Pay attention to green issues, says Binoy Viswam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, April 23 -- Forest Minister Binoy Viswam has said that all political parties will have to formulate an unambiguous policy on issues related to environment. He was speaking at the World Earth Day 2010 observance organised by the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) at the Sasthra Bhavan here on Thursday.

"A time will come in the near future when all political parties will be forced to take a clear stand on issues relating to relating to relating to environment. When it comes to protecting the environment, the Left parties should take the initiative. They should take greater responsibility and promote accountability in working out solutions to environmental problems. Only then would Left would really become Left,'' he said.

The Minister said that there was a trend to ridicule those who talk of earth, environment, flora and fauna as being 'anti-developmental'. "They are not against development, they just insist that we should consider environment and people at large before taking decisions. They also want development, but development should be for the benefit of society,'' he said. A nation cannot be termed as developed when 70 percent of the population earns less than Rs 20 per day, he said.

Echoing the Minister's view, KSCSTE executive vice-president C T S Nair said that GDP alone cannot be a scale for measuring development. "It will be just like looking at the speed of a car and not the fuel efficiency or stock of resources. We need to produce more goods to meet the basic needs and we really need to move towards a green economy,'' said Nair.

Energy Management director S.K. Khanduri talked of the importance of observing 'Earth Day' in sensitising society on issues like global warming global warming, the gradual increase of the temperature of the earth's lower atmosphere as a result of the increase in greenhouse gases since the Industrial Revolution and energy conservation. He was quick to point out the unnecessary use of electrical lights in the Sasthra Bhavan Auditorium which had quite a lot of daylight coming in through the windows. "The behaviour of society should change to promote sustainable living Sustainable living might be defined as a lifestyle that could, hypothetically, be sustained without exhausting any natural resources. The term can be applied to individuals or societies. ,'' he said.

KSCSTE Member Secretary in-charge in his talk said that while air-conditioners were used to fight heat, this itself contributes to global warming and thus the vicious cycle continues.

The highlight of the technical session was the talk by Dr Thamban Meloth on his experiences in Antarctica. A scientist with the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research, Goa, he focused his talk on 'Climate Change in Antarctica and its Global Implications'. C. Jayakumar of the Marine and Coastal Survey Division of the Geological Survey of India Geological Survey of India (GSI), established in 1851 is a government organization in India for conducting geological surveys and studies. It is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world. , Mangalore, also gave an interesting presentation on 'Earth and Climate Change'.

There was a group discussion for students in the afternoon co-ordinated by Ajith Venniyoor of the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP).

Source: New Indian Express, 23rd April 2010

For a good yield of rainwater

KOCHI: Rainwater harvesting has become a necessary part of all land management projects where the owners have to utilise their own resources for daily requirements.

The water bodies and associated channels should be planned in such a way that the maximum amount of rainwater falling in a particular area gets collected in the water body specified for it.

There are certain precautions to be taken regarding landscaping and plant maintenance where water management by harvesting is adopted.

Normally the surface drains which collect rain water are filled with porous materials.

No vegetation is desired (especially shrubs or trees) over the canal area. Dwarf grass is a good option over such places where the roots do not disturb the water movement underneath.

When choosing plants to be planted near canals, select those which grow slower as fast growing plants will require more water for their survival and will thus take in more flowing water. But fast growing plants can be grown at a distance which will generate more humus and help the superficial soil to hold more water which percolates after a quick rain thus retaining the flow for a long time. Too much of humus in the soil however is detrimental for free flow of water.

The water body must be kept open and its periphery free of any trees big or small as the dicot root system can damage the edges of the water body. Even if it is unlined, the roots have a tendency to flourish more on lake sides thus drinking too much of the stored water. Avoiding trees around the water body will also keep the water free of biowaste such as decayed leaves, flowers or small branches.

Growing useful herbs such as acorus or vetiver around the water body in small pitches will help absorb toxic wastes that might be present in the water. You can also grow floating plants to a certain limit to purify the water, but keep an eye on its growth.

Or else the old plants will form silt and ultimately affect the quality of water.

The use of herbicides or pesticides should be completely banned in the area around the water body. In extreme cases, follow biological methods to control the pests. If a pesticide or herbicide cannot be avoided, adopt micro spray methods so that the soil beneath is polluted to a minimum.

Do the spraying only on sunny days, in the morning so that the chemicals that splash on the soil gets ample time to get dissociated with the action of sunlight.

Source: New Indian Express (Kochi), 27th April 2010

Climate change needs to be discussed in 'meaningful' way: India

THIMPHU: With climate change being the central theme of the SAARC summit, India hoped the eight-nation bloc would hold the dialogue on the issue in a "meaningful manner" and backed its "fresh" position on global warming to be adopted at the Cancun meet later this year.

India supports "a fresh SAARC position on Climate Change for COP (Conference of Parties) 16 in accordance with the UNFCCC principles and Bali Action Plan," External affairs minister S M Krishna said, addressing the SAARC Council of Ministers.

The next global climate talks are scheduled to be held in Cancun in Mexico in November.

As per the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Bali Action Plan, rich countries are supposed to undertake binding emission cuts while developing nations to go for voluntary steps to tackle global warming.

Climate change is the main theme of the 16th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit being held here and member countries have decided to sign a convention on cooperation in protection of environment.

Krishna expressed hope that the dialogue on climate change would be carried in a "meaningful manner" at the summit.

The SAARC countries had made a statement at the Conference of Parties held in Copenhagen in December last year and highlighted vulnerabilities of the member states and listed domestic actions taken by them to combat global warming.

The SAARC nations had also decided to set up 50 automated weather stations in the region to monitor and measure variations to meet the challenges of climate change.

The stations are expected to come up in Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan to begin with and the responsibility of opening these would largely be that of India. Afghanistan and Pakistan would be covered in the second phase and Maldives and Sri Lanka in the third phase.

Krishna today said that the climate change theme of the summit was "very apt" and India was happy to support the proposal of Bhutan for a Special SAARC Declaration on Climate Change.

Source: Economic Times (New Delhi), 27th April 2010

Sensor devices to predict freak weather

When the town of Cockermouth, Cumbria, northern England, was hit by floods late last year, the freak weather led to deaths and serious injuries, and caused huge damage to thousands of homes and businesses. People from all around the U.K. watched the disaster and called for greater prioritisation of flood defences.

Now, a team of scientists from Southampton University has stepped up to the challenge. Led by Dr Kirk Martinez, a senior lecturer at the university's school of electronics and computer science, the group has created a new sensor device that can help to reduce the unpredictable factor of flash flooding, as well as making other geographical phenomena such as landslides much easier to forecast.

Under glaciers

The technology was developed in 2003, when Martinez began working on a sensor probe that was placed under glaciers to measure climate change. Scientists, Martinez says, “weren't making the most of all the newly available technology”. He adds: “Most research involved trying to insert sensors on a long wire into the ice. The wires tended to break a lot and the researchers had to regularly go out to the site with a laptop to download all the data. I thought there had to be a way of using wireless technology to develop a new measuring technique.” There was: Martinez was able to design small, fist-sized wireless glacier probes, which have a small, low-power computer and radio inside that enables them to regularly take, store and send measurements to a web server accessible from anywhere in the world.

After developing the probes, the researchers used a jet-powered steam “drill” to position the sensors 70 metres deep at various positions in the Skalafellsjokull glacier in Iceland — part of the largest ice cap in Europe.

They were set to record temperature, pressure, movement and the quantity of water in their surroundings to help scientists get an accurate picture of glacial behaviour and predict future movements.

Now, the probes are still in place and able to “talk” to each other, so if a range of readings have been the same for a period of time, some of the devices hibernate to save power. If conditions begin to change, one of the probes “wakes up” the rest of them.

The success of the pilot led Martinez to think bigger. “Initially, it was very difficult to develop the probes,” he explains. “No one had done it before, so we had to design several versions of everything, from the programmes and electronics to the waterproof cases, before we perfected them enough to venture out to other areas. But once they were in place and working, they sent through data reliably and usefully.

“In Iceland, they have already shown us interesting things, like the fact that the glacier began to warm up in February, even though the land on top of it was still very wintry. So we thought there would be other uses for these sensors.” Martinez took the Southampton-designed probes to the Los Laureles Canyon in Mexico, to see if they would collect data that could help to understand landslides as well as studying melting ice caps.

“The canyon area has no proper drainage system, and very poor-quality housing that faces massive flooding problems,” he says. “The streets are not paved and when water flows, it picks up sediment and becomes quite aggressive. So we put our probes in place to measure the ground's tilt, how moist it is, the temperature, and the crushing pressure, to help local scientists prevent landslides.

The probes measure every 10 minutes. Put together with meteorological predictions for rainfall and storms, the data can show how and why things are moving, and indicate the start of a landslide.

It means that the local experts are receiving regular, accurate data and are working on preventative slope management.”

Martinez and his fellow researchers are now looking at ways to make the sensors cheap and easy to install. “At the moment, the probes are handmade so they cost up to GBP200 each, but this could be cut a lot with mass production,” Martinez says.

Non-profit basis

“We're producing them on a non-profit basis right now, but we see environmental monitoring companies buying them to help with their contracts, as well as researchers who want to measure things in remote areas.”

Anticipating floods In the future, Martinez believes the sensors could be used around the world, from flood - monitoring in Cockermouth to landslide — prediction in South America and Asia. “In Britain, they could have a huge impact on how we anticipate flooding.

The sensors' data could not only be used by local environment agencies to trigger an evacuation, but also be directed to a website, so people facing coastal erosion or flooding could check the safety of their homes.

“The exciting thing is that the probes don't need a huge chunk of concrete or a power station to get them to run, they're small, and contain batteries that run for many years.”

Common man benefits

Although they were conceived to fulfil a need of recording data in hard-to-reach environments, Martinez believes one day individual homeowners could buy the sensors to check things such as how fast cliffs are receding, as well as water-monitoring to help people in places like Cockermouth to prepare in advance for flash floods.

“Climate change is happening and we need the combined efforts of measuring what's happening with efforts to prevent it,” Martinez says.

“It's a great time to be working in this field — the technology is ripe to make a huge difference.” — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2010

Source: Thursday, Apr 22, 2010

E-waste management campaign launched

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Forest and Housing Minister Benoy Viswom said here on Thursday that the dwelling places of poor people should not be converted into dumping yards of industries.

Inaugurating an e-waste management campaign launched by Artin Dynamics Controls Private Ltd. at Technopark, Mr. Viswom said that electronics and information technology (IT) industries must take a sensitive approach when dealing with issues of e-waste management.

“e-waste management is a serious issue to be taken up by the industries in this sector. But remember that it should not be at the cost of the lives of the poor that you address this issue,” he said.

The Minister said that although, at one time, the IT industry was perceived as a pollution-free industry, now society had come to understand that there was a great possibility of pollution in this sector.

“The issues of pollution and waste management should appeal to everybody who is concerned about the future of Earth,” he said.

Artin Dynamics has taken up the e-waste management campaign as part of its second anniversary celebrations in association with Earth Sense Recycle Private Ltd, a company working in the area of e-waste management and recycling.

A spokesperson of Artin Dynamics said that as part of the campaign, waste boxes would be kept in front of offices of every company in Technopark to collect used electrical and computer items.

Source: The Hindu, 9th April 2010

Pattern in Earth's long-term climate record found

In an analysis of the past 1.2 million years, University of California, Santa Barbara, geologist Lorraine Lisiecki discovered a pattern that connects the regular changes of the Earth's orbital cycle to changes in the Earth's climate. The finding is reported in Nature Geoscience. Lisiecki performed her analysis of climate by examining ocean sediment cores. These cores come from 57 locations around the world.

By analyzing sediments, scientists are able to chart the Earth's climate for millions of years in the past. Lisiecki's contribution is the linking of the climate record to the history of the Earth's orbit.

It is known that the Earth's orbit around the sun changes shape every 100,000 years. The orbit becomes either more round or more elliptical at these intervals.

The shape of the orbit is known as its “eccentricity.” A related aspect is the 41,000-year cycle in the tilt of the Earth's axis.

Glaciation of the Earth also occurs every 100,000 years. Lisiecki found that the timing of changes in climate and eccentricity coincided, according to a University of California, Santa Barbara, press release. “The clear correlation between the timing of the change in orbit and the change in the Earth's climate is strong evidence of a link between the two," said Lisiecki. “It is unlikely that these events would not be related to one another.”

Besides finding a link between change in the shape of the orbit and the onset of glaciation, Lisiecki found a surprising correlation.

She discovered that the largest glacial cycles occurred during the weakest changes in the eccentricity of Earth's orbit –– and vice versa. She found that the stronger changes in the Earth's orbit correlated to weaker changes in climate. “This may mean that the Earth's climate has internal instability in addition to sensitivity to changes in the orbit,” said Lisiecki.

The pattern of climate change over the past million years involves complicated interactions between different parts of the climate system, as well as three different orbital systems.

The first two orbital systems are the orbit's eccentricity, and tilt. The third is “precession,” or a change in the orientation of the rotation axis. — Our Bureau

Source: The Hindu, 8th April 2010

Gene bank to promote traditional rice farming

KALPETTA: Scientists of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) at Puthurvayal in Kalpetta are getting ready to implement a novel project — a community gene bank to promote and propagate the seeds of traditional rice, vegetables and yam varieties of Malabar region in association with select farmers, including the tribal farming communities in the district. We are planning to conserve and multiply the lost traditional rice varieties with the help of tribal and other traditional rice farmers in the Malabar region, Dr. Anilkumar, director, MSSRF, told The Hindu on Sunday.

Climate change is posing a challenge to the farming community. There is need to preserve and multiply traditional rice seed varieties in view of the likelihood of climate change impact, as the seed varieties have innate drought-resisting and light sensitive nature, he added.

The project will be implemented by Seed Care, a farmers' collective formed to promote traditional seed cultivation, with technical support of the scientists of MSSRF. The project envisages providing seeds of as many as 50 lost varieties of rice crops, which have been preserved in the gene bank of the MSSRF in Chennai under the leadership of M. Geetharani, to select group of farmers to promote the cultivation. They, in turn, will hand over the seeds to farmers.

In the preliminary stage, the MSSRF will provide the samples of traditional seeds free to members of Seed Care. Apart from the rice varieties, Seed Care will promote the cultivation of different traditional varieties.

Source: The Hindu, 5th April 2010