Carbon sequestration for better dryland productivity

The world rejoices over the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to those who focussed on climate change, yet even simple agricultural practices can greatly help mitigate this global challenge. Climate change occurs when there is a build-up of carbon in the atmosphere. However, if carbon is collected (or sequestered) in the soil and used to increase productivity, the results are three-fold — a reduction in atmospheric carbon levels, increased crop yields, and more inc ome for farmers.Ironic as it may sound, in dryland agriculture the availability of organic carbon in the soil is the key to increasing productivity. Hence, "look down at the soil to make your agricultural productivity look up" is the new motto of agricultural scientists, especially those working with natural resource management and watershed development. This, however, calls for massive investment by developed and developing countries to support dryland agricultural research and corresponding support systems.Although there is much attention and support being given to irrigated agriculture, drylands occupy 80 per cent of agricultural land and generate 58 per cent of the world's staple foods. In fact, most of the food for the poor in the developing countries is produced in dryland and rainfed areas. More than 95 per cent of the farm land in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is rainfed. In Latin America the figure is almost 90 per cent, in South Asia about 60 per cent, in East Asia 65 per cent and in the Near East and North Africa 75 per cent. In India, 66 per cent of the 142 million hectares of arable land is rainfed.Rainfed areas are also hotspots of poverty, malnutrition, and child mortality. Of the one billion poor people in the world, India accounts for 25.9 per cent and China 16.7 per cent. The rest of the Asia-Pacific accounts for 18.3 per cent. Asia is a hub where the poor, undernourished, and the vulnerable live. This is followed by sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 23.9 per cent.A close look at the rainfed regions shows a grim picture of water scarcity, fragile environments, drought, and land degradation caused by low rainwater use efficiency, high population pressure, poverty, poor infrastructure, and inappropriate policies. Drought and land degradation are interlinked in a cause-and-effect relationship, which in turn causes poverty. This unholy nexus among drought, poverty, and land degradation must be broken if we have to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving the number of food-insecure poor by 2015.Added to this is the threat of climate change. It is anticipated that climate change will lead to more rainfall variability and increased frequency of extreme events, resulting in more and longer dry spells due to global warming.
Soil is the key
Innovative strategies are required to help the dryland farmer overcome these difficulties. As the world's top research centre for dryland agriculture, the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Andhra Pradesh is working on increasing the organic carbon level in the soil through increased sequestration (accumulation from the environment).Soil organic carbon is the source of energy to fuel biological activities in the soil, which in turn control the availability of nutrients for plant growth as well as soil water availability — a critical yield component in tropical drylands.Long-term watershed management experiments at the ICRISAT campus at Patancheru over the last 33 years have consistently demonstrated that drylands can produce 5.1 tonnes of grain per hectare a year, supporting 21 persons as compared to 1.1 tonnes of grain per hectare a year supporting 4.8 persons in case of farmers' practice. Moreover, the system is still gaining at the rate of 78 kg of grain per hectare a year, and the new equilibrium is yet to be reached.Along with increased productivity, improved watershed management practices sequestered 330 kg of carbon per hectare a year up to a depth of 120 cm by intercropping sorghum and pigeon pea. Increased carbon sequestration not only increased nutrient supply and turnover capacity of the soil but resulted in substantial changes in the physical and biological properties of the soil, which increase water holding capacity and the ability to cope with longer dry spells during crop growth.Moreover, ICRISAT's research has shown that legumes in general and pigeon pea in particular have the ability to sequester more carbon in tropical soils. Through the adoption of improved water, soil and crop management options, carbon sequestration in legume-based systems can be improved further. If this is adopted within an integrated community watershed, the productivity of rainfed agriculture can be doubled, providing increased incomes to farmers.
Thirst and hunger
Tropical soils are not only thirsty but also hungry, particularly for micronutrients such as zinc, boron, and secondary nutrients such as sulphur, along with macronutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. ICRISAT's work has shown that by adopting integrated nutrient management after testing the soil for deficiencies and combining it with improved crop varieties and water management, rainwater use efficiency can be increased by up to 65-70 per cent along with increased productivity and improved livelihoods.ICRISAT has strengthened its research in partnership with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research under the National Agriculture Technology Project (NATP) funded by the World Bank. A study of 58 samples from 28 benchmark spots in the drylands of India revealed that black soils as well as red soils have the potential to sequester carbon by adopting suitable cropping with high-yielding varieties and legumes, along with management practices such as water management and the use of green manure. ICRISAT works with a consortium of partners including national agricultural research systems, State agricultural universities, civil society organisations and farmers' organisations. Along with accumulating carbon in the soil, our work has led to convergence, collective action and capacity building to empower dryland communities.ICRISAT's watershed development model has been widely accepted in India, China, Thailand, and Vietnam in Asia. It is also moving to Eastern Africa through South-South cooperation.
The hindu October 24
Bio-diesel plant using variety of materials as feedstock developed
A team of Pune-based entrepreneurs has developed a continuous processing bio-diesel plant against the batch-type plants presently in use. A pilot plant with a 1,200 litres per day capacity has been installed at Bhosari, and a US patent for the process has been filed for, Prof Kshitij Patukale, one of the team members says. This advantage of this new technology is that a variety of materials including acid oil, a waste product of the solvent extraction process, can be used as feedstock, says Mr Patukale.
Feedstock
"The bio-diesel industry is worried about availability of feed stock. Efforts in last several years have been concentrated on plantation of bio-diesel species such as jatropha, pongamia, simarruba, neem, etc. The Union and State Government agencies have actively promoted jatropha on thousands of hectares of land all over India. But what are the results? That jatropha is not a 'plant it, forget it' species as was believed. So one cannot depend solely on the non-edible oils as feedstock in India," he says, adding that other sources as feed stock for manufacturing of bio-diesel must be found. According to Mr Patukale, any available oil in large quality with any FFA and different chemical properties should get converted into bio-diesel."A large number of oils such as acid oil, palm oil, rice bran oil, rapeseed oil, soyabean oil, fish oil are available all over the world. Several eminent scientists are talking about castor as 90-day bio-diesel crop," he says asserting that the bio-diesel industry in India today is looking for the right technology to convert any oil into bio-diesel.
One of the major sources of bio-diesel, he points out is acid oil, 10 lakh tonnes per day of which is generated every day in the country as a result of refining of edible oils. Traditionally this is sold to the soap industry, but could be diverted for production of bio-diesel and can yield 98 per cent bio-diesel litre-on-litre. This product, if it meets the norms of the American Society for Materials and Testing, can replace diesel, and cost 10 per cent lower, Mr Patukale says. The pilot plant is presently installed at Jaypex Biofuel Processing Technologies Pvt Ltd, at Bhosari near Pune.

Business Line October 27

Oceans may be losing ability to absorb CO2

The world's oceans may be losing their ability to soak up extra carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, with the risk that this will help stoke global warming, two new studies say.Absorption of atmospheric CO2 by the North Atlantic plunged by half between the mid-1990s and 2002-5, British researchers say in a paper published in the November issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research.The data comes from sensors lowered by a container ship carrying bananas, which makes a round trip from the West Indies to Britain every month. It has generated more than 90,000 measurements of ocean CO2.The finding touches on a key aspect of the global warming question, because for decades the ocean has been absorbing much of the CO2 released into the atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels.
If the sea performs less well as a carbon sponge, or "sink" according to the technical jargon, more CO2 will remain in the atmosphere, thus accelerating the greenhouse effect.Ute Schuster, who led the research with Professor Andrew Watson of the University of East Anglia's School of Environmental Sciences, admitted she was astonished by the data."Such large changes are a tremendous surprise. We expected that the uptake would change only slowly because of the ocean's great mass," Schuster was quoted by the university in a press release Monday as saying.
Research last year pointed to rising acidification of the oceans as a result of CO2 uptake, highlighting the risk of carbon saturation as well as a looming peril for biodiversity.Schuster was cautious about drawing too swift a conclusion from the new research."Perhaps this is partly a natural oscillation or perhaps it is a response to the recent rapid climate warming," she said."In either case, we now know that the sink can change quickly and we need to continue to monitor the ocean uptake."

Business Line October 22

Trees with rabbit genes accelerate cleaning of soil

Genetically modified plants that can break down pollutants may be an effective way to clean soil contaminated by industrial chemicals and explosives used by the military, say scientists.Tests on six-inch tall GM poplar cuttings which had a gene from a rabbit inserted into them showed that they could remove up to 91 per cent of a chemical called trichloroethylene from the water used in their feed. This chemical, used as an industrial degreaser and one of the most common contaminants of ground water, was broken down by the plants into harmless byproducts more than 100 times faster than by unaltered plants."In view of their large size and extensive root systems, these transgenic poplars may provide the means to effectively clean sites contaminated with a variety of pollutants at much faster rates and at lower costs than can be achieved with current conventional techniques," wrote Sharon Doty, of the University of Washington, Seattle, on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The GM poplars also broke down other common environmental pollutants such as chloroform, a byproduct of the disinfection of drinking water, the solvent carbon tetrachloride, and vinyl chloride, used to make plastics. Poplars use an enzyme called cytochrome P450 to break down contaminants. Trichloroethylene is turned into a harmless salt, water and carbon dioxide.After Dr. Doty's team inserted the gene into the tree from a rabbit they also produced P450, but at a much faster rate. Ultimately, the scientists would like to manipulate the plant's own genes to achieve the same goal.
Another study, also published in the PNAS, demonstrated a way to break down the military explosive RDX. "Widespread contamination of land and ground water has resulted from the use, manufacture, and storage of the military explosive ... RDX. This contamination has led to a requirement for a sustainable, low-cost method to remediate this problem," wrote Neil Bruce, of the University of York. "One of the biggest concerns of RDX as a pollutant is that it migrates readily through soil into the ground water and subsequently contaminates drinking water supplies." His team genetically modified Arabidopsis plants to express enzymes called XplA and XplB, which are known to break down RDX. At their best, the plants reduced RDX concentrations from soil by up to 97 per cent in one week. Though the GM plants may be an effective way to treat pollutants, Dr. Doty acknowledged that people might have concerns at the thought of forests of GM trees. In the United States and Britain, such plants can currently only be grown for research purposes. Dr. Doty added that poplars were fast-growing and could grow for several years without flowering, so there was reduced risk of their genes being transferred into wild populations of the tree. — ©Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

The Hindu October 17

Tsunami early warning centre dedicated to nation

India is likely to become the first country in the world to acquire capabilities of predicting the likelihood of a tsunami in seven minutes after any major earthquake in Indian Ocean soon."Now, we have systems in place to predict the likelihood of tsunami within 30 minutes after a quake in Indian Ocean system. Efforts are on to bring this down to seven minutes," Mr Kapil Sibal, Union Minister for Science and Technology, said after dedicating the Tsunami Early Warning Centre set up at the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) to the nation here .As per the existing system, six Bottom Pressure Recorders (BPRs) installed in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea would collect data about the intensity of a quake which would be transmitted to the ground station for further analysis. "If we could analyse the data in BPRs themselves, possibly the time could be brought down to seven minutes and we will do it," Mr Sibal explained.
More dedicated centres
The INCOIS, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, would be expanded with the addition of two more dedicated centres for study of marine mechanisms and operational oceanography, he added.
The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, said the State Government would grant 10 acres of land for expansion of INCOIS campus. Mr P.S. Goel, Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, said six more BPRs would be installed in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea soon to increase the efficiency of the centre.Mr Shailesh Nayak, Director, INCOIS, said the Early Warning Centre's predictions proved to be correct and authentic in the case of a small tsunami wave in Indian Ocean on September 12, 2007.
The Early Warning Centre, set up at a cost of Rs 125 crore, receives real-time seismic data from the national seismic network of the India Meteorological Department and other international seismic networks. It detects all earthquake events of over six point magnitude occurring in the Indian Ocean while the BPRs confirm the triggering of a tsunami. On the basis of this information, the centre would generate and disseminate timely advisories to the control room of the Ministry of Home Affairs for further dissemination to the public.

Business line October 16

Environmental impact of teak plantations to be gauged

The environmental contributions of teak plantations is the new area of research related to climate change. The State Forest Department has sanctioned a Rs.12.20-lakh project to estimate the carbon sequestered by a teak plantation during its lifetime.The team of researchers led by M. Balagopal, Head of the Soil Science of the Kerala Forest Research Institute, will assess the environmental contributions, including carbon sequestration capability of the teak plantations in the Nilambur Forest Division.The other members of the research team are Mehar Singh, Chief Conservator of Forests, Working Plan and Research, and Rajan Sehgal, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Research (North).The carbon sequestration is defined as the process of plants absorbing carbon dioxide from atmosphere and storing it in its body parts. The process is of utmost importance in preventing the effects of climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.The ozone depletion and increased presence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will lead to increased atmospheric temperature and result in global warming. Scientists have estimated that annually, the global atmospheric temperature is increasing in the range of 0.5 to 1 degree Celsius. Plants play a crucial role in arresting the process and efforts were on worldwide to contain the global warming and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Dr. Balagopal said.As part of photosynthesis, plants absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and stored it as sugar, starch and cellulose. Oxygen was also released into the air in the process, said Dr. Balagopal.
If it were the economic benefits that prompted the authorities to create teak plantations, now the environmental significance of the trees were also becoming a priority. Studies were on to find out which plant variety sequestrates carbon most and thereby restricted ozone depletion and control climatic changes, he said. Next year, the carbon sequestration of bamboo would be estimated. Later, the sequestration of natural forests would be assessed. The research project was an attempt to create exact data regarding the carbon sequestration capability of different plant varieties.Under the research project, scientists would attempt to produce an estimate of the carbon storage potential of teak plantations in Kerala at harvest age. The researchers also plan to develop two non-destructive indicators of teak carbon storage and biomass.

The Hindu October 15

Ministry to prepare for climate change effects

Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has asked the Department of Agriculture and Food to prepare action plans to increase preparedness for management of the likely effects of climate change on agriculture.His direction came at the end of a National Conference on Climate Change and Indian Agriculture that highlighted the fact that Himalayan glaciers were receding and could cause problems of irrigation in the long term and that the increase in the intensity and frequency of drought and floods would lead to wider variability in foodgrain production. Increasing temperatures would cause lower production of crops, fish and livestock and climate changes could cause imbalance in food trade. This is expected to have a positive impact on the agriculture of Europe and North America and a negative impact.Stressing that climate change was "a reality," Mr. Pawar said there was greater consensus now that in future climatic variability would increase leading to more frequent extremes of weather. Global warming, particularly changes in rainfall and temperature, was likely to enhance the current stresses and increase vulnerability of food production and livelihoods of the farming community. "The recent Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change and a few other studies indicate a probability of 10 to 40 per cent loss in crop production with increases in temperatures by the end of the century due to global warming," he said.
Noting that the conference highlighted the "generally negative" impact of climate change on Indian agriculture, Mr. Pawar asked the organisers — the Indian Council of Agriculture Research — to cash in on the positive impacts, if any.In its recommendations, the conference called for strengthening research for effective technology development to overcome the likely effects of climate change on the farm sector. It also suggested increase in national and international collaboration and stressed on evolving national and international collaboration.Mr. Pawar assured the delegates that the government would provide all necessary support for the action plans that would be developed to implement the suggestions.

The Hindu October 15

Government to promote use of energy-saving devices in rural areas

The government is embarking on a campaign to promote the use of energy-efficient electrical devices such as compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) in rural areas, Electricity Minister A.K. Balan said.He was inaugurating a seminar on Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC), organised by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency and the Energy Management Centre, here. The project was aimed at substituting the heavy investment on generation plants with energy conservation practices, Mr. Balan said.
"Adopting scientific conservation methods can help to substitute the generation of additional power to meet the soaring demand. We have ignored this fact for too long. But today, the government is aware of the importance of energy conservation in finding a solution to the power crisis faced by the State," he said. Mr. Balan stressed the need to popularise power-saving devices such as LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and electronic chokes and regulators. "One-fourth of the annual generation of 14,000 million units in Kerala is lost in generation and transmission. By adopting conservation techniques, consumers can help save 1,300 million units and control the evening peak load. This will also ensure quality of power."The Minister reminded local self -government institutions of their role in creating awareness of the need for conservation of energy. They could also play a key role in carbon credit trading, he said. Mr. Balan said the Energy Conservation Building Code was emerging as a valuable tool in the drive to save energy. He called for a major initiative to promote new building materials and technology to minimise wastage. EMC director K.M. Dharesan Unnithan; Sanjay Seth, energy economist, Bureau of Energy Efficiency; and Vishal Garg, Head of the Centre for IT in Buildings Science, Hyderabad; were present. Experts presented papers on the features of the Energy Conservation Building Code.

The Hindu October 13

State vulnerable to natural calamities

Studies conducted by Central government agencies have shown that the State is becoming increasingly prone to various natural calamities, including earthquake, landslips and cyclone.
According to the studies, the State is vulnerable to earthquake up to a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale. Nearly 1,800 sq. km. area of the State is prone to landslips and more than 95 per cent of the land area is susceptible to cyclone.The findings were revealed here at an awareness campaign on 'Disaster management for schoolchildren through Edusat' organised by the Institute of Land and Disaster Management here on , World Disaster Reduction Day. The campaign titled 'Disaster risk reduction begins at schools' launched by the United Nations aims at mobilising governments, communities and individuals in making disaster risk an integral part of school curriculum, while ensuring that school buildings are built or retrofitted to withstand natural hazards. Inaugurating the campaign, Minister for Education M.A. Baby said that topics pertaining to disaster management would be introduced in the curriculum soon.
The inaugural campaign was simultaneously viewed by school students across the State through the 'Receive Only Terminals' in their respective schools."From now on we will conduct periodic awareness campaigns on various natural calamities in schools through Edusat from 1.30 p.m. to 2 p.m.," said K.G. Thara, head, disaster management faculty and member, State Disaster Management Authority.
Documentary screened
The inaugural function was followed by a magic show by ventriloquist Vinod Naranat. A five-minute documentary on earthquakes was also screened for the students.The documentary showed how earthquakes occur and what precautionary measures should be taken. The function was also attended by Nivedita P. Haran, Principal Secretary, Department of Revenue.The campaign, initiated by the United Nations, will last till the end of 2007 and will continue after that under the auspices of the U.N. decade of education for sustainable development.

The Hindu October 13

WWF: New animal, plant species found in Vietnam

Scientists have discovered 11 new species of animals and plants in a remote area in central Vietnam, conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said .The species were found in the Thua Thien Hue Province - a region known as the Green Corridor. They include two butterflies and a snake, as well as five orchids and three other plants, all of which are exclusive to tropical forests in Vietnam's Annamites Mountain Range, said the Swiss-based organization in a press release. The new snake species, called the white-lipped keel back, tends to live by streams where it catches frogs and other small animals. It has a beautiful yellow-white stripe that sweeps along its head and red dots cover its body. It can reach about 80 cm in length. The butterfly species is the eighth discovered in the province since 1996. One is a skipper - a butterfly with quick, darting flight habits - from the genus Zela, another is a new genus in the subfamily of Satyrinae. Three of the newly discovered orchid species are entirely leafless, which is rare for orchids. They contain no chlorophyll and live on decaying matter, like many fungal species. According to the WWF, all these species are at risk from illegal logging, hunting, unsustainable extraction of natural resources and conflicting development interests. However, the Thua Thien Hue Province authorities - in particular the Forest Protection Department - have committed themselves to conserving and sustainably managing these valuable forests.

Business line sep 27

Biodiversity board says ‘No’to Athitrapally project

The kerala state biodiversity board has recommended to the government to reconsider the project in vie of the threat to the rich biodiversity of the Athirapally – Vazhachal area. The board met to formulates its view on the controversial project – it has been cleared by the union ministry of forest and environment subject to 19 conditions- indicated that the project is no no from the biodiversity angle.The meeting 'Considering the biodiversity values of the area' decided to recommend to the government to 'reconsider' the hydroelectric project "in totality and without disturbing the ecosystem and species". The biodiversity board a statutory body functioning under the Biological diversity act 2002, is mandated to advice that state government " on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of biodiversity resources". In its advice the board highlights in detail that biodiversity values of the Athirapally- vazhachal area. It points out that the area is species rich and that is a habitat of several newly discovered species. At the same time the area has high endemism too. It is also an important internationally recognized bird habitat. In view of the area's rich fish diversity, the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources had recommended it to be developed as a fish sanctuary. The puduchery based French institute which is an authority on the flora of Western Ghats had spotlighted the high conservation value of the area. The board points out that Athirapally Vazhachal is the only low lying riparian evergreen ecosystem in Kerala. The areas ecosystem service potential is enormous. Moreover the board says recognizing the importance of variation in the river to maintain the  ecosystem efficiency the project needed a rethink.
The Hindu, sep 2007

Environment monitoring begins

The Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has taken up a State-wide environment monitoring programme to keep a strict tab on pollution of air, soil and water sources. The project is expected to generate data for corrective action including legislation to check pollution. The monitoring of water resources has already commenced. The first phase of the programme has been taken up in the Kabani, Periyar and Neyyar basins re presenting three distinct agro -climatic regions of the State. The project involves complete chemical and biological analysis of surface and ground water samples collected from the three regions. Test stations will be set up at the river basins for periodic monitoring. Sources at the KSCSTE headquarters here said colleges in the respective areas would be involved in the massive data generation exercise. The council will equip college laboratories with modern testing equipment for analysis of samples. Sources said the project would also provide scientific exposure to teachers and students. The Valapattanam, Kannur and Chaliyar river basins have been selected for the second phase of the exercise.
Soil monitoring
The programme to monitor soil resources is slated to take off by December this year. The council has drawn up an action plan to ensure the participation of local self-government institutions in the effort. The test sites for the pilot project will represent the northern, central and southern regions of the State. The Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM), Kera la Forest Research Institute (KFRI) and the Soil Survey Department will coordinate the pilot project which aims at periodic monitoring of physical, chemical and biological parameters and the presence of pesticide residue in agricultural land.
The three coordinating institutions have been equipped with modern facilities for soil testing. Officials at the KSCSTE said the ultimate aim of the objective was to prepare GIS (Geographical Information System) survey maps on the soil and water resources in the target areas. The maps are expected to become key tools for decision-making on environmental issues. The air monitoring programme is scheduled to begin next year. The data generated by the monitoring of the three key natural resources would be included in the annual report on the State of the Environment in Kerala, published by the council.

The Hindu sep 26

Wetland facing threat

Private industries, public sector units such as Cochin Port Trust and Cochin Shipyard and Kochi city are upsetting the ecosystem of Vembanad kole wetland system by unloading huge quantities of chemical and industrial refuses and sewage into the wetland system each day.The State of Environment Report brought out by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment of the State Government has detailed the hazards faced by Vembanad, which is one of the three Ramsar sites in the State.The chemical and engineering industries located at the industrial belt of the Greater Cochin area are discharging around 260 million litres of industrial effluents into Vembanad Estuary every day. The Vembanad estuary receives effluents from chemical and engineering industries, food and drug manufacturing units and also from paper, rayon, rubber, textiles and plywood industries.Like the private industrial units, the public sector undertakings are also contributing to the pollution and environmental damage of the lake. The Cochin Shipyard and the Cochin Port are releasing sizable quantities of waste oil, paints, metal and paint scrapings into the estuary. The Vembanad wetland is the worst affected wetland in Kerala due to urbanisation and population growth, industrial development, agriculture, aquaculture, transport and tourism, the report said.
Kochi City alone generates 2,550 MLD of urban sewage that enters the Vembanad directly. Waste from slaughterhouses, markets and hospitals also reach the system through the extensive network of canals in Kochi and through the rivers. Authorised and unauthorised sand-mining is common in all areas of Vembanad wetland system. The uncontrolled mining of shells from the lake is also posing a threat to its ecosystem, warned the report.The Vembanad estuary serves as a sink for domestic and urban sewage from Kochi. The sewage from other municipalities is also directly discharged into the Vembanad Lake without any treatment. The sewage collection system of the Kochi Corporation empties its waste containing high particulate organic matter into the estuary through Padiyathukulam, Kalvathy, Rameswaram, Pulimutty and Thevara canals.
High level of pollution
Sixteen major industries discharge nearly 260 tons of organic waste into the system each day. The industries also contribute to the heavy load of ammonia in water. The effluents from industries carried heavy load of ammonia into the system. The load of ammonia was found to be ranging between 432 and 560 parts per million against the accepted lethal limit of 2 to 5 parts per million. This, along with pollutants like acids and suspended solids contribute to the extreme toxic levels in the system. It was observed that pollutants like Copper, Zinc, Lead, Nickel and Iron were highest at the effluent discharge point and decreased gradually towards the bar mouth.The threats posed by activities of the most stakeholders on the health of the Vembanad ecosystem are severe and dangerous to the levels exceeding the carrying capacity of the system. Studies on the biological process of Cochin Estuary revealed that the biodiversity of Cochin backwaters was on the decline, the study pointed out.
Shrinkage of lake
The report pointed out that the shrinkage of the Lake to 37 per cent of its original area due to land reclamation was the most important factor of environmental consequence. It is estimated that 21 per cent of the reclamation of the Lake took place during the last 15 years.
The depth of the lake has also been reduced by 40 to 50 per cent in all zones except between Aroor and Wellingdon Island and Cochin Port zone.

The Hindu , sep 24

Fine for exploitation of groundwater

Imposition of fines ranging from RS 10,000 to Rs 50,000 and imprisonment in case of repetition are the measures planned by the state government to protect groundwater resources. The Kerala groundwater (Control and Regulation) Act, 2002 will be amended to include the above penalties; Water resources Minister N.K. Premechandran told the assembly. Section 9 of act says all consumers have to register with the Kerala ground water authority by February 2, 2008 but this does not include consumers with or below 1.5 HP pumps on open wells and with or below 3 HP pumps on borewells. The act is intended to prevent over-exploitation of the state's groundwater resources.
NIE sep 21

How climate change will affect the world

The effects of climate change will be felt sooner than scientists realised and the world must learn to live with the effects, experts said.Martin Parry, a climate scientist with the Met Office, said destructive changes in temperature, rainfall and agriculture were now forecast to occur several decades earlier than thought. He said vulnerable people such as the old and poor would be the worst affected, and that world leaders had not yet accepted their countries would have to adapt to the likely consequences.The international response to the problem has failed to grasp that serious consequences such as reduced crop yields and water shortages are now inevitable, he said. Countries such as Britain need to focus on helping nations in the developing world cope with the predicted impacts, by helping them to introduce irrigation and water management technology, drought resistant crops and new building techniques.
Rajendra Pachauri, chairman of the IPCC, said: "Wheat production in India is already in decline, for no other reason than climate change. Everyone thought we didn't have to worry about Indian agriculture for several decades. Now we know it's being affected now." There are signs a similar shift is under way in China, he added.The report warns that Africa and the Arctic will bear the brunt of climate impacts, along with small islands such as Fiji, and Asian river megadeltas including the Mekong.It says extreme weather events are likely to become more intense and more frequent, and the effect on ecosystems could be severe, with up to 30% of plant and animal species at risk of extinction if the average rise in global temperatures exceeds 1.5C-2.5C. The consequences of rising temperatures are already being felt on every continent, it adds.Prof Parry said it was "very unlikely" that average temperature rise could be limited to 2C, as sought by European governments. That would place 2 billion more people at risk of water shortages, and hundreds of millions more will face hunger, the report says.
The Hindu sep 20

Project to link tiger reserves in Kerala, Tamil Nadu

The World Bank is funding a comprehensive Western Ghats biodiversity conservation project which will serve to link the Periyar National Park and Tiger Reserve in Kerala with the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu. When completed, it will reopen (for the first time in over 100 years) a traditional migration route for large animals on the northern side of the Periyar Elephant Reserve to the Agasthyamala Biosphere and vice versa.An area of 9,993 sq km will be covered under the project. The Rs.28-crore project, 'Biodiversity Conservation and Rural Livelihood Improvement Project' or 'Landscape Project,' is to be implemented in six years through people's institutions such as Vana Samrakshana Samithies (VSS) and Eco Development Committees (EDC). The Periyar Elephant Reserve comprises a forest area stretching from Thekkady in Kerala to Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. The southern side of the reserve, which starts from Konni in Pathanamthitta district and spreads over Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts up to the forest areas of Kanyakumari district, forms the Agasthyamala Biosphere. The northern side includes the Periyar National Park and Tiger Reserve. But a major portion of the Agasthyamala Biosphere remains cut off from the northern side of the Periyar Elephant Reserve. According to Kerala Forest Department's Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) K.J. Varghese, it is the Aryankavu gap in Kollam district which keeps both sides separated. The gap is the result of the century-old road and rail network laid by the British connecting Kollam in Kerala and Shencotta in Tamil Nadu.
Large animals such as elephants, tigers, gaurs and leopards are unable to cross the gap because of human intervention. One of the prime aims of the Landscape Project is to create a corridor at Aryankavu for large animals, especially elephants, to cross over and roam freely on both sides. After a comprehensive survey, the ideal location for the corridor has been identified at the Murugappan Chaal near Aryankavu. Here there is a railway flyover and a road over-bridge running parallel across what used to be a traditional migration route for wild elephants. The project proposes to create a 100-metre wide elephant corridor at the Murugappan Chaal. Its length will be decided as per the requirement.Mr. Varghese says that for the realisation of the corridor, human habitation on a 90-hectare area will have to be trans-located and a forest cover created. Together with it, the road bridge will have to be replaced by a flyover. But the World Bank fund cannot be utilised for it and the road flyover will be taken up as a separate project.
The Centre will be approached for funds. Another feature of the project is that an area of 2 km on the boundary of the forest in Kerala has been included in the project. In Tamil Nadu this is 5 km. Mr. Varghese says that separate management schemes will be evolved for this land, be it plantation, habitation or agriculture land.In Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the project will be implemented by the people's institutions under the supervision of separate State-level registered societies with high-power committees having representation of various departments
The Hindu sep 18

More than normal rainfall in state

  After a gap of six years Kerala received excess rainfall continuously this season following global warming and changes in energy transfer.As part of the ongoing efforts to improve the long-range forecast capabilities, experimental forecast for Have been generated using observed sea surface temperature data and using the persistence method. South west monsoon advanced over south Andaman sea on May almost days earlier than the normal date. Center for monsoon studies director C.K.Rajan said that during this monsoon season Kerala received more than the normal rainfall. The heavy rain during September is a continuation of the usual monsoon as a result of the high temperature from the northerly wind moving towards the Kerala coast.
. There are places where the monsoon is 60-70% higher than the normal rainfall. The pattern of monsoon has changed in the present circumstance with showers accompanied lightning and thunder. The lightning and thunder is due to the mixing u of high temperature from the gulf region and moisture in the atmosphere. When temperature increases there is the possibility of formation of more vapor which moulds into convective clouds. The mixing up of hot air from the gulf region is phenomena of monsoon, Rajan said. The energy transfer from the sea to results in changes in temperature on land

New Indian Express sep 15

Industrial effluents polluting near-shore waters off Veli coast

  The near-shore waters off the Veli coast are heavily polluted by industrial effluents and sewage, making them unfit for survival of marine life, the State of Environment Report-Kerala 2007 says.The report, published by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, is based on a long-term survey of the coastal and marine environment in Kerala under the Coastal Ocean Monitoring and Prediction System (COMAPS) of the Ministry of Earth Sciences.The report states that the aquatic environment in the near-shore region is endangered by the presence of heavy metals in industrial effluents.The problem has been observed in Veli and the Kochi industrial belt.
The survey notes that the Travancore Titanium Products (TTP) factory at Kochuveli is the primary source of industrial pollution in the region. The effluents containing sulphuric acid, iron, residual titanium dioxide and traces of silica are released into the sea through an open drain at the rate of 6,000 cubic metres a day.The seawater samples collected by a research vessel revealed that constant exposure to high acidity, very low dissolved oxygen and suspended particulate matter had an impact on organic life in the marine environment off Veli.The near-shore region was found to be devoid of fish species. Primary productivity of marine species showed a marked decrease. The worst pollution is up to 5 km from the coast.While acidic effluents from the TTP were evident in the near-shore areas, high domestic sewage inflow was recorded from the Aakulam lake and the Poonthura coast.The report recommends the establishment of treatment plants to handle industrial effluents and sewage.Further south at Vizhinjam, the survey recorded high sewage input from the dense human settlement on the coast.Veli and Kochi have been included as high risk regions on the basis of pollution levels.
The report observes that the pollution caused by discharge of untreated sewage into water bodies had reached an alarming situation. It is estimated that organic matter exerting a biological oxygen demand of 630 tonnes a day is finding its way into the marine environment.The survey estimates that 1,04,536 cubic metres of treated effluents are also being discharged into the backwaters or the sea in the coastal areas of the State.At Kochi, both the northern and southern arms of the Vembanad lake receive wastewater from industries. The lake is also polluted by domestic sewage, urban waste, pesticide and fertilizer residue from farms, oil spillage and effluents from Kochi refineries, Kochi port and the caprolactum plant of FACT.The other sampling stations covered under the Comaps programme include Paravur, Neendakara, Kayamkulam, Alappuzha, Ponnani, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod.
The survey shows that increased sewage dumping is a major cause for pollution of the near-shore waters of the southwest coast.The heavy traffic of fishing boats at Neendakara is responsible for the high total oil content near the harbour mouth.The concentration of heavy metals is found to be high in the Kochi region, owing to the discharge of effluents from the Eloor industrial belt. High sewage discharge is reported from the Kochi Corporation area.Very high municipal sewage discharge has been observed at Kozhikode and Kannur.
The Hindu, sep 12

Global warming to decimate polar bears: scientists

  Two-thirds of the world's polar bears will be killed off by 2050, including the entire population in Alaska, because of thinning sea ice from global warming in the Arctic, government scientists forecast.Only in northern Canada and northwestern Greenland are polar bears expected to survive through the end of the century, said the U.S. Geological Survey, which is the scientific arm of the Interior Department.USGS projects that polar bears during the next half-century will lose 42 per cent of the Arctic range they need to live in during summer in the Polar Basin when they hunt and breed.Polar bears depend on sea ice as a platform for hunting seals, which is their primary food. They rarely catch seals on land or in open water. But the sea ice is decreasing due to climate change and the latest forecasts of how much they are shrinking are, if anything, an underestimate, scientists said.Scientists do not hold out much hope that the buildup of carbon dioxide and other industrial gases blamed for heating the atmosphere like a greenhouse can be turned around in time to help the polar bears anytime soon.
Greenland and Norway have the most polar bears, while a quarter of them live mainly in Alaska and travel to Canada and Russia. The agency says their range will shrink to no longer include Alaska and other southern regions.The findings of U.S. and Canadian scientists are based on six months of new studies, during which the health of three polar bear groups and their dependency on Arctic sea ice were examined using "new and traditional models," Myers said. USGS declined to provide precise estimates of polar bear populations 50 years from now.A separate organization, the World Conservation Union, based in Gland, Switzerland, has estimated the polar bear population in the Arctic now is about 20,000 to 25,000, put at risk by melting sea ice, pollution, hunting, development and tourism.Last December, Kempthorne proposed designating polar bears as a "threatened" species deserving of federal protection under the Endangered Species Act, because of melting Arctic sea ice from global warming. That category is second to "endangered" on the government's list of species believed most likely to become extinct.
That action is in response to a lawsuit in 2005 by three environmental groups - the Center for Biological Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council and Greenpeace - to force such a proposal from Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees endangered species.

The Hindu September 8