attributing increasing trend at Sayla station and lowest value magnitude of trend as a percentage of mean rainfall in the monthly rainfall has been obtained in the month of August, attributing decreasing trend at Bavla station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is impacting almost every nation of the world and causing excessive socioeconomic damage to human civilization. India is presently the second most inhabited country on the planet and possesses the noteworthy potential to curb global greenhouse gas emissions. Most of the stakeholders of the global communities have signed the Paris treaty of 2015 to curtail the surface temperature rise. As the central government of India has announced its target to attain net zero-emission by the end of 2070, the electricity generation sector of the country needs to utilize renewable resources like wind energy rapidly. This paper focuses to optimize the wind energy generation cost in the Tirumala region of the country using the Genetic Algorithm and Particle Swarm intelligence concurrently. Tirumala is located in the area of Tirupati in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. A relative analysis of the optimization outcomes validates the superiority of the Genetic Algorithm over the Binary Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for minimizing the wind energy generation cost. The application of the Genetic Algorithm has been proven to cut down the generation cost by up to 7.56% as compared to the usage of Binary Particle Swarm Optimization for similar terrain conditions and wind flow conditions in the Tirumala Area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a function of time as well as climate variables such as temperature and precipitation. The process of drought forming is slow, and it manifests at different time scales, which adversely affects the economy of a country. The identification and characterization of droughts at various spatiotemporal scales are of great importance. It helps in the planning and management of water resources, policymaking, and agribusiness industries. In the present paper, the Cauvery River basin is chosen as a study area to analyze the changes in the frequency distribution of extreme droughts and duration, with the combined effect of evapotranspiration and rainfall. The drought indices such as Standard Precipitation Index (SPI) and Standard Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) are implemented on monthly rainfall data and potential evapotranspiration of resolution 0.25° × 0.25° long./lat. for the period 1931–2010. The results reveal that the frequency of the extreme droughts over the basin has significantly increased over the post-era of global warming. The increased rate of extreme droughts is particularly evident in downstream of the basin, mainly due to the increase in temperature and deficit rainfall. Further, the implementation of continuous wavelet transform reveals that SPI at 3-(SPI-3) and 12-(SPI-12) month scale are associated with extended reconstruction of sea surface temperature (ERSST) in anti-phase and in-phase, respectively. It is concluded that the in-phase association of SPI-12 and ERSST enhances the drought situation compared to the anti-phase link of SPI-3 and ERSST. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration, which mainly is attributed to fossil-fuel combustion and deforestation, is often suggested as one of the prime causative factors toward accelerated global warming. This commends for sequestration of atmospheric carbon under terrestrial systems to partially offset fossil-fuel emissions. Concerning the same, agricultural sector presents an extensive opportunity, especially for countries such as India where over 55% of the population is engaged in the agriculture sector. Methods: Sequestering atmospheric carbon in agriculture requires the adoption of climate-resilient alternative agriculture practices without compromising food security. The deliberated study highlights the options of alteration in current conventional farming practices and its economic evaluation for sequestrating carbon under two Climate Change (CC) scenarios, viz., RCP 4.5 and 8.5, over three temporal scales, i.e., 2020, 2030, and 2050. Considering the current landuse pattern and existing growth rate in land-use shifting, three land-use policies, namely, Business as Usual (BaU), Optimistic, and Pessimistic scenario, integrated with CC scenarios were contemplated. Six possible futuristic scenarios were generated for the assessment of carbon sequestration and its valuation following the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoff (InVEST) model. Results: The results suggested that across the studied region adopting an optimistic policy over BaU and pessimistic scenario, carbon can sequestrate an additional 0.64 to 1.46 Mt. (2.35 to 5.36 million ton CO2e) having an economic value of 193.4 to 504.8 million USD. Results: Moreover, the outcomes of the study are advocated for the policy of carbon credit in the agriculture sector, which shall contribute toward meeting various nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and sustainable development goals (SDGs) as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impacts of global warming and local scale urbanization on precipitation are evident from observations; hence both must be considered in future projections of urban precipitation. Dynamic regional models at a fine spatial resolution can capture the signature of urbanization on precipitation, however simulations for multiple decades are computationally expensive. In contrast, statistical regional models are computationally inexpensive but incapable of assessing the impacts of urbanization due to the stationary relationship between predictors and predictand. This paper aims to develop a unique modelling framework with a demonstration for Mumbai, India, where future urbanization is projected using a Markov Chain Cellular Automata approach, long term projections with climate change impacts are performed using statistical downscaling and urban impacts are simulated with a dynamic regional model for limited number of years covering different precipitation characteristics. The evaluation of the statistical downscaling methodology over historical time period reveals large underestimation of the extreme rainfall, which is improved effectively by applying another regression model, for extreme days. The limited runs of dynamic downscaling models with different stages of urbanization for Mumbai, India, reveal spatially non uniform changes in precipitation, occurring primarily at the higher quantiles. The statistical and dynamical outputs are further integrated using quantile transformation for precipitation projection in Mumbai during 2050s. The projections show dominant impacts of urbanization compared to those from large scale changing patterns. The uniqueness of this computationally efficient framework lies in an integration of global and local factors for precipitation projections through a conjugal statistical–dynamical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban population in India is growing at a fast rate along with the growth in the construction of residential concrete houses. Though a majority of these residential buildings are still of naturally ventilated type due to the lower-middle-income group of the population, these buildings will be subjected to indoor overheating with climate change in future climatic years. This can cause severe thermal discomfort among the indoor occupants and reduce their well-being and satisfaction towards the indoor environment, and increase the possibilities of heat-related illness and even death. This paper presents the results of the effect of climate change on the thermal comfort of indoor occupants of low-rise naturally-ventilated buildings in two different physiographic and climatic regions of eastern India. The assessment methodology of indoor overheating hours and indoor overheating degree based on adaptive temperature limits are used to evaluate the indoor condition. Different simulation variants of archetypes, orientation, wall types, ventilation rates, roof types, etc. resulted in 13,824 conditions. The results show that these concrete dwellings existing in the region are unable to suppress the effects of global warming and the indoor environment deteriorates in these buildings in future conditions. The decrease in the number of annual overcooling hours caused by the increasing ambient temperature due to global warming is lesser than the increase in the number of annual overheating hours, which ultimately results in the decline of the number of indoor annual comfortable hours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid increase in CO2 emissions has been a hot topic for whole world because of their major contribution to greenhouse gases (GHG) which is an ultimate cause of global warming. This study analyses spatially gridded data from EDGAR (Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research) and linear relationship using multiple linear regression model between CO2 emissions and four economic variables (energy use, urban population, gross capital formation and GDP at market prices) for Pakistan and India. Additionally, four major tools (f-test, t-test, time series analysis, and prediction errors) are used for the purpose of investigating linear relationship and efficiency of the model. EDGAR data shows that about 200 teragram CO2 has been emitted from Indo-Gangatic plain. Analysis revealed that the most effective predictor for both the Pakistan and India is energy use. The value of f-stat and t-stat showed that the economic variables have joint and individual significance for the regression model at p<0.05. Time series revealed that CO2 emissions increased gradually from 1971 to 2011. Error analysis indicated that regression model for Pakistan is more efficient than that of India. New policies can be devised and decisions can be taken on the basis of information given by this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing air pollution and the consequent degradation of environmental quality across the world are posing serious challenges to healthy living, not only through the increasing threat of global warming but also due to increased mortality and morbidity. This paper examines the short- and long-run dynamic relationship between economic growth, air pollution, and public health expenditure in 18 states of India during the period 2007 to 2021, applying panel unit root test, cointegration test, and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) estimation method. The ARDL model estimates the long-run dynamic interaction between the variables and distinguishes the short- and long-run effects. The panel ARDL estimates show that GSDP and air pollution have a significant positive long-run effect on public health expenditure in the states of India. The impact of carbon emissions on health expenditure is higher than the effect of GSDP. The much-desired economic growth comes at the cost of environmental degradation that increases the risk of pollution-induced health diseases including mortality, ultimately rising the public healthcare expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming is now recognized as a significant threat to sustainable development on an international scale. One of the key challenges in mounting a global response to it is the seeming unwillingness of the fastest growing economies such as China and India to sign a treaty that limits their emissions. The aim of this paper is to examine the differential incentives of countries on different trajectories of capital growth. A benchmark dynamic game to study global warming, introduced in Dutta and Radner (J Econ Behav Organ, ), is generalized to allow for exogenous capital accumulation. It is shown that the presence of capital exacerbates the 'tragedy of the common'. Furthermore, even with high discount factors, the threat of reverting to the inefficient 'tragedy' equilibrium is not sufficient to deter the emissions growth of the fastest growing economies-in contrast to standard folk theorem like results. However, foreign aid can help. If the slower growth economies-like the United States and Western Europe-are willing to make transfers to China and India, then the latter can be incentivized to cut emissions. Such an outcome is Pareto improving for both slower and faster growth economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impacts of climate change are being felt all over the world. Himalayan Glaciers like Gangotri and Yamunotri are melting away at an unprecedented rate and effecting lives of many in the Indian subcontinent. According to the IPCC reports, India will have no drinkable water left in the next fifty years. Cities like Mumbai in India are under a constant threat of being submerged due to rising sea levels. The policy makers of the country realize the hardships the country may face under the scenario of climate change. The Indian economy depends heavily on agriculture which is also under constant threat from climate change. In this paper we analyze the effects of climate change on Indian agriculture in Punjab, which is also known as the food basket of India. Our results do not show any negative impact of climate change on agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has good reasons to be concerned about climate change as it could adversely affect the achievement of vital national development goals related to socio-economic development, human welfare, health, energy availability and use, and infrastructure. The paper attempts to develop a framework for integrated impact assessment and adaptation responses, using a recently built railroad coastal infrastructure asset in India as an example. The framework links climate change variables — temperature, rainfall, sea level rise, extreme events, and other secondary variables — and sustainable development variables — technology, institutions, economic, and other policies. The study indicates that sustainable development variables generally reduce the adverse impacts on the system due to climate change alone, except when they are inadequately applied. The paper concludes that development is a vital variable for integrated impact assessment. Well crafted developmental policies could result in a less-GHG intensive future, enhanced adaptive capacities of communities and systems, and lower impacts due to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has vast tracts of wastelands. Afforestation of these wastelands is one of the many alternative uses of such lands. Given the scarcity of capital in India, it becomes imperative to determine the economics and financial feasibility of wastelands afforestation projects. The studies reviewed in this paper deal with cost and financial feasibility analysis of wastelands afforestation projects in India. The main rationale behind this review is to examine the prospects of increasing investments in the afforestation projects. This also has a global significance, since afforestation augments carbon sequestration, which has become an exigency in view of externalities associated with global warming. The study uses review of existing literature and regression analysis as analytical tools. The review reveals that reclamation of wastelands through afforestation is not an expensive venture in India. Afforestation projects are financially viable even when no environmental benefits are taken into consideration. The results of the study suggest that polluting companies/countries should explore the possibility of investing in afforestation in India to gain carbon credits economically, once the parties to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change decide to approve it. The studies reviewed reveal that researchers have used different sets of criteria for financial feasibility analysis of the afforestation projects. Almost all the studies have ignored non-market benefits of afforestation projects. Such methodological differences need to be addressed in view of the increasing importance of plantations as carbon sinks. Some socioeconomic issues like investment in tree crops vis-á-vis agricultural crops, preference for mixed plantation and wastelands development as a means of resource development have also emerged from this review. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Majority of the power generation in India is carried out by conventional energy sources, coal and fossil fuels being the primary ones, which contribute heavily to greenhouse gas emission and global warming. The Indian power sector is witnessing a revolution as excitement grips the nation about harnessing electricity from various renewable energy sources. Electricity generation from renewable sources is increasingly recognized to play an important role for the achievement of a variety of primary and secondary energy policy goals, such as improved diversity and security of energy supply, reduction of local pollutant and global greenhouse gas emissions, regional and rural development, and exploitation of opportunities for fostering social cohesion, value addition and employment generation at the local and regional level. This focuses the solution of the energy crisis on judicious utilization of abundant the renewable energy resources, such as biomass, solar, wind, geothermal and ocean tidal energy. This paper reviews the renewable energy scenario of India as well as extrapolates the future developments keeping in view the consumption, production and supply of power. Research, development, production and demonstration have been carried out enthusiastically in India to find a feasible solution to the perennial problem of power shortage for the past three decades. India has obtained application of a variety of renewable energy technologies for use in different sectors too. There are ample opportunities with favorable geology and geography with huge customer base and widening gap between demand and supply. Technological advancement, suitable regulatory policies, tax rebates, efficiency improvement in consequence to R&D efforts are the few pathways to energy and environment conservation and it will ensure that these large, clean resource bases are exploited as quickly and cost effectively as possible. This paper gives an overview of the potential renewable energy resources in Indian context while evaluating the present status, the energy demand of the country and forecast consumption and production, with the objective to evaluate and assess whether India can sustain its growth and its society with renewable resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global Warming has become an emerging threat to mankind. Sudden changes caused in the environment are making survival, a difficult task. The flora and fauna, not only of the country India but also the whole world is disturbed; hence, the ecosystems are not easily adapting to the changes. Many hands-on methods adopted by the people do not contribute to the solution needed. To resolve this issue, prediction of the extent of Global Warming to name the solutions is needed and the proposed system suggests the same. The system proposed uses the technique of Machine Learning and based upon the hypothesis proposed, the prediction of global warming for an upcoming decade is made. Also, the formula to calculate the extent of global warming is derived. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use and land cover changes have greatly contributed to global warming and increased urbanization during the last two decades. It is crucial to track alterations of the globe's surface's usage of land as well as cover in order to obtain accurate information about the study region for all development planning scenarios. Land cover categorization is critical for identifying changes, managing development, and tracking and assessing the ground's surface area. Along with RS and GIS methodologies, machine learning algorithms have recently gained popularity in land use and land cover change detection studies. This present study was conducted to detect land use and land cover (LULC) in a heterogeneous landscape of Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, India by using different machine learning classifiers, i.e. (i) Random forest. (ii) SmileCart (iii) SmileGradientTreeBoost and (iv) SVM. Overall accuracy and kappa coefficient found for RF, SVM, CART and GTB were (0.98, 0.96), (0.97, 0.95), (0.80, 0.75) and (0.89, 0.80) respectively. Results show that Random Forest (RF) provided highest classification accuracy among all four classifier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most popular commercial varieties of mango in India is the Alphonso variety. Due to its limited and specialised production zone, this cultivar attracts interest for its supply chain management research. Only a few studies on the management of the mango supply chain in India could be discovered in the literature. In order to better understand supply chain management and pre- and post-harvest losses for the Alphonso mango, a survey was conducted. To acquire the data, 123 observations from farmers, FPOs, retailers, exporters, and government officials were recorded. A socioeconomic study revealed that farmers who were young and educated (less than 50 years old and graduates) produced mangoes of higher quality and were more committed to exporting mangoes. The findings indicate that preharvest losses are primarily caused by variables including climate change, global warming, numerous illnesses and pests, spongy tissue, and fruit fly problem. During the harvest season, spongy tissue and abrupt, unseasonal rain have a negative impact on mango quality and supply. Mechanical damage, storage conditions, transportation, and mango handling all had a major impact on postharvest losses. According to the study, pre-harvest factors were responsible for 30 to 40% of mango loss, and post-harvest handling was found to be responsible for 15 to 20% of mango loss. The revenue of farmers is remains poor due to the current trading channels and lack of facilities for value addition. The results of this study provide insight on the current state of the supply chain and Alphonso mango losses. Researchers, governmental organisations, and policymakers can benefit from this study's findings by taking the appropriate actions to boost farmers' incomes, balance the market's supply and demand, and lower losses in other perishable fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming necessitates urgent action to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Biochar, a type of carbonized biomass which can be produced from crop residues (CRs), offers a promising solution for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) when it is used to sequester photosynthetically fixed carbon that would otherwise have been returned to atmospheric CO2 through respiration or combustion. However, high‐resolution spatially explicit maps of CR resources and their capacity for climate change mitigation through biochar production are currently lacking, with previous global studies relying on coarse (mostly country scale) aggregated statistics. By developing a comprehensive high spatial resolution global dataset of CR production, we show that, globally, CRs generate around 2.4 Pg C annually. If 100% of these residues were utilized, the maximum theoretical technical potential for biochar production from CRs amounts to 1.0 Pg C year−1 (3.7 Pg CO2e year−1). The permanence of biochar differs across regions, with the fraction of initial carbon that remains after 100 years ranging from 60% in warm climates to nearly 100% in cryosols. Assuming that biochar is sequestered in soils close to point of production, approximately 0.72 Pg C year−1 (2.6 Pg CO2e year−1) of the technical potential would remain sequestered after 100 years. However, when considering limitations on sustainable residue harvesting and competing livestock usage, the global biochar production potential decreases to 0.51 Pg C year−1 (1.9 Pg CO2e year−1), with 0.36 Pg C year−1 (1.3 Pg CO2e year−1) remaining sequestered after a century. Twelve countries have the technical potential to sequester over one fifth of their current emissions as biochar from CRs, with Bhutan (68%) and India (53%) having the largest ratios. The high‐resolution maps of CR production and biochar sequestration potential provided here will provide valuable insights and support decision‐making related to biochar production and investment in biochar production capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, using the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM1.2.2), we investigate the changes in the characteristics of the summer monsoon low pressure systems (LPS) over India in a twenty-first century climate change simulation corresponding to the RCP8.5 scenario. A slight weakening in monsoon circulation and an increase in mean summer monsoon precipitation over India are simulated in a warmer climate, consistent with several previous studies. The weakening of the monsoon circulation is associated with a pair of anticyclonic anomalies straddling the equator in the low level, weakening the cross-equatorial monsoonal flow from the southern hemisphere. These low-level circulation anomalies appear to be robust features in the equatorial Indian Ocean under climate change. An increase in moisture flux is also simulated over the Indian subcontinent. However, we find no significant change in the number of LPS or their spatial distribution under the RCP8.5 scenario. This is attributed to a small but non-significant decrease in the low-level meridional cyclonic shear in zonal winds. An increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation over India in a warmer world is simulated and is likely associated with an increase in moisture content. Our study shows that the fractional contribution of LPS to mean and extreme precipitation over India in a warmer world is likely unchanged, but the frequency and intensity of extreme events are larger. Because of the diversity in the results from single model studies on LPS characteristics in a warmer world, a future study that uses CMIP6 multi-model data would be valuable to assess the robustness and the uncertainty in changes in LPS activities under climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drastic increases in oil prices and need to reduce global warming are issues that have raised huge public awareness, which in turn encouraged many developed and developing countries to adopt new energy policies. Renewable energy resources are gaining fast attention in solving power supply problems in almost every area to shield the environment. In solving power supply problem standalone microgrid systems including renewable energy sources plays a key role. For a stand-alone renewable power delivery system, battery is the crucial component which allows storing excess renewable energy and further using the energy as and when needed by the load. In order to achieve the best performance and utilization the state of charge of the batteries should be assessed. This paper presents heuristic approaches to evaluate the state of charge (SOC) of lead–acid battery through optimal power generation in a standalone hybrid wind-solar renewable power delivery system. The mathematical analysis is made by the application of modified heuristic techniques, i.e. tuned genetic algorithm (TGA) and improved colliding body optimization(ICBO), for a specific loading condition in India. More optimized power is generated by the renewable distributed energy sources when evaluated by ICBO than that achieved by TGA, for both winter and summer load demands. These optimized value of power generated by the application of ICBO, resulted in low average value of SOC. The low values of SOC further prevent the battery from malfunctioning for a longer period of time. In order, to explore more optimal generation pertaining to good value of SOC parametric studies of modified algorithms, i.e. TGA and ICBO have been carried out. A set of critical operational parameters have also been obtained through parametric study of TGO and ICBO for a specific real time load profiles. Thus the reliable and optimal values lead to a better prospect in utilizing standalone renewable power delivery system for Indian future power scenario. Moreover, a comparative study has also been performed in analysing the performances of conventional and non-conventional methods in this regard. It has been found that the heuristic techniques, viz ICBO and TGA delivered 13% and 17% better result in comparison to that obtained by linear programming method respectively. Thus it can be surmise that the heuristic techniques perform well in considering the uncertainties and approximations of real world problem of generation renewable power, pertaining to better values of SOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In contrast to the "wet gets wetter and dry gets drier" paradigm, here, using observations and climate model simulations, we show that the mean rainfall over the semi‐arid northwest parts of India and Pakistan has increased by 10%–50% during 1901–2015 and is expected to increase by 50%–200% under moderate greenhouse gas (GHG) scenarios. The GHG forcing primarily drives the westward expansion of the Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) and is facilitated by a westward expansion of the Indian Ocean (IO) warm pool. Mechanistically, the westward expansion of ISMR is a consequence of the episodic genesis over IO and the northward propagation of an expanded Inter‐Tropical Convergence Zone on a sub‐seasonal time scale. While an adaptation strategy to increased hydrological disasters is a must, harnessing the augmented rainfall would lead to a substantial boost in food productivity, bringing transformative changes in the socio‐economic condition of people in the region. Plain Language Summary: An apparent eastward shift of the Indian monsoon has led to the arid conditions in the west and north‐west regions of India where monsoon was once active, and the Indus Valley civilizations thrived (5,300–3,300‐year BP). A reversal of the process and a westward expansion of the present‐day Indian monsoon would transform the west and north‐west India to a humid "monsoonal" climate and provide food security to the expanding population of the country. The present study shows that the Indian monsoon is indeed expanding to the west with 10% decrease of mean rainfall in the northeast and 25% increase in the west and north‐west during the historical period with a potential of 50%–100% increase in the north‐west under SSP2–4.5. Harvesting the increased rainfall has the potential for significant increase in food productivity bringing in transformative changes in the socio‐economic condition of people of the region. Key Points: Global warming could potentially cause a westward expansion of the Indian monsoonRainfall in northwest India and Pakistan has increased and will continue to rise due to greenhouse gasesIncreased monsoon rainfall can improve food productivity and socio‐economic conditions in the region [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming, depletion of fossil fuel and increasing demand for energy have led to the substantial interest in developing alternate energy sources, especially biodiesel. First generation biofuels produced from food crops and oil seeds are limited to achieve targets for biodiesel production. Second generation biofuel produced from non-food feed stock such as microalgae provides various potential advantages for biofuel production when compared with first generation biofuels. This paper investigates the possible use of microalgae for biofuel production on the selected potential sites in the country. Algal biomass and oil yield for the selected sites are predicted using the analytical method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) can affect the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) state of the following year, in addition to the well-known preconditioning by equatorial Pacific Warm Water Volume (WWV), as suggested by a study based on observations over the recent satellite era (1981-2009). The present paper explores the interdecadal robustness of this result over the 1872-2008 period. To this end, we develop a robust IOD index, which well exploits sparse historical observations in the tropical Indian Ocean, and an efficient proxy of WWV interannual variations based on the temporal integral of Pacific zonal wind stress (of a historical atmospheric reanalysis). A linear regression hindcast model based on these two indices in boreal fall explains 50 % of ENSO peak variance 14 months later, with significant contributions from both the IOD and WWV over most of the historical period and a similar skill for El Niño and La Niña events. Our results further reveal that, when combined with WWV, the IOD index provides a larger ENSO hindcast skill improvement than the Indian Ocean basin-wide mode, the Indian Monsoon or ENSO itself. Based on these results, we propose a revised scheme of Indo-Pacific interactions. In this scheme, the IOD-ENSO interactions favour a biennial timescale and interact with the slower recharge-discharge cycle intrinsic to the Pacific Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian industry may not be best in technology in comparison to developed countries. But the companies in India do understand the market trends and operate accordingly. The Indian consumer has his own beliefs and attitudes. Recently, the concern about environment has been growing rapidly in many of the developing countries, such as, India, Maldives, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka etc, who are already threatened by the global warming. In India, the customer has always been used to using minimum resources for a livelihood because of the inherited lifestyle and beliefs. The Indian customer base in rural areas cannot afford many of the luxurious products. This has given rise to various levels of customer differentiation for 'green' and eco-friendly products which are affordable. India is a diversified country, not only in culture but also in economics, and hence this trend is most welcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A significant fraction of interannual variability (IAV) of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) is known to be governed by 'internal' dynamics arising from interactions between high-frequency fluctuations and the annual cycle. While several studies indicate that monsoon intraseasonal oscillations (MISOs) are at the heart of such internal IAV of the monsoon, the exact mechanism through which MISOs influence the seasonal mean monsoon IAV has remained elusive so far. Here it is proposed that exchange of kinetic energy (KE) between the seasonal mean and MISOs provides a conceptual framework for understanding the role of intraseasonal oscillations (ISOs) in causing IAV and interdecadal variability (IDV) of the ISM. The rate of KE exchange between seasonal mean and ISOs is calculated in frequency domain for each Northern Hemispheric summer season over the ISM domain, using 44 yr of the 40-yr ECMWF Re-Analysis (ERA-40) data. The seasonal mean KE and the rate of KE exchange between seasonal mean and ISO shows a significant relationship at both the 850- and 200-hPa pressure levels. Since the rate of KE exchange between seasonal mean and ISO is found to be independent of known external forcing, the variability in seasonal mean KE arising from this exchange process can be considered as an internal component explaining about 20% of IAV and about 50% of IDV. Contrary to the many modeling studies attributing the weakening of tropical circulation to the stabilization of the atmosphere by global warming, this paper provides an alternative view that internal dynamics arising from scale interactions might be playing a significant role in determining the decreasing strength of the monsoon circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surface ozone levels in some Indian cities have increased significantly in the recent years. Ozone being toxic to the living system and an important contributor to anthropogenic global warming, enhanced surface ozone may have adverse effects on the air quality and climate. Transport of ozone from the stratosphere to the troposphere causes stratospheric ozone to decrease and tropospheric ozone to increase, which can in turn have serious consequences for life on earth. Since stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) is an important factor influencing the ozone concentration in the troposphere, this paper investigates probably for the first time the possible contribution of STE events to the observed enhanced surface ozone levels for cities covering from north to south of India. It is concluded that apart from transport processes and in situ photochemical production, STE also influences the observed high-surface ozone levels in Indian cities to a small extent (8%-16%). STE events producing high-surface ozone levels are found to be higher at high latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of environmental condition on the desired performance of trans-critical CO2 refrigeration system in typical Indian conditions. Environmental concerns and enactments of Montreal and Kyoto Protocol for sustainable growth enforce research for ecologically safe and natural refrigerants and cost effective designs of refrigeration systems. Carbon dioxide is one of the rediscovered sustainable options, as CFCs and HFCs are now in the list of regulated substances and are gradually to be phased out. Success of CO2 as a refrigerant demand, cost effective and widely acceptable technology operatable at various environmental conditions. In this work various issues of gas cooler design is analyzed for Trans-critical CO2 refrigeration system for major cities of India with their outside design conditions. An idealized steady state energy model is developed to predict and analyze the performance of the system for different temperature zones in major cities across India. This study leads to formulate the guidelines for design of commercial and large capacity trans-critical refrigeration systems which need to be tuned to region wise varying environment conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The link between economic growth and energy consumption is very crucial in the implementation of energy and environmental policies in the economy. The linkage is also equally important with regard to the real threat of global warming and climatic change. Empirical investigation on the direction of causality between energy consumption and economic growth is very vital. This issue is whether increase in economic growth causes increase in energy consumption or whether increase in energy consumption actually propels the increased economic growth. This paper explores the nexus between energy consumption (oil and electricity) and economic growth in India over the period 1970- 2006. Using Cointegration and Error Correction Model, it finds a unidirectional short-run and long-run causality from economic growth to per capita oil consumption and electricity consumption. This paper suggests that suitable energy policy should be designed to boost economic growth and to maintain sustainable economic development in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, traditional values as well as the timeless way of building compact residential environments is now threatened by new and foreign influences from the Occident. These influences are incompatible with the climate of the country and traditional culture of its people. [Schoenauer N. 6000 Years of Housing. W.W. Norton, New York, 2000]In the context of the worldwide concern for global warming and a need for reduced carbon emissions, increased energy efficiency, reduced waste and need for alternative sources of energy; this paper reviews passive design strategies that were used in the traditional buildings across India and assess their potential in modern design. This study offers a classification of vernacular environmental design traditions across the subcontinent based on the Koppen–Grieger climatic regions and a detailed study of thermal comfort in traditional and modern dwellings, in two of the eight regions, using environmental performance modelling. The results show that traditional passive techniques provide a high degree of comfort for a longer part of the day while potentially minimizing energy use. Some problems were identified in adopting the passive strategies to the present context. For example, there are limitations in the use of traditional building materials, such as, earth, but suitable alternatives with similar properties can be readily adapted to the same effect. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]