Episodes
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If we listen closely, a bird’s call reflects what humans have done to its landscape, and a forest soundscape tells us about habitat health. Listen to the third episode of Wild Frequencies to learn how scientists use bioacoustics to understand animals in a landscape altered by humans.
Wild Frequencies is a three-part mini-series by Mongabay-India, where wildlife researchers from India share their stories of sounds from the animal world. They decode those wild frequencies for us, one song, one howl, and one chirp at a time.
Follow Everything Environment by Mongabay India for more episodes.
For show notes, visit our website.
Guests:
TR Shankar Raman, scientist, Nature Conservation Foundation
Divya Mudappa, scientist, Nature Conservation Foundation
Vijay Ramesh, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Priyanka Hariharan, ecologist, University of Florida
K.S. Gopi Sundar, conservation biologistReported and written by Shreya Dasgupta and Kartik Chandramouli
Editing, music, and sound design by Abhijit Shylanath
Episode artwork by Hitesh Sonar
Recordings from Valparai by Vijay Ramesh at the K. Lisa Yang Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and Project Dhvani, Meghana Srivathsa, Akshay Anand, Shankar Raman and Divya Mudappa. Recordings of sarus crane calls by Suhridam Roy. -
Can we figure out animal behaviour by listening to the sounds they produce? In this episode, you’ll hear from scientists who listen closely to wildlife ranging from large mammals to insects.
Wild Frequencies is a three-part mini-series by Mongabay-India in which wildlife researchers from India share their stories of sounds from the animal world. They decode those wild frequencies for us, one song, one howl, and one chirp at a time.
Follow Everything Environment by Mongabay India for more episodes.
For show notes, visit our website.
Guests:
Seema Lokhandwala, Elephant Acoustic Project
Manjari Jain, Associate Professor, Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER, Mohali)Reported and written by Shreya Dasgupta and Kartik Chandramouli
Editing, music, and sound design by Abhijit Shylanath
Episode artwork by Hitesh Sonar
Recordings of Asian elephants by Elephant Acoustics Project, African savannah elephants by Elephantvoices.org, and cricket by Manjari Jain -
Episodes manquant?
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Most wild animals are not easy to spot. They are often hidden, camouflaged, or just not around when you are.
But instead of trying to ‘see’ them, what if we try and ‘listen’ to them? After all, animals communicate. For some researchers, all this talking and chattering is gold. They use sounds to find animals that are difficult to observe and also to count them!
Wild Frequencies is a three-part mini-series by Mongabay-India, where wildlife researchers from India share their stories of sounds from the animal world. They decode those wild frequencies for us, one song, one howl, and one chirp at a time.
Follow Everything Environment by Mongabay India for more episodes.
For show notes, visit our website.
Guests:
Rohit Chakravarty, Nature Conservation Foundation
Isha Bopardikar, IISER Tirupati
Bilal Habib, Wildlife Institute of IndiaReported and written by Shreya Dasgupta and Kartik Chandramouli; Editing, music, and sound design by Abhijit Shylanath; Episode artwork by Hitesh Sonar; Sound clips by Rohit Chakravarty (NCF), Isha Bopardikar (IISER Tirupati), and Bilal Habib (WII)
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Animals communicate. And some researchers listen to what they are saying.
Hosts Shreya Dasgupta and Kartik Chandramouli travelled to different parts of India and spoke to multiple scientists to hear stories of sounds from the animal world. They will decode those wild frequencies for us, one song, one howl, and one chirp at a time.
Wild Frequencies is a three-part mini series exploring an emerging science called bioacoustics, which is helping us learn more about wildlife and find ways to protect it.
Follow Everything Environment by Mongabay-India for episode updates.
Hosted by Shreya Dasgupta and Kartik Chandramouli
Editing, music, and sound design by Abhijit Shylanath
Artwork by Hitesh Sonar -
In this sixth and final episode of Environomy, we will explore how India has dealt with issues related to biodiversity and climate change since the 1991 economic reforms. Since the national government has taken a strong position on climate change in recent years, this episode will also try to connect the past with the present and the future.
Explore other episodes of Environomy where S. Gopikrishna Warrier took us through the journey of how environmental economics got interlocked after the economic reforms of 1991. This is a journey for which he had a ringside ticket as a journalist, reporting and writing on the environment for the past three decades.
Writer and producer: S. Gopikrishna Warrier
Production Editor: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand SagarSubscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India.
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Though farming contributes less than 20% of India's GDP, it provides livelihood support to nearly half of the country's population. It is an extremely challenging occupation, with many from the younger generation unwilling to pursue agriculture.
When the post-economic reforms financially benefited sections of Indian society, how did the farmers feel left out?
In the fifth episode of Environomy, the host discusses the impact of economic reforms on the agricultural sector.
Through Environomy, S. Gopikrishna Warrier takes us through the journey of how environmental economics got interlocked after the economic reforms of 1991. This is a journey for which he had a ringside ticket as a journalist, reporting and writing on the environment for the past three decades.
Writer and producer: S. Gopikrishna Warrier
Production Editor: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand SagarSubscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India.
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There are traffic jams on India’s hill stations and mountain roads across the year. It wasn’t always like this.
Increased incomes of the Indian middle class after the 1991 economic reforms translated to improved mobility. Many made their way to the mountains. And the most significant impact of India's increased mobility has been on the environment of the mountains.
Through Environomy, S. Gopikrishna Warrier will take you through the journey of how environmental economics got interlocked after the economic reforms of 1991. This is a journey for which he had a ringside ticket as a journalist, reporting and writing on the environment for the past three decades.
Writer and producer: S. Gopikrishna Warrier
Production Editor: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand SagarSubscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India.
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The legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, form the three pillars of Indian democracy.
The legislature consisting of the parliamentarians, and legislators are the policy makers who draw up acts and policies. The executive is the government, consisting of the Prime Minister, Council of Ministers, Chief Ministers, and their officials. The judiciary are the lawyers and the judges in the courts, from the lower ones to the Supreme Court and also the National Green Tribunal.
During the past three decades, the legislature, the executive, and the judiciary, recalibrated their positions. This impacted the environment. Listen to the third episode of Environomy to find out more.
Through this show, S. Gopikrishna Warrier will take you through the journey of how environmental economics got interlocked after the economic reforms of 1991. This is a journey for which he had a ringside ticket as a journalist, reporting and writing on the environment for the past three decades.
Writer and producer: S. Gopikrishna Warrier
Production Editor: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand SagarSubscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India.
Follow Mongabay-India on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.
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In the early 1990s, the anti-Tehri dam and anti-Narmada dam movements were India's most well-known environmental protests. It was not as if only environmental activists were involved with these movements. The developments in Tehri and Narmada were watched keenly by people across the country. In the coming decade, something changed.
In this episode, hear about how a distinct economic and political identity for the Indian middle class after the economic reforms of 1991 changed the way in which they dealt with environmental issues.
Through our show Environomy, S. Gopikrishna Warrier will take you through the journey of how environmental economics got interlocked after the economic reforms of 1991. This is a journey for which he had a ringside ticket as a journalist, reporting and writing on the environment for the past three decades.
Writer and producer: S. Gopikrishna Warrier
Production Editor: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand Sagar
Additional music and archival material courtesy the documentary film Words on Water, written and directed by Sanjay Kak; Kodaikanal Won’t, written and performed by Sofia Ashraf, produced by Justice Rocks Initiative, Vettiver Collective; and the William J. Clinton Presidential Library.
Subscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India.
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How did the 1991 economic reforms impact the course of the Indian environment in the past three decades? Listen to Environomy's first episode, where we will look at how the Indian middle class acquired a distinct economic and political identity after the economic reforms of 1991.
Through our show Environomy, S. Gopikrishna Warrier will take you through the journey of how environmental economics got interlocked after the economic reforms of 1991. This is a journey for which he had a ringside ticket as a journalist, reporting and writing on the environment for the past three decades.
Writer and producer: S. Gopikrishna Warrier
Production Editor: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand SagarSubscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India.
Follow Mongabay-India on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.
Subscribe to our newsletter.
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The economic reforms of 1991 caused a radical shift in India's economic and social structure. It gave a new life to the middle class. But did you know that the reforms also changed how India dealt with its environmental issues?
Join S Gopikrishna Warrier, Managing Editor of Mongabay-India, as he takes us through three decades of India's environmental history. Delve deep into the important environmental movements in India, meet the people behind them, and learn their history and significance.
The first episode will be released on February 9, 2024.
Subscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India on your podcast platform.
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Lake-hopping is Anoop Ambili’s thing. For Ambili, a paleoclimatologist, the Lonar Lake in Maharashtra, Tso Moriri in Ladakh and Renuka in Himachal Pradesh hide clues that help him reconstruct past climate changes going back to 10,000 years.
Ambili is also studying microplastic pollutants in these freshwater lakes. For example, he is looking for pollutants such as microplastics in Renuka lake, a popular tourist spot and also the largest lake in Himachal Pradesh. Information about the changes in the lakes, Ambili believes, will shape how we design policies that address human-caused changes to natural ecosystems.
In this episode, you’ll hear what India’s lakes tell us about our past, present and future. If you listen to Ambili’s poignant observations of lakes and the challenges they face today, I’m sure you’ll look at these water bodies from a different perspective.
Guest: Anoop Ambili, Assistant Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences, IISER-Mohali
Host and producer: Sahana Ghosh
Co-producer and cover designer: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand Sagar
Copy editors: Sapna Verma and Priyanka Shankar
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Looking at sediment under a microscope is a window into past environments and climates. In a dot of sediment, you may find thousands of microfossils - tiny remains of bacteria, protists, fungi, animals, and plants.
Rajani Panchang, an oceanographer and micropaleontologist, uses microfossils from oceans, of tiny marine organisms, to interpret how the climate and environment may have been when they were alive. Such work gives us ideas about the chemistry and temperature of the ocean, ocean currents and wind patterns of the past.
Paleoclimate research eventually feeds into reports that give us the large picture of climate change and our means of recovery. It starts with studying sediments.
Guest: Rajani Panchang, oceanographer and micropalaentologist, Savitribai Phule Pune University
Host and producer: Sahana Ghosh
Co-producer and cover designer: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand Sagar
Copy editors: Sapna Verma and Priyanka Shankar
Subscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India on your podcast platform.
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Imagine this: When modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa, they saw creatures such as giant prehistoric elephants, a hippopotamus and a zebra-like horse, alongside other great beasts. Infact, these large mammals stuck around in the region for at least 20,000 years after the arrival of humans.
A low-magnitude extinction began about 30,000 years ago when some megafaunal species, such as the giant elephants, started disappearing. This is in contrast to the Americas, Europe and Australia, where the arrival of humans led to more rapid, large-scale extinctions of megafauna such as woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers.
So why did the megafauna persist even after the arrival of modern humans on the Indian subcontinent? Why did some species disappear? Why do we still have animals like elephants, tigers, and rhinos in India but not elsewhere on the planet? In this episode, we have paleobiologist Advait Jukar, who is trying to answer these questions. And his clues lie in fossils. His work helps us understand how biodiversity has changed through time with the arrival of humans and climate change.
Guest: Advait Jukar, Gaylord Donnelley Postdoctoral Associate, Bioanthropology and Archaeology at Yale University
Host and producer: Sahana Ghosh
Co-producer and cover designer: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand Sagar
Copy editors: Sapna Verma and Priyanka Shankar
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India's renewable energy dreams have been big since the country shifted gears post-Paris climate summit in 2015. The country is now working towards achieving 500 GW of installed capacity from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030. However, every choice has a cost. Rapid renewable energy installation and the transition have left several aspects overlooked. And they have given rise to new issues.
Issues related to land availability and acquisition for mega-renewable projects, impact on biodiversity, lack of involvement of local communities and gender-based plans, lack of financing solutions, absence of waste management and recycling policies, etc.
Considering its impact on society, experts fear that the clean energy sector will follow in the footsteps of the fossil-fuel industry.
The shift from fossil fuels to renewables is needed eventually, but it poses loud questions: What will happen to the states that'll stop producing coal? What'll happen to the millions working in coal and related industries? Are they skilled enough to switch to the renewable sector? Also, is renewable energy coming up in coal-dependent regions in the first place, or is it happening elsewhere? How will the state departments and economy cope with this shift?
In this episode, we will try to understand the challenges that this sector's rapid but probably unplanned growth has thrown. We will examine if there are solutions and what needs urgent attention.
Listen to GigaWhat and explore some of the biggest questions, challenges, and opportunities in India's transition from fossil fuel to clean energy sources. Mongabay-India is an online publication dedicated to bringing you stories on science and the environment in India.
Read the full Clean energy series on our website
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Subscribe to our newsletter
Guests:
Bhargavi Rao, Senior Fellow and Trustee at Environment Support Group
Balasubramanian Viswanathan, Policy Advisor, International Institute for Sustainable Development
Selna Saji, Research Analyst, Council on Energy, Environment and Water
Credits:
Host: Mayank Aggarwal
Writer and producer: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayananda Sagar
Copy editor: Priyanka Shankar
Podcast production assistant: Sapna Verma
Episode cover art: Pooja Gupta
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What can shells tells us about marine paleoclimate? Shells and molluscs store a wealth of paleoclimate information. Molluscs build their shells with calcium carbonate from the sea water. Their shells record the sea water chemistry, which lets us decipher the changes that occurred in their environment.
Paleoclimate scientist Devapriya Chattopadhyay studies mollusc fossils which help reconstruct the marine paleoenvironment. Her findings revealed that even periods of slight warming affected mollusc diversity in an area considered to be less affected by changes in the climate. In the context of present-day climate change, this paleoclimate research is considered to be very useful in bridging some knowledge gaps.
In this episode of Imprints, Chattopadhyay talks about her fossil-hunting adventures, interesting discoveries and the people she encounters on the field. She also speaks about how infrastructure development could erase records of natural history and the challenge that India faces in setting up a museum for natural history.
Guest: Devapriya Chattopadhyay, Associate Professor, Earth and Climate Science, Paleobiology and Marine Ecology, Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER)
Host and producer: Sahana Ghosh, Contributing Editor, Mongabay-India
Co-producer and cover designer: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand Sagar
Copy editors: Sapna Verma and Priyanka Shankar
Subscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India on your podcast platform.
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Links:
Colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity
Predation to climate change: what does a fossil shell tell us?
Response of the Oligo-Miocene Bivalve Fauna of the Kutch Basin (Western India) to Regional Tectonic Events
The Distribution Pattern of Marine Bivalve Death Assemblage From the Western Margin of Bay of Bengal and Its Oceanographic Determinants
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It is fascinating how scientists unearth data for climate science in unusual locations. Atreyee Bhattacharya’s work takes her to lakebeds and libraries. She’s a paleoclimatologist who looks back at past climates to develop the context for understanding recent climate change.
She analyses sediments drilled from old lakes and scours British archival records to reconstruct past rainfall changes. This aids in predictions of future climates.
“Without paleoclimate research, we just wouldn't know that we are in a climate crisis.”
She looks at paleoclimatology as a guidebook to human society - when did humans prosper and didn’t due to climatic factors? Using this knowledge, scientists can work with policymakers to mitigate adverse outcomes.
In this episode of Imprints, Atreyee talks about the toolkit for her profession, her work with economists to understand past famines, the importance of paleoclimatology and the challenges it faces.
Guest: Atreyee Bhattacharya, Research Faculty, University of Colorado, Boulder
Host and producer: Sahana Ghosh
Co-producer and cover designer: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand Sagar
Copy editors: Sapna Verma and Priyanka Shankar
Subscribe to Everything Environment by Mongabay India on your podcast platform.
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Show notes:
Atreyee Bhattacharya
Most famines in south India under British rule due to minor rainfall fluctuations, rather than extreme events
A paleoclimate database for the Indian subcontinent
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India has an ambitious clean energy target that needs technology and innovation. While government and private sectors have their role to play, startups are critical for innovation and faster execution. They identify local, national and global problems, find opportunities and develop solutions.
India is home to the third-largest startup ecosystem, with about 57,000 startups. A fraction of this number is working in sustainability and solving climate change issues. Worldwide, it’s noted that the number of government policy measures to help startups get new clean energy technologies to the market, has risen sharply since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015.
From bringing solar power-based products to provide job opportunities in rural India, to companies innovating to increase the life of batteries, startups are addressing various needs of the different stages in the renewable energy journey.
But are they enough ideas? Enough startups? And enough support for such startups?
And more importantly, is there money to be made? Is there money to invest?
In this episode, we will speak to stakeholders involved in a startup’s journey to success. A co-founder, an investor and an incubator.
Listen to GigaWhat and explore some of the biggest questions, challenges, and opportunities in India’s transition from fossil fuels to clean energy sources.
Guests:
Pankaj Sharma , co-Founder, Log 9 Materials
Smita Rakesh, Vice President and Partner at Social Alpha
Arpit Agarwal, Director, Blume Ventures
Credits:
Hosted by Mayank Aggarwal
Produced and scripted by Kartik Chandramouli.
Edited and mixed by Tejas Dayananda Sagar
Copy edits by Priyanka Shankar
Episode artwork is by Pooja Gupta
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It is fascinating how scientists unearth data for climate science in unusual locations. Fossils, trees, lake sediment, other natural objects, and archival documents are like time portals. They tell us when and how ancient organisms and ecosystems experienced past environmental changes.
On Imprints, you will hear how scientists look at the past to understand the modern climate. The show will shine a light on a lesser-discussed science in India. We will listen to five paleo scientists who put our Earth in context and suggest actions to mitigate future climate change impacts and biodiversity loss.
Subscribe to our podcast for updates about the show.
Host: Sahana Ghosh
Producer and cover art designer: Kartik Chandramouli
Sound editor: Tejas Dayanand Sagar
Copy editor: Aditi Tandon -
We are all familiar with the buzzing sound under high-voltage power lines and transmission towers. The electricity passing through it is generated from coal power plants, solar parks, wind farms, dams and other sources. It passes through transmission networks and substations to eventually reach the end users.
Day by day, the share of renewable power entering this system is increasing. However, the solar and wind farms that are coming up or expanding to meet India’s renewable energy goal are concentrated within a few states. India will need to upgrade and expand its transmission infrastructure to evacuate the power generated here and feed it into the national electricity grid to be distributed across all regions.
The transmission infrastructure in India needs two trillion rupees! But there isn’t enough money flowing for the development.
Without adequate transmission systems in place, renewable energy plants can turn into stranded assets. And that’s a fear for project developers and investors.
Listen to GigaWhat and explore some of the biggest questions, challenges, and opportunities in India's transition from fossil fuel to clean energy sources. Mongabay-India is an online publication dedicated to bringing you stories on science and the environment in India.
Read the full Clean energy series on our website
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram
Subscribe to our newsletter
Guests:
Balawant Joshi, Managing Director, Idam Infra
Deepak Krishnan, Associate Director, WRI India (Energy)
Links:
Financial Constraints in Renewable Energy Sector, Ministry of New And Renewable EnergyPower Map of India
Renewable Energy Industry in India, IBEF
Renewables Integration in India, IEA
Renewable Energy Management Centers
Credits:
Host: Mayank Aggarwal
Writer and producer: Kartik Chandramouli
Audio editor: Tejas Dayananda Sagar
Copy editor: Priyanka Shankar
Podcast production assistant: Ayushi Kothari
GigaWhat cover art: Pooja Gupta - Montre plus
