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An editorial is presented on the outcomes of the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP-28) held in Dubai, emphasizing the importance of international collaboration to address climate change. Topics include the conference's goals to limit global temperature increases, India's climate goals, and developments in climate finance, including the loss and damage fund.

The article offers information on the global acknowledgment of climate change as a reality caused by human intervention, with topics including the consequences of climate change, regional and global environmental concerns, and unique challenges faced by India, particularly the receding Sundarbans mangrove forest.

The article discusses the need for rural electrification using hybrid solar-wind energy systems to address the challenges of climate change and increasing energy demand in India. Topics include the rise in greenhouse gas concentrations; the importance of renewable energy sources like solar and wind; and the role of hybrid energy systems in providing a balanced solution for rural electrification while reducing the impact on climate.

The article focuses on the environmental impact and heritage preservation of Lonar Lake, a unique geological formation in India. It addresses the effects of climate change on heritage sites, particularly those vulnerable to rising sea levels and emphasizes the urgent need for mitigation measures. It also discusses the ecological damage and degradation faced by Lonar Lake due to shifting perimeters and other factors, highlighting the importance of immediate conservation efforts.

An editorial is presented on challenges faced by Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to develop healthy ecosystems and biodiversity that are fundamental to life on Earth. Topics include threat to fishing cats is habitat destruction due to anthropogenic activities and climate change; and India's wetlands are at risk of destruction due to human settlement, drainage for agriculture, pollution and logging.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses several articles published within issue on topics related to climate change and health.

Effects of aerosols such as black carbon (BC) on climate and buildup of the monsoon over the Indian Ocean are insufficiently quantified. Uncertain contributions from various natural and anthropogenic sources impede our understanding. Here, we use observations over 5 y of BC and its isotopes at a remote island observatory in northern Indian Ocean to constrain loadings and sources during little-studied monsoon season. Carbon-14 data show a highly variable yet largely fossil (65 ± 15%) source mixture. Combining carbon-14 with carbon-13 reveals the impact of African savanna burning, which occasionally approach 50% (48 ± 9%) of the total BC loadings. The BC mass-absorption cross-section for this regime is 7.6 ± 2.6 m²/g, with higher values during savanna fire input. Taken together, the combustion sources, longevity, and optical properties of BC aerosols over summertime Indian Ocean are different than the more-studied winter aerosol, with implications for chemical transport and climate model simulations of the Indian monsoon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]