Review: A Billion Butterflies by Jagadish Shukla
October 25, 2025 | Syed Saad Ahmed, Hindustan Times
… Whether it is the timing and intensity of the Indian monsoons or the El Niño (a global climate phenomenon that leads to droughts in some regions and heavy rainfall in others), we can now anticipate and prepare for them. One of the scientists responsible for these breakthroughs is Dr Jagadish Shukla…
…And yet, today, not only diversity and inclusion but also immigration, science, and educational institutions are under attack in the US, Shukla’s adopted homeland. He too was at the receiving end of these attacks. He was hounded for a letter he wrote to President Obama, proposing legal action against organisations that knowingly deceived people about climate change. Threats followed, as well as an inquiry into his organisation’s work and finances. Right-wing websites ran with headlines like “Climate Alarmist Caught in ‘Largest Science Scandal in US History’” and deemed him the “Third Most Dangerous Person” of 2015. But this was not an isolated case. So widespread has been the harassment against scientists that an organisation was set up to counter it: the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund.