Plastic menace

Source:Mathrubhumi,6th September 2009

Water quality index of Periyar river poor: Study

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) marking Eloor industrial area one of the toxic hotspot for persistent organic pollutant (POP), the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) together with the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) has reported that the water quality index of the Periyar river flowing through Eloor is extremely poor. This was revealed in a study report published in the 'Environment Monitoring Programme on Water Quality-2009' which was released by the Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan here on Friday as part of the Environment Day celebration organised by the KSCSTE. The report has findings of the study on the three river basins of the state - Kabini, Neyyar and Periyar. The water was sampled from as many as 24 different sites along the course of the Periyar river and studied for several parameters right from temperature and hardness to the presence of pesticides and metals. Groundwater samples were also collected from the Periyar river basin. Classification and analysis of the river based on Central Pollution Control Board criteria reveals that stations downstream are under Class D, indicating that the water in this stretch is not suitable for drinking, but can be used for irrigation and industrial cooling.However, at least seven stations in Eloor are under Class E, indicating that it cannot be used for even agriculture.In fact Periyar, one of the most polluted rivers in the state, has also been found to be very acidic especially in the industrial belt of Eloor.Turbidity and electrical conductivity of the water is high, indicating a highlevel of pollution of the aquatic body.The suspended particles were high in Eloor, School kadavu, Depo kadavu, Manjummal and Methanam kadavu.The total dissolved solids, which shows the mineralised nature of the water, was the highest from the sample collected from Eloor Ferry at 2342.42 mg/l.Alkalinity was also high in the downstream stretches of Periyar.At the six sampling stations in the Eloor industrial area, the concentration of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium were found to be high. Iron concentration was found to be abnormally high at 14 locations in the river basin and abnormally high in the Edayar region. The study says that the conversion of the iron to ferric hydroxide could be the reason for the periodic red coloration of Periyar.An examination of the groundwater samples have shown that almost all the groundwater samples were microbiologically contaminated.Only 28 percent of the samples can be considered as safe for drinking purpose.E-Coli was reported in 62 percent samples.The Kuzhikandam creek at Eloor, into which the HIL, FACT, IRE and Merchem lets out their effluents, is a cocktail of various chemicals and hazardous pollutants.This creek opens out into the Periyar and is a major cause for the pollution of Periyar.It maybe recalled that several environmental activists have been demanding a more stringent monitoring system to control pollution at Eloor.

 

The New Indian Express, 6th June 2009

A word of caution to the ‘trustees’ of Earth

 Every person has the responsibility to preserve the earth with all its greenery, executive vice-president of the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment E. P. Yesodharan has said. He was inaugurating a seminar on 'Green Generation' organised by the council on the occasion of the World Earth Day, here, on Wednesday.Even though there is no increase in the quantity of natural resources, including water resources, available on the earth, the number of people who consume these resources has been increasing. This has an enormous impact on the planet, he said.In his presentation, the former head of the Department of geology, University of Kerala, V. Prasannakumar said the younger generations should be made aware of the fact that each individual has the responsibility to ensure wise utilisation of the earth's resources."The World Earth Day should be a time to take stock of the gains we have made from the earth and to formulate new policies and visions for pulling back mother earth from the verge of an environmental catastrophe," he said.Almost every resource sought after by man is the product of processes that take place at the upper mantle and the crust of the planet. At the same time, such processes turn hazardous to man when they take the form of an earthquake, a tsunami or a volcanic eruption. Mankind is neither the owner nor custodian of the earth; instead mankind is only a trustee of the planet. It is the duty of a trustee to efficiently manage the earth's resources and to mitigate the hazards that get generated, he added.Director of the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS) M. Baba and professor emeritus at the CUSAT P.V. Joseph were among those who presented papers at the seminar.An elocution competition was also held on the occasion. In the UP section L. R. Reshma, S. S. Arya and Sohaib Sahib of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, emerged first, second and third, respectively. In the High School section Aparna S. Kurup of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, was the topper. While L.S. Shruthi of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pallippuram, emerged second, H. S. Varun of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, secured the third prize, a press note issued here said.

The Hindu, 23rd April 2009

Novel experiments to save Earth

Mankind's apathy towards planet Earth has resulted in natural disasters. Global warming and deforestation bear testimony to this indifference. In the quest for finding a concrete solution to such issues, a few of the world's eminent scientists are putting novel ideas to test, in the Discovery channel's 'Project Earth'. The programme presents scientists who are working on different experiments to save the planet from the hazardous effects of global warming. The episodes include experiments by Jason Box, a scientist from Ohio State University, who wants to prevent glaciers from melting by covering them with blankets. Jason is convinced that his specially chosen material is resilient enough for Arctic conditions. After testing, they deploy a 10,000-square-yard, reflective geo-textile blanket on the Greenland ice sheet. Another episode portrays a unique greenery drive. Thousands of acres of Louisiana mangrove forests left bare by hurricane Katrina and Rita present a perfect ground for scientist Mark Hodges. He uses an aircraft to drop tens of thousands of canisters, each holding a tree seedling.
The efforts undertaken by John Latham, an atmospheric physicist based at the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, and Stephen Salter, an Edinburgh University engineer, are shown in another episode. The scientists believe that by changing the size of water droplets in clouds they can increase the clouds' ability to reflect the sun and stop global warming. Another scientist tries to solve the problem of global warming by just scrubbing the air clean of carbon dioxide before it has the opportunity to add to the blanket of greenhouse gases smothering the earth. Canadian professor David Keith introduces a machine that sucks in ambient air, sprays it with sodium hydroxide solution and then expels it as clean air. In another episode, Fred Fergussen, a Canadian engineer specialising in airships, explains the designing of a revolutionary wind turbine that will use the constant winds that exist at 1,000 feet above sea level to produce renewable energy.

The Hindu, 6th February 2009

CZM notification: role of NGO flayed

 
The Kerala Swatantra Matsya Thozhilali Federation (KSMTF) has expressed concern over the role of a Non-Governmental Organisation called Centre for Environment and Education (CEE) in the public consultation on the controversial Coastal Zone Management (CZM) notification issued by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). A pressnote quoting T. Peter, KSMTF president, here on Tuesday feared that the real sentiments of the people would not be taken into consideration by the NGO during the consultation. The website of the NGO states that it was working in tandem with the Ministry to create awareness on the CZM notification. This, he said, revealed the real agenda of the NGO.Mr. Peter said the CZM notification was severely opposed by the fishing community all over the country right from the time it was suggested by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan on the grounds that the CZM would legitimise the establishment of hazardous industries in the coastal belt, threatening the lives of fishing community and their rights over the coastal land." The CEE, Mr. Peter said, was a 'Centre of Excellence' supported by the Ministry and two members of its governing council were nominees from the MoEF. The pressnote said the attempt of the Ministry to use an NGO to generate legitimacy was highly questionable. It added that the KSMTF would launch an agitation unless the Ministry called off its efforts to implement the CZM notification.

The Hindu, 6th August 2008

Earthquake prediction from space is more accurate

China's deadly earthquake in the Sichuan province has again showed that ground-based earthquake prediction methods and systems are not reliable. Traditional seismology does its best, sometimes succeeding, but more often only saying something like, "California will be destroyed in the next 30 years." Remote sensing from space can provide more accurate data about locations, and even dates of expected disasters. The majority of earthquakes happen in two long narrow stripes, one around the Pacific and the other running from the Azores to southeast Asia. There are several other earthquake-prone regions. Half of Russia's Far East is in a seismically hazardous zone, and the seismic stations there, with only minor error, can give the future epicentre, its depth under the surface, and its magnitude. But they cannot say when the earthquake will happen.

Many methods

There are many methods for predicting when an earthquake will strike, the most reliable being a long-term prediction for several years, and possibly months, ahead. Scientists have predicted a 99.7 per cent chance of a 6.7 magnitude earthquake hitting the U.S. West Coast, more specifically California, in approximately 30 years. Mid-term predictions are highly important but not accurate. The situation with short-term predictions is highly complicated, as shown by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake in Haicheng, China. Warnings were issued days before the February 4, 1975 earthquake and people in nearby cities remained outdoors, despite the cold weather. As a result, many lives were saved.

By that time, China was conducting broad seismological surveys, using Soviet experience. Central and provincial seismic monitoring stations collected data about natural anomalies, which accumulated considerable information. This helped predict the location and date of several earthquakes, including in Haicheng.

First reported

Anomalous ionospheric phenomena were first reported in the 1960s, but they were disregarded along with astrologic predictions and UFO sightings. The breakthrough came when the Soviet Union launched its Intercosmos-19 satellite in 1979. It detected an unusual low-frequency noise in a large area centred near the epicentre of an earthquake that occurred a few hours later. This finding was registered as a Soviet discovery and was later confirmed by other spacecraft.

Ionospheric variations

Harbingers of powerful earthquakes appear approximately five days before the main shock and have specific characteristics that distinguish them from the other ionospheric variations. Registering them is a very complicated task that includes constant satellite monitoring of the earthquake-prone region and regular baseline studies, because baseline changes can point to a brewing earthquake. Many countries, including Russia, are studying the connection between earthquakes and the ionosphere, but not as vigorously as scientists would like. Such surveys were made from the Mir space station, but only for a year even though the results were encouraging.

Vulcan system

In 2001, Russian scientists designed the Vulcan system for monitoring and predicting natural disasters and industrial accidents, which was included in the 2001-2005 federal space program and provided for launching low-and high-orbiting microsatellites. In December 2001, the Complex Orbital Magneto-Plasma Autonomous Small Satellite (COMPASS) was launched to monitor the Earth for possible harbingers of earthquakes and collect requisite data. Its equipment was created in Russia, Hungary, Greece, Ukraine and Poland. Unfortunately, the experiment was cut short because of satellite malfunctions. Studies continued in 2002-2003 from the Meteor-3M satellite. Space-based predictions have been correct for 44 of 47 registered earthquakes.To collect more data, Russia launched the COMPASS-2 satellite in 2006. Although its operation was hampered by malfunctions, it nevertheless quite successfully probed the Earth's underground lithosphere, atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere to learn how each terrestrial region is connected with a variety of events such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tropical cyclones, and tornadoes.

Running out of time

Methods and equipment for the Vulcan system are being tested on the International Space Station within the framework of the Uragan program. The ISS, which is flying in a relatively low orbit, turned out to be ideal for such studies. With the California earthquake only 30 years away, humankind is running out of time for inventing new reliable space-based earthquake forecasting systems. — RIA Novosti

(The writer is an expert at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Space Research)

The Hindu, 25 May 2008