Category Environment

Does deserts ‘breathe’ water vapor?

Deserts are arid ecosystems, receiving fewer than 25 cm of precipitation a year. They are hot dry and deserted. But the sand dunes aren’t just inert masses. They, in fact. “breathe” water vapor and are very much alive. Scientists have developed a super-sensitive probe that has recorded how water vapor from the surrounding air percolate between sand grains.

Researchers at Cornell University, New York, and University of Nantes, France, developed over a decade a new form of instrumentation called capacitance probes. to study the moisture content in sand dunes to better understand the process by which agricultural lands turn to desert. The probe uses multiple sensors to record everything from solid concentration to velocity to water content, all with unprecedented spatial resolution. It is so sensitive to moisture that it can pick up tiny films of water on a single grain of sand!

Conducting the research at Qatar, they combined data on wind speed and direction as well as ambient temperature and humidity. The study revealed just how porous sand is, with a tiny amount of air seeping through it.

When wind flows over the dune, it creates imbalances in the local pressure. This forces air to go into and out of the sand. “So, the sand is breathing, like an organism breathes,” the researchers note. This breathing could be the reason behind how microbes live deep in sand dunes, even when no liquid water is available. The researchers also found that at the surface of the dune, the probe measured less evaporation than scientists were predicting. This shows that the leaching of moisture from the sand dune to the atmosphere is a slow chemical process.

The team’s paper has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Earth Surface. Probes that can sensitively measure moisture within sand could help experts find invisible signs of water, say, on Mars.

Picture Credit : Google 

Six environmental issues and how to solve them?

Earth has undergone many environmental changes in its history. But the current ones are being caused by one species: humans. Our activities contribute to global warming, climate change, extreme weather events, species extinction, resource depletion, and what not. Let’s take a closer look at six of them to mark Earth Day, observed on April 22.

1. POLLUTION

Since the industrial revolution, environmental pollution has been on the rise. Pollution is the introduction of harmful contaminants into the environment that negatively alters our surroundings. While pollution can take several forms, such as light and noise, the three major types are air, land, and water pollution. Humans contribute to each of these every day. Pollution affects biodiversity, ecosystems, and human health worldwide. Air pollution is attributed to 11.65% of deaths globally, for instance. Vehicular and industrial emission, and basically, our dependence on fossil fuel for energy, is the chief cause of air pollution. While water pollution comes from sewage, chemicals, agricultural runoffs, etc. land pollution is caused by indiscriminate dumping of garbage, toxic materials, and industrial waste. Not to mention the harm caused by plastic pollution to marine and terrestrial life. As economies and population grow, pollution too increases at an alarming rate globally.

 2.GLACIER MELT AND SEA-LEVEL RISE

Nineteen of the warmest years in the recorded history of the planet has occurred since 2000. Models predict that as the world consumes more fossil fuel, greenhouse gas concentrations will continue to rise, and Earth’s average surface temperature will rise with them. Average surface temperatures could rise between 2°C and 6°C by the end of the 21st Century. A warmer atmosphere causes glaciers and polar ice sheets to melt rapidly. Glacial melt has a direct impact on freshwater flow because glaciers store water in the form of ice during the colder seasons and release it during warmer seasons by way of melting. This serves as a water source for humans, animals, and vegetation. Glacier melt also contributes to unusual rise in sea level. The impact of sea-level rise includes flooding of coastal areas, increased soil erosion, disappearance of some low-lying islands, saltwater intrusion, and habitat destruction in coastal areas, which, in turn, can affect coastal ecosystems.

What can you do?

A few tips on how we can reduce our impact on global warming: 1. Urge your parents to switch to renewable sources such as solar to power your home.

2. Use energy-efficient appliances at home and school

3. Support local businesses that use and promote sustainable, climate-smart practices

3. DEFORESTATION

Deforestation is the destruction of forests in order to make the land available for other uses. Earth loses 18.7 million acres of forests per year, which is equal to 27 football fields every minute, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Farmers clear forests to use the land for agriculture. Trees are cut for mining. for use as fuel. housing, and urbanisation, contruction of dams and infrastructual projects, and for making furniture. Deforestation is considered to be one of the contributing factors to global warming and climate change. Trees absorb not only the carbon dioxide that we exhale, but also the other heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit. With increase in deforestation, larger amounts of these gases will enter the atmosphere and global warming will increase further. As much as 70 % of the world’s plants and animals live in forests. They are losing their habitats due to deforestation. Loss of habitat can lead to species extinction.

What can you do?

1. Plant saplings

2. Go paperless

3. Go for used-furniture instead of buying new ones every time.

4.WATER CRISIS

If global temperatures continue to rise, rainfall will increasingly become a thing of extremes: long dry spells here. dangerous floods there and in some places, intense water shortages. This will also affect agriculture. Worldwide, farmers are struggling to keep up with shifting weather patterns and increasingly unpredictable water supplies. Extreme weather patterns also destroy life, property. and livelihood. The rapid increase in population and the massive growth in the industrial sector have increased the demand for water multifold. Overexploitation and wastage of water are major issues, especially in urban areas. A UN report says that at least two billion people live in countries with high water stress. That is more than a quarter of the world population. Ecosystems and biodiversity are threatened by the scarcity of water resources. Water crisis can also lead conflict between States that share water sources such as river.

What can you do?

1. Do not waste water

2. Fix leaking tap and try to reuse water wherever possible

3. Urge your parents to install rainwater harvesting facility

4. Don’t pollute water: Do not dump household solid waste or oil and chemicals into the drainage system. Do not litter. They are likely to end up in a waterbody.

5.WILDFIRE

As warmer temperatures increase evaporation, the land becomes drier and drier, enhancing the chances of wildfires. The intense, destructive fires that have dominated headlines in recent years are expected to become more frequent, even in places such as the Arctic. Extreme fires are projected to rise up to 14% by 2030 and 30% by mid-century, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme.

Wildfires not only destroy forests and cause loss of life, they emit large amounts of greenhouse gases such as CO2, methane, and carbon monoxide. The smoke from burning vegetation can pose serious risks to respiratory health. Animals are directly impacted by wildfire. They lose their life or their home and food source.

What can you do?

1. Build your campfire in an open location and far from flammables

2. Do not contribute to global warming

3. Avoid burning wastes around dry grass.

6. WILDLIFE TRADE

Wildlife trade is a big business, run by international networks. Animals and birds are trafficked across the globe for meat, skin, bone, fur, and other body parts. In addition, many species are sold as pets. Experts at TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, estimate that the illegal wildlife commerce runs into billions of dollars. Wildlife trafficking threatens the survival of some of the Earth’s most iconic species: tiger, elephant, rhinoceros, pangolin, etc. It affects food chain and threatens the local ecosystem. Wildlife trade also increases the chances of human-animal contact, putting humans at the risk of contracting diseases. COVID-19 was linked to wildlife trade and eating of wildlife. People who handled, killed, and sold wild animals made up nearly 40 % of the first cases of SARS. Poorly regulated wet markets and illegal wildlife trade offer a unique opportunity for viruses to spill over from wildlife hosts into the human population.

What can you do?

1. Create awareness among the public about wildlife trade.

2. Say no to exotic pets. They may have been trafficked and kept in unsafe conditions before being sold.

3. Avoid buying things made from ivory, horns, and leather. This discourages illegal trading.

Picture Credit : Google 

How hydroponic farming a sustainable solution?

We know that plants require sunlight, oxygen, water, and nutrients to grow. What about soil? Well, soil provides a hospitable place for a plant to anchor its root and serves as a source of water and nutrients needed for its growth. But if these two purposes are met by other means, plants would not need soil. That’s the basic principle behind hydroponic farming. By offering higher yield and using fewer resources, hydroponic technology may be able to mitigate impending food shortages from climate related events such as flooding, drought and high temperatures, scientists say. But how?

What is hydroponic farming?

As discussed earlier, hydroponics is the technique of growing plants without soil. In traditional gardening and fanning, plants get their nutrients from soil and additives such as compost, manure, and fertilizers. In hydroponic farming, plants get them from nutrient-fortified water.

Many hydroponic gardens are sprouting across the world, where crops and vegetables are produced in large quantities. The method is also catching up in urban areas in India, where households meet some of their vegetable needs this way.

Soil-less cultivation of vegetables was known to humankind since the ancient times. However, the interest in the technology was renewed in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when scientists such as Julius Sachs and W.E. Gericke studied the method extensively. Among other inventions, scientists also optimised the nutrient solution that are added to water for hydroponic farming. They include macronutrients (needed in large amounts) such as carbon phosphorous, hydrogen. nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, potassium, magnesium, and calcium, and micronutrients (needed in tiny amounts but essential) such as zinc, nickel, boron, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, boron, and chlorine.

How it works

There are various methods of hydroponic farming. The most common method is to place the plants in a plastic trough, with their roots dipped directly into nutrient-rich solutions. Alternatively, the roots can be supported by a medium such as rockwool or peat moss, which acts as a sterile substitute for soil. These plants are watered with nutrient solution.

Hydroponic farming can be done indoors, with specific systems to control and monitor the pH level of water (pH level is the measure of how acidic / basic water is), temperature and the amount of light the plants receive. Some of the factors considered are:

Oxygen: In traditional farming, roots can get the oxygen needed for respiration from pockets of air in the soil. In hydroponic setup, the container has to be oxygenated using tools such as an air pump (similar to the ones in fish tank).

Root base: If not dipped in water, plants require root support in the form of materials such as vermiculite, perlite, peat moss, coconut fibre, and rockwool.

Light and temperature: The grower will have to be aware of the kind of light and temperature each species of plant requires to grow optimally.

Advantages

Saves space

  • Since soil is not involved in hydroponic fanning, there is no need to worry about land requirement. (This method is often adopted for vertical gardens.)
  • Moreover, roots don’t need spread because water and nutrients are delivered right to them. As a result hydroponic systems can grow more plants in the same amount of space as soil-based systems.

Faster growth

Since, hydroponically grown plants get their nutrients without much ado, they can divert more energy into the growth of leaves, stem, vegetables and fruits. This makes them grow faster. According to reports plants in hydroponic systems grow 30% to 50% faster than those grown in soil.

Anywhere, anytime

Hydroponics allows growers to produce food anywhere in the world, at any time of the year as climate and light can be controlled.

No pesticides

In a well-maintained, well-integrated indoor horticulture practice, the risks of pests is less, if not zero. Food grown this way are nutritionally superior.

Water conservation

Hydroponic systems use less water than traditional soil-based systems. This is because closed systems are not subject to the same rates of evaporation. Plus, the water used in hydroponic systems can be filtered, repopulated with nutrients, and fed back to plants. The same water can be used over and over again. According to reports, this method of faming reduces water dependence by as much as 90%.

Sustainable solution

The United Nations has estimated that the global human population will reach nearly 10 billion by 2050. In 2019, about 124 million people were estimated to have faced acute food shortages from climate related events such as flooding, irregular rains, drought, and high temperatures. With the rise in population and with farmers struggling to cope with demand, there is a global push for sustainable fanning. As hydroponics can help grow food in a controlled environment using less resources and offering healthier, higher yields, it is seen as a sustainable solution to food security.

Challenges

  • Setting up a hydroponic farm can be extremely expensive. Consider the cost of containers, pumps, lights, nutrients, and automated systems.
  • Since plants are grown in a controlled environment constant monitoring is required.
  • The process of hydroponic farming depends on a range of equipment that requires proper expertise
  • Air pump, lights, water pump, and the running of other appliances involve a high level of energy consumption.
  • In theory, you can grow any plant hydroponically but some do better than others. While tomatoes, strawberries, lettuces, and herbs do particularly well, root vegetables don’t take to hydroponics well. As hydroponic plants have much smaller root systems, they can’t always support themselves very well. Heavy fruiting plants may need elaborate forms of support.

 

Picture Credit : Google

What are the golden rules for tree-planting?

To fight climate change, countries and organisations around the world have launched ambitious tree planting initiatives. India has pledged to get 33% of its geographical area under forest cover by 2022, Compared to the existing 24%. The United Nations launched the Bonn Challenge to bring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land into restoration by 2020 and 350 million by 2030. More than 74 governments, private associations and companies have pledged over 210 million hectares to the Challenge.

Trees are essential to life on Earth. They provide a home to plants and animals, soak up carbon dioxide, and provide food, fuel and medicines. Scientists have claimed that planting billions of trees could remove two-thirds of all the carbon dioxide created by human activity. Although such tree-planting initiatives could take a hundred years to be fully effective in addressing climate change, along the way they would reduce the consequences of the climate crisis – protecting soil from erosion, reducing the risk of flooding and providing habitats for a vast range of animals and plant species.

Tree planting is, indeed, a brilliant solution to tackle climate change and protect biodiversity. But the idea should not be to fill every available space with trees. Species need to be chosen carefully to ensure they grow well. Planting the right trees in the right place is crucial, say scientists. Otherwise, the entire exercise could become futile.

Scientists have recently proposed 10 golden rules for tree-planting, in a study published in the journal Global Change Biology. They say must be a top priority for all nations this decade. They are:

Protect existing forest: Stopping deforestation and protecting existing trees should also be part of the plan. Intact, old forests are better at soaking up carbon due to their complex structure. The old large trees are more resilient to fire and drought.
Make local people integral to the project: For successful outcomes in both forest protection and reforestation, it is vital to include local communities from the planning stage through to delivery and monitoring.
Maximise biodiversity recovery to meet multiple goals: Reforestation is a means to achieving various goals, typically climate-change mitigation, biodiversity conservation, socio-economic benefits (including food security), soil and hydrological stability and other ecosystem services.
Select appropriate areas for reforestation: Avoid previously non-forested lands and connect or expand existing forest, rather than using other natural habitats such as grasslands or wetlands.
Use natural regeneration wherever possible: Natural regeneration can be cheaper and more effective than tree planting. Work towards low intervention, including protection from further damage such as grazing or fire, and rewilding, which includes the selective reintroduction of missing fauna to restore natural processes.
Select the right species to maximize biodiversity: Where tree planting is needed, picking the right trees is crucial. Scientists advise a mixture of tree species naturally found in the local area, but avoiding trees that might become invasive.
Use resilient plant material: To ensure the survival and resilience of a planted forest, it is vital to use material with appropriate levels of genetic diversity, consistent with local or regional genetic variation.
Plan ahead: From seed collection to tree planting, develop the required infrastructure, capacity and seed supply system well in advance.
Learn by doing: Planning decisions should be made by combining both scientific and indigenous knowledge. Ideally, small-scale trials should be implemented before large-scale tree planting commences, to test the effectiveness of proposed techniques.
Make it profitable: The sustainability of tree re-planting rests on a source of income for all stakeholders, including the poorest.

 

Picture Credit : Google

Is Sargassum seaweed harmful to humans?

In the centre of the North Atlantic Ocean, amidst the vast blue expanse, is a huge floating mat of brown seaweed called sargassum. These mats are quite common in the Sargasso Sea, a region around Bermuda. The region has been named after the seaweed. These floating mats of seaweed were first reported by Christopher Columbus in the 15th Century. But since 2011, the Atlantic Ocean has been witnessing massive sargassum blooms every year. It stretches nearly 9000 km from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists call this the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt. The seaweed band has been getting bigger every year, posing a serious threat to marine life, coastal ecosystem and the fishing communities dependent on it.

Sargassum is a genus of large brown seaweed (a type of algae) that floats in island-like masses. The seaweed species found in the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt include Sargassum natans and Sargassum fluitans. They have many leafy appendages, branches, and round, berry-like structures called pneumatocysts, which keep them buoyant and close to the surface. The seaweed band attracts fish, shrimp, crabs, birds, and turtles, providing essential habitats. The seaweed is in turn nourished by the excrement of these organisms. Even larger creatures find plenty to eat amid the sargassum.

While the seaweed can be a boon for marine wildlife under normal circumstances, too much of it can pose a huge problem. As sargassum decays it consumes the oxygen, creating low oxygen conditions that affect marine life. Coral reefs and seagrass ecosystems can suffer when high levels of sargassum change water chemistry and block organisms from moving freely. Thick mats can also block sunlight from reaching the ocean depths. The seaweeds often wash up ashore en masse and choke coastal ecosystems. As the seaweed rots, it releases foul-smelling hydrogen sulphide gas, causing respiratory illness in local populations. They also affect coastal tourism.

Recurrent blooms

Scientists are concerned over the recurrent blooms having become the new normal. They attribute it to various factors such as warming of the ocean due to climate change, discharge of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) from agricultural run-off and wastewater originating from major river basins such as the Congo and the Amazon and the deposition of iron and nutrient-rich Saharan dust on the ocean. Scientists say that multidisciplinary research and international efforts are required to address this issue.

 

Picture Credit : Google

What is NGT and what are its functions?

You must have read about NGT banning firecrackers in areas where air quality is “poor”. But do you know what NGT is and what its functions are?

NGT is the National Green Tribunal established in October 2010 under the National Green Tribunal Act 2010. A specialised judicial body, it has over the years emerged as a significant player in environmental regulation in the country, passing strict orders on issues ranging from pollution and deforestation to waste management. People can approach the tribunal against projects that affect the environment or seek compensation for damages caused due to violation of environmental laws.

Civil cases heard The NGT deals with all civil cases under the seven laws related to the environment which are the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977; the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991; and the Biological Diversity Act, 2002. Any violation pertaining to these laws or any decision taken by the Government under these laws can be challenged before the NGT. From individuals and conservation groups to the community at large, anyone can file a case against everyone – from the State pollution control board to the Union government- at the NGT by paying a fee. The cases are to be disposed of within six months from the date of filing. The proceedings of the tribunal are conducted only in English. The NGT has as much power to grant relief as it has to impose a penalty for non-compliance of its orders

How does the NGT function?

The main bench of the NGT is in New Delhi, with regional benches in Pune, Bhopal, Kolkata and Chennai having jurisdiction over specific geographical areas.

The NGT has a chairperson, who is a retired Judge of the Supreme Court appointed by the Central Government and judicial and expert members. Besides, expert members are required to have a minimum of 15 years experience in the field of environment, forest conservation and related subjects. Though the NGT is supposed to function with a minimum of 10 members and a maximum of 20 members who will serve a five-year term, the number has been changing over the years. According to latest reports, it has only six members and a chairperson, retired justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.

Quick facts

  • Over 400 cases were heard by the NGT via video conferencing till June-end during the lockdown period.
  • The tribunal on its own passed several directives on COVID-19 waste management, as its improper handling poses a grave threat to the health of the environment and the people.
  • It also dealt with matters relating to solid waste management and rejuvenation of water bodies such as the Ganga and the Yamuna.