World Ozone Day celebrated at school

Thiruvananthapuram: World Ozone Day was celebrated as part of the International Year of Chemistry 2011 observance at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, here on Saturday.

Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) Member Secretary K.K. Ramachandran inaugurated the programme. KSCSTE Joint Directors Kamalakshan Kokkal and Ajith Prabhu; National Green Corps district coordinator K.G. Ajit Kumar; and C.P. Aravindakshan were among the guests of honour. C.P. Kumaran, Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya, welcomed the guests.

In his presidential address, Dr. Kokkal said human activities were destroying the biodiversity of the State. He reminded students that it was the responsibility of the people to act as ‘defenders of planet Earth.'

Dr. Ramachandran said environment and development should go hand-in-hand.

Speakers at the seminar dealt in detail on the Earth's atmosphere and the chemistry of Ozone. Students representing schools across the district participated in a quiz organised in connection with the programme.

A. Bijukumar, Head, Department of Aquatic Biology, University of Kerala, was the quiz master. Anandapadmanabhan and Aravind of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, (shift-II) were the winners and Ashuthosh B. Sai and Harita of the school shift-I were the runners-up. Mr. Kumaran gave away the trophies.

Source: The Hindu, 25-09-2011

Survey finds four river basins polluted

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Scientific management of wastewater, regulation of sand mining and land use controls have become imperative to address the deterioration of water quality in rivers, the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has recommended to the government.

An Environmental Monitoring Programme on Water Quality carried out by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) has reported pollution of four river basins, namely Pamba, Chalakudy, Bharathapuzha and Anjarakandi-Mahe-Thalassery. In its report on the findings, KSCSTE has mooted an action plan for river basins.

The report stresses the need for a water policy incorporating wastewater management. It calls for appropriate building rules to ensure water saving, wastewater treatment and reuse. An awareness campaign to promote grey water resuse has also been mooted.

The report calls for a water safety plan for river basins, scientific operation of barrages and bunds, regulation of tourism, better urbanisation and scientific planning based on carrying capacity. It also highlights the need for epidemiological research on water quality and water borne diseases and public participation in water quality monitoring and liquid waste management.

The report observes that heavy inflow of waste materials and sewage from towns, markets, hospitals, factories and slaughter houses has contaminated the Pamba river to alarming levels. Analysis of samples revealed that the water was unfit even for bathing during the Sabarimala pilgrimage season when devotees converge along the banks in large numbers.

All the surface water samples were found to be grossly polluted with fecal coliform and the dissolved oxygen content was reported to be low at many locations. The downstream areas reported concentration of heavy metals.

Most of the groundwater samples collected for the survey were found to be acidic and bacteriologically contaminated. All the stations showed clear evidence of organic pollution.

The survey showed that sand mining, industrial pollution and pesticide contamination were major threats to the Chalakudy river. While locations like Vettilapara reported high water turbidity due to sand mining, pesticide and industrial pollution was detected in water samples from Koodapuzha and Kanjirappilly. Groundwater samples from clay mining areas also showed turbidity and low dissolved oxygen.

E.Coli was present in 70 per cent of groundwater samples and heavy metal contamination was detected in sediment samples.

Analysis of samples from the Bharathapuzha river basin showed moderate pollution. All the stations in the basin reported marginal water quality indicating frequently threatened or impaired status. The observations indicate that the river faces stress due to sewage and organic effluents.

The report observed that bacteriological contamination was a major threat to the Anjarakandi- Mahe- Thalassery river basins. Most of the stations reported marginal water quality while a few were found to be of poor quality. Pesticide residue was detected in some of the samples.

Sorce: The Hindu, 26-09-2011

Walayar deer park to be made Safari Park

PALAKKAD: Jayaprakash Narayan Smrithivanam and Deer Park located beside National Highway-47 at the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border close to inter-state Walayar check posts will be converted as a Safari Park as per the guidelines issued by Zoo Authority of India.

The Park spread over 110 acres of forest area mainly of Teak plantation started in 1997 got recognition from the Zoo Authority recently with conditions to convert it as a Safari Park providing more amenities for the Deer and other animals and also to the visitors.

The Park located 22 kms from Palakkad town could be developed as a tourist centre as one can see Deers and other small animals roam about in their natural habitat.

There could also be facilities made for elephant Safari in the park to make it a major attraction for visitors.

Walayar Dam is also nearby that attracts large number of tourists from Tamil Nadu.

The Park now houses 47 Deer and 10 Stag apart from small animals. Walayar is also the gateway to Kerala and the main centre for movement of goods to the State.

Since Walayar is a gateway it is also the main entry point to the main tourists centres of the District like Malampuzha, Kanjirapuzha, Nelliampathy, Silent Valley, Mangalam Dam etc.

Palakkad Divisional Forest Officer M. Sreedharan Nair has said that when the Zoo Authority of India gave recognition to Deer Park it has stipulated certain conditions like reducing the area of animal movement and converting part of it for fodder cultivation.

It also wanted to remove some of the teak trees under the thinning scheme to provide open space for growing fodder and other food plants for the animals.

So the Forest Department has taken up the thinning of teak trees and shade regulations in the Park. It has also started growing fodder, he said.

The compound wall and the fencing will be strengthened to prevent attack from wild elephants and leopard in the area that had occurred on a number of times earlier, the DFO said.

He said that the long term plan is to convert the Deer Park as a Safari Park with more facilities for the animals and the visitors.

Source: The Hindu, 22-9-2011

Study observes 30 species of raptors in Wayanad

KOLLAM: A comprehensive two year study from 2009 to 2011 on the status and distribution of raptors in the bio-diverse Wayanad district conducted at the instance of the Forest Department reports observing thirty species of raptors and seven species of owls in the district.

Raptors are birds of prey like kites, eagles, buzzards, falcons, harriers and vultures. The study conducted by the Deepakumar Narayana Kurup, retired Deputy Director (Wildlife Education) of the Forest Department was published by the department on Thursday. According to Dr. Kurup Kerala is a habitat to 55 birds of prey species including owls.

The study observed that seven species of raptors were breeding in Wayanad. Among them is the critically endangered species of white-rumped vulture which was found to be regularly breeding at three specific sites in the Wayanad Wlidlife Sanctuary. The critically endangered red headed vulture was also regularly observed in the district.

He recommends immediate steps for the careful conservation of the raptor species not only in the existing habitats of Wayanad but also in their erstwhile habitats like Periyar and Parambikulam. With the growth of agriculture, consumption of pesticides has reached alarming proportions and this is proving to be fatal to the raptor population.

The study notes that during instances of mortality of large herbivores like elephants and gaur inside forest areas, as soon as detected the carcasses are subjected to post mortem examination and immediately buried or set on fire. “This exercise clearly denies the availability of food for scavenging species like the vulture and jackal”. Dr. Kurup suggests that confirmed natural deaths should be provided to scavenging species after formalities.

In fact the study is the first to ever record the breeding of the Bonelli’s eagle and of the spot bellied eagle owl in Kerala. Evidence on the breeding of the endangered Shaheen falcon was observed at Brahmagiri in the district. The study says that there appears to be an inter-State migration of raptors towards Tamil Nadu and Karnataka during the monsoon.

The gregarious white-rumped vultures were seen to prefer the drier areas towards the east while the relatively solitary red-headed vultures preferred the denser canopied forests towards the west in the district. The different raptors were seen to prey on a variety of prey from inspects to large mammals like the langur.

In fact the white-rumped vulture and the red-headed vultures were seen preying on young gaurs, sambar and spotted deer. Domestic chicken, flying lizards, frogs, spotted dove, snakes, giant squirrel and blue rock pigeon were among the other prey species for the raptors in the study area.

The study observed that the population of the honey buzzard peaks from March to May coinciding with the availability of honey in the forest areas. The Pallid Harrier, a near threatened species was found to be a regular winter visitor. The greater grey headed fish eagle, also a near threatened species, was observed twice in 209 and once in 2010.

The study noted an increase in the Bonelli’s eagle population in May and June coinciding with the breeding activity at the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. On the other hand the vulture population increased during the months of April to June coinciding with the increased animal mortality in the area.

Crested serpent eagle, black eagle and honey buzzard were ubiquitously distributed in all habitat types. But the black kite, a common species of the plains was observed only once in the study area. Most of the migrant species come by November and leave by March. The majority of the resident raptors were seen breeding from March to May.

Source: The Hindu, 23-9-2011

Planet with two suns 'discovered'

Washington: An international team, which made the finding through NASA's Kepler spacecraft, says the planet, called Kepler-16b, is about 200 light years from Earth and is believed to be a frozen world of rock and gas, about the size of Saturn.

It orbits two stars that are also circling each other, one about two-thirds the size of our sun, the other about a fifth the size of our sun. Each orbit takes 229 days; the stars eclipse each other every three weeks or so.

Alan Boss, a researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington DC and a member of the team, was quoted by the media as saying, "You would never get constant daylight because the two stars are so close together.

"They would come together in an eclipse every 20.5 days and then move apart again. As their separation increased, they would go down at different times, and that could make cocktail hour hard."

In fact, the team, led by Laurance Doyle at the Carl Sagan Centre for the Study of Life in the Universe at the Seti Institute in California, spotted the planet after noticing unusual signals in data collected by the Kepler spacecraft.

Images captured by Kepler's camera showed two stars orbiting each other and producing eclipses as they moved in front of one another. Both stars were small in comparison with our own sun, at about 69 and 20 per cent of the sun's mass. On closer inspection, the footage revealed further eclipses that could not be explained by the movement of the two stars, or an additional third star. Instead, a subtle drop in light from the stars, which amounted to a dimming of only 1.7 per cent, was attributed to an orbiting planet.
The astronomers turned next to a ground-based telescope, the Whipple Observatory in Arizona. With this, they monitored the shifting velocity of the heaviest star as it moved around in its orbit.

Those observations gave Doyle's team the details they needed to reconstruct the orbits of the stars and its planet.

They showed that the two suns orbit each other every 41 days at a distance of about 21 million miles. The planet completes a circular orbit around both stars every 229 days at a distance of 65 million miles, according to the findings published in the 'Science' journal.
Josh Carter, another team member, added: "Kepler-16b is the first confirmed, unambiguous example of a circumbinary planet - a planet orbiting not one, but two stars. Once again, we're finding that our solar system is only one example of the variety of planetary systems nature can create."

Source: Decan Herald, 16-9-2011

Himalayas may become a giant rubbish dump

There's nothing like waking up to bright clear skies with spectacular views of the Lhotseand Amu Dablam ranges — and a rubbish dump.

This heap of beer cans, mineral water bottles and other material was just a few minutes' walk outside the village ofTengboche.It represents about a season's rubbish.

The dump is not on the regular trekking trails which are, aside from the stray Fanta and instant noodle wrapper, admirably clean.

And most trekkers have no idea of their impact on the remote Everest landscape, said Alton Byers, who is leading our expedition as director of the Mountain Institute.

But the dump exposes the risks of Nepal's strategy of lifting itself out of poverty by expanding its tourism industry.

“At this altitude and in this environment, this [rubbish] will be here for 1,000 years,” Byers said.

The government has declared 2011 Nepal tourism year, and has sought to double the number of visitors to 1 million. But can remote communities handle those numbers? Only a fraction of tourists to Nepal make it to the Everest region — about 31,000 last year.

Thirty years ago

“Thirty years ago, there was no garbage. There was no plastic,” said Byers. Now, he said: “we see this in every village all the way up to Everest base camp.” Even the village of Namche Bazaar, the biggest in the region, does not have a waste treatment system.

Sewage from the 45 lodges is dumped directly into a canal, which eventually feeds into the Khosi river, according to Orenlla Puschiasis, a researcher from the University of Paris West-Nanterre, who is working on water quality in the region. “There is nothing sustainable about it,” she said.

“To be sustainable they have to think about the future and manage the waste and the sewage water.”

Trekking companies are supposed to carry their rubbish out with them — but most do not. Lodge operators balk at the idea of paying to cart out beer cans by yak. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2011

Source: The Hindu, 14-9-2011

The lion-tailed macaque faces habitat destruction

PALAKKAD: Nelliampathy, the second biggest abode of the most endangered lion-tailed macaque after the famous Silent Valley National Park, is facing destruction of its habitat due to “unregulated plantation activities, fragmentation and conversion of forest land.”

A recent study on “ecology and behaviour of the arboreal mammals of Nelliampathy” found a total of 13 lion-tailed macaque troops with 200 individuals in the area.

Thus it is the second biggest population of one of the most endangered primates. The Silent Valley has 250 members of the species.

Mass campaign

One of the main reasons for preserving the Silent Valley evergreen forests as a National Park — after a decade-long mass campaign led by leading environmentalists and spearheaded by the media against construction of a hydel project — was to protect the habitat of the lion-tailed macaque.

The study by K.K. Ramachandran and R. Suganthasakthivel of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) said the total population of the animal in the wild is estimated to be less than 4,000 distributed in the forests of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Being habitat specialists, the animals are much restricted to moist forests.

Commercial plantations

Commercial plantations of tea and coffee and hydro-electric dams have resulted in habitat loss and fragmentation of the once contiguous forests, and this has directly affected the population dynamics of the primates.

Limited connectivity

The study found that “nearly two-third of evergreen formation in Nelliampathy plateau was cleared for tea cultivation almost 60 years ago. The remaining natural forests on either side, to the south-west and the north-east, are connected by a mosaic of coffee and cardamom. The land use practices resulting in a mosaic type of vegetation offer limited connectivity through canopy. Coffee plantations are often heavily manipulated to create gaps in canopy for more sunlight, which gives a better yield.”

Alterations in canopy

“Though not drastic as coffee, cardamom plantation is also subjected to alterations in canopy. What has resulted is creation of more gaps in canopy, which has directly affected the arboreal pathways of the lion-tailed macaques, the Nilgiri langurs and the Malabar giant squirrel.”

Moreover, trends in current land use practices are that cardamom plantations are either abandoned or converted into coffee.

Felling practices

The study found that the lion-tailed macaque “had to traverse vast unsuitable patches to find a new food resource and hence more time was spent for finding food. The evergreen forests at some patches in the plateau near coffee and cardamom plantations had undergone two selection felling series. This could have been negatively affecting the feeding behaviour of the macaques with availability of quality food resources-trees selected and removed by the felling practices in the past.

Recent evidence (Sigh et al - 2010) suggests that the macaque males have a bonded and aggressively organised social system unlike what was previously thought.

The present study by the KFRI also shows that macaque troops in Nelliampathy spent a relatively larger time in social interactive activities such as playing, grooming and mating.

Among sub-adult and juvenile males, homosexual behaviour was also observed several times.

The sub-adults males engaged in same sex courtship and mounted several times during the study period.

This particular same sex-mating behaviour of female and male sexes was earlier observed directly in macaque societies with several lines of evidences (Vasey and Jiskoot - 2009), the study said.

Source: The Hindu, 6-9-2011

Ice samples show climate capable of abrupt changes

LONDON: Samples drilled from Greenland’s ice sheets have thrown up initial clues that our climate is capable of very rapid and rather abrupt changes, according to an international team of scientists.

Such evidence is provided by the accumulation of layers of ancient snow, compacting to form the ice—sheets we see today.

Each ice layer can reveal past temperatures and even evidence for the timing and magnitude of distant storms or volcanic eruptions.

Until now such temperature records from Greenland have covered only the last 100,000 years or so, the journal Science reports.

An international team, led by Stephen Barker of Cardiff University, has produced a prediction of what climate records from Greenland might look like over the last 800,000 years, according to a Cardiff statement.

Barker is reported saying: “Our approach is based on an earlier suggestion that the record of Antarctic temperature variability could be derived from the Greenland record.

“However, we turned this idea on its head to derive a much longer record for Greenland using the available records from Antarctica,” added Baker.

The research demonstrates that abrupt climate change has been a systemic feature of Earth’s climate for hundreds of thousands of years and may play an active role in longer term climate variability.

Source: The Hindu, 13-9-2011

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis on the rise, says WHO report

LONDON: Cases of tuberculosis (TB) resistant to a multitude of drug treatments are rising “at an alarming rate” across Europe, with an estimated 81,000 new cases every year, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a report published Wednesday.

Fifteen of the 27 countries with the highest incidence of multidrug-resistant TB are in eastern Europe, but Asia has also been hit hard by the disease.

Almost 12 per cent of newly diagnosed patients with TB have the multidrug-resistant form, as do 37 per cent of those who have previously been treated for TB, the report said.

While countries in eastern Europe and central Asia were hardest-hit by drug-resistant TB, their treatment success rate of 65 per cent was greater than that in western Europe.

“In western Europe TB is widely perceived as a problem of the past, but the disease remains active, mainly in cities,” said the WHO report, presented in London.

It said 3,500 new cases were reported in London every year - more than anywhere else in western Europe. Across Britain, there were around 9,000 cases annually.

Almost 50 per cent of patients affected by the multidrug-resistant form of TB will die because no drugs are strong enough to treat them, said the WHO.

The organization has launched a multi-billion-dollar action plan aimed at saving 120,000 lives in the period up to 2015.

Source: The Hindu, 14-9-2011