As sea level rises in India, Shiva has a lot of work to do ... by gimleteye

This photo, taken at low tide, is from a walk yesterday on the beach fronting the Indian Ocean in the state of Orissa. Look closely.

It shows what remains of a road built 50 years ago on dry land overlooking the ocean at Konark.

My guide, a Hindu, believes that summer temperatures in the region have significantly increased in the past twenty years. (The temperature can routinely exceed 110 F.)

Hindus believe the god Shiva can remove poison from the atmosphere. On my two week trip here, including inland flights, the entire nation appears to be enveloped in a thick gauze of smog.

There is too much pollution in the air for the nearby Sun Temple, a World heritage site, and its magnificent, accurate 12th century sun dials to show the time. Through the smog, the sun can't throw a shadow against the dials. Shiva has a lot of work to do.