I have over a decade of experience writing about nature and environment for national and international publications, and my work has appeared in reputable publications such as The Guardian, Nature, BBC, Al Jazeera, South China Morning Post, The Hindu and more. I have spent the last five years exclusively thinking and writing about climate change. I have covered a wide variety of topics within the field such as climate science, biodiversity, cryosphere and glaciers, industry emissions, climate and adaptation policies, and feature stories about communities impacted by climate change in the Indian subcontinent and the Himalayan region, among others.
Select stories from my recent coverage of Climate Change, features from the Himalayan region, and Other topics can be found below.
Climate Change & Environment
A rain festival with no rain: the Indian farmers bracing for a ‘super’ El Niño as monsoon arrives late
The Guardian
Raja is normally a celebration of the start of the monsoon, but in the eastern state of Odisha, the rains came so late the seeds were sown under clear skies.
Nepal’s swift embrace of electric vehicles
Nature Climate Change
The rapid electrification of Nepal’s automobile sector in just five years shows how a robust mix of policies and incentives can catapult climate action. | PDF
Meet Kerala’s ‘rainforest gardeners’ creating a Noah’s ark for endangered plants
The Guardian
In one of the world’s ‘hottest hotspots’ of biodiversity, an all-female team have turned a patch of forest into a haven for orchids, ferns, succulents and carnivorous plants
AI-driven weather forecasts for climate adaptation in India
Nature Climate Change
Advanced monsoon onset prediction with multi-week lead time via an artificial intelligence (AI) weather model helps smallholder farmers adapt to a changing climate. | PDF
Scientists have ruled out the worst-case climate scenario, but it isn’t all good news for India
The Hindu (Indian National Daily)
The ‘doomsday’ climate scenario is now unrealistic due to slower emissions growth and wider adoption of renewable sources of energy | PDF
This Nepal village survived for 1,000 years. Now recurring floods threaten its future
The Guardian
Til, the remotest of three villages in the Limi valley on the Tibetan border, was already wrestling with a dwindling population, but a series of natural disasters has led many to consider where their future should be.
Cryosphere crisis: glaciers, water scarcity, and a race to adapt in the Himalaya
The Hindu (Indian National Daily)
Climate change is rapidly melting glaciers in the Indian Himalayan Region, threatening water security for 77 million people. Immediate adaptation strategies are crucial to address this growing crisis
1.5 degrees of aberration | Is India prepared to deal with the fallout of increasing emissions and long-term warming in the near future?
The Hindu (Indian National Daily)
With 2024 being the first year to cross 1.5 degrees of warming, and the U.S. withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, changes that were expected by 2100 are now imminent in the coming decade. | PDF
Glacial lakes threaten millions with flooding as planet heats up
The Guardian
An increasing number of people are being threatened by flooding caused by glacial lakes bursting, scientists have warned. More than 12,000 deaths have already been attributed to glacial lake outburst floods worldwide.
Leading the charge: wildlife experts plan for future of Nepal’s rhinos
The Guardian
One-horned species was nearly extinct before poaching was curbed. Now the climate crisis could pose a greater threat.
Rapid heating of Indian Ocean worsening cyclones, say scientists
The Guardian
Rising ocean temperatures caused by climate crisis increasing number of cyclones and intensity of storms, say experts.
Climate change threatens 1,000-year-old monastery in remote Nepal
Al Jazeera English
An ancient building battles mother nature as melting glaciers make a remote Himalayan valley susceptible to flooding.
Venomous snakes likely to migrate en masse amid global heating, says study
The Guardian
Climate breakdown is likely to lead to the large-scale migration of venomous snake species into new regions and unprepared countries, according to a study.
India’s vital efforts to tackle air pollution could worsen warming
The Hindu (Indian National Daily)
Aerosols in the atmosphere scatter sunlight and have a cooling effect — yet they also exact a heavy toll on human well-being. PDF
Himalayan avalanches are increasing risk for climbers in warming climate
The Guardian
Experts warn that global heating is exacerbating inherent dangers of high-altitude mountaineering.
Hydropower projects are wreaking havoc in the Himalayas
Al Jazeera English
The deadly February 7 flash flood in India’s Uttarakhand should not be blamed on ‘nature’s fury’ alone, write Prakash Kashwan and Neelima Vallangi.
Stories from the Himalayan Region
Farmers trade fungi for motorbikes in rural Nepal, but mushrooming road use threatens rural ways
South China Morning Post
The proceeds from yarsagumba fungus have bought mod cons and motorbikes from China to remote Dolpo, bringing convenience – as well as noise, pollution and uncertainty
Curd instinct: ancient Nepali food reborn as dog chews in US
The Guardian
Exporting churpi, herders’ smoked yak cheese, has transformed lives in remote Himalayan villages in Nepal
‘Your mother is in the mountains’: Nepal’s record-breaking female mountaineers – a photo essay
The Guardian
A trio of ambitious Nepali climbers are among those reshaping the country’s male-dominated mountaineering industry.
Ain’t no mountain high enough, not even Everest, for the people of the Nepalese village of Phortse
South China Morning Post
In high-altitude Nepal, one Sherpa village has more Everest summiteers than anywhere else on Earth. Why?
Chhurpi: The world’s hardest cheese?
BBC
Created thousands of years ago in the remote reaches of the Himalayas, chhurpi can be eaten for up to 20 years.
The unsolved mystery of Skeleton Lake
BBC
Nearly 80 years after the Himalayan lake first captured the world’s imagination, the mystery continues to confound – even as revolutionary advances are made in understanding our past.
The Himalayan peak off limits to climbers
BBC
Climbing Machhapuchhare is forbidden, a rarity in a country like Nepal that has embraced mountain tourism so enthusiastically that even the world’s highest point gets overcrowded.
A frozen highway to an ancient kingdom
BBC
In the summer, the Zanskar River runs wild between the deep canyons of the Himalayas. In the winter, it becomes a road of ice – and the only escape.
A 500-year-old mummy – with teeth
BBC
A trek in the Indian Himalayas reveals the eerie and ancient tradition of self-mummification.
Hunting the blue Yeti of Bhutan
BBC
Once thought to be a Himalayan myth, Bhutan’s national flower is a once-in-a-lifetime find.
In the valley of Silk and Silver Coins
The Hindu (Indian National Daily)
This remote Tibetan valley in Nepal looks to India and China for sustenance. Limi Valley is a hidden place of absurd contradictions
Other Stories
Tearsheets
More published stories from earlier and tear sheets of magazine and newspaper print publications can be found here. Or click on the image to view the full gallery.
Links to select stories below.
India’s Abandoned Island of Colonial Horror
Smithsonian Magazine
Eerie and desolate, India’s Ross Island harbors a tale of oppression and disaster
The crumbling, abandoned mansions of billionaires
BBC
While most of Shekhawati’s havelis in India’s Rajasthan have crumbled and remain abandoned, a small window into the world of these painted mansions is being preserved.
India’s forgotten African tribe
BBC
Siddis, an African-origin ethnic tribe of about 20,000 people has been living in near total obscurity in India for centuries.
On the Lycian Way in Turkey, what it means to explore a trail without the Internet
Indian Express
Every day is a foray into the unknown when you set off on a hike in Turkey, on foot and without the Internet.