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The Kashmir region in the western Himalayas is located in a transition zone between areas dominated by the South Asian Summer Monsoon (SASM) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Currently being primarily influenced by westerly disturbances (WDs), the area is important to decipher teleconnections between these two important circulation systems for the assessment of past climate variability. We evaluated climate-growth relationships of Abies pindrow (Royle ex D. Don) and reconstructed April to June (AMJ) self-calibrated Palmer drought severity index (scPDSI) for the south Kashmir region during the period 1643–2016 CE. Our reconstructed scPDSI revealed a long wet phase during 1650–1816 CE, indicating the impact of the Little Ice Age (LIA) over the region, followed by prominent drier post-LIA episodes. The mid 18th century (1730–1760 CE) was the wettest period in the past four centuries, whereas the period 1817 to 1865 CE marked the driest phase. These phases are consistent with other precipitation reconstructions from the WD-dominated western and Trans-Himalayan regions, but inconsistant with summer precipitation reconstructions from the SASM-dominated Himalayan regions. A significant positive correlation between our scPDSI reconstruction and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) for the wet phase of the LIA suggests that the NAO remained dominant in modulating the winter and spring precipitation at the study region. During the 19th and 20th centuries, scPDSI was either weakly or negatively correlated with the NAO index, indicating the influence of other atmospheric circulation systems in driving the spring/summer precipitation in the study area. This study, augmented with other moisture records, contributes to analyze the temporal and spatial extent of moisture variability in a regional perspective. • Abies at westerly dominated Kashmir Himalaya are sensitive to spring moisture. • A 373-yrs of drought reconstruction revealed moist Little Ice Age and dry post-LIA. • Radiative forcings due to volcanic eruption affected the annual growth of Abies. • North Atlantic Oscillations influence winter/spring precipitation at study region. • Strong teleconnection with NINO 3.4 in last four decades due to ocean warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses surficial sediments for heavy metal contamination in three different zones: Western India, Ganga Plains, and Central India. To estimate the geochemical environment of the surficial soil, five heavy metals, namely Co, Cu, Ni, Zn, and Pb were examined. Enrichment factor (EF) indicated the highest contamination for Co which showed deficient to minimal contamination in 11 samples, moderate contamination in 11 samples, significant contamination in 16 samples and very significant contamination in 1 amongst the 39 samples from various locations in all three zones depicted. The geo-accumulation index suggests that the variability in Co observed was −1.5 to 2.68 indicating augmentation of the Co concentrations in the study areas with respect to background values. Among 39 of the total locations sampled, 20 of them fall in the category of no pollution with respect to Pollution Load Index (PLI), while 18 fall under the category of moderate pollution and one location falls under the category of heavy pollution. Although all the indices suggested that the zones have not been subjected to extreme levels of pollution yet, appropriate measures may be taken to contain further anthropogenic contamination of these soils to preserve the surficial soils and their ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that the India International Science Festival (IISF) 2015 was held recently that signified a collective effort towards nurturing scientific temper at the global level. The event was inaugurated by Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Science and Technology, and Earth Sciences of India.