Echoes of nature: Frontline’s top 12 environment stories of 2024
People participate in a protest near Parliament over the issue of the rise in air pollution, in New Delhi on November 27, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Arguably one of the most disturbing headlines from the world of environment came when we rang in the New Year. In January 2024, from a pristine little island in the Indian Ocean, the Great Nicobar Island, author Pankaj Sekhsaria reported on the unimaginable havoc a proposed Rs.72,000 crore infrastructure project would wreak on the fragile ecosystem, on endangered wildlife, and on tribal communities.
Through 2024, Frontline has explored vividly—through videos, podcasts and print—humanity’s fatally flawed decisions, which have made India’s environment acutely vulnerable, not just from development projects, but also from the demonic dance of climate change: the landslides in Kerala in the South, and the searing heatwave in the North, combined, left hundreds dead.
These stories provide insight into India’s pressing environmental challenges. Read on to understand the complex factors affecting India’s ecological landscape and the urgent need for sustainable solutions.
