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Drought has a paramount impact on global agriculture and food security. However, the study on future cropland areas that can incur drought is inadequate. This paper uses input parameters from 7 CMIP6 models for 7 future scenarios (SSP1‐1.9, SSP1‐2.6, SSP4‐3.4, SSP2‐4.5, SSP4‐6.0, SSP3‐7.0, and SSP5‐8.5) to measure South Asian cropland exposure to drought and its underlying factors. Some defined epochs such as 2021–2040 (near‐term), 2041–2060 (mid‐term), 2081–2100 (long‐term), and 1995–2014 (reference period) are designed to explore diverse outlooks of the change. The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index and the Run theory methods are applied to detect drought. Results indicate an intensified cropland (under SSP4‐3.4, SSP3‐7.0, and SSP5‐8.5) in the Indo‐Gangetic Plain region of South Asia, where mostly the variation occurs among scenarios and periods. Notably, the future cropland exposed to drought will increase in the 2021–2040, and 2041–2060 periods, but it intends to decline during the 2081–2100. Relatively, the exposed cropland will upturn highest by 49.2% (SSP3‐7.0) in the mid‐term period and decrease by −8.2% (SSP5‐8.5) in the end future. Spatially, distributed cropland in the central, south‐west, and portion of the northeast of South Asia are subjective to be exposed largely, but it can drop greatly across the eastern part by the end future. Importantly, the climate change effect plays a grounding role in future exposure change over the region during the near to mid‐term periods, while the cropland change effect is predominant in the long‐term perspectives. However, these findings signify the urgency of policymaking focusing on drought mitigation to ensure food security. Plain Language Summary: Estimating drought‐induced cropland exposure is the pivotal aspect of agricultural risk assessment for drought impacts. The purposes of this study are to explore (a) how much of the cropland area would be exposed to drought under SSP scenarios; and (b) the degree to which climate change and cropland change effects contribute to changes in exposure. In this regard, we conducted a multi‐model and multi‐scenario‐based analysis to reveal variations in the cropland area exposed to drought in South Asia. Among the seven scenario combinations, the highest percentage of cropland exposed to drought was found at 49.2% (SSP3‐7.0) in the mid‐term epoch (2041–2060). The climate change effect seems to be the key contributor in the near‐term to mid‐term period, whereas it is the cropland change effect long‐term. To reduce drought risk, we recommend focusing on strong climate change mitigation policy development in the near‐ and mid‐term periods at a global scale and strict land‐use management policy interventions in the long‐term period at the regional level. Key Points: Larger cropland area will experience drought in the 2040–2060 period, while it will decline by the end of 21st centuryThe exposed cropland will increase by 49.2% under SSP3‐7.0 than that of historical timeThe climate change effect is the pivotal contributor in exposure changes over South Asia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) study is a multiphase project that aims to optimize feeding, care and dental hygiene practices in South Asian children <2 years in East London, United Kingdom. The multiphase project uses a participatory learning and action (PLA) approach facilitated by a multilingual community facilitator. In this paper, we elaborate on the process and results of the Intervention Development Phase in the context of the wider NEON programme. Methods: Qualitative community‐based participatory intervention codevelopment and adaptation. Setting: Community centres in East London and online (Zoom) meetings and workshops. Participants: In total, 32 participants registered to participate in the Intervention Development Phase. Four Intervention Development workshops were held, attended by 25, 17, 20 and 20 participants, respectively. Results: Collaboratively, a culturally sensitive NEON intervention package was developed consisting of (1) PLA group facilitator manual, (2) picture cards detailing recommended and nonrecommended feeding, care and dental hygiene practices with facilitators/barriers to uptake as well as solutions to address these, (3) healthy infant cultural recipes, (4) participatory Community Asset Maps and (5) list of resources and services supporting infant feeding, care and dental hygiene practices. Conclusion: The Intervention Development Phase of the NEON programme demonstrates the value of a collaborative approach between researchers, community facilitators and the target population when developing public health interventions. We recommend that interventions to promote infant feeding, care and dental hygiene practices should be codeveloped with communities. Recognizing and taking into account both social and cultural norms may be of particular value for infants from ethnically diverse communities to develop interventions that are both effective in and accepted by these communities. Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement: Considerable efforts were placed on Patient/Participant and Public Involvement and Engagement. Five community facilitators were identified, each of which represented one ethnic/language group: (i) Bangladeshi/Bengali and Sylheti, (ii) Pakistani/Urdu, (iii) Indian/Gujrati, (iv) Indian/Punjabi and (v) Sri Lankan/Tamil. The community facilitators were engaged in every step of the study, from the initial drafting of the protocol and study design to the Intervention Development and refinement of the NEON toolkit, as well as the publication and dissemination of the study findings. More specifically, their role in the Intervention Development Phase of the NEON programme was to: 1.Support the development of the study protocol, information sheets and ethics application.2.Ensure any documents intended for community members are clear, appropriate and sensitively worded.3.Develop strategies to troubleshoot any logistical challenges of project delivery, for example, recruitment shortfalls.4.Contribute to the writing of academic papers, in particular reviewing and revising drafts.5.Develop plain language summaries and assist in dissemination activities, for example, updates on relevant websites.6.Contribute to the development of the NEON intervention toolkit and recruitment of the community members.7.Attend and contribute to Intervention Development workshops, ensuring the participant's voices were the focus of the discussion and workshop outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Four years of Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology lightning location network lightning observation data are used to determine the seasonal and spatial (over different geographical locations) distribution of the ratio of intra‐cloud (IC) lightning to cloud‐to‐ground (CG) lightning in thunderstorms over the Indian subcontinent. The ratio is high (6–10) in the northwestern parts and low (0.5–3.5) in the northeastern parts. No prominent latitudinal variation of the IC to CG ratio exists, but a climatological seasonal variability exists over all regions. In the pre‐monsoon season (March–May), the mean ratio is observed to be 3.81 with a standard deviation of 0.79, and during the monsoon season (June–September), a value of 3.04 with a standard deviation of 0.50. Although convective available potential energy is the regulating factor, little dependency has been found between the ratio of IC to CG lightning (IC:CG ratio) and the total flash rate (f), as well as with cold cloud depths. The ratio is observed to be proportional to the total flash rate as f0.61. The cold cloud depth is most prominently linked with the regional and seasonal IC:CG ratio. The implication of these observed results has the importance of separating CG lightning flash from total and can be used in numerical models to give a proper prediction of CG lightning in hazard mitigation. Plain Language Summary: Pre‐monsoon thunderstorms exhibit more intra‐cloud (IC) discharge than monsoonal thunderstorms; hence, the IC:cloud‐to‐ground (CG) ratio is also high in pre‐monsoon. In this paper, we have shown that CG lightning is approximately 20% of total lightning in pre‐monsoon whereas 25% of total lightning in monsoon all over the Indian region. A stronger vertical updraft associated with high convective available potential energy enhances the cold cloud depth. It may expand the mixed phase region, which can broaden and uplift the size of the upper positive charge center inside a thunderstorm. In contrast, the middle negative charge center remains at the same temperature level. Therefore, this process may enhance IC discharge between the upper positive charge center and the middle negative charge center, increasing the IC:CG ratio of a thunderstorm. Key Points: The mean intra‐cloud:cloud‐to‐ground (IC:CG) ratio remains high in the Pre‐monsoon season compared to the Monsoon season over the Indian land massThe high cold cloud depth associated with stronger updrafts expand the mixed‐phase region and increases the IC flash rate and IC:CG ratioHigh flash rate associated with high IC flash occurrences is also responsible for a high IC:CG ratio [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of decentralization and devolution are not new phenomena to Sri Lanka. Since Independence (1948), the processes of decentralization and devolution have taken place at a varying pace to address changes in local socio‐economic and political conditions. Nevertheless, effective decentralization, delegation, and devolution of political and administrative authority and responsibility have not yet evolved in Sri Lanka due to lack of political will and bureaucratic support, the dominance of central institutions, inadequate fiscal and human resources devolution, and political clientelism. In turn, lobbying groups and political leaders in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka continuously agitate for more powers through a federal system of government. This paper examines the federal system of government internationally with a focus on its implementation in the South Asia region. This paper argues that in a developing country context, federalism has not produced autonomous state governments and effective governance as expected by various lobbying groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving environmental quality across South Asia has become one of the utmost important policy agendas of the concerned governments. The susceptibility of the majority of the South Asian countries to multifaceted climate change adversities has motivated the need to identify the factors that can function to ensure environmental sustainability across South Asia. Although several studies have highlighted the importance of globalization and cleaner energy use in tackling the environmental degradaton issues of the South Asian countries, very little is known regarding the impacts of regional trade and renewable energy transition in this regard. Hence, this paper aims to scrutinize the effects of enhancing intra‐regional trade integration and undergoing renewable energy transition on per capita carbon dioxide emissions in the context of six South Asian nations between 1990 and 2016. The results from the recently developed cross‐sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag regression approach, accounting for cross‐sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity issues, reveal that facilitating trade among the South Asian neighbors reduces carbon emissions in both the short and long run. Moreover, enhancing the share of renewable energy in the aggregate energy consumption figures is also found to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in both the short and long run. Furthermore, both regional trade integration and renewable energy transition are found to jointly reduce carbon dioxide emissions in South Asia. The results also authenticate the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, while financial development and urbanization are found to boost carbon dioxide emissions only in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, supply‐related and price data for several chickpea importing regions and supply‐related data for export competitor countries were encompassed into price transmission models to determine whether such factors are helpful for explaining the United States chickpea price variation. Specifically, the models included satellite‐based normalized difference vegetation index, a measure of growing conditions, and area planted estimates for importing regions of the Indian subcontinent and the Mediterranean, and area planted estimates for exporting competitors, Australia and Canada. Results show that inclusion of supply‐related information improved goodness of fit statistics in all models relative to base models that only include prices, providing evidence that such information is important for explaining United States chickpea price changes. The models with the highest goodness of fit statistics were those that accounted for (1) deteriorating growing conditions in the Mediterranean region coinciding with declining area planted in Canada and (2) concurrently deteriorating growing conditions and declining area planted in the Indian subcontinent. [EconLit citations: Q11, Q17] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Child malnutrition remains a significant concern in the Asia‐Pacific region, with short birth intervals recognised as a potential risk factor. However, evidence of this association is inconclusive. This study aimed to systematically review the existing evidence and assess the summary effects of short birth interval on child malnutrition in the Asia‐Pacific region. Five electronic databases were searched in May 2023 to identify relevant studies reporting the association between short birth interval and child malnutrition, including stunting, wasting, underweight, anaemia and overall malnutrition, in Asia‐Pacific region between September 2000 and May 2023. Fixed‐effects or random‐effects meta‐analysis was performed to estimate the summary effects of short birth interval on child malnutrition. Out of 56 studies meeting the inclusion criteria, 48 were included in quantitative synthesis through meta‐analysis. We found a slightly higher likelihood of stunting (n = 25, odds ratio [OR] = 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.97–1.32) and overall malnutrition (n = 3, OR = 2.42; 95% CI: 0.88–6.65) among children born in short birth intervals compared to those with nonshort intervals, although the effect was not statistically significant. However, caution is warranted due to identified heterogeneity across studies. Subgroup analysis demonstrated significant effects of short birth intervals on child malnutrition in national‐level studies and studies with larger sample sizes. These findings underscore short birth intervals as a significant contributor to child malnutrition in the Asia‐Pacific region. Implementing effective policies and programs is vital to alleviate this burden, ultimately reducing child malnutrition and associated adverse outcomes, including child mortality. Key messages: Short interval pregnancies pose a persistent public health threat in the South Asian region.While a potential link with child malnutrition exists, reported associations often conflict.Our findings suggest that short interval births slightly increase the risk of child malnutrition.Addressing short interval pregnancies is crucial to mitigate the ongoing nutritional burden in South Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement: Rice wild relatives (RWR) provide valuable genetic resources for modern rice breeding, yet knowledge gaps constrain their conservation and further utilization. To address these gaps, the potential distributions of 22 RWR taxa were modeled, and their conservation statuses were assessed. Most taxa were identified as medium priority for further conservation. Further ex‐situ collecting hotspots are in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, West Africa, and tropical Americas, while habitat protection lies in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, and West Africa. Climate change may shift equatorial habitats to higher latitudes and mountain habitats to higher altitudes. Summary: Rice wild relatives (RWR) provide valuable genetic resources for modern rice breeding. However, knowledge gaps on their geographic distributions and conservation status constrain their conservation and further utilization.To fill these critical gaps, we modeled the potential distributions of 22 RWR taxa under current climate scenarios, assessed their conservation status, both ex situ (in genebanks or botanical gardens) and in situ (in protected areas), and examined changes in taxa richness of RWR in predicted areas under future climate scenarios.The RWR were primarily distributed in tropical Asia to tropical Australia, tropical Africa, and South and Central America. We identified 4 out of 22 taxa as high priority (HP) for further conservation action and 18 taxa as medium priority (MP).Hotspots requiring further collecting for ex situ conservation are concentrated in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, West Africa, and tropical Americas. Meanwhile, habitat protection should be enhanced in Southeast and South Asia, Northern Australia, and West Africa. Under future climate change, suitable habitats near the equator are expected to shift toward higher latitudes and some in lower‐latitude basins may become unsuitable due to excessive heat, resulting in decreased taxa richness in these areas. Additionally, suitable habitats in high mountain areas may shift to higher altitudes, potentially augmenting taxa richness in the highlands. Our findings provide vital insights to guide future rescue conservation efforts for RWR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colonial nesting waterbirds in agricultural landscapes have historically received limited research attention, especially in South Asia. For example, the Asian openbill (Anastomus oscitans) is a colonial species that extensively utilizes agricultural landscapes, yet there is a notable lack of substantial studies despite increasing urbanization across these landscapes. We investigated the factors affecting the breeding ecology of Asian openbills in eastern Nepal. We used a grid‐based approach to locate stork colonies and monitored them throughout the breeding season from May to November for three consecutive years (2020–2022). Altogether, we observed a total of 67 active colonies, comprising 4020 active nests, which successfully fledged a total of 7566 chicks. Additionally, most of the colonies were located within areas of human settlements (40%), followed by community forests (33%) and agricultural land (27%). The Asian openbills primarily preferred large trees, such as Bombax ceiba (72%), for nesting. The mean height of nesting trees was approximately 4 m taller, the diameter at breast height was twice as large, and the canopy cover area was three times greater than that of non‐nesting trees. The canopy cover area of trees positively influenced the colony size, while colony size positively influenced the fledgling's success. Our study underscores the significance of large trees in providing sufficient space for accommodating a substantial number of openbill nests and fledglings. These findings have significant implications for conservation efforts to protect large trees along with wetlands and agricultural lands, as crucial measures to ensure the sustainable breeding of this nationally vulnerable species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Large errors in estimates of peak discharge in medium to large catchments in South Africa can be largely ascribed to significant errors in the estimation of the catchment response time, mainly as a consequence of the use of inappropriate time variables, the inadequate use of a simplified convolution process between rainfall–run‐off time variables, and the lack of locally developed empirical methods to estimate catchment response time parameters. Furthermore, the use of a typical convolution process between a single hyetograph and hydrograph to estimate observed time parameters at large catchment scales is regarded as not practical, as such simplification is not applicable in real, large heterogeneous catchments where antecedent moisture from previous rainfall events and spatially non‐uniform rainfall hyetographs can result in multipeaked hydrographs. This paper presents the development and evaluation of an alternative, improved and consistent approach to estimate catchment response time expressed as the time to peak (TP) in the C5 secondary drainage region in South Africa, while the interrelationship, similarity and proportionality ratios between TP and the conceptual time of concentration (TC) and lag time (TL) are also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on malnutrition for school‐age children and adolescents (5–19 years) in South Asia is fragmented and inconsistent, which limits the prioritization of nutrition policies, programmes and research for this age group. This scoping review aimed to synthesize existing evidence on the burden of malnutrition for children and adolescents aged 5–19 years in South Asia, and on interventions to improve their nutritional status. Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline and Google Scholar were systematically searched for articles published between January 2016 and November 2022. Eligible studies reported the prevalence of undernutrition, overweight/obesity, micronutrient deficiencies and unhealthy dietary intakes, and interventions that aimed to address these in South Asia. In total, 296 articles met our inclusion criteria. Evidence revealed widespread, yet heterogeneous, prevalence of undernutrition among South Asian children and adolescents: thinness (1.9%–88.8%), wasting (3%–48%), underweight (9.5%–84.4%) and stunting (3.7%–71.7%). A triple burden of malnutrition was evident: the prevalence of overweight and obesity ranged from 0.2% to 73% and 0% to 38% (with rapidly rising trends), respectively, alongside persistent micronutrient deficiencies. Diets often failed to meet nutritional requirements and high levels of fast‐food consumption were reported. Education, fortification, supplementation and school feeding programmes demonstrated beneficial effects on nutritional status. Comprehensive and regular monitoring of all forms of malnutrition among children and adolescents, across all countries in South Asia is required. Further, more large‐scale intervention research is needed to ensure policy and programmes effectively target and address malnutrition among children and adolescents in South Asia. Key messages: A triple burden of malnutrition (undernutrition, overweight/obesity and micronutrient deficiencies) is affecting children and adolescents (5–19 years) in South Asia, with heterogeneity within, and between, countries.In most countries, nationally representative data on the nutritional status of children and adolescents is absent and should be prioritized.Interventions targeting children and adolescents are primarily limited to small‐scale trials and focused predominantly on undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies despite rapidly rising rates of overweight and obesity.Further research is needed to inform the scalability and sustainability of nutrition interventions across different contexts and to understand the effectiveness of policies and programmes that address overnutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories that explain the origins of communal violence in South Asia often point to the discursive creation of the perception of distinct and adversarial Hindu and Muslim identity categories at the beginning of the twentieth century. This paper argues that these theories overemphasize imagined social differences without adequately considering how these boundaries were territorialized in everyday life through performative place-making practices. In order to fill this gap, ‘zones of tradition’, areas where religious or cultural practices are reified into official tradition, are suggested as one way of conceptualizing how group-making discourses are linked to places. As examples, the cow protection movement that campaigned to institute local bans on the slaughter of cattle and conflicts over Hindu processions playing music as they passed in front of mosques are considered. As these practices were contested, it is argued that zones of tradition were established across British India symbolically and tangibly dividing the territory before it was officially partitioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of mid‐Pliocene boundary conditions on Afro‐Asian summer monsoon (AfroASM) rainfall is examined using the fully coupled Earth System Model EC‐Earth3‐LR. Our focus lies on the effects of varying CO2 concentration, diminished ice sheets and vegetation dynamics. We find that the enhanced AfroASM rainfall is predominantly caused by the "warmer‐gets‐wetter" mechanism due to elevated CO2 levels. Additionally, the ice sheet, similar in size to that of the mid‐Pliocene era, creates several indirect effects. These include sea ice‐albedo feedback and inter‐hemispheric atmosphere energy transport. Such influences result in the southward shift of Hadley circulation and formation of Pacific‐Japan pattern, leading to reduced rainfall in North African and South Asian monsoon regions but increased rainfall in East Asian monsoon region. Interestingly, while dynamic vegetation feedback has a minimal direct effect on AfroASM rainfall, it significantly influences rainfall in the mid‐high latitudes of the North Hemisphere by enhancing water vapor feedback. Plain Language Summary: The mid‐Pliocene (3.3–3.0 Ma) was a pre‐Quaternary warming period with similar high CO2 level as we have today. The period is often considered as an analog for future greenhouse driven climate projections. Previous studies indicate that the Afro‐Asian summer monsoon (AfroASM) rainfall was more abundant then. However, the underlying mechanisms of relative contributions of boundary conditions on increased AfroASM rainfall remains to be clarified. Here, we use an Earth System Model, performed nine simulations to study the separate effects of CO2 level, ice sheets size, and vegetation dynamics on AfroASM rainfall patterns during the mid‐Pliocene. We found that (a) A rise in CO2 concentration during the mid‐Pliocene enhanced AfroASM rainfall through "warmer‐gets‐wetter" mechanism. (b) The dynamics of the ice sheet during this period, including both melting and distribution changes, contributed to more pronounced warming in South Hemisphere than the north due to ice‐albedo feedback. This change affected global atmospheric circulation, leading to decreased rainfall in North Africa and South Asia, but increased rainfall in East Asia. (c) We observed that during the mid‐Pliocene, vegetation expanded and move further north in the North Hemisphere. This increases summer rainfall at Northern mid‐high latitudes through local water vapor feedback. Key Points: Elevated CO2 levels during mid‐Pliocene increase Afro‐Asian summer monsoon rainfall mainly due to the "warmer‐gets‐wetter" mechanismMid‐Pliocene ice sheets changes favor to reduce North African/South Asian monsoon rainfall and increase East Asian monsoon rainfallDynamic vegetation feedback has less effect on Afro‐Asian monsoon, but more on mid‐high latitudes rainfall [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Progress to improve nutrition among women, infants and children in South Asia has fallen behind the pace needed to meet established global targets. Renewed political commitment and monitoring of nutrition interventions are required to improve coverage and quality of care. Our study aimed to assess the availability of national nutrition policies, programmes, and coverage data of nutrition interventions for women, children, and adolescents in eight countries in South Asia. We reviewed relevant policy and programme documents, examined questionnaires used in the most recent rounds of 20 nationally representative surveys, and generated an evidence gap map on the availability of policies, programmes, and survey data to track progress on coverage of globally recommended nutrition interventions. Current policies and programmes in South Asian countries addressed almost all the recommended nutrition interventions targeted at women, children, and adolescents. There was a strong policy focus in all countries, except Maldives, on health system platforms such as antenatal and postnatal care and child growth and development. Survey data on nutrition intervention coverage was most available in India and Nepal, while Bangladesh and Bhutan had the least. Though countries in South Asia have committed to national nutrition policies and strategies, national surveys had substantial data gaps, precluding progress tracking of nutrition intervention coverage. Greater attention and effort are needed for multisectoral collaboration to promote and strengthen nutrition data systems. Key messages: Most South Asian countries had several policies and programmes in place which considered or addressed nutrition interventions across the life course.Nationally representative surveys provide coverage data for evidence‐based recommendations to improve policy and programme actions.Significant coverage data gaps remain in nationally representative surveys around counselling during pregnancy, interventions targeted for newborns, infant, and young child feeding, and counselling on and identification and treatment of severe and moderate acute malnutrition.Mobilising political commitment and increasing multisectoral collaboration are required for an enabling environment in support of nutrition data systems in South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on observations and numerical simulations, this study explores the responses of Asian precipitations in summer to the vertical structure of Stratospheric quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO), and the relevant mechanisms. Compared to the QBO phase defined by a particular level traditionally, considering QBO's vertical structure leads to more significant precipitation responses. When the tropical zonal winds exhibit easterlies (westerlies) at 70 hPa and westerlies (easterlies) at both 30 and 50 hPa, there are downwellings (upwellings) over tropics and upwellings (downwellings) over mid‐latitudes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The meridional movement of the subtropical westerly jet is related to this secondary circulation, accompanied by anomalies of the South Asian High. These circulation anomalies lead to anomalous lower tropospheric circulations, causing abnormal vertical velocities and moisture transports, resulting in increased precipitation over South Asia and decreased precipitation in the Yangtze River basin. Plain Language Summary: With large populations and developed agriculture, understanding the factors influencing summer precipitation in South and East Asia is crucial for predicting future changes. While the quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) has been recognized as a predictive factor for summer precipitation in these regions, its effects are still uncertain. This study finds that the vertical structure of QBO should be considered when predicting summer precipitation over South and East Asia, rather than the QBO index on a certain level. When the zonal winds over the tropics exhibits the westerlies at 30 and 50 hPa and easterlies at 70 hPa, there's increased precipitation in South Asia, and decreased precipitation in the Yangtze River basin, and vice versa. The possible mechanism is the QBO's vertical structure stimulates secondary circulations, leading to anomalies in the SWJ and the SAH, resulting in summer precipitation changes. These findings could contribute to the extended forecast for summer precipitation in South and East Asia. Key Points: Summer precipitation in South and East Asia significantly responds to the specific vertical structure of the quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO)Easterlies at 70 hPa and westerlies at 30 and 50 hPa drive more summer precipitation in South Asia while less in Yangtze River BasinThe mechanism is abnormally strong secondary circulation motivated by QBO affects the subtropical jet stream and the South Asian High [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: The connection between marital status and suicidal behavior has been poorly assessed in South Asia. We aimed to see the proportion of marital status in individuals with suicidal behavior in South Asian countries. Methods: We followed PRISMA guidelines and registered the protocol in advance (PROSPERO 2023 CRD42023399906). A systematic search was conducted in Medline, Embase, and PsycINFO. Meta‐analyses were performed to pool the proportion of married individuals with suicidal behavior (total [suicide + suicide attempts], suicide, and suicide attempt) in South Asian countries. We considered suicidal behavior consist of suicide and suicide attempts (nonfatal). Results: Our search identified 47 studies for this review from 6 countries published from 1999 to 2022 with a sample size ranging from 27 to 89,178. The proportion of married individuals was 55.4% (95% CI: 50.1–60.5) for suicidal behavior, 52.7% (95% CI: 44.5–60.7) for suicides, and 43.1 (95% CI: 32.9–53.9) for suicide attempts. The proportion of married persons among suicide attempts varied significantly across countries (p = 0.016) which was highest (61.8%; 95% CI: 57.2–66.2) in India, followed by Bangladesh (52.5%; 95% CI: 41.8%–62.9%) and Pakistan (45.1%; 95% CI: 30.9–59.9). The pooled proportions did not differ significantly in relation to the quality of the studies (p = 0.633). Conclusion: This review identified married persons died more than others by suicide in South Asian countries while single persons attempted suicide than married. As the current study did not assess any cause‐and‐effect association, a cautious interpretation is warranted while considering married marital status as a risk factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic profoundly affected food security by disrupting supply chains through border closures Our study concentrates on South Asia and examines the interplay between COVID‐19, agri‐food trade, and inflation using monthly panel data spanning 2018–2021. Our findings demonstrate that the pandemic notably escalated food inflation in the region. Nevertheless, the robust interaction of agri‐food trade with COVID‐19 helped alleviate this effect. This underscores the significance of trade policies in controlling food inflation during the pandemic in South Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mesoarchean-Neoarchean komatiites in Dharwar provide evidence for heterogeneous, hydrated Archean upper mantle trapped by ascending mantle plumes. They show that the precursor magmas of these rocks were derived by partial melting of a mantle wedge metasomatized by variable slab-mantle interactions and influx of slab-dehydrated fluids and sediments. Evolution of a Mesoarchean suprasubduction zone mantle wedge in the Dharwar Craton, southern India: Evidence from petrology, geochemistry, zircon U-Pb geochronology, and Lu-Hf isotopes. Petrogenesis of lamprophyres synchronous to kimberlites from the Wajrakarur kimberlite field: Implications for contrasting lithospheric mantle sources and geodynamic evolution of the eastern Dharwar Craton of southern India. [Extracted from the article]

This study investigates the diurnal migration of the low‐level jet (LLJ) over the Bay of Bengal in the summer monsoon, which remains understudied despite the well‐documented diurnal offshore propagation of rainfall worldwide. The southwesterly LLJ exhibits maximum strength during the night and morning. The LLJ undergoes a substantial eastward migration of approximately 600 km from the eastern offshore of India at midnight to the center of the Bay of Bengal by afternoon. A linear land‐sea breeze model is effective in capturing the diurnal migration with similar speed and phase. Including background wind offshore extends the migration, rather than confining it to the coast. This migration is driven by inertia‐gravity waves arising from the diurnal land‐sea thermal contrast and is influenced by the westerly upstream wind from the Indian subcontinent. Our results have important implications for understanding diurnal monsoon circulations and their associated precipitation. Plain Language Summary: The low‐level jet (LLJ) in the summer monsoon plays a crucial role in affecting nocturnal downstream precipitation in South Asia. Previous studies have primarily concentrated on changes in the jet's strength during the day, neglecting its varying location. The present study addresses this gap by providing a comprehensive examination of the previously neglected aspect of the diurnal offshore migration of the LLJ over the Bay of Bengal. The diurnal migration is driven by the difference in temperature between the land and sea and is also aided by upstream wind, in a manner similar to the diurnal offshore propagation of rainfall. Overall, this study offers a more complete understanding of the LLJ' behaviors in the summer monsoon, which can help explain how it affects rainfall in the region. Key Points: The monsoon low‐level jet migrates eastward from the eastern offshore of India at midnight to the center of the Bay of Bengal by afternoonThe offshore diurnal migration is driven by inertia‐gravity waves resulting from the diurnal thermal contrast between land and seaThe westerly upstream wind from the Indian subcontinent extends the offshore migration, rather than confining it to the coast [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Antibiotic overuse and the subsequent environmental contamination of residual antibiotics poses a public health crisis via an acceleration in the spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) through horizontal gene transfer. Although the occurrence, distribution, and driving factors of ARGs in soils have been widely investigated, little is known about the antibiotic resistance of soilborne pathogens at a global scale. To explore this gap, contigs from 1643 globally sourced metagnomes are assembled, yielding 407 ARG‐carrying pathogens (APs) with at least one ARG; APs are detected in 1443 samples (sample detection rate of 87.8%). The richness of APs is greater in agricultural soils (with a median of 20) than in non‐agricultural ecosystems. Agricultural soils possess a high prevalence of clinical APs affiliated with Escherichia, Enterobacter, Streptococcus, and Enterococcus. The APs detected in agricultural soils tend to coexist with multidrug resistance genes and bacA. A global map of soil AP richness is generated, where anthropogenic and climatic factors explained AP hot spots in East Asia, South Asia, and the eastern United States. The results herein advance this understanding of the global distribution of soil APs and determine regions prioritized to control soilborne APs worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the discursive regime of Islamic study circles within an organization of female students (BICSa) informally affiliated with the leading Islamic political party in South Asia, the Jamaat-e-Islami. I investigate this textual modality of Islamic socialization as a site where members partly discipline their sensibilities in accordance with BICSa's project of Islamization, which is grounded in the jihad (exertion)-orientated model for Islamic reform in South Asia of the Islamist Abul Ala Maududi. I also explore group discussion dynamics arising from activists' daily experiences that not only critique conventional distinctions between the political, social, and religious, in accord with the Islamist worldview, but also facilitate argumentation interrogative of Islamist ideological-textual boundaries. The simultaneously centripetal and centrifugal ethos of the study circle as a contemporary Bangladeshi Islamist pedagogical technique is analysed in relation to shifting discussions of jihad among Islamist women. Résumé L’auteur analyse le régime discursif des cercles d’études islamiques au sein d’une organisation d’étudiantes (la BICSa) affiliée de loin au principal parti politique islamique d’Asie du sud, le Jamaat-e-Islami. Elle explore la modalité textuelle de la socialisation islamique comme lieu où l’on discipline partiellement sa sensibilité, selon le projet d’islamisation de la BICSa, calqué sur le modèle de réforme islamique de l’Asie du sud formulé par l’islamiste Abu Sala Maududi et fondé sur le jihad, au sens d’effort. L’auteur explore également la dynamique des discussions de groupe qui naît de l’expérience quotidienne des activistes. Celle-ci permet une critique des distinctions classiques entre politique, social et religieux, conformément à la vision du monde islamiste, mais facilite aussi une argumentation qui questionne les limites idéologiques et textuelles de l’islamisme. L’éthos à la fois centripète et centrifuge de ce cercle d’études, qui représente une technique de la pédagogie islamiste contemporaine au Bangladesh, est analysé en relation avec les discussions mouvantes du jihad parmi les femmes islamistes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the relative strengths of the cross-cutting variables of religion and ethnicity. British Muslims are often referred to as if they were a single community. The 2001 Censuses of England and Wales and Scotland demonstrate that Muslims are ethnically heterogeneous. Ethno-religious ward-level data for London from the 2001 census are used to test whether Islam binds together peoples of different ethnicity or whether ethnicity links groups despite religious differences. London Muslims, as a whole, are much less segregated than Sikhs, Jews or Hindus. Paradoxically this low level of overall segregation is produced by high intra-Muslim ethnic segregation. Intra South-Asian mixing irrespective of religion is greater than intra-Muslim mixing, irrespective of ethnicity. Intra-Black mixing is high irrespective of religion, while religion over-rides race and ethnicity for Christian groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fact that millions of females are “missing” in East Asia and South Asia has been attributed to cultural factors that support strong son preference in these countries. A widely disseminated paper by Emily Oster argues that a large part of this phenomenon can be attributed to excessively masculine sex ratios at birth resulting from maternal infection with hepatitis B. If her thesis is true, current policies to address this problem would need to be reframed to include biological factors in addition to cultural factors. The data show, however, that whether or not females “go missing” is determined by the existing sex composition of the family into which they are conceived. Girls with no older sisters have similar chances of survival as boys. However, girls conceived in families that already have a daughter experience steeply higher probabilities of being aborted or of dying in early childhood. This indicates that cultural factors still provide the overwhelming explanation for the “missing” females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Persistent precipitation deficits are among the most impactful consequences of global warming. Here we focus on changes in the annual number of dry days (NDD) and in the annual maximum length of dry spells due to a quadrupling of atmospheric CO2. We use atmosphere‐only simulations to decompose the projected changes into additive contributions. A fast adjustment leads to a global increase in NDD despite notable regional exceptions (e.g., South Asia and Sahel). The effect of the uniform component of the surface ocean warming is model‐dependent but shapes the regional distribution of the NDD response in each model. Finally, the ocean warming pattern also contributes to large uncertainties, likely through contrasting changes in large‐scale circulation. Our results thus highlight the complexity of the NDD response, with policy‐relevant practical implications for mitigation and adaptation strategies. Plain Language Summary: Global warming is expected to intensify the global water cycle, including the intensity and frequency of precipitation extremes. Yet, the response of the dry side of the daily precipitation distribution to increased atmospheric CO2 has received so far less attention. Here we show that this response remains highly model‐dependent across the latest generation of global climate models. Furthermore, we use atmosphere‐only simulations to isolate different drivers of the precipitation response. A fast radiative and vegetation adjustment to increased CO2 leads to an overall increase in the mean annual number of dry days (NDD) despite some regional exceptions. The effect of the ocean surface warming is highly model‐dependent, only partly due to the diversity of the simulated patterns of sea surface temperature anomalies. The regional response of NDD and of the maximum length of dry spells thus does not simply scale with global warming across the different models. Key Points: AGCM simulations are used to split the dry day response to increased CO2 into fast adjustment versus slower uniform and patterned SST effectsNone of the three components consistently dominates the global land response of dry days across the selected CMIP6 modelsThe uniform SST warming dominates the regional anomalies, which however do not scale with global warming across the multi‐model ensemble [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil water‐groundwater interactions are important in determining the moisture profile in a soil column. However, the Noah Land Surface Model (Noah LSM), the land surface component of several general circulation models, does not consider groundwater effects. The present study investigates the impact of integrating a groundwater model into the Noah LSM. By performing experiments forced by observations at the surface, insights into the characteristics of soil moisture evolution with and without the aquifer are investigated. In the absence of surface precipitation, soil moisture is shown to exhibit an exponential decay rate without the aquifer (termed as Noah‐Cntl). This is because evapotranspiration dominates other processes governing the soil moisture evolution. Based on scale analysis, we derived an analytical equation that could well represent the aforementioned exponential variation in soil moisture. Presence of the aquifer (termed as Noah‐GW) makes the capillary processes important as well. The result is a slower decay of soil moisture as compared to Noah‐Cntl without surface precipitation. Soil moisture evolution in both the models is a function of vegetation and soil types. As a result, the aforementioned decay timescale displays significant heterogeneity over the Indian region, with Central India exhibiting relatively faster decay rates. We also performed 24‐year long experiments with observed interannually varying forcing that indicates an enhancement in the annual mean soil moisture at all levels due to groundwater effects. This enhancement is particularly prominent during the post‐monsoon season, reaffirming the results of the drain‐out experiments mentioned above. Plain Language Summary: Land surface processes are integral parts of weather and climate. Hence, an accurate representation of these processes is crucial from prediction and understanding points of view. However, state‐of‐the‐art land surface models do not incorporate some essential components that make these models erroneous. This study integrates a groundwater model into an existing land surface model and characterizes its impact on the evolution of soil moisture. We discuss factors affecting soil moisture decay rate over the Indian subcontinent without surface forcing. We show that the post‐monsoon and annual mean soil moisture increases in the presence of a groundwater model. However, spatial heterogeneity of groundwater effects is dependent on parameters like soil type and surface rain rate. Key Points: A prognostic model for groundwater is developed and integrated inside the Noah Land Surface ModelAnalytical solutions for the rate of change of soil moisture in the absence of surface water forcing are derived to explain model resultsPresence of an aquifer increases the soil moisture retention capability in the Noah Land surface model [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought risk assessment can identify high‐risk areas and bridge the gap between impacts and adaptation. It is thus vital to investigate changes in drought risk and exposed social economy under climate change. Here, the future global meteorological drought risk is projected for the 2021–2100 period under four combined scenarios of Representative Concentration Pathways and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs), i.e., SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, SSP3‐7.0, and SSP5‐8.5. And then the exposed population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) under high risk are analyzed. Drought risk will further strengthen in the future under SSP2‐4.5, SSP3‐7.0, and SSP5‐8.5, with large increases distributed in South Asia, the Mediterranean, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central America. The strongest increasing trends in drought risk are concentrated in equatorial regions including South Asia, West Africa, and Central America. A large percentage of the population and economy are exposed to high drought risk. The exposed population under the highest risk level is the largest under SSP5‐8.5 and the smallest under SSP3‐7.0 for regions in North America, while being the largest under SSP3‐7.0 for other regions. The exposed GDP under the highest risk level is the highest under SSP5‐8.5 and the lowest under SSP3‐7.0, while the disparity among diverse scenarios is larger for the rich regions than the developing ones. Plain Language Summary: Drought increasingly affects society, economy, and ecosystems as a frequent natural disaster. Drought risk assessment can help understand the extent of drought threat to the human system. Therefore, we projected 0.5° × 0.5° future drought risk for the 2021–2100 period under four scenarios and investigated the exposed population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) under high risk. We find that high‐risk regions mainly concentrate in South Asia, the Mediterranean, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central America, eastern North America, North Europe, and West Africa, and global drought risk will increase in the future. The population exposed to high drought risk for South Asia, West Africa, and East Asia is much larger than other regions. GDP exposed to high drought risk is the largest for East and South Asia. Large exposed population and GDP occur under high forcing fossil‐fueled development pathways. Our findings help policymakers develop adaptive disaster prevention measures. Key Points: Drought risk will increase worldwide in the future, being the highest under SSP5‐8.5 and the lowest under SSP1‐2.6 for most regionsExposed population under high risk is the largest under SSP5‐8.5 for regions in North America while under SSP3‐7.0 for other regionsExposed Gross Domestic Product under high risk is significantly higher under SSP5‐8.5 than the other scenarios and the lowest under SSP3‐7.0 for all regions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Packages of fluvial systems in the Lower Ganga plains (LGP) archive the changes in stratigraphic architecture induced by perturbations in the climatic system. In some parts of this landscape, where the fluvial sequences predominate, the role of climate in landsculpting is strongly indicated by the presence of sediment architecture. The present study is focused on the formation of alluvial plains of the Ajay River in the Rarh region that represent a region's environmental templates for understanding the landscape of LGP. The sedimentological, geomorphological, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) chronological investigations were attempted to document sedimentation patterns and the timing of deposition. The stratigraphic data from two exposed cliff sections and three boreholes are compared with proxy records to understand the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) controls on alluvial sedimentation for the last ~2.4 ka. The fluvial packages in the study area correspond to two significant channel phases: Period‐I (2.4–1.3 ka) and Period‐II (800–200 years ago). Period‐I is characterized by the episodes of floodplain development and lateral migration of the trunk river during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) I, especially around 2 ka corresponding to the Roman Warm (RW) period in the Indian subcontinent. The sediment filling was high during ~2.4 ka due to ISM intensification, but in the later stage, the sedimentation was at a fairly steady rate. Conversely, Period‐II is characterized by flooding phenomena and aggradation of channel bodies across much of the present valley area during the last 800 years. The distinct flood events occurred during the times of significant shifts in ISM, from fluvial dormancy to sudden outbursts of monsoons (end of Little Ice Age [LIA] ~ 19th century), indicating that climatic patterns can be associated with the occurrences of abrupt flood events. The alluvial records fit well with the historical, instrumental, and published proxy data on the ISM validating the chronology and the potential of sedimentary archives for further studies related to the palaeoenvironment and palaeogeography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate affects living ecosystems and defines species physiology. Climate change causes certain stress on animals, recorded as Enamel Hypoplasia (EH). Proboscideans, the mega herbivores, were extensively represented in the Siwaliks of Pakistan between the Middle Miocene to Pleistocene (~15.99–~0.6 Ma). This study was carried out on 15 species from 9 genera and 4 families using 319 teeth from 266 individual quarries. Our results revealed that 20.06% (64/319) of teeth were infected by EH. Family Deinotheriidae faced higher stress during the terminal of the Middle Miocene (EH 25%). Dental characters of deinotheres indicated that this family preferred soft vegetation like C3 plants and failed to survive in grassland ecology at the onset of the Late Miocene (~10–9 Ma). Gomphotheriidae (EH 21.05%) and Stegodontidae (EH 23.40%) survived through warm and dry climatic conditions of the Late Miocene, but could not survive the cool and dry climate of Plio‐Pleistocene where grasslands were abundant with less browsing activity. Family Elephantidae (EH 8.47%) was successful in drier conditions and utilized the exclusive C4 diet in open grasslands as efficient grazers, indicated by their tooth morphology. Elephantids were dominant of the proboscideans in open grassland and drier climate during Plio‐Pleistocene in the Indian subcontinent. We assume that change in the Siwalik palaeoenvironment was governed by a microclimate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, millions of people are at risk due to droughts in South Asia (SA). The likely impacts of droughts are projected to increase with global warming. This study uses the new ensemble mean of 23 global climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6), population and gross domestic product (GDP) projections to quantify future changes in increasing drought risks and associated socioeconomic exposure across SA and its subregions under 1.5°C and 2°C of warming. We used two shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), SSP2‐4.5 and SSP5‐8.5. The most likely realization copula functions are used to model the joint distribution of drought severity and duration. Simultaneously, changes in the bivariate return period are calculated under a warming climate. The frequency of 50‐year historical droughts (under a bivariate framework) might double across 80% of the SA land area under 1.5°C of warming. Conversely, 12% of SA landmasses may suffer extreme droughts under 2°C of warming. The severe drought episode frequency is expected to increase under 1.5°C (40%–75%) and 2°C (60%–90%) of warming relative to the recent climate. The largest exposure increase is projected in R2 and R4, then R1. Additionally, 75% (65%) of the SA population (GDP) could suffer from increased drought risks under the 1.5°C warmer climate, whereas the additional 0.5°C warming will lead to an unbearable regional situation. Limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared with 2°C can significantly reduce the drought risk influence in SA. These findings can help disaster‐risk managers to adopt climate‐smart management strategies. Plain Language Summary: The world has warmed rapidly since 1970, encouraging efforts to reduce climate change and to stabilize global temperatures to between 1.5°C and 2°C warming targets above preindustrial levels. With these aims, the present study explores the spatiotemporal changes in future drought events and their associated socioeconomic exposure over South Asia (SA) and its subregions under a warmer climate. We find that amplified drought risks are projected to increase over southern and southwestern SA under 1.5°C of warming for the SSP2‐4.5 and SSP5‐8.5 scenarios. As the world continues to warm, some land locations, such as the interior of South India and Pakistan, may experience a temporary emergence of a climate change signal that weakens if the climate stabilizes and the Paris Agreement goals are met. In addition, we also found that the frequency of 50‐year historical droughts might double across 80% of the SA land area under the 1.5°C warming target. In contrast, limiting global warming to 1.5°C instead of 2°C can increase the projected population exposures to increased drought risks by almost half. We believe that the study findings will help disaster‐risk managers adopt climate‐smart policies. Key Points: The frequency of 50‐year historical droughts might double across 80% of South Asia (SA) land area under 1.5°C warmingSouthwestern SA is projected to have the largest increase in exposure compared to the other regionsLimiting global warming to 1.5°C instead of 2°C can increase the projected population exposures to increased drought risks by almost half [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the diurnal atmospheric circulation cycle around the eastern Indian subcontinent, leeward of the monsoon westerlies, on the hydroclimate of South Asia remains unknown. Here, we reveal that low‐level moist southerlies are greatly enhanced at night parallel to the coastline over the western Bay of Bengal (BoB), and then flow onto the Gangetic Plain enhancing onshore moisture flux and nocturnal precipitation over the Himalayas and the Meghalaya Plateau. This nocturnal surge is strongly controlled by the diurnal cycle of dynamic and thermodynamic effects around the subcontinent. At night, nocturnal westerly low‐level jets appear over the subcontinent. Strong low‐level southwesterly flow with a low‐level jet structure also appears parallel to the coastline over the western BoB, extending from the west of Sri Lanka. The low‐level westerlies from the subcontinent and the low‐level southwesterlies merge into a single strong southwesterly flow, forming the low‐level moist surge. Plain Language Summary: Nocturnal precipitation is a well‐known phenomenon around the Himalayas and the Meghalaya Plateau in South Asia in summer. Such precipitation is a major supply source for glaciers in the central–eastern Himalayas and the headwaters of major rivers such as the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. In this study, we show that low‐level moist southerlies are greatly enhanced at night parallel to the coastline over the western Bay of Bengal (BoB) and then flow onto the Gangetic Plain, enhancing moisture transport toward land and nocturnal precipitation in South Asia. Here, we refer to the phenomenon as the nocturnal southerly moist surge. This nocturnal surge is strongly affected by the diurnal cycle of the thermal and topographic effects of the Indian subcontinent. At night, a strong low‐level westerly jet appears above the nocturnal stable layer over the Indian subcontinent. Strong low‐level southwesterlies with a low‐level jet structure also appear over the western BoB, extending from the strait between the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka. The low‐level westerlies flowing from the subcontinent and the southwesterlies merge into a single strong southwesterly flow, forming the low‐level moist surge over the western BoB. Key Points: Nocturnal low‐level southerly moist surge occurs parallel to the western Bay of Bengal coastline and flows over the Gangetic PlainThe surge consists of strong low‐level westerlies from the Indian subcontinent and southwesterlies extending from the west of Sri LankaDynamic and thermodynamic effects of the Indian subcontinent likely play an important role in forming the nocturnal surge [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of polar sea ice melt on low latitude climate is little known. To understand the response of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) synoptic activity to the sea ice melt, we have run a suite of coupled and uncoupled climate model simulations. In one set of simulations, the albedo of sea ice is reduced so that it would melt due to increased absorption of solar radiation. The coupled model simulation with a reduced sea ice albedo resulted in an almost complete melting of the sea ice in summer in both hemispheres. A high‐resolution (50 km) atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) is forced with the climatological annual cycles of sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice concentrations (SIC) from the coupled model outputs to better resolve synoptic scale variability. In the high‐resolution AGCM simulations forced with SST and SIC from the sea ice melt experiments, the ISM circulation weakened substantially, and the monsoon low‐pressure systems (LPS) activity experienced an overall decline of 23%, with a widespread weakening in the south and a moderate strengthening over the north, in response to a decline of 78% (24%) in SIC over the Arctic (Antarctic) in the June–September season. The changes in the LPS activity in response to polar sea ice melt are found to be mostly driven by the changes in low‐level absolute vorticity and vertical shear over the Bay of Bengal. Plain Language Summary: The sea ice is melting rapidly in a warming climate, which can have feedback effects on the climate system. However, the impact of sea ice melt on low latitude climate is not adequately understood. The Indian summer monsoon (ISM), known as the lifeline of South Asia, is essential to the water security of more than 1.5 billion people. We examined the response of the ISM to the polar sea ice melt using a suite of global climate model experiments. Our simulations show that the monsoon circulation and rainfall weaken substantially due to the sea ice melt. Further, the number of propagating precipitating vortices embedded in the monsoon circulation declined by about 22% in the sea ice melt experiments. Our results suggest that the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice melt could have severe implications for the water security of South Asia. Key Points: Mean monsoon and low‐pressure systems (LPS) weaken in response to the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice melt in climate model simulationsThe LPS genesis declines by 22% in response to a decline of 78% (24%) in sea ice concentrations over the Arctic (Antarctic) in the June–September seasonThe decline in LPS genesis is linked to changes in low‐level vorticity and vertical shear [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compound wind and precipitation (CWP) extreme events can cause a significant increase in socio‐economic loss in coastal regions. This study investigated the potential impact of climate change on CWP events using Coupled Model Intercomparison Project model outputs for the coastal areas impacted by tropical cyclones on a global scale. We identified global hotspots of higher dependence between extreme wind and precipitation events. Under climate change, the results show a substantial increase in precipitation extremes compared to individual wind extreme events. The likelihood of CWP events under climate change indicates an increase (about 40%–50%) in most coastal regions in North Atlantic, East, and South Asia. The results of this study can help to identify hotspot regions under climate change and further assist in minimizing the impact of future disasters in vulnerable coastal areas. Plain Language Summary: Coastal regions are more densely populated than the hinterland and continue to focus on economic activity and development. Coastal areas are often exposed to compound wind and precipitation extreme events in hurricane‐prone regions, causing significant socio‐economic losses compared to individual events. Increased compound events will bring higher risks to populated areas along the coast. Our research focused on identifying the critical hotspots that witnessed such compound hazards and how they are impacted by global warming. The results identify the critical areas based on the higher dependence between extreme wind and precipitation events and the increased frequency of occurrences. Robust and proactive measures are needed for these hotspot regions to minimize the risk from compound events under climate change. Key Points: Precipitation extremes showed a significant increase in magnitude compared to wind extremes in coastal regions globallyHigher dependence between extreme wind and precipitation was observed on the Southeast USA, Philippines, China, and North Australia coastsA higher percentage of coastal areas in the North Atlantic, East, and South Asia are likely to see more compound events in the future [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extreme persistent rainfall poses serious impacts on human and natural systems, predominately through its related hydrogeological disasters. Due to sustained heavy downpours, the summer of 2020 was the second wettest on record over Northeast Indian subcontinent since 1901. Here, we find that this orographically anchored extreme rainfall event was largely associated with the anomalous anticyclone (AAC) over the Indo‐Northwest Pacific region and La Niña‐induced Walker circulation intensification. The overall effect of anthropogenic forcings contributed little to the occurrence probability of this event, because the warming and wetting effects of greenhouse gases were almost negated by anthropogenic aerosols. Climate models project a prominent increasing trend of such extreme event under future greenhouse‐induced warming due to increase in atmospheric water vapor and 2020‐like AAC frequency. Our findings thus call for scaling up climate change adaptation efforts for increasingly extreme persistent rainfall in highly populated but low‐resilience South Asian developing countries. Plain Language Summary: Due to windward slope topography and monsoon activities, the populated Northeast Indian subcontinent (NEI) suffers from heavy rainfall and floods almost every year. Extreme persistent downpours lashed NEI in summer 2020, ranked the second heaviest on record since 1901. This event caused about 550 fatalities and economic loss up to hundreds of millions of dollars. It is highly compelling but challenging to understand the weather drivers and future risks of this high‐impact event. Here, we suggested this event was likely caused by the anomalous anticyclone (AAC) over the Indo‐Northwest Pacific region and La Niña‐induced Walker circulation intensification. The overall effect of current human‐induced climate change contributed little to the occurrence probability of this event, as most of the warming and wetting effects of greenhouse gases were canceled out by anthropogenic aerosols. Climate models project an increasing risk of 1.77 (1.97), 2.08 (2.59), 2.58 (3.88), and 3.10 (5.52) times of such extreme event in the median‐term (long‐term) future under SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, SSP3‐7.0, and SSP5‐8.5, respectively. It is mainly caused by the increases in atmospheric water vapor and 2020‐like AAC frequency. Our findings indicate that future flooding risk over NEI will increase robustly if greenhouse warming continues. Key Points: Extreme persistent rainfall in boreal summer 2020 over Northeast Indian subcontinent was the second heaviest on record since 1901This event was likely caused by the Northwest Pacific anomalous anticyclone (AAC) and La Niña‐induced Walker circulation intensificationIncreasing 2020‐like rainfall extremes are projected due to increase in future atmospheric water vapor and AAC frequency [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates multiscale variability of summer‐time precipitation around the northwestern coast of Luzon Island, the Philippines, by analyzing in situ observation data of a field campaign in summer 2018 conducted under the Years of the Maritime Continent‐Boreal Summer Monsoon study in 2018 (YMC‐BSM 2018) project. It is found that boreal summer intraseasonal oscillation modulates activity of precipitation diurnal cycle, with active diurnal cycle observed only under easterly (offshore) wind conditions in the free troposphere. On the other hand, in the period of westerly winds, quasi‐biweekly fluctuation is observed, with two heavy precipitation events. These events are associated with further intensified westerly winds caused by westward‐propagating quasi‐biweekly oscillations. Day‐to‐day precipitation variability over land during the two events is associated with the strength of monsoon winds blowing toward the mountain range, which is modulated cooperatively by the quasi‐biweekly oscillations and tropical depressions over the South China Sea. Plain Language Summary: In the Asian monsoon domain, including the Philippine Archipelago, Indochina Peninsula, and Indian Subcontinent, summer‐time monsoon circulation causes large amount of precipitation. Its temporal variation is caused by various large‐scale atmospheric phenomena, such as insolation diurnal cycle, tropical depressions, tropical cyclones, westward‐propagating cyclonic disturbances with quasi‐biweekly (10–20‐day) time scales, and so‐called boreal summer intraseasonal oscillations (BSISOs) that have 30–60‐day time scales and are characterized by northward‐propagating zonal wind anomalies. To deepen our understanding of the precipitation variability around the northwestern coast of Luzon Island, the Philippines, we conducted an intensive observation campaign in summer 2018. Analyses of weather radar, upper‐air sounding, and automatic weather station data reveal that BSISO considerably modulated diurnal cycle. The active diurnal cycle characterized by afternoon land precipitation and subsequent offshore migration of precipitation areas was observed only during the period of easterly winds in the free troposphere associated with BSISO. We also present an example of the cooperative influence of quasi‐biweekly oscillations and tropical depressions over the South China Sea. They modified the strength of monsoon winds blowing toward the mountain range and caused day‐to‐day precipitation variability over land during two heavy precipitation events that occurred in the period of westerly winds associated with BSISO. Key Points: The observation campaign in northwestern Luzon Island in summer 2018 captured precipitation variability involving multiscale interactionThe diurnal cycle with evening offshore migration of precipitation areas occurred only under the condition of offshore windsQuasi‐biweekly oscillation and tropical depressions cooperatively modified monsoon winds, contributing to variation of land precipitation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is expected to result in more frequent and intense heat waves (HWs) in South Asia (SA). The simultaneous increases in temperature and population will exacerbate the population exposure to future HWs. Here we estimate the future population exposure to daytime and nighttime HWs in SA using the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) models under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) during 2061–2100, relative to 1975–2014. The results show that the projected frequency and spatial extent of the daytime (nighttime) HWs will be higher under scenario SSP5‐8.5, followed by SSP2‐4.5, SSP3‐7.0, and SSP1‐2.6 (SSP5‐8.5, followed by SSP3‐7.0, SSP2‐4.5, and SSP1‐2.6), relative to the historical period. The approach presented here allows decomposing the effects of climate change and future population on the overall exposure. The results reveal that the compounding effects of projected trends in population and HWs will significantly escalate the population exposure to HWs. Under the selected SSPs, the total population exposure to daytime and nighttime HWs ranges from 185 to 492 and 204–555 million people‐event, respectively, with the maximum exposure occurring in the Indo‐Gigantic Plain. The wide range of exposed populations highlights the sensitivity of the overall exposure to our future socioeconomic pathway decisions, emphasizing the importance of curbing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and adopting sustainable urban planning solutions to minimize the potential socioeconomic and health impacts of HWs. Plain Language Summary: Climate change will intensify the occurrence and intensity of heatwaves (HWs) in South Asia, with severe impacts on the population. Here we estimate the population exposure to daytime and nighttime HWs using the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 6 (CMIP6) models under four Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs). The results show that the projected daytime and nighttime HWs will impact around 185–492 and 204–555 million people under the selected SSPs, respectively, with the maximum exposure occurring in the Indo‐Gigantic Plain. The wide range of populations under different SSPs highlights the sensitivity of the population to future SSP decisions. This emphasizes the importance of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adopting sustainable urban planning solutions to minimize the potential socioeconomic and health impacts of HWs. Key Points: The number and extent of heat waves (HWs) are projected to increase under all the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs)The population exposure to HWs ranges from 185 to 555 million people‐event with the highest exposure in the Indo‐Gigantic PlainCompounding effects of climate change and population increase substantially aggravate exposure to HWs [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluated the composition, structure, and dieback of a montane forest in relation to soils and physiography of an important biogeographic region that has been sparsely studied. Our objectives were to (1) describe the forest composition and structure; (2) assess the current extent of dieback; and (3) relate tree composition, structure, and dieback proneness to edaphic and physiographic measures. We enumerated all live and dead standing plants ≥3 cm dbh, in thirty 20 × 15 m2 overstory plots. We measured all regeneration ≤1 m height in subplots, sampled soils and measures of physiography, and visually rated the proportion of crown dieback, and recorded standing dead trees. Woody plants belonged to 58 species and 25 families, of which 5% were dead. The plant families Lauraceae, Myrtaceae, and Symplocaceae represented over 50% of the basal area; Rubiaceae alone represented 25% of the stems. Multiple regressions revealed measures of edaphic and physiographic factors are associated with tree species richness and diversity, structure (e.g., basal area and stem density), and tree dieback and standing dead trees. Canopy openness and measures of soil toxicity from metals (Al and Cu) on clay‐based soils showed a predictably negative relationship with tree species richness and diversity. Basal area and stem density are positively associated with aspect and slope, and predictably negatively associated with canopy openness. Lastly, dieback and standing dead trees of the dominant canopy tree species are both positively associated with south and southwest aspects. The forest is now in a period of regeneration recovery with high numbers of regenerating secondary successional species. We propose the primary underlying factors that caused the dieback of this forest was a drought during 1970–1980 compounded by accumulations of salts and metals in the soil conveyed by winds from the sea (sodium) and from an ancient period of metallurgy downwind of the forest. However, our results are only suggestive of these causative factors and further study is necessary to confirm or refute these speculative causes for dieback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The local climatic impacts of historical expansion of irrigation are substantial, but the distant impacts are poorly understood, and their governing mechanisms generally have not been rigorously analyzed. Our experiments with an earth‐system model suggest that irrigation in the Middle East and South Asia may enhance rainfall in a large portion of the Sahel‐Sudan Savanna (SSS) to an extent comparable and opposite to its suppression by other anthropogenic climate drivers during the last several decades. The enhancement arises through a reduction in the meridional gradient of moist static energy from the Sahara Desert to the tropical rainforests. An implication of this study is that remote irrigation is a possible factor affecting the risk of drought and famine and, thus, future water security in the SSS region. Plain Language Summary: The impacts of historical expansion of agricultural irrigation on local precipitation are robust and profound, but whether irrigation can change precipitation in remote areas is poorly understood, and governing mechanisms responsible for the remote links generally have not been rigorously analyzed. Our numerical experiments with an earth‐system model suggest that irrigation in the Middle East and South Asia may enhance rainfall in a large portion of the Sahel‐Sudan Savanna (SSS). The magnitude of the enhancement is comparable to the suppression of precipitation induced by other anthropogenic climate drivers such as greenhouse emissions. The enhancement arises through a change in the large‐scale patterns of atmospheric moisture and temperature from the Sahara Desert to the tropical rainforests. Growth of remote irrigation should be considered as a possible factor affecting the risk of drought and famine in the SSS such as that experienced in the 1970s–1980s. Future regional water security in the SSS could be affected by distant water management‐groundwater depletion in South Asia and the pace of rehabilitation of war‐damaged irrigation infrastructure in the Tigris‐Euphrates valley. Key Points: Irrigation in the Middle East and South Asia may considerably enhance rainfall in the Sahel‐Sudan Savanna (SSS)The enhancement of precipitation arises through a reduction in the gradient of moist static energy from the Sahara to the tropicsThe risk and severity of drought in the SSS may be reduced by remote irrigation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Precipitation clusters are spatially contiguous precipitating regions. Large clusters in the tropics are rare, extreme events that include organized precipitating systems. Changes to the probability distributions of tropical precipitation clusters under global warming are examined using models from the coupled model intercomparison project Phase 6 (CMIP6). Every analyzed model projects significant increases in frequencies of both very large‐sized clusters and clusters with very large area‐integrated precipitation (cluster power). The occurrence probability for the highest historical cluster power values increases by a factor between 4 and 15 among models in the end‐of‐century SSP5‐8.5 scenario. These changes primarily occur over the precipitating tropics: the western Pacific, Indian subcontinent, central and east Pacific convergence zones, and parts of South America. This spatial pattern is largely explained by Clausius‐Clapeyron scaling of current climate cluster power values. Societal impacts of cluster power increases could be acute in coastal regions of the Indian subcontinent and western Pacific islands. Plain Language Summary: Spatially continuous precipitating points are called precipitation clusters. In the tropics, the largest of these clusters represent systems like hurricanes or groups of thunderstorms. Large clusters also release greater rainfall and therefore hold more potential for destruction. In this study, we use state of the art climate models to examine how precipitation clusters with very large size and rain amounts will change under global warming. All the models we analyzed agree that there will be significant increases in the frequency of large and heavily precipitating clusters. The models project between a 4 and 15 times increase in the frequency of clusters bearing the largest rain amounts. These increases are projected to happen predominantly over tropical regions with warm surface waters. We also found a simple hypothesis that explains these changes. This hypothesis is based on the fact that warmer air can hold more moisture. Increases in the frequency of precipitation clusters with large rain amounts could be particularly devastating for the islands of the western Pacific and heavily populated coastal regions of the Indian subcontinent. Key Points: Probability distributions of precipitation clusters (contiguous precipitating regions) are reasonably reproduced in CMIP6 modelsUnder global warming, models project increases in frequencies of both clusters with large size and clusters with large precipitationThese increases primarily occur over tropical regions with a large incidence of heavily precipitating systems in current climate [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Indian Plate began drifting northward after the Gondwana breakup and collided with the Eurasian Plate during the Early Cenozoic, resulting in the consequential development of the Himalayan–Tibetan Orogeny. Several microcontinents were rifted from Gondwana and amalgamated with the Indian Plate, resulting in magmatism along the continental margin. The Abor volcanic rocks (AVRs) in the eastern Himalaya represent one of such magmatism, the emplacement mechanism, and the timing of which is still a topic of debate. The AVR comprises mafic and silicic rocks; the present study concerns the petrography and geochemistry of the mafic rocks. U–Pb geochronology on three samples shows the weighted mean age of 130 ± 1 Ma, 143 ± 1.2 Ma, and 155 ± 16 Ma. Whole‐rock geochemistry of eight samples shows Mg# of 45.48 to 57.7, except for one sample with 37.4, variable contents of CaO (4.4–9.5 wt%), K2O (0.1–2.6%), Lost on ignition (LOI) (0.9–3.6 wt%; average 2.4), and K2O/Na2O ratios (0.02–0.6 with a single one 1.0), Y/Nb (0.55–1.66, with one value of 2.44), and medium to high Zr/Nb (10.1–14.1) and Zr/Y (5.4–18.14). The Sr‐isotopic results from 11 samples show that the initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios vary between 0.7049 and 0.7110, and εNd(t) values range from +1.176 to −2.250. Geochemical and isotopic data suggest that the studied AVRs (mafic) are of subalkaline tholeiitic affinity. These volcanic rocks have continental intraplate characteristics and are sourced from the metasomatized mantle during the rifting event of the Indian subcontinent from Gondwana during Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of the effects of anthropogenic activities on modulating the global dust cycle has been increasingly recognized. Over the Middle East, we find in observations that there has been a significant decrease in dust optical depth from 2007 to 2019 during which global irrigated areas especially in the Middle East and South Asia have rapidly expanded. Whether irrigation expansion contributes to the decrease of dust in the Middle East is investigated based on observations/reanalyses and global climate model simulations with and without irrigation. Results show that irrigation over the northeast Middle East and Pakistan supplements water to the soil. By increasing local evaporation and moisture advection, irrigation enhances precipitation over the whole Middle East and the northwest Indian subcontinent. As a result, dust wet deposition by precipitation is elevated. Owing to irrigation‐induced land surface cooling, surface wind speed decreases as the planetary boundary layer becomes stable. Along with increased soil moisture, reduced surface wind speed suppresses local dust emissions. Enhanced dust wet deposition and suppressed dust emissions cause atmospheric dust reduction over the Middle East. Vegetation greening in the Middle East as the climate warms has no contribution because there is no obvious trend found in observations. Plain Language Summary: Atmospheric dust absorbs and reflects solar and terrestrial radiation, and alters cloud lifetime and cloud albedo, which affects the earth's radiative budget and the hydrologic cycle. As one of the major dust source regions over the globe, dust emissions over the Middle East from wind erosion have a large contribution to the global dust loading. Anthropogenic land cover changes (e.g., deforestation) directly perturb the underlying land surface, thus affecting dust emissions and transport. However, the impacts of anthropogenic land use such as irrigation on dust are unclear. During recent decades, it is observed that dust optical depth is decreasing over the Middle East, simultaneously with an increase of irrigated areas over the Middle East and South Asia. Whether there is a linkage between them is explored in this study. By analyzing observations/reanalyses and global climate model simulations with and without irrigation, irrigation expansion over the northeast Middle East and Pakistan does reduce dust burden over the Middle East by increasing dust wet removal and decreasing dust emissions. The altered dust processes result from increased precipitation, soil moisture, and decreased surface wind speed by irrigation. Key Points: A decreasing trend of dust over the Middle East from 2007 to 2019 is found in observationsObserved significant decreasing dust in the Middle East can be partly attributed to irrigation expansionEnhanced dust wet deposition and suppressed dust emissions by irrigation are responsible for atmospheric dust reduction [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Literature is scarce on primary sarcopenia among Indian older adults. This study was aimed to estimate the prevalence of primary sarcopenia among older persons in India using the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in the Older People 2010 (EWGSOP) diagnostic criteria and to elucidate the factors leading to its development. Methodology: Two hundred twenty‐seven subjects over 60 years of age attending the geriatric outpatient clinic were recruited for the study. Sarcopenia was diagnosed based on set criteria for gait speed, handgrip, and skeletal muscle mass assessment by dual‐energy x‐ray absorptiometry. Result: The prevalence of primary sarcopenia in the study population was 39.2% (n = 89). Male patients were more sarcopenic than women, 47% (n = 72) vs 23% (n = 17). Obese subjects (body mass index > 25 kg/m2) had a lower prevalence of sarcopenia (odds ratio = 0.10; 95% confidence interval = 0.05–0.19). There was no association between sarcopenia and other postulated risk factors like low vitamin D levels, dietary protein or carbohydrate intake, or sedentary lifestyle. Conclusion: Contrary to published data, primary sarcopenia appears to be higher among older Indians using presently available guidelines. Community studies with validated cutoffs suited for the Indian subcontinent may yield a lower prevalence of primary sarcopenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasingly diagnosed in South Asia. This survey by the Tamil Nadu Chapter of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology (TNISG) documents the demography, clinical profile, and therapeutic practices related to IBD in Tamil Nadu. Methods: TNISG members from 32 institutions completed an online cross‐sectional questionnaire on IBD patients from March 2020 to January 2021. Results: Of 1295 adult IBD patients, 654 had Crohn's disease (CD), 499 ulcerative colitis (UC), and 42 IBD‐unclassified (IBD‐U). CD and UC showed a unimodal age distribution. A total of 55% were graduates or postgraduates. A positive family history was noted in 30, other risk factors were uncommon. In CD, the pattern of involvement was ileocolonic (42.8%), ileal (34.7%), colonic (18.9%), and upper gastrointestinal (3.5%); while in UC, disease was characterized as extensive (44.9%), left‐sided (41.7%), or proctitis (13.4%). Perineal disease, perianal fistulae, and bowel obstruction were noted in 4.3, 14.0, and 23.5%, respectively, of CD. The most widely used drugs were mesalamine, azathioprine, and corticosteroids. Surgery was undertaken in 141 patients with CD and 23 patients with UC. Of the 138 patients with pediatric IBD (≤16 years), 23 were characterized as very early onset IBD (VEO‐IBD), 27 as early‐onset, and 88 as adolescent IBD. VEO‐IBD were more likely to have a positive family history of IBD and were more likely to have perineal disease and to have the IBD‐U phenotype. Among pediatric IBD patients, corticosteroids, mesalamine, and azathioprine were the most commonly used medications, while 25 pediatric patients received biologics. Conclusion: This study provides important information on demography, clinical profile, and treatment practices of IBD in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seasonal prediction of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and Monsoon Intraseasonal Oscillations (MISO), as well as the Madden Julian Oscillations (MJO) that strongly modulate MISO, is of much importance to the agriculture sectors of the Indian Sub‐continent. This study highlights the importance of selecting proper "autoconversion" coefficients for precipitation formation in Coupled Global Climate Model's convective and microphysical schemes in simulating MISO and MJO. With a series of sensitivity experiments, we systematically examined the convective autoconversion and microphysical autoconversion coefficients in the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Coupled Forecast System version 2 (CFSv2). The mean and intraseasonal features of MISO and MJO are improved with a proper combination of autoconversion coefficients, which not only provide a better partition of cloud water and ice but also better feedback between the large‐scale condensation and convective parameterization. The results demonstrate a road map for the improvement of MISO as well as MJO simulation using a coupled climate model. Plain Language Summary: Simulation of the monsoon intraseasonal oscillations (MISOs), and Madden Julian Oscillations (MJO), in association with the seasonal Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR), has been a real challenge for the state‐of‐the‐art global coupled climate models. Total rainfall in India during the monsoon season is useful for policymakers, farmers, and water managers who are keenly interested in the sub‐seasonal variations of rainfall. Thus, simulation of the MISOs, and MJO which have effects on the seasonal mean ISM rainfall has been evaluated here using coupled climate model simulations. Different autoconversion rates (convective and microphysics) which is a key process for the formation of rainfall in climate models are experimented to simulate MISO and MJO correctly. The proper combination of convective and microphysical autoconversion in climate models is needed to account for the sub‐seasonal variability by not only providing a better partition of cloud water and ice but also the better feedback between the large‐scale condensation and convective parameterization. Therefore, the results presented here demonstrate a road map for the improvement of MISO as well as MJO simulation by realistically simulating the physical processes associated with an accurate combination of autoconversion rate in a coupled climate model. Key Points: Importance of proper "autoconversion" coefficients in Coupled Global Climate Model's convective and microphysical schemes for Monsoon Intraseasonal Oscillation (MISO) and Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO)The study has unveiled the linkage between mean Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) and the sub‐seasonal variability, proper convection modulated by "áutoconversion"High fidelity in the simulation of MISO and MJO with better high cloud and stratiform rain fraction leads to the improved mean ISMR [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of cash tree crops, such as natural rubber, in the tropical region of South Asia has resulted in an agricultural transformation from subsistence production to market‐oriented production, implicating the local ecological environment, economy, and household welfare. Based on representative household survey data collected from 611 smallholder rubber farmers in the upper Mekong region, Southwest China, this study examines the impacts of rubber farming on the household dietary diversity of smallholders and explores its potential impact channels through farm production diversity and household income. The results show that rubber expansion has significantly improved household income but negatively affected farm production diversity. While rubber cultivation always has significant and positive effects on dietary diversity, it also indirectly impacts on dietary diversity by the two channels, namely farm production diversity and household income. A set of heterogeneous analyses reveals that rubber cultivation contributes more to household dietary diversity for smallholders having relatively low household wealth or living in a village without a market. While the findings confirm the contribution of rubber cultivation to improving household incomes, food security, and nutrition, the potential risks under the background of falling rubber prices cannot be ignored. The findings of this study not only have important policy implications for improving the food security and nutrition of smallholder rubber farmers but also provide a better understanding of the welfare effects of cash tree crop expansion in tropical regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three different conceptual models have been proposed for the Cenozoic subduction style in South Asia, including Greater India, Intra‐oceanic Arc, and Continental Terrane (or Greater Indian basin). Since these models imply distinctive origins for the Tethyan–Greater Himalayan (TGH) sequences, for example, as a relic of the subducted Greater India or Gondwana–affiliated continental terrane, quantitively reproducing the relic TGH crustal mass with numerical models could help further constrain the debated Cenozoic subduction history between India and Eurasia. Based on the modeling results, we show that the subducted plate since the Paleocene should consist of a significant oceanic portion that is, ∼1,000 km long for the Intra‐oceanic Arc model and up to 2,000 km long for the Terrane model. Our results do not support the existence of a continuous >3,000 km long continental Greater India before the early Eocene collision in South Asia. Plain Language Summary: Approximately 55 million years ago, the Indian Subcontinent was in the Southern Hemisphere, >3,000 km away from Tibet. However, it remains unknown what tectonic units were between them. Previous studies suggest that this region was composed of either pure land or with parts being oceans. By now, this region has mostly foundered into the deep Earth, with its surface relics forming the Himalayan Mountains. Because land and ocean contribute differently to the relic materials, the mass of the Himalayan Mountain can provide essential information about this lost tectonic region. This study uses numerical models to replicate the relic Himalayan mass while evaluating the earlier proposed models. We found that to match the Himalayan mass, the region between Tibet and India ∼55 million years ago could not be purely continental and should include >1,000 km long oceanic plate. Key Points: Different models of Cenozoic subduction history in South Asia imply distinctive origins for the Tethyan–Greater Himalayan sequencesQuantitively reproducing the Tethyan–Greater Himalayan mass helps constrain the Cenozoic subduction history in South AsiaBoth the Intra‐oceanic Arc and Terrane models, but not the Greater India model, could have been operating during the Cenozoic subduction [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Fanconi anemia (FA) is an inherited bone marrow failure syndrome associated with characteristic dysmorphology primarily caused by biallelic pathogenic germline variants in any of 22 different DNA repair genes. There are limited data on the specific molecular causes of FA in different ethnic groups. Methods: We performed exome sequencing and copy number variant analyses on 19 patients with FA from 17 families undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation evaluation in Pakistan. The scientific literature was reviewed, and we curated germline variants reported in patients with FA from South Asia and the Middle East. Results: The genetic causes of FA were identified in 14 of the 17 families: seven FANCA, two FANCC, one FANCF, two FANCG, and two FANCL. Homozygous and compound heterozygous variants were present in 12 and two families, respectively. Nine families carried variants previously reported as pathogenic, including two families with the South Asian FANCL founder variant. We also identified five novel likely deleterious variants in FANCA, FANCF, and FANCG in affected patients. Conclusions: Our study supports the importance of determining the genomic landscape of FA in diverse populations, in order to improve understanding of FA etiology and assist in the counseling of families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Sadorsky (Energy Economics, 2011, 33, 739), we examine the nexus between energy and trade in South Asia in a panel framework using annual data from 1990 to 2015. Given the cross‐sectional dependency issue, we use robust second‐generation panel econometric methods for the analysis. We find that variables are stationary at the first difference and cointegrated in the long run. The Dumitrescu‐Hurlin panel causality test shows a long‐run unidirectional causality from trade openness to energy consumption but not vice versa. Moreover, the panel symmetric and asymmetric estimation techniques reveal that energy consumption rises by 0.47 per cent on average and 0.83 per cent, with a 1 per cent rise in trade openness in the long run. However, a negative shock of similar magnitude reduces energy consumption by 0.37 per cent. We further fortify the panel results in the country‐level data with robust methods. We recommend energy efficiency and conservation policies and renewable energy technology augmentation policies through bilateral or multilateral trade strategies for sustainable development in the selected South Asian countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how the Indian Summer Monsoon rainfall simulations are affected by the mathematical representations of the planetary boundary and microphysics parameterizations at a gray zone resolution. The monsoon is simulated with the Weather Research and Forecast model at a 9 km horizontal resolution over South–East Asia for three different years, chosen to represent early, normal, and delayed monsoon onset. Changing the boundary layer from a hybrid to a local scheme dramatically impacts the monsoon simulation, reducing around 40% in total rainfall. In contrast, changing the microphysics scheme has a less pronounced impact (5%) on the precipitation but still induces regional variations. To assess how physical parameterization changes affect South Asia's rainfall, we evaluate their impact on both the energy and moisture budgets over the subcontinent. It is revealed that local changes in evaporation do not directly drive changes in precipitation. Instead, changes in the regional distribution of the energy sources and sinks modify the atmospheric circulation, which affects the distribution of rainfall. In particular, the boundary layer changes can substantially increase the latent heat flux, strengthening the monsoon. In the tropics, overturning circulation that exports energy is tied to a net inflow of water. Thus, the intensification of the monsoonal circulation results in an enhanced water inflow and increased rainfall. Plain Language Summary: The high resolution atmospheric model can produce realistic monsoon simulations, and such simulations are highly sensitive to the physical parameterizations used in the model. Current research reveals how cloud microphysics and planetary boundary layer can severely affect the precipitation patterns over India. In this study, a monsoon is simulated using the Weather Research and Forecast model at a 9 km horizontal resolution over south Asia during 2007, 2008, and 2015, representing an early, normal, and delayed monsoon onset. It has been found that changing the boundary layer scheme from hybrid to local scheme has a dramatic impact on simulation, with a reduction of around 40% in total rainfall. Simulations with a hybrid scheme capture most of the circulations and precipitations patterns, but the local scheme leads to an overall weaker monsoonal strength. Different microphysics parameterizations show similar total rainfall distributions (5% variations) but exhibit regional variabilities. Key Points: Weather Research Forecast (WRF) can accurately reproduce the monsoon precipitation distribution but exhibit sensitivity to physical processesChanges to planetary boundary layer parameterizations cause around 40% change in seasonal precipitationIncreased heating intensifies the overturning circulation, exports more energy, and thus import more rainfall [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]