Environment

A cap and trade system for carbon dioxide has been a terrific flop; even proponents are leery that it is just another layer of bureaucracy and the only economic benefits have been of the economic voodoo kind, similar to a federal stimulus package that went primarily to state and municipal union employees were called 'jobs saved' in a brilliant bit of marketing. Why would anyone want to export that fiasco to another environmental issue?  It's academic.  Sometimes academic is obviously a good thing; basic research, for example.  And sometimes 'academic' connotes 'out of touch…

Environmental pollution is “the contamination of the physical and biological components of the earth/atmosphere system to such an extent that normal environmental processes are adversely affected”. India has been ranked as seventh most environmentally hazardous country in the world by a new ranking released recently. The study is based on evaluation of “absolute” environment impact of 179 countries (Harvard, Princeton, Adelaide University and University of Singapore, 2011). Thousands of hazardous waste sites have been generated worldwide resulting from the accumulation of xenobiotics in soil…

NEXT GENERATION BIOFUELS DEALING WITH ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY   ＜Ashwani Kumar ＞ ＜  Department of Botany and Biotechnology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, 302004, India＞ ＜ashwanikumar214@gmail.come＞ •      ＜Abstract＞Climate change is  taking place due to emissions of  greenhouse gases.    Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most important greenhouse gas. Photosynthetic organisms use solar energy to generate reducing equivalents and incorporate atmospheric CO2 into organic molecules. This helps in carbon sequestration.…

HALOPHYTES AS POTENTIAL FOR BIOMASS YIELD IN COASTAL AREAS OF THE WORLD. . There's a limited amount of fresh water in the world and more demand for it than the supply can fill. India has several thousand km long coast line and several million ha of saline soils. Rajasthan shares 60 pecent of wasteland. However Besides this halophytes like Haloxylon, Salicornia etc are common in saline soils of Rajasthan. Salicornia europaea L. is a halophyte that often occupies the lowest and most saline (>3.5% total salt) areas of salt marshes.This could be potential plant for oil and biomass…

A new paper by Natural Resources Defense Council says hydraulic fracturing (fracking) generates massive amounts of polluted wastewater in in the Marcellus Shale that threatens the health of drinking water supplies, rivers, streams, and groundwater - and that federal and state regulations have not kept pace with the dramatic growth of fracking and must be strengthened to reduce the risks of health issues throughout the Marcellus region. Their paper contends the wastewater contains potentially harmful pollutants, including salts, organic hydrocarbons, inorganic and organic additives…

Did an environmental issue disappear because activist groups got a check?  It would seem so.  The Natural Resources Defenses Council and Santa Monica Baykeeper sued the city of Malibu in 2008 for 'groundwater' pollution. The settlement they reached?  Malibu has to 'fix' 17 drains, easy enough to rationalize since water can pick up garbage as it falls due to that nature thing that happens  - but then they also have to donate $750,000 to the two groups that filed the lawsuit.  How is that helping the environment?  It isn't, but it keeps those environmental…

I wrote some time back of bad quality water causing soil damage. Hinduatan Times (02.05.2012 confirms the same with findings placed at highest level. Ground water pockets in 158 out of 639 districts have gone saline. I may add at this point that as we go deeper in drilling in soil crusts we encounter exposed rocks which add salinity and heavy metals to ground water. Moreover, in Nagaur district of Rajasthan two wells dug at close distances of 100 m can show good or bad quality water. In 267 districts, ground water contains excess of fluoride, in 385 nitrates. 53 districts show arsenic and…

Fertilizers producing wastelands in semi arid and arid regions. Some months ago I attended a conference in Germany where excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers was a cause of concern for the European Nations. Back home there is report that excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers ( Ideal broad generalization is N:P:K: 4:2:1) has resulted in ration of N:P:K 15:9:1. Excessive use of nitrogen and phosphorus in state of Rajasthan. Agriculture department as per recent report (Rajasthan Patrika. 28/04/2012) has accepted that this is causing danger of wasteland development and reduced yield of crops…

Pollution in holy rivers is going to higher levels and it is threat to mankind. Arsenic once reported from West Bengal waters is deadly poison to human health. Recently a report said arsenic level in river Yamuna has risen to 20 times. Rivers and water bodies during festival season see lot of religious people immersing idols. Idols are huge and colored with various paints and decorations and made of material which may not be biodegradable. It is sentimental issue for some but immersing idols in rivers or small ponds is increasing in alarming proportions as religious fervor is gaining momentum…

Every once in a while, I like to go for a run on the beach. One of my favorite spots to hit the sand is San Gregorio State Beach – it lies just across the Santa Cruz range, is invariably quiet early on weekday mornings, and offers a good stretch of hard-packed sand along a southern route toward Pomponio State Beach. At least, when the tide is out. When I first started frequenting San Gregorio, I never worried about the position of the moon. Absent a storm surge, no matter whether the tide was low or high, I could comfortably make my sandy way around all the cliffs and headlands. But after a…