Conservation Moot Factor
Aditi Chatterji

Conservation, heritage and the environment are major issues in contemporary times, though concerns regarding such notions go back to several years. Conservation implies the efficient and non-wasteful use of natural resources as well as any form of environmental protection. An early advocate of conservation, Gifford Pinchot wrote in 1901 that conservation in the North American context "demands the complete and orderly development of all our resources for the benefit of all people and recognises fully the right of the present generations to use what it needs and all it needs of the natural resources now available, but it recognises equally our obligation to use what we need that our descendants shall not be deprived of what they need". This definition of conservation was an important foundation for the later concept of sustainable development. In the 1890s, American environmentalism, which emerged from the work of George Perkins Marsh, Henry David Thoreau, John James Audubon and George Catlin, divided into two schools of thought. Pinchot and other advocates of conservation argued with advocates of preservation such as John Muir regarding the nature of values the environmental movement of that time should follow. Conservationists saw nature as bountiful with natural resources that were available for human use, while preservationists gave inherent value to nature and wilderness. The conservationists were victorious. But preservationist ideas in the USA still continued through the writings of Aldo Leopold and the contemporary deep ecology movement. Many new preservationist groups such as Earth First advocate the preservation of wilderness and its protection at various sites. Glacken (1967) and Grove (1995) recognised the literature that influenced conservation in the USA, including the 1864 publication of George Perkins Marsh’s monumental book Man and Nature, which was a history of conservation specific to North America. Marsh’s work was a synthesis of ideas and recognised the human impact upon nature, the fact that some forms of environmental degradation may be irreversible and that environmental degradation might lead to the extinction of humans. In the UK, nature conservation resembles preservation in the USA, while resource conservation resembles the ideas of American conservationists. The term preservation in the British context often implies the saving of human-made structures rather than natural features of the UK landscape. The preservation of human-made structures is known as historic preservation in the USA and heritage planning in Australia. In the UK, conservation of the human-made environment is an important aspect of urban planning. The Civic Amenities Act of 1967 encapsulated the notion of conservation areas. Conservation planning is now a major sub-area of urban planning in many countries, particularly when connected to economic development through the reuse of "old-built" environments with the potential to attract tourists. Conservation as a concept increased in popularity as people understood that it meant protection together with use. It is an aim of so many people because the wastage of nature or natural resources is unacceptable from many economic and environmental perspectives. There is much controversy regarding the right approaches to be taken to conserve species, sites, habitats or even ways of life. Efforts to conserve some species through limited hunting, fishing or elimination of predators might lead to tremendous increase in the numbers of those species, with negative cumulative impacts upon habitats and other species. The decision to conserve, how, what and when to conserve are political decisions which should ideally be based on a clear understanding of ecology and ecosystems and also political expediency. There is a variety of possible applications of the term heritage, but scholars such as Dennis Hardy believe that a distinction can be drawn between heritage used in a conservative sense and heritage as a radical concept. As a conservative concept, heritage indicates the support of status quo, the key feature being the strong influence of nostalgia or "looking back" to a past represented in sentimental terms, according to Lowenthal writing in 1985. Nostalgia lends form to a pastiche version of history, as seen in products ranging from best-selling historical novels to postmodern architecture. It is part of the fast-growing "heritage industry" according to Hardy writing in Area in 1988. He comments that stately homes, royal families, famous battles, renowned religious institutions and other features all add up to a very particular version of heritage. The second viewpoint considers heritage as a radical concept. In expanding perspectives on heritage, one starting point may be to review the work of William Morris, and to consider the new way that he approached, the way of building preservation. For Morris, the whole idea of heritage was linked to the social relations that governed the production of past townscapes. As his work indicates, the heritage of palaces and imperial glory is only one perspective of a set of complex and varied processes. The sort of heritage evident in street life is not the material of museums recalling noble pasts, but what has been named real history which academics should seek, including oral history and folklore. John Tunbridge has written in 1989 that heritage conservation has served to promote the interest of elite social groups and conservation should include humble vernacular structures in addition to imposing buildings. To turn to conservation and the environment. The last three decades have seen a widespread interest in the conservation of the environment. There are two basic implications of such conservation. In the first instance, conservation has been defined as "the saving of natural resources for later consumption" by Passmore in 1974. In the second case, conservation also implies the preservation, use, re-use, adaptation, extension and enhancement of scarce assets, including building. It is possible to study the impact of the first conception of conservation in relation to the natural environment and that of the second conception of conservation in relation to the built environment. Goudie (1981 reprint 1995) discusses the human impact on the natural environment with reference to aspects such as grazing, fires, deforestation and agriculture. Natural environments contain a plenitude of resources to be exploited for human economic needs. While environmental changes are not always man-made, there can be no doubt that human activity is frequently the cause of environmental degradation. For example, the Himalayas are a very fragile eco-system renowned for biodiversity and also one of the most threatened life support systems in contemporary times. Deforestation, landslides, earthquakes, tectonic activity, mining, road and building construction have all contributed to environmental degradation. Life in all physical landforms, whether plains, plateaus or mountains is causing environmental problems. While the environmental determinism school of thought postulated that humans are children of their environment, nurtured and shaped by it, this may be considered restrictive as humans have also shaped and affected their environment to a considerable extent. The most widely spread human impact on the natural environment has been the human settlement, particularly urban development. The emission of noxious fuel fumes, construction of drainage, sewerage, water supply and other infrastructure, and a host of other features that are necessary to make cities function have all affected the natural environment. Steps have been taken to ameliorate the situation with the establishment of pollution control boards, the Ganga Action Plan and a host of legislation in India, but there is scope for a lot more work to be done in this context. As far as the built environment is concerned, the conservation of Indian-built heritage is being considered by many organisations, including the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage. Many teams of experts on conservation of the built environment from the UK have come to India in the last five years to offer their expertise. The Kolkata riverfront and the Dalhousie Square areas are of particular interest, while there has been an interest on "Europe on the Ganges" in the shape of the former European colonial settlements along the Hooghly, namely, Chandannagore, Chinsurah, Hooghly and others. It is to be hoped that the conservation of our rich heritage in the form of the natural and built environment will be fostered to a greater extent in the decades to come.
The Statesman (Kolkata), 18 Sep. 2006

  Technologists Warn Against Overuse of Resources
"Imbalances in any part of the world could create problems for the rest of the areas as well"

Technologists have warned against overuse of resources pointing out that imbalances in any part of the world could create problems for the rest of the areas as well. For India environment continued to be a low priority area and only effective regulation would provide the subject with its due importance, they noted. "India is at the 101^th place in the Environment Performance Index of 146 countries as per the data released by the Yale University Centre for Environmental Law and Policy. Even in other countries, the concern for environment is secondary," said Jayant M. Modak, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, speaking at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, over the weekend. Prof. Modak was speaking as the chief guest at the inauguration of a three-day National Conference on Environmental Conservation. "Only when there is an effective regulation, the environment gets its due importance. But one who neglects the environment, disregards his own existence," he said. "All resources are interconnected. Any disruption in the web can create problems to the entire web." Prof. Modak attributed the neglect of the environment by the corporate sector to lack of knowledge, especially by those in the top echelons. "The answer does not lie in the domain of science alone, it is related with economics, sociology, psychology and humanities as a whole," he pointed out. Listing the technologies for environment conservation, Prof. Modak said that there were several barriers in the implementation of the clean energy technology. The biotechnology solutions needed to compete in economic terms, he noted. Speaking on the occasion, Prof. L. K. Maheshwari, Vice-Chancellor of BITS, Pilani, said that the environment conservation was primarily a thinking process and anyone could help in this activity provided he had the right attitude. Prof Maheshwari called for low cost technologies for waste disposal and environment conservation. Prof K. E. Raman, Deputy Director of BITS, mentioned that the Institute adopted many environment conservation practices including solar heaters, waste water reuse technologies, disposal of waste and rainwater harvesting. B. V. Babu, the organising secretary, said the conference aimed at sharing knowledge in terms of techniques and practices in mitigating and monitoring environmental pollution. About 160 papers are being discussed in the conference.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 04 Sep. 2006

Environmental Degradation
Correctives available in agriculture
S.S. Johl

Environmental degradation today is a serious challenge to the life forms on the planet Earth. It is adversely affecting not only individuals and human societies in various ways and in different degrees, but is also influencing the changes that are detrimental to the healthy growth of all forms of life. The effect is cumulative in its nature and is in acceleration mode now. Of course, the climate of the earth has never been stable during the history of evolution; the change in modern era has exceeded anything experienced in the past. The last decade was the warmest decade globally and 1998 was the warmest year since 1861, since when temperature had been recorded with adequate global coverage. Even the remote areas away from densely populated industrial centers are not any more insulated from this debilitating impact of the ozone hole, climate change, global warming, enhanced influence of La Nina and El Nino factors, receding glaciers and changes in precipitation patterns, water and air pollution and soil degradation. The ever-enhancing demand for production of food, industrial goods and services is considered to be the primary source of environmental degradation through the emission of greenhouse gases. Quite a few corporates, especially power companies and industrial houses, brokers and agents are in the spot and forward exchange markets for trading carbon credits. Under the cap-and-trade regime, European Union allowances (EUAs) have been allocated in the first phase in order to control CO₂ emissions from various industrial enterprises. In the phase II, these caps are going to be at much lower level of emissions. Thus, market in carbon trading has developed quite fast. The value of global carbon market was more than $ 10 billion in 2005 and is expected to be $ 25 - 30 billion in 2006. It is further encouraging to note that the financial market is linking up with the carbon trading market, with larger banks showing interest in investments in clean development mechanism and advances are being offered for certified emission reductions. These efforts, however, remain focused on industrial emissions only. As yet, due attention has not been paid to the agriculture sector. Any biomass whether growing in the field or stored, emits methane, though in very negligible quantities. But a crop growing in standing water emits considerable amounts of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Rice plant is particularly notorious in this respect. In the anaerobic conditions created by the standing water the anaerobic bacteria generate these gasses in the root zone of the rice plant. The plant has inter-cellular space, which acts like a conduit, and these gasses are emitted into the atmosphere through leaves. In turn the plant through this intercellular space provides oxygen to these anaerobic bacteria for their survival. It is estimated that one hectare of rice under standing water conditions emits more than 0.45 tonnes of methane over a growing period of 90 days. In addition, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide are also produced. Put together, an equivalent of 20 tonnes of carbon dioxide is emitted during this period of 90 days. One hectare of rice, if replaced with other crops or rice crop that is grown without standing water, has the potential of earning carbon credits worth more than Rs 10,000 in three months of its growing period. Agricultural technologists of Punjab have developed one such technique of rice cultivation under aerobic conditions, which has been authenticated through an average of 12 experiments conducted by Punjab Agricultural University. This technique saves water by about 40 per cent, increases yield by 6 to 8 per cent, improves quality of paddy due to drier micro-climate, and improves the soil quality. In respect of chemical pollution through fertilizers and pesticides, Cuba offers a very good example, where booming requirements of protective foods are being met through "organoponicos" on small plots of land allotted to individual farmers. It is reported that Cuba is filled with more than 7,000 such urban allotments that occupy some 81,000 acres. More than 200 gardens in Havana supply its citizens with more than 90 per cent of their fruits and vegetables. More than 200 locally based centres specialising in bio-pesticides annually produce 200 tonnes of "Verticillium" to control whitefly, and 800 tonnes of "Beauveria" sprays to control beetles. Cut banana stems baited with honey to attract ants are placed in sweet potato fields, which have led to control of sweet potato weevil. There are 170 vermi-compost centres, the annual production of which has grown to 9,300 tonnes. Thus, alternatives to the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides exist and can be further developed to avoid the impending environmental disaster. Crop patterns can be changed such that productivity of most scarce resources of land and water improves and farm incomes are enhanced without negative externalities of environmental degradation and threat to food security. The National Agricultural Research System has a challenge, which can be easily met with vision and grit. Research on these aspects and adoption of cutting edge technologies to tackle these problems of environmental degradation require priority treatment in the financial allocations of the Eleventh Plan.
The Tribune (Chandigarh), 20 Sep. 2006

If you made a trip to the local library, 25 years ago, and pursued the periodical sections on global warming, you’d probably have come up with only a few abstracts from hardcore science journals or may be a blurb in some esoteric geo-political magazine.

But in the past 10 years or so, the subject has become as rooted in public consciousness as Madonna or microwave cooking. Perhaps all this attention is deserved. With all possible exception of another world war, collision of a giant asteroid, or an incurable plague, global warming may be the single largest threat to our planet. Global warming, or for that matter any substantial warming of the earth’s surface, begins with the sun.

If you were to travel to the outer reaches of the atmosphere and hold up a flat surface perpendicular to the sun’s rays for several years during the daylight hours, you’d find that about 1,368 watts of energy per square metre on an average would hit the surface.

The earth wouldn’t absorb all that energy. Roughly 30 per cent of the total solar energy that strikes the earth is reflected back into space by clouds, atmospheric aerosols, reflective ground surfaces or even the ocean surf. Land, air and the oceans absorb the remaining 70 per cent .The absorbed light is mostly in the form of ultraviolet, visible and infrared solar radiations. Absorption of solar energy heats up our planet’s surface and atmosphere and makes life on earth possible.

The energy does not stay bound up in the earth’s environment forever. If it did, then the earth would grow hotter and hotter with the temperature growing hotter than that of the sun. In stead, the rocks, the air and the ocean have solar radiation, largely in the form of infrared waves, travelling directly into space; the energy leaves the earth and allows it to cool.

Some of the outgoing radiations are re-absorbed by water vapour, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases or clouds in atmosphere. On the whole the re-absorption process is good, preventing the earth’s temperature from becoming very chilly. The latest worry all over the world is that over the past 250 years, humans have been artificially raising the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Our factories, power plants and cars spit out a seemingly endless stream of Carbon dioxide. We also produce millions of pounds of methane and nitrogen oxide that is freely released into the atmosphere. Recent studies show that there has been a drastic change in the composition of gasses. CO₂ has risen to 31 per cent and methane to 151 per cent. These two greenhouse gases are at their highest level in 42,000 years. This has led to a dramatic rise in the sea level.

Due to the presence of these hot gases, the polar temperatures are also lowering gradually. On the outskirts of
Antarctica scientists have even found mosquitoes breeding. The concept and science of global warming is changing and becoming complex daily and changes in atmosphere becoming unpredictable and unexpected.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 08 Sep. 2006

Global warming appears to have triggered genetic changes in a species of fruit fly on three continents, a potent of how certain impacts of climate change may be rapid yet remain undetected.

In a study that appeared on Friday in the US journal Science, biologists have reported finding genetic changes that seem to have been induced by climate change in the fruit fly Drosophila subobscura in Europe, North America and South America.

The Spanish and American researchers observed genetic patterns called "chromosomal inversions" associated with warm temperatures increasing in parallel with increase in the temperatures consistent with global warming on these continents.

"This is another indicator of climate change, but it also tells us that some effects already happening might not be readily observable," Joan Balanya, a geneticist at the University of Barcelona told The Telegraph. "When you look at these flies with the eyes or through a microscope, they look identical. It’s only when you study chromosomes that you detect the changes that have occurred," Balanya said.

Scientists have studied this species of fruit fly for several decades. It was a native of Europe, but was introduced in South America in the 1970s and in North America in the 1980s, probably on cargo ships. Since then, the species has spread across North and South America.

Previous genetic studies on these flies had shown that sections of their chromosomes were inverted – and the patterns of these inversions common in the northern latitudes – colder regions – were uncommon in the southern latitudes – warmer regions.

There is growing evidence that the Earth has warmed over the past century. The warming has been attributed mainly to fossil fuel burning that pumps heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Scientists have anticipated biological effects of climate change.

By comparing these chromosome inversions observed decades ago with genetic patterns prevalent in fruit fly populations on the three continents today, the scientists found that an increased occurrence of chromosomal inversions common in warmer regions.

"This is a clear signal on three different continents that climate change is occurring and that genetic change is going along with it," said Raymond Huey, a research team member from the University of Washington in the US. The implication is that the chromosomal inversions common in the low latitudes seemingly provide the flies with protection against warmer temperatures, Huey said.

The genetic patterns seen in the latest fly populations corresponded almost exactly to patterns that in earlier studies had been observed in flies about 110km or one degree latitude closer to the equator.

Although previous studies have pointed to genetic changes among another species of insects, those studies have been focused on a single continent. In the new study, similar genetic changes were observed on all three continents.

The scientists said such rapid genetic changes are likely to occur faster in organisms with short life spans.
The Telegraph (Calcutta), 04 Sep. 2006

A leading US climate researcher said the world has a 10 year window of opportunity to take decisive action on global warming and avert a weather catastrophe.

NASA scientist James Hansen, widely considered the doyen of American climate researchers, said governments must adopt an alternative scenario to keep carbon dioxide emission growth in check and limit the increase in global temperatures.

"I think we have a very brief window of opportunity to deal with climate change – no longer than a decade, at the most," Hansen said at the Climate Change Research Conference in California’s state capital.

If the world continues with a "business as usual" scenario, Hansen said temperatures will rise by 2 to 3 degrees Celsius and "we will be producing a different planet." On that warmer planet, ice sheets would melt quickly, causing a rise in sea levels that would put most of Manhattan under water. The world would see more prolonged droughts and heat waves, powerful hurricanes in new areas and the likely extinction of 50 per cent of species.

Hansen, who heads NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, has made waves before by saying that President George W. Bush’s administration tried to silence him and heavily edited his and other scientists’ findings on a warmer world.

He reiterated that the United States "has passed up the opportunity" to influence the world on global warming.

The United States is the largest emitter of green-house gases, most notably carbon dioxide. But Bush pulled the country out of the 160-nation Kyoto Protocol in 2001, arguing that the treaty’s mandatory curbs on emissions would harm the economy.

Hansen praised California for taking the "courageous" step of passing legislation on global warming last month that will make it the first US state to place caps on greenhouse gas emissions.

He said the alternative scenario he advocates involves promoting energy efficiency and reducing dependence on carbon burning fuels.

"We cannot burn off all the fossil fuels that are readily available without causing dramatic climate change," Hansen said.
The Statesman (Kolkata), 16 Sep. 2006

Most of the increase in ocean temperature that feeds more intense hurricanes is a result of human induced global warming, says a study that one researcher says "closes the loop" between climate change and powerful storms like Katrina.

A series of studies over the past year or so have shown an increase in the power of hurricanes in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, a strengthening that storm experts say is tied to rising sea-surface temperatures.

And most of that temperature increase can be blamed on global warming caused by human activities such as automobile and industrial pollution, scientists report in Wednesday’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The work that we’ve done kind of closes the loop here," said Tom Wigley of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, a co-author of the paper.

"The important conclusion is that the observed (sea-surface temperature) increases in these hurricane breeding grounds cannot be explained by natural processes alone," said Wigley.

Benjamin Santer of Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, plus Wigley and their team studied the relationship of


climate and hurricanes using 22 different climate models at 15 institutions around the world.

Climate models are complex sets of mathematical equations that high speed computers use to simulate weather and climate and to forecast changes. The researchers used them to run 80 different simulations analysing the response of sea-surface temperatures to a variety of factors and then compared the results from the independent models.

While previous studies have looked at entire oceans, this work focused on the smaller areas of the Atlantic and Pacific where tropical storms form.

This study builds a connection between the theoretical foundation of global warming and changes, that are being observed in those areas where hurricanes are born, said Robert Corell of the American Meteorological Society, who moderated a briefing on the work.

While they reported the connection between rising ocean temperatures and increasing storm power, the researchers declined to predict future changes.

Asked if they would recommend changes in public policy, Greg Holland of the National Center for Atmospheric Research said, "It is important to note that we’re not policymakers."
The Statesman (Kolkata), 14 Sep. 2006

Needed: An International Framework
Steve Connor

The world needs a new international framework to save the planet from global warming – one which focuses more on adapting to climate change than on trying to prevent it, said a leading economist.

Trying to curb green house gas emissions poses such formidable problems
that it would be wise to adapt to the potentially devastating effects of climate change as well as trying to avert them, said Frances Cairncross, chair of the Economic and Social Research Council.

"There are two main ways we can respond to climate change: we can adapt, or we can try to slow the process. In practice, we will do both. But adaptation to climate change has had relatively little discussion," Cairncross said.

Whether climate change causes Britain to become substantially warmer or cooler, it will be necessary to raise the standards of building insulation, provide more sheltered public spaces, build better flood defences and provide north-south wildlife corridors for vulnerable species to migrate, Cairncross said.

"Of course, there are important areas where no adaptation is possible. We cannot relocate the Amazon or insulate coral reefs – and so we need mitigation too. But the government could and should put in place an adaptation strategy right away," she said.

"It sounds brutal, and indeed meaningless, if you live in Bangladesh. But we need to think now about policies that prepare for a hotter, drier world, especially in poorer countries," she said.

"That may involve, for instance, developing new crops, constructing flood defences, setting different building regulations, or banning building close to sea level," she added.

Speaking in advance of her presidential speech to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Cairncross attacked the "ineffectual" Kyoto treaty on climate change and called for a more radical international agreement that draws in the United States as well as the large developing countries such as India and China.
The Statesman (Kolkata), 07 Sep. 2006

Scientists have long suspected that the recent melting of Arctic Ocean ice in the summer might be a result of heat-trapping gases building up in the atmosphere.

But yesterday, NASA scientists reported that higher temperatures and a retreat of the sea ice over the last two winters offered new evidence that the gases were influencing the region’s climate.

While the summer melting could be a result of a number of phenomena like the flow of warm water, the scientists said, the reduction of winter ice two seasons in
a row is harder to explain without invoking the heat-trapping effects of gases like carbon dioxide.

Such gases block the escape of some heat radiating from the ocean or earth, like an insulating blanket, even in the depths of the dark Arctic winter, said Josefino C. Comiso, a senior scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center who uses satellites to study Earth’s frozen zones.

In the past two winters, the peak of sea ice growth in the Arctic has been 6 per cent below the average peak since the satellite observations began, Dr. Comiso
said. His findlings are to be published this month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The observed winter changes occur after a string of years in which the amount of sea ice around the Arctic Ocean has steadily shrunk. Last year saw what some Arctic experts said was probably the most open water in the Arctic in a century, and the most since the satellite observations began in 1978.

Mark Serreze, a scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Centre, said that this summer’s ice retreat was not quite as great as that in 2005, but that there was still time, before the long Arctic night
begins this month, to see more melting.

Over all, Dr. Serreze said, it was hard to find an explanation for the shifts other than human-caused warming.

September is the month when sea ice is at its month ebb in the Arctic, making it a good time to gauge the health of the system of freezing and melting around the North Pole. A satellite image taken today showed Arctic sea ice shrinking away from its normal summer boundaries. One image showed a strange big hole in the summer ice north of Alaska. The hole, called a polynya, is probably about the size of the state of Maryland.

Air from the oldest ice core confirms human activity has increased the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere to levels not seen for hundreds of thousands of years, scientists said.

Bubbles of air in the 8,00,000 year old ice, drilled in the Antarctic, show levels of CO₂ changing with the climate. But the present levels are out of the previous range.

"It is from air bubbles that we know for sure that carbon dioxide has increased by about 35 per cent in the last 200 years," said Dr. Eric Wolff of the British Antarctic Survey and the leader of the science team for the 10 nation European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica.

"Before the last 200 years, which man has been influencing, it was pretty steady," he added.

The natural level of CO₂ over most of the past 8,00,000 years has been 180-300 parts per million by volume (ppmv) of air. But today it is at 380 ppmv.

"The most scary thing is that carbon dioxide today is not just out of the range of what happened in the last 650,000 years but already up 100 per cent out of the range," Wolff said at the British Association Festival of Science in Norwich, eastern England.

CO₂ was close to 280 ppmv from 1000 AD until 1800 and then it accelerated towards its present concentration. Wolff added that measurements of carbon isotopes showed the extra CO₂ coming from a fossil source, due to increased human activity.

The ice core record showed it used to take about 1,000 years for a CO₂ increase of 30 ppmv. It has risen by that much in the last 17 years alone.

"We really are in a situation where something is happening that we don’t have
any analogue for in our records. It is an experiment that we don’t know the result of," he added.

Professor Peter Smith, of the University of Nottingham in England, said the study showed more needed to be done.

"There is an urgent need to find innovative technologies to reduce the impact we are having on our climate," he told the science conference.
The Statesman (Kolkata), 07 Sep. 2006

California said on Wednesday it was suing six US and Japanese auto-makers for their alleged contribution to global warming, the first such legal fight in US.

"Global warming is causing significant harm to California’s environment, economy, agriculture and public health. The impacts are already costing millions of dollars, and the price tag is increasing," attorney general Bill Lockyer said after filing suit on Tuesday in US District Court. "Vehicle emissions are the single most rapidly growing source of the carbon emissions contributing to global warming, yet the federal government and auto-makers have refused to act. It is time to hold these companies responsible for their contribution to this crisis," he said.

The companies named in the complaint are Chrysler Motors Corporation, an arm of Daimler Chrysler based in Germany; General Motors Corporation; Ford Motor Company; and the North American subsidiaries of Japanese car-makers Honda Motor, Nissan Motor and Toyota Motor. These car-makers are "among the world’s largest contributors to global warming and the adverse impacts on California," the suit charges. The companies named in the suit, contacted for a response, referred the reporter to The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which as of Wednesday night had not returned a call.

California has more than 35 million people and some 32 million registered vehicles. Authorities, led by governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, have broken with US President George Bush on environmental issues. Schwarzenegger has said he will sign greenhouse gas-reducing legislation making California the first US state to commit to adhering to the Kyoto Protocol.
The Times of India (New Delhi), 22 Sep. 2006

Climate Change Forged First Civilizations

The earliest civilizations were not a product of favorable conditions but rather a last resort in the face of dramatic shifts in the weather, a climate scientist said on Thursday. Flying in the face of accepted theory that settled societies emerged from the development of static farming in good climatic conditions that produced food surpluses and allowed specialization, Nick Brooks said the opposite was true.

"Civilization did not arise as the result of a benign environment which allowed humanity to indulge a preference for living in complex, urban civilized societies," he told the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

"On the contrary, what we tend to think of today as civilization was an accidental by-product of unplanned adaptation to catastrophic climate change. Civilization was a last resort," he added.

Brooks said he based his theory on close observation of archaeological remains of the Garamantian civilization in the Fezzan region of south-western Libya allied with evidence of changing rainfall patterns 3,000-5,000 years ago.

But he said the pattern could also be found in societies as diverse as South Asia, South America and China. As the climate became steadily drier formerly nomadic people were forced to come together for mutual support and to eke out the dwindling natural resources.

But not all of the consequences of this merging movement were beneficial -- social inequality arose as did organized violence, there was no increase in life expectancy and autocratic governments emerged, Brooks said.

When climate conditions improved again there was no return to the former order."Once the cat is out of the bag, it doesn't go back. You can't uninvent technology," Brooks said.

And he warned against drawing comparisons with the global warming that is predicted to raise average temperatures by around three degrees this century, noting that the temperature rise was well above that which forced the societal change 5,000 years ago.
The Statesman (Kolkata), 10 Sep. 2006

Earth may be close to the warmest it has been in the last million years, especially in the part of the Pacific Ocean where potentially violent EI Nino weather patterns are born, climate scientists reported on Monday.

This doesn’t necessarily mean there will be more frequent EI Ninos-which can disrupt normal weather around the world – but could well mean that these wild patterns will be stronger when they occur, said James Hansen of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York City.

The EI Nino phenomenon is an important factor in monitoring global warming, according to a paper by Hansen
and colleagues published in the current Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. EI Ninos can push temperatures higher than they might ordinarily be. This happened in 1998 when a so-called "super EI Nino" helped heat the Earth to a record high.

What is significant, the scientists wrote, is that 2005 was in the same temperature range as 1998, and probably was the warmest year ever, with no sign of the warm surface water in the eastern equatorial Pacific typical of an EI Nino.

The waters of the western equatorial Pacific are warmer than in the eastern equatorial Pacific, and the difference in temperature between these
two areas could produce greater temperature swings between the normal weather pattern and EI Nino, they wrote.

They blamed this phenomenon on global warming that is affecting the surface of the western Pacific before it affects the deeper water.

Overall, Earth is within 1⁰C of its highest temperature levels in the past million years, Hansen and the others wrote. They noted a recent steep rise in average temperatures, with global surface
temperatures increasing about 0.2⁰C for each of the last three decades.

Scientists attribute this rise to human activities, notably the release into the atmosphere of greenhouse gases – notably carbon dioxide – which let in sunlight and trap its heat like the glass walls of a greenhouse. Human caused global warming influences EI Ninos much as it sways tropical storms, the scientists wrote.
The Times of India (New Delhi), 27 Sep. 2006

Start Adapting to Climate Change
Frances Cairncross

Almost all the discussion of climate change up to now has been about prevention, which, though important, is not enough. Climate change is going to happen, and we need to think more about adapting to it. Climate change will affect different countries in different ways. It will be harsh for India and sub-Saharan Africa. But a sunny Siberia might delight Russia. If swathes of Arctic ice melts, it will be easier to extract the oil and gas reserves - perhaps one-quarter of the world’s remaining buried stocks, much of them on Russian territory. So striking a global deal will be difficult. It is not a question of persuading America to sign up to Kyoto - it won’t - or even of extending that largely ineffectual agreement. Even with the best will in the world, we do not yet have the technology to prevent global warming from occurring. A recent study by the International Energy Agency reckoned that the speedy introduction of best practice in energy conservation and in substitutes for fossil fuels would not be enough to prevent some continuing rise in the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. The trouble is, our living standards are inextricably related to our use of energy, and especially to fossil fuel. Of course, we can increase energy from renewables such as wind and solar power. But these account for about only 2 per cent of world electricity generation today - whereas coal accounts for about 40 per cent. Coal will dominate, especially in China and India, for the foreseeable future. Carbon capture and storage is going to be essential here, but the technology has hardly begun to be used commercially. Energy conservation could reduce the prospective rise in emissions more sharply than any other known technology. But the lags are long: many of the technologies we use today were invented a century ago. So some climate change looks likely to occur, whatever we do. We should therefore think more about adapting to hotter weather. Adaptation sounds brutal and indeed meaningless, if you live in Bangladesh. But we need to think now about policies that prepare for a warmer world. What might they be? Flood defences and tough rules about building on flood plains are obvious; so is better insulation against heat as well as cold, and more covered and sheltered spaces in public areas, to protect against both the sun and the probability of more rain. Developing countries will need crops and trees that will thrive in hotter temperatures and drier conditions - that should be a research priority for aid agencies. And species such as plants and trees will need protected corridors running north-south along which they can spread to move away from insupportably warm weather. We should not abandon attempts to slow global warming. The danger of disruptive change will increase, the atmospheric concentration of warming gases. But we should equally not pretend that we can prevent climate change. It’s going to happen, and we need to be ready for it.
The Tribune (Chandigarh), 06 Sep. 2006

  Threat is from Those Who Accept Climate Change
George Monbiot

You have to pinch yourself. Until now The Sun — the U.K.'s most popular tabloid — has denounced environmentalists as "loonies" and "eco beards." Last week it published "photographic proof that climate change is real." In a page that could have come straight from a Greenpeace pamphlet, it laid down 10 "rules" for its readers to follow: "Use public transport when possible; use energy-saving lightbulbs; turn off electric gadgets at the wall; do not use a tumble dryer . " Two weeks ago The Economist also recanted. In the past it has asserted that "Mr. Bush was right to reject the prohibitively expensive Kyoto pact." It co-published the Copenhagen Consensus papers, which put climate change at the bottom of the list of global priorities. Now, in a special issue devoted to scaring the living daylights out of its readers, it maintains that "the slice of global output that would have to be spent to control emissions is probably ... below 1%." It calls for carbon taxes and an ambitious programme of government spending. Almost everywhere, climate change denial now looks as stupid and as unacceptable as Holocaust denial. But I'm not celebrating yet. The danger is not that we will stop talking about climate change, or recognising that it presents an existential threat to humankind. The danger is that we will talk ourselves to kingdom come. If the biosphere is wrecked, it will not be done by those who could not give a damn about it, as they now belong to a diminishing minority. It will be destroyed by nice, well-meaning, cosmopolitan people who accept the case for cutting emissions, but who will not change by one iota the way they live. I know people who profess to care deeply about global warming, but who would sooner drink toilet cleaner than get rid of their Agas, patio heaters, and plasma TVs, all of which are staggeringly wasteful.

Undeniable nexus
Environmentalism has always been characterised as a middle-class concern; while this has often been unfair, there is now an undeniable nexus of class politics and morally superior consumerism. People allow themselves to believe that their impact on the planet is lower than that of the great unwashed because they shop at one supermarket rather than another, buy Tomme de Savoie instead of processed cheese slices, and take eco-safaris in the Serengeti instead of package holidays in Torremolinos. In reality, carbon emissions are closely related to income: the richer you are, the more likely you are to be wrecking the planet, however much stripped wood and hand-thrown crockery there is in your kitchen. Last week, Friends of the Earth published the report it had commissioned from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, which laid out the case for a 90 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. This caused astonishment in the media. But other calculations, using the same sources, show that even this ambitious target is two decades too late. It becomes rather complicated, but please bear with me, for our future rests on these numbers. The Tyndall Centre says that to prevent the earth from warming by more than two degrees above pre-industrial levels, carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere must be stabilised at 450 parts per million or less (they are currently at 380). But this, as its sources show, is plainly insufficient. The reason is that carbon dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas. The others — such as methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons — boost its impact by around 15 per cent. When you add the concentrations of CO₂ and the other greenhouse gases together, you get a figure known as "CO₂ equivalent." But the Tyndall Centre uses "CO₂" and "CO₂ equivalent" interchangeably, permitting an embarrassing scientific mish-mash. "Concentrations of 450 parts per million CO₂ equivalent or lower," it says, provide a "reasonable to high probability of not exceeding 2⁰C." This is true, but the report is not calling for a limit of 450 parts of "CO₂ equivalent." It is calling for a limit of 450 parts of CO₂, which means at least 500 parts of CO₂ equivalent. At this level there is a low to very low probability of keeping the temperature rise below two degrees. So why on earth has this reputable scientific institution muddled the figures? You can find the answer on page 16 of the report. "As with all client-consultant relationships, boundary conditions were established within which to conduct the analysis ... Friends of the Earth, in conjunction with a consortium of NGOs and with increasing cross-party support from MPs, have been lobbying hard for the introduction of a `climate change bill' . [The bill] is founded essentially on a correlation of 2⁰C with 450 parts per million of CO₂." In other words, Friends of the Earth had already set the target before it asked its researchers to find out what the target should be. So we all deceive ourselves and deceive each other about the change that needs to take place. The middle classes think they have gone green because they buy organic cotton pyjamas and handmade soaps with bits of leaf in them — though they still heat their conservatories and retain their holiday homes in Croatia. The people who should be confronting them with hard truths balk at the scale of the challenge. And the politicians won't jump until the rest of us do. The question that now confronts everyone — politicians, campaign groups, scientists, readers of newspapers — is this: how much reality can you take? Do you really want to stop climate chaos, or do you just want to feel better about yourself?
The Hindu (New Delhi), 22 Sep. 2006

Methane Levels to Rise Again After Slowdown
Ian Sample

Scientists have uncovered evidence that levels of the greenhouse gas methane will rise sharply in the next few years, warming the planet faster than previously expected. The new data from an international team of scientists has revealed that while methane levels began to level off in the 1990s, emissions from human activity started to climb again before the end of the last century. Phillipe Bousquet at the Laboratory of Sciences of Climate and the Environment in Paris joined scientists from the U.S., Australia, the Netherlands and South Africa to examine methane levels in the atmosphere from the early 1980s using a network of 68 ground-based tracking stations. The upturn in man-made emissions was masked by a drop in the methane released naturally from wetlands, by unusually dry weather. Writing in the journal Nature today, the scientists raise fears that inevitably wetter weather will return the wetlands to their normal state in the next three to five years, boosting the amount of methane in the atmosphere by 10 million tonnes a year. Although methane levels are 200 times lower than the most widespread greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, molecule for molecule, it is 20 times more effective at retaining heat in the atmosphere. They discovered that methane levels fell from nearly 12 parts per billion in the 1980s to four parts per billion in the 1990s. But their calculations show that the slowing of emissions was only partly to do with strict limits imposed on industry. Since 1999, levels of methane from human activity have been rising in Asia, consistent with a surge in coal usage in China. "The bad news is that the slowdown in global methane emissions in the past few decades was only temporary," said Jos Lelieveld, director of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 29 Sep. 2006

  Siberian Thaw to Speed Up Global Warming
Robin McKie and Ned Temko

The frozen bogs of Siberia are melting, and the thaw could have devastating consequences for the planet, scientists have discovered. They have found that Arctic permafrost, which is starting to melt due to global warming, is releasing five times more methane gas than their calculations had predicted. That level of emission is alarming because methane itself is a greenhouse gas. Increased amounts will therefore accelerate warming, cause more melting of Siberian bogs and Arctic wasteland, and so release even more. "It's a slow-motion time bomb," said climate expert Professor Ted Schuur, of the University of Florida. The discovery of these levels of methane release, revealed in a report in Nature last week, suggests the planet is rapidly approaching a critical tipping point at which global warming could trigger an irreversible acceleration in climate change. The news of the danger posed by rising methane levels comes after a week in which scientists outlined a series of disturbing developments in climate research. These disclosures included news that nearly every wild animal in Britain has extended its range northwards as the country heats up; ice cores from the Antarctic have revealed that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are rising at an unprecedented rate; and analysis suggesting that the world has less than a decade in which to halt global warming before it reaches a point of no return. The revelations about Siberia's methane add to these worries. Methane is produced in soil by bacterial decomposition and normally released into the air. However, in the permafrost regions of Siberia and the Arctic the gas gets locked into the frozen soil, and over the millennia this has built up to create a vast reservoir of the gas. It is also known that vast amounts of carbon dioxide are locked in the planet's frozen zones. In total, it is estimated there could be as much as 450 billion tonnes of methane and carbon dioxide trapped in the world's permafrost. A team led by Katey Walter of the University of Alaska decided to investigate the rate at which methane is being released as the world succumbs to the effects of climate change. She chose an area along the Kolyma river near Cherskii in Russia for the study. The results revealed levels of discharge that were five times higher than previous estimates. The results, echoed by studies at 100 other sites in the north Siberia region, are alarming because methane is far more effective at trapping heat than carbon dioxide and is therefore potentially much more dangerous to the planet. Scientists have calculated that methane has a global warming potential that is 23 times that of carbon dioxide. This means that a kg of methane warms the planet's atmosphere 23 times as much as the same amount of carbon dioxide.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 11 Sep. 2006

The Earth’s rapid warming has pushed temperatures to their hottest level in nearly 12,000 years and within a hairbreadth of a million years, a study by the US space agency has showed. Global warming, which has added 0.2 degree Celsius per decade over the past 30 years, has caused temperatures to reach and now pass through the warmest levels in the current interglacial period, which lasted almost 12,000 years, according to the study led by James Hansen, a leading

climatologist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The study, published in the September 26 of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, said that Earth was now within about 1.0⁰C (1.8⁰F) of the maximum estimated temperature of the past million years. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration researcher said that was the most important finding of the team’s research.
The Tribune (Chandigarh), 28 Sep. 2006

International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer
K.G. Behl

We are all very familiar with the word ‘Environment’ which literally means surroundings and as such includes all the items which surround us and directly or indirectly affect our lives. It essentially includes air to breathe, water to drink and utilize for different chores of our day to day life. The planet Sun provides us heat and light which is essential for not only human beings but so many living species of plants and animals in and around the Earth, which go to constitute the Biosphere around us which supplies essential requisites of life for all these species. It represents a stable equilibrium of various physical and biological factors. Conserving the Biodiversity and protecting it from the cosmic and other harmful rays is one of our duties. The earth’s satellite Moon which provides us necessary coolness at night to sleep and protects us from the unwanted excess heat of the Sun which it reflects and in turn gives Earth a soothing glow at night. All these elements go to constitute the Environment. Heat is one of the prime requisites of life, which is provided by the Solar radiations. Though only a very small portion of heat reaches the Earth’s atmosphere due to absorption and radiation by various particles, but it is essential that absorption and radiation of heat should ultimately balance. This balance is mainly regulated by water, carbon dioxide and oxygen, where human beings and plants play the major role. Humans or rather all living organism in their respiration inhale oxygen and exhale carbon di oxide whereas plants use of the radiation energy of the Sun to convert carbon di oxide and water for photosynthesis – a process by which all organic matter originates, and in the process release oxygen. The process takes place only during the day when solar radiations are available. Ozone is a form of oxygen that is present in the Earth’s atmosphere in small quantity. Its presence in the lower atmosphere, closer to earth, contributes to air pollution and causes damages to human tissue, its presence in the outer reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere is absolutely vital to life. A layer of ozone located 30 km above the surface of the Earth, provides a shield against the lethal Ultra Violet rays of the Sun. Ozone is naturally produced when high energy radiations from the Sun’s rays strike the oxygen in the outer reaches of the atmosphere, converting some of it into ozone. The chlorine contained in the chloro flouro carbons (CFCs) which are used as propellants in aerosols, as refrigerants and in coolants in air conditioners, is chiefly responsible for the depletion in the ozone layer. There is a wrong message and rumours spread by the manufacturers that the CFCs are too heavy to reach the ozone layer 30 km above. But actually CFCs-made up of chlorine, fluorine and carbon are so chemically inert that once they are released in the atmosphere, nothing stops them till they rise to the stratosphere. Every molecule of CFC released into the air reaches the stratosphere where the Sun’s Ultra Violet rays break down the CFC and release their chlorine content and chlorine is the worst thing that destroys ozone. Today this depletion is haunting the mankind due to widening of the hole in the ozone cover in the Stratosphere (It extends from 12 to 30 km above the Earth), which protects the Earth from a variety of harmful radiations from outer space and acts like an umbrella, especially the ozone layer 30 km above the Earth. A much seasonal decrease in the stratosphere over the Polar regions holes which are popularly called ‘Ozone Holes’, through which the harmful rays of the Sun break down, unfiltered, and cause damage, as the Earth gets exposed to these harmful Ultra Violet rays, which can cause cancer, skin diseases or effect eyes and other parts of the body. It can damage other species especially plants and animals. The ozone layer absorbs potentially harmful UV radiations from the Sun. The main destroyers of the ozone layer are the CFCs (cholorofluoro-Carbons) and nitrogen oxides from fertilizers and air craft emissions occurring high in the troposphere where they are broken up by UV light into chlorine which has a devastating effect on ozone. The rays can cause skin cancer, damage vegetation, etc. CFCs are common industrial products used in refrigeration systems, air conditioners, etc. So you can imagine how much these items, which have become almost daily necessities, are spoiling the globe. It would not be a surprise if one day we may have to revert back to our earthen water coolers and mud houses which need no air conditioning to save the ozone layer from getting depleted. Scientists are working hard to find an alternative to the CFCs which could be used for cooling in ACs, refrigerators, aero-planes and other machinery which may not erode ozone layer, or should rather supplement it. But the rate of decay of ozone layer at 3% per decade is quite alarming and needs immediate attention. It becomes the duty of all of us to know the whole process as to how the ozone layer is formed and works and how it protects the Earth. What are the factors which help in the formation of CFCs and how can we help in reducing their formation. We can make more and more people aware about this depletion of ozone layer and remove the myth about CFCs being heavy and not reaching the stratosphere. We have to look back to some of our older systems to evolve things which may go well with the development besides saving the ozone layer from depletion in order to save this Earth and especially the mankind. Intellectuals & Technocrats Guild of India, Dehradun is taking out a rally on 16th September at Gandhi Park from 10.00 hrs onward to draw the attention of public and students to this vital issue where all-important schools of the town are participating. You are welcome to join it to show your concern.
The Himachal Times (Dehradun), 16 Sep. 2006

The hole over Antarctica’s ozone layer is bigger than last year and is nearing the record 29 million square km hole seen 2000, the World Meteorological Organisation said. Geir Braathen, the United Nations weather agency’s top ozone expert, said ozone depletion had a
late onset in this year’s southern hemisphere winter, when low temperatures normally trigger chemical reactions that break down the atmospheric layer that filters dangerous solar radiation.
The Economic Times (New Delhi), 25 Sep. 2006

  UN Releases Ozone ‘Pack’ for Primary Schools

Looking at your shadow (the shorter it is, the more dangerous UV radiation is), and covering up with hats sunglasses and sunscreen are among the practical tips for school children contained in a new guide on the ozone layer for primary school teachers. The Ozone Action Education Pack, launched globally in English, French and Spanish, contains an entire teaching and learning programme, based on basic knowledge, practical skills and participation, to enable children to learn about simple solutions to protect the ozone layer and safely enjoy the Sun. The pack, produced jointly by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Unesco and the World Health Organisation (WHO), has been released to coincide with the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer on 16^th of September. This year’s theme is "Protect the Ozone Layer, Save Life on Earth". "Children should be aware of the huge risks that a weakened ozone layer poses to human health and the environment and they must know that much remains to be done. We must give them the means to protect their own future, and education is certainly key in this regard," he said. The pack is linked to UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, led by Unesco.
The Times of India (New Delhi), 19 Sep. 2006

  Hole in Ozone Layer Will Shrink
Alok Jha

Scientists have predicted that the hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica could be healed within 70 years. The prediction comes days after the hole reached its maximum size for this year, breaking previous records for late September. The ozone ``hole'' opens up over the Antarctic every year in mid-August and usually peaks in size by September. It is not a hole in the literal sense because ozone still exists over the continent but significant amounts of the gas are destroyed in this area because of the temperature and presence of damaging gases such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). ``This year it's been very cold in the Antarctic ozone layer and, as a consequence, [the hole] has had a chance to expand to quite a large size,''said
Jonathan Shanklin, head of the meteorology and ozone monitoring unit at the British Antarctic Survey. At its peak last week the hole reached 10.4 million square miles, just shy of the overall record of 10.8 million square miles in 2000. ``That's larger than the entire continent of North America,'' said Paul Newman of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. ``The Antarctic ozone hole will reach sizes on the order of 8m-10m square miles nearly every year until about 2018 or so,'' he said. ``Around 2018 things should slowly start improving, and between 2020 and 2025, we can detect that the ozone hole is beginning to decrease in size.''
The Hindu (New Delhi), 30 Sep. 2006

  China's Fierce Kyoto Rules Irk Foreign Investors

For Lu Feng, the Kyoto Protocol is like a lottery ticket with a guaranteed winning number -- a cash windfall that will make life easier but not something he can build business plans around. The manager of China's largest wind farm is winding up negotiations on his first deal to sell credits for reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, which he expects to rake in up to $500,000 a year in extra revenue from 2007. "It's important for us but I'm not relying on it when we do our budgets, because it's like food from heaven. It suddenly comes down one day but you don't know when it will stop," Lu told Reuters on a windswept plain in northwestern Xinjiang region where turbines have been spinning for well over a decade. Foreign investors seeking new projects under the U.N. Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) say they understand his caution, as Beijing's curbs on foreign ownership and government-set price floors threaten China's lead in a market that could be worth up to $100 billion a year by 2050 for poor countries. Under the CDM scheme, projects to cut emissions of greenhouse gases in developing nations can sell credits for the reductions on specialized exchanges in richer nations or directly to firms that overshoot government emissions targets. Beijing currently accounts for 42 percent of expected annual reduction credits, with around 80 mostly large-scale projects already set to stave off the equivalent of over 70 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year. It has secured pole position in the booming global CDM market -- despite the strict controls -- because of better engineering skills than India and a faster developing energy sector than Brazil, its two main rivals, investors say.
The Financial Express (New Delhi), 23 Sep. 2006

Speakers at a "Workshop on Environmental Data Availability and Decision-Making Process" organised by the Indian Institute of Forest Management here on Friday were unanimous in their view that data is essential for sound management of the environment. They also shared the view that available and future data is in danger of not being fair and that it is grossly inadequate. One of the panellists said that data should not be put on the shelf but has to be translated into outcomes. Another panellist said: "The challenge is to use data on a proactive basis by ensuring that those who have the expertise (to collect data) become active players in the decision-making process." National Judicial Academy Director G. Mohan Gopal, who chaired the session, said that the real question that needed to be addressed was linked to "redistribution of power and social change". Dr. Gopal said there was a strong linkage between availability of information and robustness of effective statistical systems when it comes to informing those who make laws and enforce them. He stressed the need to build up an environmental statistical system. "The number of litigations have gone up and there are more declaratory suits and injunctions due to executive failure to comply with law and also because the society is changing." Another major conflict was linked to land and natural resources, he added. Introducing the workshop theme, Professor Madhu Verma said there had to be an elevation of allocation for the forestry sector in the Eleventh Plan period. Former Director-General of IIFM, J. B. Lal said that ecology could not be segregated from economics. He said matter and energy and all forms of life depend on forests, crop-land, fisheries/water bodies and grasslands. He told the statistical officers attending the workshop to respond positively and remain sensitive to data. About ecological balance, he said: "We use this term understanding very little about it." Dr. Lal underlined the importance of integrated resource management and said that no system could be viewed in isolation. The chairman and founding trustee of Sambhavna Trust, an NGO working for the cause of the Bhopal gas victims, Satinath Sarangi talked of environmental crimes that were leading to the disappearance of many indigenous human populations, dissipation of forests and threatening marine life. "The effects of environmental crimes are much closer to us than we thought," he said, adding that the basic data, including the details of the gas that leaked from the Union Carbide plant more than 20 years ago in Bhopal and how many citizens were killed or have been affected, was still not available. The State Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, P.B. Gangopadhyay, said that grazing and fuelwood, which is tangible and taken out on a daily basis from forests, is not quantified. "These are economic activities that are not getting reflected in our GDP," he said, adding that even though 55 to 75 per cent of the country's energy requirement was being supplied by forests, it was not getting accounted for in the energy policy and the tragedy was that the energy policy remained oblivious of the energy removal from the forest sector. Stressing the need for collection of data to assess how much fuelwood people were consuming, Mr. Gangopadhyaya said that the data has to be real.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 23 Sep. 2006

विश्व ओजोन दिवस पर इन्टलेक्चुअल एण्ड टेक्रोक्रेटस गिल्ड आफ इण्डिया ने ओजोन बचाओ मानव श्रृंखला निकाल जन जागरण अभियान के अंतर्गत लोगो को जागरूक किया। आज यहां प्रात: ग्यारह बजे इंटलेक्चुअल एण्ड टेक्रोक्रेट्स गिल्ड आफ इण्डिया के तत्वाधान में दर्जनों स्कूली बच्चे गांधी पार्क में एकत्रित हुए जहां से उन्होंने ओजोन बचाओ मानव श्रृंखला निकाली। मानव श्रृंखला गांधी पार्क से राजपुर रोड़ घंटाघर होते हुए दिलाराम बाजार से वापस गांधी पार्क में समाप्त हुई। इस अवसर पर संस्था के अध्यक्ष पी. के खत्री ने कहा कि ओजोन वास्तव में आक्सीजन के तीन परमाणुओं से बना अणु है जो कि जीवन रक्षा के लिये एक अति महत्वपूर्ण अवयव है। यह हमारे वायुमंडल के ऊपर एक 10 से 30 कि.मी. मोटी गैस की परत के रुप में उपस्थित है। जो सूर्य के प्रकाश में उपस्थित पराबैंगनी किरणों को पृथ्वी पर आने से रोकता है। उन्होंने कहा कि विगत 15-20 वर्षों में ओजोन परत में 3 प्रतिशत से अधिक प्रतिवर्ष की दर से कमी पाई गयी है। कार्यक्रम के मुख्य वक्ता देवेन्द्र पांडे, निदेशक, भारतीय वन सर्वेश्रण ने बच्चों के समूह को संबोधित करते हुए कहा कि ओजोन की कमी से वातावरण में पराबैंगनी किरणों की वृद्धि हो जाती है जिससे मनुष्यों और पशुओं में त्वचा संबंधी रोग कैंसर, नेत्र रोग व शरीर की प्रतिरोधक क्षमता में कमी आ जाती है। पौधों में प्रकाश संश्लेषण की दर कम होने से वृद्धि रुक जाती है। लघु जीवों में उत्परिवर्तन की संभावनायें बढ़ जाती हैं व पराबैंगनी किरणों के प्रति संवेदी पदार्थों में शीघ्र विनाश की प्रक्रिया प्रारंभ हो सकती है। कार्यक्रम संयोजक डा. सर्वेश कुमार ने कहा ओजोन परत की कमी से उत्पन्न रोगों से बचने के लिये-सूर्य के प्रकाश अवरोधक चश्मों का प्रयोग करें शरीर को अधिकाधिक ढके रखने के लिये लंबी बांहों वाले कपड़े व सिर ढकना चाहिए। संचालन करते हुए डा. बिमल कांत नौटियाल ने कहा कि ओजोन के परत में कमी होना कई जानलेवा रोगों को प्रोत्साहन देता है एवं बच्चों में अभी से ही जागरुकता पैदा कर एवं ऐसे अभियान चलाकर ओजोन के प्रति जानकारी उपलब्ध करायी जा सकती है एवं जनजागरुकता अभियानों के द्वारा जन जन तक संदेश प्रेषित किया जा सकता है। डा. राजेन्द्र डोभाल निदेशक उत्तरांचल राज्य विज्ञान एवं प्रोद्योगिकी परिषद् ने कहा कि भविष्य में परिषद ऐसे जागरुकता एवं जन जागरण कार्यक्रम कराने के लिये आई.आई.टी.जी.आई. को प्रेरित करता रहेगा। कार्यक्रम के डा. सर्वेश, डा बिमल कांत नौटियाल, पी.के.डोभाल, श्रीमति शमीम खत्री, स. सुखचैन सिंह, ई.वी.पी. शर्मा, ई.ए.एम. शिरोही डा. नितिन अग्रवाल, के.एस.के. अदलखा, विनोद उनियाल, ई. राजीव मल्होत्रा, डा. एस. के के. गोविल, तरुण अग्रवाल, श्री संजय उनियाल, दीपक गैरोला आदि उपस्थित थे।
दून दर्पण (देहरादून), 17 Sept, 2006

Islands That Clean
R.K. Srinivasan

Municipal authorities in Indian cities have mastered the art of providing piped water at any cost – the distances involved don’t seem to matter at all. At the same time our municipalities appear clueless when it comes to managing sewage.

Roughly 29,000 million litres of sewage is generated in the country everyday. Only 10 per cent of it is treated, the rest conveniently dumped into nearby rivers and lakes. Dumping of untreated waste has wrought havoc on many a water body. Excess flow of chemicals such as nitrates and phosphorous has lead to proliferation of algae in water bodies, leading to a decline in their oxygen levels.

There have been attempts to revive water bodies, but on the whole these have been found to be too energy intensive. The approaches rely on round-the-clock use of expensive aerators – fountains, which spray water upwards, increasing the dissolved oxygen levels in the process.

Recently, however, S.K. Billore, professor at the Institute of Environment Management and Plant Sciences in Vikram University, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, has devised a cost-effective technique to revive water bodies. Billore’s method relies on artifical floating islands.

The islands are made up of local riparian reed grass, Phragmites karka, which is known to draw away nitrogen and phosphorous from soil. The plants have a special root system which enable them to hold the organic waste and digest it as well. The reed grass also has a hollow shoot system which pumps oxygen into water, improving its dissolved oxygen level.

This process improves the quality of the water body over time. But Billore says, "Floating plants do treat waste water, but they are rarely found in quantities sufficient enough to treat the pollution load of our water bodies. This gap has to be filled by eco-engineered AFIs."

In 2004, the Union Ministry of Water Resources commissioned Billore to undertake a three-year research project, the main goal of which was to restore water quality of the river Kshipra in Ujjain. For starters, Billore’s team installed a 200 sq m AFI in the least turbulent part of the river. Floating islands are widely used in many countries including Japan and China, but Billore’s project was the first of its kind in India.

In fact, the Vikram University professor had been working on the concept for a while. In 1994, he had treated wastewater from 400 households in Ujjain’s Ravinder Nagar, using the reed bed system. The project’s success spurred Billore to conduct more extensive research on reed beds. And in 2005 he up-scaled the same concept to treat the Kshipra River.

The scientist points out, "Kshipra is the lifeline of Ujjain, but now sewage from fast growing city of Indore has virtually sounded the death knell of the river." He installed the eco-engineered AFIs in Kshipra near Jiwaji observatory where Phragmites were grown in a 200sq. m. in float. The coir base was made using locally-available bamboo. Over a period of time, the root of the grass extended to more than a meter and its dense root system helped in arresting suspended organic matters.

This provides a congenial environment for the breeding of insects and micro invertebrates. The system became a house for micro and macro organisms, which started sapping up organic matters trapped in the root system. The root system became a home for beneficial bacteria, which improved biological processes such as the nitrogen cycle. The AFI ecosystem enhanced the self-purification capacity of water bodies with oxygen surging through the hollow floating reed stem-rhizome-roots.

Prashant, a research associate of the Vikram University who monitors the impact of the floating islands, says, "The AFI can effectively meet primary goals of removing nitrates, phosphates, suspended solids and BOD by 50 to 80 per cent. Besides improving water quality, AFIs protect the littoral zone, improve the waterscape and provide a habitat for fish and birds".

A comparative analysis of samples taken below the floating islands and from a distance, in March 2006, shows a considerable improvement in the river quality.

Creating floating islands of the kind devised by Billore means a one-time cost of around Rs 6 lakh. The system requires minimum maintenance. But the


system has a major disadvantage. During high currents, floods, or when the Kshipra is in peak flow, the floating islands have to be dragged to the bank to prevent them from getting carried away by the river. This problem is, however, confined to floating islands in rivers. Islands in ponds do not face this problem. In June 2006, Billore and his team successfully implemented the AFI system in the tank of Mahakaleswar temple to reduce the algae growth.

After his success in Kshipra river, Billore and his team developed a wetland system to treat wastewater at Ekant Park in Bhopal. The Ujjain University professor is today serving as a consultant for the Madhya Pradesh Government’s Environmental Planning and Coordination Organization project that aims to develop a wetland system that will treat wastewater sources from Bhopal city. Installation of this wetland is part of the Bhoj Wetland Project that aims to conserve and manage the upper and lower lakes of Bhopal.

The endeavour to clean India’s waters needs more people like Billore.
The Statesman (Kolkata), 18 Sep. 2006

The Union Minister of Environment and Forests Thiru A. Raja’s statement on wastewater treatment becoming a major environmental issue in India at the Seminar on Innovations in Waste-water Treatment and Economic Reuse, here today, the solution in the form of treating sewage as resource, not as a waste calls for proper appraisal for evolving suitable strategies aimed at envisaging provisions of clean drinking water, sanitation and other environment protection measures and making them active agenda of our country.

The necessity of an proactive action plans is imperative in the backdrop of untreated and partially treated waste water from industries and refuse from private sanitary system eventually finding its way into fresh water resources such as rivers, lakes and ground water. The disastrous consequences in the form of water borne diseases, pose a major threat to the public health which calls for addressing this problem very seriously keeping the future state of affairs in this area, in mind.

In the seminar the highly capital intensive nature of the existing sewage treatment systems and the associated major land requirements becoming major constraints was rightly discussed and deliberated upon. The traditional technologies based on aeration have become too expensive in terms of the operational costs in view of the very high power requirement.

The need of the hour is to select technologies which are appropriate to Indian conditions and are easy to construct, operate and maintain. In this context the Minister appealed to put efforts to evolve safe and maximum reuse of treated sewage for aqua-culture, pisci-culture, irrigation and urban forestry so


that the nutrient rich treated sewage is used as a resource and not considered a waste. Similarly, the sludge from sewage treatment plants can be used as manure and the biogas generated used to generate electricity and can turn the situation in the national interest.

In this specific area the Ministry of Environment and Forests is endeavoring hard and is making concrete efforts to ensure our rivers are not contaminated by polluted water including sewage. The active involvement of all cross-sections of society – public-private participation will help in achieving these objectives to ensure clean drinking water and sanitation and make our lakes and rivers pollution free in a cost effective manner and undoubtedly the objectives of new environment policy, addresses the issue of technology as well as multi-partnership.
The Himachal Times (Dehradun), 20 Sep. 2006

A month ago, a Panamanian-registered vessel dumped over 500 tonnes of liquid toxic wastes into 14 open-air rubbish tips around Abidjan, in the Ivory Coast, and into the surrounding sea. Today, seven persons are dead, 25 remain hospitalised in a serious state while 26,000 others have consulted doctors with symptoms of poisoning.

The already shaky Government of Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny was forced out of office as a result of the scandal. But predictably, President Laurent Gbagbo has asked him to name a new Cabinet. So great is the ire of the population that residents forced the country's Transport Minister out of his car, roughed him up, and made him inhale toxic fumes from a nearby waste dump in central Abidjan. Three high-level officials have been fired and a clean-up contract has been awarded to a French firm that is to start waste removal on Sunday.

The irony of it is that not so long ago Ivory Coast was held up as an example of a well-run, efficient, economically successful African state. Today this once flourishing nation has been brought to its knees by a devastating civil war and near-total political irresponsibility. Rife with corruption, Ivory Coast's economy has been practically handed over to mafia bosses and carpetbaggers of every stripe while rival factions fight over the country's resources.

In the latest twist to the tragedy of the Ivorian people, President Gbagbo has broken off peace negotiations with the United Nations for elections that were scheduled for October. It is unlikely that the country will emerge from its current crisis marked by violence and political stalemate anytime soon.

It is not surprising therefore that unscrupulous profiteers managed to bring in highly toxic waste in contravention of all international treaties (especially the Basel Treaty on the export of toxic waste) with callous disregard to human life. Nor is it surprising that the waste was dispatched or rather sold to the Ivory Coast by a European company. For all its talk of respect for the environment, Europe has often been guilty of breaking the very laws it helped frame.

The exact nature of the waste is still not known although experts sent in by the French and Swiss Governments say it is a mixture of oil residue and caustic soda used to flush out the tanks of the Probo Koala, a Greek-owned cargo ship flying the Panamanian flag. The fumes from the highly toxic waste have caused nausea, skin rashes, fainting, diarrhoea, and headaches. And it is now feared that the poison may have contaminated the country's water and entered the food chain.

Deadly cargo
The toxic waste was dumped by the Probo Koala that loaded its deadly cargo in Amsterdam. The Ivorian Justice Ministry or what is left of it (the transitional government resigned as a result of the scandal and a new government is to be sworn in) is vainly trying to cut through the web of secrecy surrounding the affair in an attempt to find the guilty. Seven persons have been arrested, three of them from companies working closely with the Abidjan port

authority. These include Puma Energy which hired the Probo Koala, and which specialises in handling toxic waste, a director of Tommy, the company that supervised the dumping of the waste, as well as an employee of an intermediary company called Waibs.

The sequence of events is still unclear but agency reports indicate that the Probo Koala contacted Puma Energy to inform them of its intention to get rid of its slops, the filth that is flushed out when a ship's tanks are cleaned. Made up of petroleum residue mixed with caustic soda, these highly toxic wastes require treatment before disposal. Puma Energy in turn contacted Tommy through the good offices of Waibs. Tommy received its licence to dispose of toxic waste as recently as July 12.

Enter a multinational company dealing in petroleum and metals, Trafigura and the picture muddies. According to officials of the company, the toxic substances are not part of the Probo Koala's cargo which was crude oil, but were the ship's slops mixed with other hydrocarbons? The discharge of such slops into the sea is strictly prohibited by Marpol, the international convention on maritime pollution, which stipulates that such wastes have to be pumped out, stocked and treated in properly equipped waste treatment plants.

Is it possible that a banal mixture of petroleum residue and caustic soda habitually used by petrol tankers can have such terrible consequences? French experts sent to Abidjan say the waste contained "unusually toxic molecules" including hydrogen sulphide, a colourless gas that reeks of rotten eggs and causes cyanide-like poisoning. With such terribly toxic elements present who authorised the waste to be classified as normal ship's slops?

The Probo Koala was supposed to empty its tanks and treat the wastes in Amsterdam. But port authorities say the stuff stank so much that the residue was analysed. It was found to contain "unusual elements" which meant it would have to be sent to Rotterdam for treatment. That would have cost Trasfigura $35,000 a day as demurrage with additional penalties of $250,000 for delays. The decision was probably not difficult to take. The ship was packed off with fresh cargo and minus a cleanout. It deposited its cargo of crude in Nigeria and then went straight to Abidjan.

The ecological association Robin des bois (Robin Hood) described what happened as "nothing short of brigandage." Experts say it is both "necessary and urgent" to remove the toxic wastes for treatment. Many of the rubbish tips are located close to market gardens and the wastes could already have entered the food chain. An experts' report was submitted to the Prime Minister on September 12 but he is not due to make it public until the weekend.

At that point — a month after the 500-plus tonnes of waste were dumped into 14 open-air rubbish tips in the city — Mr. Banny is expected to announce "drastic" measures to protect the population. Those measures, expected to focus on ensuring vegetables and fish are fit for human consumption, may already be too late.

The Dutch-based multinational trading company Trafigura, which operates the Probo Koala, insisted on September 12 that it had handed the waste over to Ivorian firm Tommy to dispose of correctly. But it now appears that the waste was not ship's slops but much more dangerous material.

This is just one more example of how developing countries are used as dumping grounds by greedy and unscrupulous business interests who flagrantly ignore international regulations with or without the connivance of their governments. This is also a grim reminder of the fact that without local support from corrupt officials prepared to turn a blind eye to such violations in exchange for a handful of dollars, such acts would be difficult to carry out.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 16 Sep. 2006

Climate change is usually associated with increasing levels of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, trapping heat and thereby causing global warming. But there is growing concern that human activity might also be altering the climate, perhaps in unpredictable ways, by releasing a large amount of soot and other pollutants into the atmosphere in the form of tiny particles known as aerosols.

Aerosols can, however, be produced naturally too. Winds, for instance, whip vast quantities of dust and sea salt into the air. Likewise, sulphur-containing compounds known as sulphates can arise by natural processes and plants release organic materials. Nor are aerosols in the atmosphere invariably a bad thing. Clouds would not form if there were no fine particles in the atmosphere around which water vapour could condense into droplets.

Unlike greenhouse gases that persist and thereby accumulate in the atmosphere, aerosols are short-lived. These fine particles may stay aloft in the atmosphere for only one to three weeks. Aerosols are not evenly distributed around the globe. Although they are often concentrated near places where they are generated, they can also be transported by winds for considerable distances, sometimes across continents. Moreover, the type of aerosols found in the atmosphere and the quantities in which they are present change from time to time.

Long before aerosols became the hot area for international research that they are today, scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation had watched the ebb and flow of these particles. Although their observations were carried out from just a few stations on the ground, it was clear that there were major seasonal variations in the concentrations of natural aerosols and anthropogenic ones that arise from human activity.

It was the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX) undertaken jointly by scientists and institutions from the United States, Europe, and India in the late 1990s that highlighted the extent of the problem posed by human pollutants. INDOEX found a thick haze over the Indian subcontinent and the surrounding oceans. Soot (which gave the cloud a distinctive brown tinge), sulphates from the burning of coal, nitrates from vehicular emissions, and fly ash formed the bulk of the haze, and were mixed with natural aerosols such as sea salt and dust.

Aerosols influence the climate in a number of ways. Many of these fine particles scatter sunlight and stop some of it from reaching the earth's surface. Increased levels of water-absorbing particles, such as sea salt and natural sulphates, lead to more cloud droplets forming; the greater cloudiness reflects more sunlight back into space and again less light reaches the ground. These days, scientists are paying more attention to soot. That is because soot particles don't just block sunlight but absorb it, thereby heating up the lower atmosphere and literally burning off clouds that might have formed.

Human-produced aerosols over South Asia and the northern Indian Ocean have dimmed sunlight by as much as seven per cent between 1930 and 2000, while enhancing the solar heating of the lower atmosphere by about 30 per cent to 50 per cent, according to work published by V. Ramanathan and his group at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California.

It is possible that soot could produce an even greater impact than previously thought, says S.K. Satheesh of the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science. Dust and soot, for instance, need not remain as separate particles. Instead, the tiny soot particles can stick to and coat grains of dust. Such composite particles might triple the dimming of sunlight and perhaps double the cloud burn-off than if dust and soot had remained separate. A similar effect might also be produced by sulphate particles coated over with soot.

The Indo-Gangetic plain is one of the most polluted regions in the world. Measurements made during December 2004 at Kanpur found soot concentrations that were comparable to those at big cities in the country, according to S.N. Tripathi and his team at IIT Kanpur. Samples collected from an aircraft showed soot concentrations at a height of two km that were higher than that at ground level in many European industrial areas. The same was true for Hyderabad as well, suggesting that the problem was not restricted to the Indo-Gangetic plain.

India and China, the two most populous countries and now experiencing rapid economic growth, are major soot producers. Dr. Ramanathan and his colleagues believe that most of the soot in the air above South Asia comes from the burning of fossil fuel. On the other hand, Chandra Venkataraman of IIT Mumbai and fellow scientists argued in a paper published last year that the burning of wood, agriculture waste, animal dung, and other forms of biomass was the "largest source" of soot emissions in India.

But there are seasonal variations in soot levels and even dramatic year-to-year changes. Dr. Tripathi found that, for as yet unknown reasons, soot levels in Kanpur during December 2005 were far below those recorded a year earlier. Likewise, the pollution is said to have been particularly bad during the early months of 1999 when many key INDOEX observations were made.

Soot concentrations over the Indian subcontinent and the surrounding oceans are high principally from November to February, according to Dr. Satheesh. Thereafter, till the monsoon sets in, dust from the deserts of Rajasthan and West Asia predominate. Besides, natural aerosols account for nearly three-quarters of all aerosols present globally, he adds.

While natural aerosols were important in determining the current climate, "when we are talking about climate change, then the focus is on man-made [aerosols]," Dr. Ramanathan told The Hindu when he was in India recently.

Many climate models suggest global warming would increase rainfall over India. But when the effect of aerosols was introduced into a climate model, "we found that the monsoon rainfall in this model was decreasing," he said. Records showed that India's monsoon rainfall had, in fact, gradually decreased over the last 50 years. In a paper published last year, Dr. Ramanathan and his colleagues suggested that the frequency of droughts in India could increase in the coming decades if pollution continued unabated.

Effect on the monsoon
According to Dr. Ramanathan, what appeared to be happening was that pollution dimmed sunlight over the Arabian Sea and consequently that part of the ocean was preferentially cooling compared to the southern Indian Ocean. Since rain systems gravitate towards warmer oceans, the reduced temperature gradient between those two parts of the ocean slowed monsoon circulation and thereby decreased rainfall.

In a press release issued by the Scripps Institution earlier this year, Dr. Ramanathan was quoted as saying: "The greenhouse gases are pushing in one direction, warming the ocean and trying to make more rain, and the aerosols are pushing in another direction for cooler oceans and less rain." Some years the aerosols might win and in other years the greenhouse effect might get the upper hand. The tussle between the two could produce greater year-to-year variability in monsoon rainfall over South Asia that could be difficult to cope with.

The role of natural aerosols, which are dominant over South Asia and the neighbouring oceans during the pre-monsoon period, cannot be ignored when looking at climate impact, objects J. Srinivasan of the Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science. Recent work at the U.K. Met Office had shown that incorporation of dust aerosols into a climate model made for more accurate simulation of the African monsoon.

When the effect of carbon dioxide on climate change is studied, the levels of the gas generated naturally as well as by humans were both taken into account. "We must adopt the same approach when looking at how aerosols will influence the climate," he told The Hindu . The Indian monsoon rainfall was known to increase and decrease in cycles that were sometimes several decades long, he says. There was little evidence that the decline in rainfall over the last 50 years was not part of such a cycle.

"At present, our understanding of the role of aerosols in determining climate and the capabilities of climate models to simulate the Indian monsoon are both quite poor. Without improvements on both fronts, it is difficult to confidently predict how changes in aerosol levels will influence something as complex as the monsoon," according to Dr. Srinivasan.

How aerosols influenced regional climate was a new field and it would take time to resolve this issue, agrees Dr. Ramanathan. It had taken over a century to evolve a consensus on greenhouse gases and global warming. Although hopefully it would not take that long to find definitive answers to the impact of aerosols, a lot more studies needed to be carried out, he said.

Then again, it is not necessary to wait for a scientific consensus to emerge before seeking ways to reduce soot and other human-produced aerosols. Cutting pollution would, after all, immediately benefit people's health. But bringing about such reduction in countries such as India and China means finding alternate and affordable ways to meet the energy needs of a vibrant economy as well as of a large population, many of them quite poor. That is not going to be easy.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 04 Sept. 2006

Check Pollution in Yamuna in Festival Season
Harish V. Nair

The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Government to take steps to prevent further pollution of Yamuna with plastic bags and other materials used for puja during ‘Navratra’ and ‘Dussehra’.

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Vijender Jain and Justice Kailash Gambhir gave the direction as it was found that huge quantity of such pollutants makes way into the river, considered holy by the Hindus, during the festival season. Hearing a PIL filed by Vinod Kumar Jain, the court directed the authorities that the Delhi Plastic bags and Non-biodegradable Garbage (Control) Act 2000 and further amendment to the Act in 2005 be implemented in totality.

The petitioner prayed for direction to the Secretary, Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Delhi Government, the Department of Law of Delhi Government and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to implement the Act for the use of bio-degradable plastic bags in the Capital. The state government had made the use of bio-degradable plastic bags mandatory in five and four star hotels, Mother Dairy outlets, liquor shops, restaurants, eateries and shopping malls.
Hindustan Times (New Delhi), 23 Sept. 2006

The smoke-and-dust-laden air you breathe on your way to work or on your weekend family outing could be your death bell tolling away.

Researchers at Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute claim to have found conclusive evidence that foul air is responsible for the rise in morbidity and mortality. The so-called ‘lifestyle diseases’ – heart attack, kidney failure, lung disorder, impotence and memory loss-may also be triggered by air pollution.

"Pollution is the catalyst that triggers cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in Indian cities. Urban stress, sedentary lifestyle and genetic disorder compound the risk, acting as a fatal cocktail," said Twisha Lahiri, a key member of the CNCI team that has been researching the effect of pollution on health for over 15 years.

The team had initially focused on high incidence of lung cancer in Kolkata (18.4 per 1,00,000 against 11 per 1,00,000 in other metros). But it soon discovered that while lungs took the first hit from
continued exposure to air pollution (45% people in Kolkata have reduced lung function), nearly all vital organs were subsequently affected by pollutants, gradually causing life-threatening ailments.

"In the lungs, macrophages – a vital defence mechanism against bacteria and virus - get engaged fighting the fine (2.5 micro diameter) particles. Busy gobbling up foreign particles, they forget the real function, leaving the lungs vulnerable to bacteria and virus attack. During this, an enzyme called elastase is also released which degrades the lung’s elastic tissues, leading to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease," she explained.

Ultra-fine particles (0.1 micron), however, slip through the walls into the blood-stream.
The Times of India (New Delhi), 20 Sept. 2006

Environmental degradation and the loss of forest cover and biodiversity is affecting the well being of the people of this country especially poor and the tribals. Recognizing this fact the 10^th Five Year Plan has put emphasis on sustainable development but it is yet to be seen on practical front to what level it comes up.

The total forest tree cover in the country has increased by 21,219 Sq. Kms, as compared to the 2001 assessment. The total forest and tree cover in 2003 in the country has increased by 0.65% of the total geographic area as compared to 2001 assessment and in 2006 it has gone up further.

The Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the UPA Government has cast a number of responsibilities on the Ministry particularly in relation to the interface between livelihoods of the poor in particular forest tribals. In order to boost the development of underdeveloped tribals and rural areas, number of steps have been taken particularly on one-time general clearance for public utility development projects it is learnt.

To provide better means of communication and accessibility to the nearest market to tribal and rural people, detailed guidelines have been issued to the effect that for up-gradation of roads constructed in forest areas prior to 1980, Central Government permission under the Forest (Conservation) Act is not required. This is one good step which lends credence to the UPA govt., on its policy front.

Ministry has rightly adopted a multi-pronged approach for abatement of pollution from various sources. These

include Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), notification of standards for pollution control, technical and financial support to various State Pollution Control Boards and regular monitoring of air and water quality.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is one of the flexible arrangements under the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) supporting the implementation of sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies in developing countries and thereby, facilitating industrialized countries in meeting their emission reduction obligations in a cost-effective manner.

The vigorous project development activity in the country and the pro-active stand adopted by the Government has propelled India to become the leading global destination for CDM investments. Currently, 203 projects had been accorded Host Country Approval by the National CDM Authority, it is told. These projects in energy efficiency, fuel switching, industrial processes, municipal solid waste and renewable energy sectors are expected to generate about 195 million CERs.

The ceiling of eco-clubs entitled to get financial assistance from Ministry of Environment and Forests has also been raised from 150 to 250 per district. The increased monetary support will enable the eco-clubs to broad base their activities and enhance environmental awareness.

Despite all this the Ministry of Environment and Forests has a long way to go in making the forests tools of survival of the people and for making people eco conscious and for increasing the forest cover realistically not limiting it to the mere paper work.

States like Uttaranchal and Himachal which have done a good job in this direction must be encouraged and rewarded adequately for being guardians of forest wealth in Himalayas.
The Himachal Times (Dehradun), 09 Sep. 2006

A workshop organized by the National Forestation Development Board and the Agricultural Finance Corporation in Kota earlier this week underlined the need for evolving an effective strategy for joint forest management in the villages that could strengthen the rural economy.

Kota Divisional Commissioner J.C. Mohanty said the joint forest management would help the villagers get a higher income form the forest areas and ensure protection of flora and fauna with people’s participation. Chief Forest Conservator S. Prasad said the measures for conservation of forests should be launched in a scientific manner and plantation should be taken up to increase the density of forests.

The three-day workshop also threw light on coordination between various wings of Government for successful implementation of the National Forestation Programme.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 29 Sep. 2006

The Uttaranchal government is planning to increase the green cover in the state by setting up an artificial forest. The state forest department is working on a suggestion by Uttaranchal Governor Sudershan Aggarwal.

The forest department plans to set up the artificial forest near Dehradun that will also minimise pollution in the area. Called the Students’ Urban Forestry Scheme, it will involve large-scale plantation of trees by students in a 10 hectare plot provided by the department near the government sports college at Raipur on the outskirts of the capital.

The initiative was started following Aggarwal’s suggestion at a Van Mahotsav function held at the National Institute for Visually Handicapped on August 20 to set up a ‘dense forest’ for maintaining the capital’s ecological balance.

Based on the idea, the forest department selected the 10 hectare plot at Raipur, which had been divided into 25 parts of one acre each. Students from various educational institutions in the capital would plant trees in these plots.

The first phase of the project, which started on Wednesday, witnessed students from nine reputed schools and educational institutes like Welham Boys’ and Institute of Management Studies planting trees in the nine one-acre plots.

Students from other institutes would plant the remaining 16 acres with trees till September 10. According to a release, each school would pay Rs.40,000 for the unique afforestation drive.

Each sapling would carry a plate mentioning the name of the student who planted it.

Although the forest department would be responsible for the upkeep of the trees, students would also be encouraged to take part in the process.

With the aim of connecting students with the important issue of conservation of environment, there are plans to start similar programmes in other towns and urban areas of the state.

Commending the efforts of schools and students who participated in the programme, Aggarwal stated that this is the first such project in the country and judging by the response it could even be replicated in other states.
Hinduastan Times (New Delhi), 08 Sept 2006

The center will make the best use of Rs. 1,000 crore allocated by the 12^th Finance Commission to increase the forest and tree cover to a desired level of 33%. Steps will also be taken for conservation of the existing forest area.

Inaugurating a two-day Conference of Principal Chief Conservators of Forests and Chief Wildlife Wardens in the Capital, Environment and Forests Minister A. Raja said," different stakeholders would be involved for greening wastelands." He further said efforts were on to persuade other land-owning ministries to earmark 2% of their budgetary allocation for planting trees. About 25% of plan-out-lay, earmarked for rural employment scheme, shall be devoted for planting trees and conserving forest cover.

Raja urged the state governments to compliment the efforts of the central government in their own way. He pointed out that there was a call for "people centred action plan" across the world, in the wake of increasing ecological movement and said that forestry was caught between multiple demands-ranging from livelihood concerns of the locals to development aspiration of the national psyche. Raja defended the role of the forest departments and said, it was striking a balance between the two goals."
The Financial Express (New Delhi), 06 Sep. 2006

Government to Develop Five-Acre Forest Land
Shwetank Dubey and Devadeep Chowdhury

The ‘Clean Delhi, Green Delhi’ slogan of the Delhi government got emboldened yet again in a move in which the government has sent a proposal to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to develop a five acre piece of land in the Sultanpur Dabas area of outer Delhi into an artificial forest land.

"A survey of the area has been undertaken by the Delhi Government already," said Delhi environment minister, Mr. Rajkumar Chauhan. According to the directive, DMRC has to replace the trees in ten fold proportion of the plantation they mow down at the course of laying down Metro tracks. They have been asked to develop this area into a forest land as opposed to the idea of replacing those trees area specifically. "Over the years Delhi has witnessed a green revolution and this is one more step towards it", added Mr. Chauhan.

Sultanpur Dabas is an industrial area and reportedly lacks pollution control measures. Development of the forest land will benefit residents in a multi-pronged and sustained manner. Size of the forest would account to almost 19 per cent of the total forestland Delhi has. At present Delhi has forest cover of 170.17 sq km against the total geographical area os 1,483 sq km, that effectively means 11.46 per cent forest land.

In a similar move, the government has also taken a decision to rejuvenate numerous natural ponds that exist in areas like Bawana and Jaunsi, considered as villages, at a cost of Rs. one crore. Ponds are of great importance for maintaining ecological balance as Delhi lacks considerable amount of water bodies.

The funds have been already released by Grameen Vikas Board and they are also contemplating releasing monetary support for renovation of ancient Mughal structures, named Diwan e-Khas and Diwan-e-Aam after the more famous court houses situated in Red Fort, in Jaunsi village to promote it as a heritage site.
The Statesman (Kolkata), 21 Sep. 2006

Ants, Termites Can Make Barren Land Productive
M.J. Prabu

Soil fertility plays an important role in enhancing crop growth. The term soil fertility means the availability of macronutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and micronutrients such as zinc, iron, boron and copper in the soil for use by the plants for their growth and development.

Crops grow well in soils in which the above elements are available in sufficient quantities. Soils in which these are absent are often treated as wastelands or barren lands.

Planned approach
Conversion of such barren lands into a productive agricultural resource by adding chemical and organic fertilizers can be achieved by a carefully planned remedial approach, according to Mr. S. Natesan, a farmer of Karanodai village near Chennai. Mr. Natesan has converted his 5-hectare barren land into a bamboo plantation. According to him, initially the land was very hard to plough and infested with severe weed growth.

Hard surface soil
"There was no water source nearby and digging a well was quite difficult as the surface soil was quite hard. "During monsoon, water used to stagnate on the land and during summer they became parched," he said. Though he had tried to grow some crops earlier in the barren land he was not successful.

To improve soil fertility Natesan had released a number of termites, black ants and earthworms in his land. "Termites and ants are very good at improving the soil fertility. They burrow into the hard rocky surface creating small holes on it thereby making the soil porous and easy to plough," elaborated Natesan. Giving details on how he had released the termites and ants Natesan said, "I sprinkled water on small wooden billets and covered them with an earthen pot. In a week's time a number of small termites could be seen on the wooden billets."

The termites were then carefully collected in a bag along with the wooden billets and released in the land. "I also collected a number of black ants (known as Kattai erumbu in Tamil) from nearby anthills and released them in the land," he explained. He had also applied about 5-6 tonnes of vermicompost every 10-11 months on his land and periodically released some earthworms.

Water harvesting
About six pits were dug in and around his land. "These pits were used to collect rainwater during the monsoon. The water table in the area had also risen considerably after digging these pits," he said. "But this procedure did not produce an overnight miracle," explained Natesan. It takes a minimum of 5-6 years of patience and labour to prepare the land for cultivation. After five years, rectangular pits of about 2 x 5 mts were dug and filled with compost and farmyard manure.

Planting details
The pits were then covered with sand forming a mound like structure on top. About 10-15 four feet high bamboo clumps were then planted on top of the mounds. About 300 bamboo clumps can be planted in one hectare, according to Natesan. The clumps come to harvest in about three years.

At present one foot of bamboo is being sold for Rs.2. A full-grown bamboo measures 25-30 feet in height and is sold for Rs. 60 in the market. "I had spent about Rs 4,000 for cultivating bamboo in one hectare of my barren land," he said. Approximately Rs.60,000 can be expected from a hectare, according to Natesan.

Mr. S. Natesan can be contacted at Vijay farms, Karanodai, Sholavaram post, Chennai - 600 067, Tamil Nadu.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 14 Sep. 2006

Vagaries of the monsoon have forced a number of farmers growing traditional crops to seek viable alternatives. Trees such as teak and Casuarina have become popular among farmers as the trees, once planted, require little attention and water and their wood fetches a good price in the market.

MIQ- Junghuhniana casuarina is a hybrid variety developed by an innovative farmer Mr. Venkatapathy Reddiar of Lakshmi Narayana's Crossandra Innovation Centre at Koodapakkam village in Puducherry. Casuarina tree is called Savukku maram in Tamil, Sarugudu in Telugu, Surve mara in Kannada and Jangli saru in Hindi.

Disease free plants
Working in an ingeniously designed laboratory at his Crossandra Innovation Centre, Mr. Reddiar has developed quality, disease-free MIQ-Junghuhniana casuarina plants with long roots through the vegetative propagation technique.

"It is the first time that this Casuarina variety has been developed by vegetative propagation," he said. The wood of this variety has a good demand in the market for making paper, rayon ropes, and mirror frames.

Ideal for drylands
This Casuarina is ideal for growing in drylands and rainfed areas. It has long tapering roots, which penetrate deep into the soil and reaches a height of 80-100 feet in 3-4 years of planting.

The trunk of a full-grown tree trunk measures about 40cm in girth and attains a weight of 150-200 kg, according to Mr. Reddiar.

If planted at the same time, all the trees reach the same height. The ideal time for planting the trees is during April-May. "A native of Thailand, the variety was introduced in India during the 1950s and can be grown in any soil type and requires very little water for its growth. About 3,570 saplings are required for planting in one hectare," Mr. Reddiar said.

Before planting, it is advisable to plough the land well after applying farmyard manure. The saplings should then be planted either in straight lines or in triangles with a distance of about 5 feet between individual saplings.

The saplings should be irrigated for about eight months after planting. Though the variety is hardy and resistant to any infestation, in some areas termite infestation is noticed. Farmers are advised to spray 1ml. chloropyriphos diluted in one litre of water over the saplings to control the infestation, according to Mr. Reddiar.

Weeding requirement
Weeding should be done once every week for the first three months and once every month thereafter. Fertilizer application of about 100kg of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and 50kg of urea must be done on the sixth and twelfth month after planting.

The fertilizer must be applied in holes dug about 1 foot away from the tree trunk. After the eight month, about 250gm of groundnut cake should be applied in the same manner. The fertilizer applications must be continued till the third year of planting.

Suitable fence crops
Being hardy, the trees can withstand strong winds without breaking and are ideal fence crops. Compared to other crops the return from this variety is very high, according to Mr. Reddiar. "A farmer needs to spend about Rs. 35,000 towards cost of saplings, fertilizer and transport.

One tonne of MIQ-Junghuhniana casuarina wood is priced at Rs. 3,500 in the market and farmers can earn about rupees thirteen lakh from a hectare," he said. The trees have a life span of about 50 years and farmers can continue cutting the trees once every 3-4 years.

The saplings are available at Lakshmi Narayana's Crossandra Innovation Centre at Puducherry and are priced at Rs 4 per sapling. Mr. Venkatapathy Reddiar can be reached at No.6, Perumal koil Street, Koodapakkam, Puducherry.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 28 Sep. 2006

Patchouli: A Suitable Aromatic Herb for Intercropping
M.J. Prabu

Patchouli is an aromatic herb grown for its leaves, which yield oil. The oil is used in making agarbathis, soaps and cosmetics. Since there is no synthetic replacement for patchouli oil, the demand is very high both in the Indian and over seas markets. Indian demand for patchouli oil is about 220 tonnes per annum and at present it is mainly met by imports.

The crop can be cultivated in a wide range of soils and climates. Once planted, the crop can be maintained for 3-4 years.

Popular varieties
At present Johore and Java are the two popular varieties among the farmers, according to Dr. M. Vasundhara, Prof. and Incharge, Medicinal and Aromatic Section, Division of Horitculture, University of Agricultural Sciences, Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK), Bangalore.

The crop is mainly propagated by vegetative cuttings. The ideal time for propagating the cuttings in the nursery is during June-September.

Raised nursery beds of convenient size are prepared under shade. Cuttings of about 20 cm length with 4-5 nodes are planted in nursery beds at a spacing of about 2-3 cm.

The nursery is watered twice daily for 3-4 days after planting the cuttings and once a day, thereafter.

Field preparation
The cuttings will be ready for transplanting in the main field in 8-10 weeks. Before transplanting the cuttings, the main field has to be thoroughly ploughed into furrows after applying about 12 tonnes of farmyard manure and 50 kg of neem cake.

The seedlings are planted at a spacing of 45 cm x 45 cm on the furrows. The ideal time for transplanting the seedlings is during June-July.

Patchouli plants require partial shade and can be grown in the shade of either Sesbania as a main crop, or under arecanut/coconut/ fruit plantation as an intercrop.

About 50,000 seedlings are required for planting in a hectare if it is going to be planted as a monocrop and about 20,000 seedlings, if it is to be planted as an intercrop in coconut, arecanut and fruit plantation. Another method of planting is on raised beds, where two feet width beds are formed and the rooted seedlings are planted at intervals of about one foot in a zig-zag manner on the beds. The advantage of this method, according to Dr. Vasundhara is that drip irrigation can be adopted.

The recommended fertilizer dose is about 150 kg urea, 50 kg phosphorus and 50 kg potash per hectare.

About 25 kg urea and full dose of phosphorus and potash are applied as a basal dose. The remaining urea is applied in five equal split doses after every harvest. Application of micronutrients is essential for better growth.

Irrigation must be done once in four days and later once a week. Regular manual weeding is done during the initial stages of crop growth.

Pest control
To control pests such as leaf eating caterpillar and leaf roller, harvesting at regular intervals and spraying of 1.5 ml. methyl parathion diluted in one litre of water are found effective.

To control leaf blight, root rot and root wilt, spraying 1 ml of contaf diluted in one litre of water has been found effective.

The crop comes to harvest in about six months of planting and subsequent harvests can be done in 3-4 month intervals.

The leaves are harvested at 20-25 cm above ground level. The fresh leaves are shade dried for 5-6 days. About 3-4 tonnes of dry leaves can be obtained in one harvest, which yields 50-60 kgs of oil.

Cultivation cost
The total cost for cultivating the crop comes to about Rs. 50,000, according to Dr. Vasundhara. Fresh leaves are sold at Rs. 3-5 per kg, while the dried ones are sold at Rs. 20-22 per kg.

"The oil is priced between Rs.1,200-1,600 per kg in the market. Taking the minimum oil price to be Rs. 1,200 per kg, the gross return will be about Rs. 72,000 with a net return of Rs. 22,000 for first year crop," she said.

But for the second and third years, the net returns will be more than Rs. 50,000, according to her.

For more details contact Dr. M. Vasundhara, Prof and Incharge, Medicinal and Aromatic Section, Division of Horticulture, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK, Bangalore-65.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 07 Sep. 2006

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, may have hit upon a way to make malaria treatment easily accessible – they’ve found that a combination of curcumin from turmeric (a common spice in India) and artemisinin from Artemisia annua (a Chinese herb) is highly effective against drug-resistant malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum.

Currently, artemisinin is the sole option against drug resistant malaria. Since the World Health Organisation has ruled that artemisinin should be used together with other medicines to ensure the bug does not become resistant to it, researchers have been trying to develop effective combinations. Drugs such as sulphadoxinepyrimethamine, amodiaquine and mefloquine have been suggested. But these combinations have been hard to use because of side effects. The I.I.Sc. combination is unique because both its ingredients are of natural origin.

To study the effectiveness of the herbs in vivo, mice infected with P. berghi (which induces malaria in rodents) were injected with arteether, an artemisinin derivative, accompanied by an oral dose of curcumin. Curcumin was given orally for two more days. The scientists report that the combination showed 100 per cent effectiveness by curing all the mice. As only one dose of the expensive artemisinin derivative is needed instead of three, the cost of treatment is reduced to just one-third of other combinations. The findings were published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (May 2006), and the scientists have applied for a patent for the combination in both the USA and India.

The researchers, in collaboration with the National Institute of Malaria Research, have submitted a project proposal to the Department of Biotechnology to carry out clinical trials on humans. Govindrajan Padmanaban, who led the team, says it would take at least two years to make the drug available in the market. "As this is an indigenous natural product, side effects are not likely. The combination would make the treatment much cheaper and if the drug is found effective in the clinical trials, it would be a win-win situation throughout," he adds. Indian manufacturers have been contacted to develop the drug further.
The Statesman (Kolkata), 07 Sep. 2006

India’s traditional backyard plant, Ocimum sanctum, or tulsi, might protect the heart from coronary heart disease, medical researchers said today after a series of studies on laboratory rats. Therapy with tulsi has been advocated for centuries by several ancient systems of medicine, including ayurveda, siddha, and unani, against a range of illnesses — from diabetes to heart disease to asthma.

Now, the researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi have demonstrated for the first time the mechanisms through which tulsi might protect the heart — using rat models for human heart disease.

Their findings, reported this week in the journal Current Science from the Indian Academy of Sciences, suggest that daily doses of extracts of tulsi leaves for four weeks can protect rats from a chemical injurious to the heart.

"The results of these experiments are encouraging, but we do not have evidence yet to recommend this for human use," cautioned Dharamvir Singh Arya, associate professor of pharmacology at the AIIMS and principal investigator.

"We will need controlled trials to show that it works in humans and — if it is shown to work — we will need to work out the optimum dose for humans," Arya told The Telegraph. "But these experiments on rats have provided for the first time insights into the molecular mechanisms through which tulsi might exercise its protective effect," Arya said.

In their studies, the AIIMS researchers fed groups of rats with a daily dose of tulsi extract for a period of four weeks. Then each of the rats received two doses of a chemical called isoproterenol (ISP). "In high doses given to the rats, this chemical induced damage to their hearts very similar to what is observed in human patients with coronary heart disease," Arya said.

The AIIMS team then conducted blood tests and examined the hearts of the rats under microscopes and found that the rats that had received tulsi extracts prior to the ISP injections had much less damage to their hearts than rats that did not receive tulsi extracts. The tulsi-fed rats also displayed better heart functions and lower levels of inflammation.

The ISP harms the heart through a process called oxidative damage. The studies showed that tulsi extracts stimulated the synthesis of a number of anti-oxidant enzymes in the rat livers. "We detected high levels of these anti-oxidant enzymes in the hearts of rats that were given tulsi extracts," Arya said. The AIIMS team members also studied an enzyme called CK-MB, a common signature of injury to the heart — the greater the degree of injury, the higher the levels of the CK-MB enzyme. The rats that had received tulsi extracts had lower levels of this enzyme. Arya said the AIIMS team has proposed human trials with the tulsi extracts. "Although tulsi has been consumed for centuries, it is important to establish its effect through evidence-based medicine," he said.
The Telegarph (Calcutta), 12 Sep. 2006

Humble Shrub Fuels Indian Trains and Maybe Way to the Future
Sujeet Kumar

It could be the fuel of the future, with the present beset with woes of global energy, shortages and rising fuel prices.

And, as an example, chief minister of the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, Raman Singh, who has set upon the task of growing Jatropha with a missionary zeal, last year became the first head of a state government to use Jatropha diesel for his official vehicle.

The state government also plans to replace imported diesel with Jatropha fuel for all state-owned vehicles using traditional diesel and petrol by 2007.

All that is being done on a more macro scale at the Indian Railways, one of the world’s largest rail networks. The South East Central Railway (SECR), the highest profit-making zone of Indian Railways, is already running two narrow gauge trains in Chhattisgarh that travel 300 km a day, to and from the state capital Raipur to Rajim (about 120 km in total), and from Raipur to Dhamtari (about 180 km).

"The railways has been mixing up to five percent Jatropha bio-fuel with traditional diesel since July 22 for two trains – the Raipur-Rajim and Raipur-Dhamtari. The experiment is proving to be a great success, and engines are working smoother and jerk free," said a triumphant Ajay Kumar Jaiswal, SECR’s Raipur Railway divison spokesperson.

"After a periodical review of three-six months, the railways will increase the quantum of bio-fuel mix with diesel and will seriously consider for using it on long-distance trains to save huge expenditure on imported diesel."

Added a spokesperson of the Northern Railways: "The railways has a tie-up with the state-run Indian Oil Corporation for producing the biofuel."

India Railways is using 30 percent of its total land, about 5,000 hectares, for Jatropha plantations. This year, 6,00,000 shrubs have been planted and another 7,00,000 more are on the anvil. This is being done all across northern India, including Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi and in a particularly big way in Chhattisgarh.

"We are determined to go in for mass plantations of Jatropha and encourage farmers to adopt its cultivation for commercial use. I strongly believe that Chhattisgarh alone can make India bio-fuel energy secure country by 2015, Raman Singh told IANS.

Chhattisgarh has announced that it would plant 160 million saplings this financial year. It plans to take up an exhaustive programme on a million hectares of fallow land by 2012.

In fact, on Sept. 4 this year, thousands of volunteers in the state planted about two million Jatropha saplings injust 11 hours to find a place in the Limca Book of Records – a move that also motivated people towards the plant that is such a rich source of bio-fuel.

The state government has asked New Delhi to unveil a national bio-diesel policy to help it become totally bio-fuel self-reliant state by year 2015.

It claims the bio-fuel rich plants have the potential to help India get over its annual requirement of 124 million metric tones of petroleum products, of which around 72 percent is met through imports at a cost of over Rs. 1.5 trillion.

The arithmetic works to everybody’s favour.

Bio-diesel produces 80 percent less carbon dioxide and 100 percent less sulphur dioxide emissions and provides 90 percent reduction in cancer risks. It can be used alone or mixed in any ratio with mineral oil diesel fuel.

"One hectare of Jatropha plantation yields on an average two tonnes of bio-diesel, said Chhattisgarh Biofuel Development Authority (CBDA) executive director S.K. Shukla.

"We are fortunate to have ample renewable resources, which can replace imported oil, strengthening the economy of the nation and also making it more self-reliant," he added.

The Chhattisgarh government, which has installed a bio-fuel plant in Raipur is currently producing 3,000 litres of Jatropha bio-fuel a day and has announced steps to install bigger production units in other districts for public supply and larger commercial use.

"Bio-diesel is an alternative fuel that can be used in diesel engines and provides power similar to conventional diesel fuel. The final product, bio diesel fuel, when used directly in a diesel engine will burn up to 75 percent cleaner then mineral oil diesel fuel," said C.R. Hazra, vice chan cellor of the Indira Gandhi Agriculture University, Raipur.

"It is the most valuable form of renewable energy that can be used directly in any existing, unmodified diesel engine. Bio diesel fuel can be produced from oilseed plants such as Jatropha curcas."

Acknowledging that it could be fuel of the future, the Indian government has launched the National Mission on Bio-Diesel with a view to finding cheap and renewable liquid fuel. Its report submitted in 2003 identified Jatropha as the ideal oilseed to extract the oil for converting it into bio-diesel.

The government has given out Rs. 490 million ($10 million) to nine states for raising Jatropha seedlings in the nurseries, say officials.

The government has also announced the use of ethanol blended petrol across India from November 1 even while tying up with Brazil, a world leader in the use of ethanol, for greater development and production of the alternative fuel in the country.
The Himachal Times (Dehradun), 30 Sep. 2006

Board in WB to Produce Bio-Diesel from Jatropha
Ratna Ganguli

The Biotechnology Board in West Bengal has taken an initiative to produce bio-diesel from seeds of Jatropha plants. Making a move in that direction, the board has decided to set up a dedicated park for Jatropha plantation at Salt Lake. The move has been taken to join the national drive on producing bio-diesel from Jatropha.

The park will come up on 36-kattas, adjacent to the Central park in Salt Lake. This site has been selected for the park because land in the area will be freely available from the state department of planning and development, which now owns the land.

The park, besides growing Jatropha trees, will also house a pilot processing plant for extraction of crude Jatropha oil and later its conversion into bio-diesel.

To implement the entire bio-diesel project, the board has roped in the West Bengal Technical University (WBTU) and the mechanical engineering department of Jadavpur University as technology partners. The latter has been asked to develop expeller machinery for the processing plant.

To start off the project, WBTU has agreed to provide an initial fund of Rs. 2.36 lakh.

The find will be mainly utilised for undertaking Jatropha cultivation, which is likely to start from October.

Though WBTU has agreed to provide the initial fund, the Board expects further financial assistance from the department of planning and development and the department of science and technology, said Prabir K. Bose, a faculty member of the mechanical engineering department of Jadavpur University, and chief consultant of the project.
The Economics Times (New Delhi), 04 Sep. 2006

Beauty of the Evergreen Forests
T. Lajapathi Roy

Rain forests are the most attractive of forest eco-systems. Today they cover about six percent of the earth’s surface but they shelter over 50 percent of all the species of plants and animals in the world. The plants and trees in the rain forest spread their leaves to capture maximum sunlight and in this struggle the trees grow closely and form a kind of green umbrella called canopy. It provides good shade to the forest floor and for this reason rain forests are called sholas.

Because of the competition of light, one can find every space utilised, there are plants at the forks of trees, epiphytes like vandas and orchids at branches, mosses over trees, ferns in every crevice and the whole forest is alive with the sounds of insects, birds and animals.

To survive
These forests get more than 2000 mm of rain and the trees never shed their leaves completely, lest they lose out in the race for survival and be replaced by other trees.

The rain forests of Pampadum Shola National Park of Munnar, Kerala and Kottakadu forests near Top Station in Bodinaickanur in Tamil Nadu are ideal locations for a nature lover. Both forests are located side by side and form a single ecosystem transcending the political barriers between Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The location of the forests are also strategic for trekking to either Kodaikanal or Valparai. Of course one has to learn to tolerate the leeches and avoid the nettles to make the visit comfortable.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 08 Sep. 2006

The Ministry of Environment and Forests is trying to revive the Central Board of Forestry on the lines of the National Board for Wildlife to ensure that forestry, too, emerges with multi-disciplinary dimensions.

The existing institution of the forestry board was constituted on June 19, 1950, and later revised on February 5, 1973, with the Union Minister for Agriculture as chairperson. However, there has been no meeting of the board since 1987 and it has since been converted into forest ministers’ meet that has proved to be more or less ineffective in achieving the objective of sustainability.

According to ministry officials, an umbrella institution, specifically chaired by the Prime Minister and that meets at least once in a year, will ensure sharp focus on forestry like wildlife is enjoying ever since the National Board for Wildlife came under the supervision of the Prime Minister.

The re-framed board, with the Union Environment Minister as its vice-chairman, will advise the Centre, states and UTs on all matters concerning forest conservation and management as well as other related matters.

Forest policy, biodiversity, legislation, inter-state matters, identification of broad areas of research and development, training and education, Indian Forest Service and appointment of committees and working groups will be some special concerns of the forestry board and the standing committee will monitor the implementation of its recommendation.

Another issue that is under serious consideration by the MoEF is revisiting the existing Naitonal Forest Policy, 1988, especially pertaining to issues relating to forest and tree cover in hill states.
The Tribune (Chandigarh), 06 Sep. 2006

The Haryana Government has pleaded forcefully before the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to protect 1,424 plywood units of Yamunanagar district which have been closed on orders by the Supreme Court of India on October 31, 2002.

Talking to media persons here on Wednesday, State Chief Secretary Prem Prashant said the Government had told the CEC at a recent meeting that Haryana was giving a special thrust to promote and protect agro-forestry.

He disclosed that the CEC had advised the State Government to constitute a committee to assess the availability of timber and the timber imported by the plywood industries in the State. He hoped that after the assessment of the actual position, great relief would be given to the plywood industry.

The CEC has also asked to assess the position on the basis of sale tax being paid by the plywood units.

The CEC had also given three months’ time to the State government to conduct a survey of these closed units. He said efforts were on to conduct logistic and scientific survey within two months so that immediate relief could be provided to these units. And a committee had been constituted comprising the Secretaries of Excise and Taxation, Industries and Forests Departments for this purpose.

Mr. Prashant disclosed that the Government had decided to set up closed-circuit cameras at all the bus stands of the districts falling in the National Capital Region so that strict vigil could be kept against the anti-social elements.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 14 Sep. 2006

Management planning for protected areas would be a priority in the eleventh five-year plan and each sanctuary or national park would be facilitated to maintain a database of information on its biodiversity and habitat status.

Making a presentation on the concluding day of the Conference of Principal Chief Conservators of Forests and Chief Wildlife Wardens here, a member of the Planning Commission, S.K. Khanduri, said important wildlife habitats of the country would be conserved and protected with participation from people.

While steps would be taken to increase interfaces with communities, communication and surveillance of forests and wildlife would be augmented through the Integrated Forest Protection Scheme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, he said.

The Planning Commission would encourage people living in deep forest to voluntarily shift to the fringes to provide inviolate space for wildlife. An appropriate programme, including provision for livelihood opportunities, would be formulated as suggested by the Tiger Task Force to facilitate this.

Overuse of resources was identified as a major cause of land degradation, Mr. Khanduri said. Forest and biomass resources would be created in all cultivable vacant lands to strengthen the life support system of communities.

The Eleventh Plan would focus on consolidating forest management by augmenting productivity and linking forests with livelihood and gainful employment opportunities. Non-timber forest produce must be handled well and provided market links to provide value addition and better returns to communities, Mr. Khanduri argued.

An enabling environment would also be created to encourage farmers to take up tree growing. The subsidised supply of raw material to industries from government forests would be discouraged while domestic and international trade of farm forestry produce would be augmented by support price mechanisms and exim/tariff regulations, the presentation said.

Involving corporates
The corporate sector would be encouraged to participate in the development of degraded land for forestry, without compromising on the priorities of local communities.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 07 Sep. 2006

"Therefore, the only way is to increase tree and forest cover is to promote farm forestry on private lands and
afforestation of other institutional lands, besides urban plantations," he added.
The Tribune (Chandigarh), 06 Sep. 2006

Terai Teak Forests: Going, Going
Venugopal Pillai

बड़ा खास है बांस
सी.के.जान रजनी एस. नाडगौंडा

Scientists said on Monday they found two types of shark, exotic "flasher" fish and corals among 52 new species in seas off Indonesia, confirming the western Pacific as the richest marine habitat on earth. They urged more protection for seas around the Bird`s Head peninsula at the western end of New Guinea island from threats including mining and dynamite fishing that can smash coral reefs.

"We feel very confident that this is the epicentre of marine biodiversity" in the world, said Mark Erdmann, a U.S. scientist at Conservation International who led two surveys this year.

The scientists found 24 new species of fish, including two types of epaulette shark, slim and spotty growing up to about 1.2 metres (4 ft) long. Among other finds were 20 new species of coral and eight previously unknown types of shrimp.

"It’s especially stunning to find sharks -- these are higher level creatures, not bacteria or worms," Erdmann told Reuters. The sharks get their name from markings on their sides like epaulettes - decorations on the shoulders of military uniforms.

The researchers also found new species of "flasher" wrasse fish. The males, which keep harems of several females, suddenly "flash" bright yellows, blues, pinks or other colours on their bodies, apparently as part of a sex ritual.

Erdmann said the region, covering about 18,000 sq km (6,950 sq miles), had a greater concentration of species than Australia`s Great Barrier Reef. He said a new type of fusilier fish, also known as yellowtail, was the only species that could be used for human food found in the two surveys, lasting a total of about six weeks.

"But there is a concern that some might become targets as aquarium fish," he said. He said Indonesia`s Fisheries Ministry wanted to increase the number of marine protected areas, currently covering only 11 percent of the area around the peninsula. "We are very concerned about the potential impact of planned commercial fisheries expansion in the region," said Paulus Boli, a State University of Papua researcher. Threats include human migration to the little-developed region that could put pressure on the healthy reefs.
The Times of India (New Delhi), 19 Sep. 2006

This proves the adage: "There’s safety in numbers". Because, the earliest known bird had flight feathers on its legs that allowed it to use its hindlimbs as an extra pair of wings, a new study sayrs. The findings, detailed in the current issue of the journal Paleobiology, supports the theory that early birds learned to glide and parachute from trees before achieving full-fledged flight, livescience.com reported.

"This paper puts forward some of the strongest evidence yet that birds descended from arboreal parachuters and gliders, similar to flying squirrels," said study author Nick Longrich, of the University of Calgary in Canada.

Archaeopteryx was a crow-sized animal that lived about 150 million years ago and which looked like a cross between a bird and a dinosaur. It had feathers and a wishbone like birds but also reptilian features. Longrich examined hindlimb feathers on five Archaeopteryx fossils using a dissecting microscope and found that the feathers had features typical of flight feathers in modern birds.
The Times of India (New Delhi), 25 Sep. 2006

Excitement for Ornithologists
K. Venkateshwarlu

A babbler
Dr. Ramana Athreya, a birdwatcher and a member of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), named the bird, which is a kind of babbler, after the Bugun tribe of the northeastern State, where it was found at the remote Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary. Although two of the species were caught, both were released and no scientific specimen was collected. "We thought the bird was just too rare for one to be killed," he said. "With today's modern technology, we could gather all the information we needed to confirm it as a new species. We took feathers and photographs and recorded the bird's song."

Differences
A detailed examination of the birds in the sanctuary revealed many plumage and vocal differences, compared to specimens and tape recordings of Emei Shan Liocichlas, according to a note from the BNHS. The known population of Bugun liocichla is just 14, including three breeding pairs. The species is not particularly shy and is very distinctive, so it must be very rare or it would certainly have been found earlier, the note added.

Need for protection
Dr. Asad R. Rahmani, Director, BNHS, said: "This discovery again proves the importance and need of extensive research and exploration in northeastern India. We must also see that the habitat is protected for such species. Presumably the new species has a tiny range, so habitat protection is very important for its survival."

Fishing at Sukhna Can Endanger Birds
Baljit Singh

Study: Nicobar Lost 70 Percent of Megapode Bird in Tsunami
Raju Gusain

Tsunami had an adverse effect on the endangered Megapod bird in the Nicobar Island. A Wildlife Institute of India (WII) survey revels that seventy percent of the mount nesting the Nicobar Megapod population was lost in the tsunami that hit the island on December 26, 2004. WII is India’s premier wildlife research institute based in Dehra Dun.

Dr. K. Sivakumar, scientist at the WII, conducted a six-month survey on The Nicobar Megapode: ecology, statues, conservation and tsunami. The survey was conduced jointly with the State Forest Department (A&N).

The survey concluded recently and the post-Tsunami data was compared with the 1995 statistics to reach the conclusion.

Commenting on the findings, Dr. K. Sivakumar says," Approximatley 70 percent of the Nicobar Megapode population has declined and their current status was assessed as 788 breeding pairs in the coastal regions. It is assumed that the 20 percent of the population which is believed living in the interior forests was not affected by the tsunami."

The Megapodes were first described in science during Megellan’s 1519-1522 expedition to the Far East. Megapodes are heavy-bodies birds of the forest floor and resemble other Galliformes in body shape and plumage. Most of the Megapodes are brown, blackish, or grey in colour.

Highlighting the devastating effect, he adds, "The Nicobar Megapode is locally extinct from the Megapode Island Wildlife Sanctuary and Trax island. It is believed that tsunami waves could have killed or washed away majority of coastal mounds and birds."

After the devastating tsunami, restoration works are presently going on at Nicobar. The survey states that State Forest Department (A&N) is crippled with infrastructure facilities. "The entire infrastructure in Nicobar group of islands was lost in the 2004 natural calamity. It needs to be restored at the earliest with modern communication facilities and by providing patrolling boats to the forest staff. The need of the hour is to prevent plantation at the prime habitat of the Magapod," Dr. Sivakumar adds.
Hindustan Times (New Delhi), 17 Sep. 2006

Move over lions, tigers and crocodiles. The latest attraction at the Delhi zoo is its winged visitors. Colourful, vivacious and attractive, these ‘painted storks’ have come from neighbouring U.P., Uttaranchal and Rajasthan.

"The migratory birds come once a year at the end of the monsoon – from August end to October – to the Delhi zoo. Right now there are more than 200 birds," said a zoo official. On why they pick only the zoo and not any other place in Delhi, he said, "These birds are very selective about their breeding grounds. They need a lush green environment and of course plenty of water. The ponds here are full of fish and they are safe from poachers. Right now they are thriving in tiger house pond and pelican pond." The official said the sole purpose of their visit is breeding. "These birds breed then lay eggs, the young ones hatch within 30 days, and then they leave. The cycle lasts about 85 days. Perching on the trees, they have become the center of attraction. "More than the crocodile my little son is excited by these colourful birds," said a woman visitor. "Apart from having saline fish from the ponds itself, they are being fed at least 10 kg fish by us everyday. We also provide adequate nesting sites to these privileged guests," said the zoo official.
The Statesman (Kolkata), 18 Sep. 2006

Thus the park became home to over 300 species of birds including open bills, spoon bills, egrets, cormorants, white ibis, harriers, fishing eagle kingfisher and local and Siberaian cranes.
The Times of India (New Delhi), 09 Sep. 2006

You may have heard of the Imperial Eagle, the Nilgiri Pipit, the Kashmir Flycatcher or the Malabar Pied Hornbill, but did you know they are on the endangered birds’ list? Though the 122-year-old Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), an NGO, has been running a campaign for the past one-and-a-half-year to save these species, it is only now that it has got help from a leading holiday company.

Club Mahindra Holidays is encourageing its member base of 40,000 families in India and abroad to adopt an endangered bird, by enrolling for BNHS’ Adopt A Rare Bird programme by making a one-time payment of Rs 300. For this, BNHS will send a personalised photo frame of the bird adopted to the Club Mahindra member.

Says Ramesh Ramanathan, managing director, Mahindra Holidays and Resorts India: "I came across the BNHS poster and I wanted our eco-friendly resorts and members to be a part of this movement." At the Club Mahindra resort in Munnar, for instance, the staff spotted at least 200 species of birds and Ramanathan recalls how a Whistling Thrush woke him up one morning at the Coorg resort. "Our Binsar resort in Uttaranchal is part of a bird sanctuary, so it’s but natural that we should strive to save birds."

For Ruby Madan, divisional manager, Central Marketing Department, BNHS, "This tie-up helps us meet the dual objectives of creating awareness and raising funds to spur the conservation programme." Here’s why it’s important. In asia, 324 species of birds are listed as globally threatened. This is one-fourth of the globally threatened birds of the world and a study by BNHS reveals that, the destruction of habitats is most serious in Asia.

India alone has eight critically endangered, 10 endangered, 57 vulnerable and 52 near-threatened species. The Adopt a Rare Bird programme will support 12 birds, including the Forest Owlet (in 2000, a survey of 14 forest areas located only 25 birds at four sites in northern Maharashtra and south western Madhya Pradesh) and the Baikal Teal (a native of Russia which travels to Asian countries like ours in winter).

As one BNHS activist puts it: "People need to understand that birds need to be conserved and we are doing everything we can to spread the word." For instance, BNHS will run the Delhi marathon for the cause of endangered birds. The NGO has mapped the important bird areas in the entire country – 460 in all. "The next step is conservation. For that, we need a lot of financial help and support from local people," points out a BNHS spokesperson. "We are highlighting the plight of 12 birds but there are many others that may need conservation. We need to protect the bird areas, train local NGOs, monitor birds and find ways to preserve them and their habitat."

It’s a long road ahead and BNHS will need many more Club Mahindras to join in to take the campaign forward. If more people begin to think like Ramanathan ("We co-exist with nature, this is a small way of giving back to nature"), our birds will be safer.
The Financial Express (New Delhi), 03 Sep. 2006

Where have all the vultures gone? Floods in the Thar have revealed that nature’s scavengers are no longer there to peck on carcass of cattle, now exposed by the receding waters. Neither the long billed nor white backed vultures are visible as they are close to extinction. Local residents of the flood-affected areas of Barmer are missing their services.

"The birds would have cleaned up the carcasses within days," says Harji Ram, of Bayatu. There was a time when both white backed and long billed vultures circled the skies, lazily cruising on an eddy, scanning the desert for dead and dying "prey".

Not any more. "I have seen hundreds of vultures around bodies of cattle when I was young but I hardly find a single vulture now," says Harji.

Harji is right, say bird watchers. Vultures could have helped both administration and villagers to clean up the mess after the floods.

"Such mishaps make us feel their absence," says Manoj Kulshreshtha of Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS).

He points out that population of vultures has dropped drastically over the past one decade he adds. It takes hardly a day to vultures to clean up carcasss of a young cow, one flock cleans up one body, adds Manoj.

In absence of vultures, the stench of decaying carcasses of cattle lying scattered on the desert floor pervades the air. Now, it is up to the administraton to clean up the mess before they pose a threat to health. But with the authorities’ priority on saving and rehabilitating humans, it would be some time before the carcasses are removed. According to estimates over 50,000 cattle died in the recent floods.
The Times of India (New Delhi), 05 Sep. 2006

They are sometimes horned, always hooved and herbivorous. They graze the slippery slopes of the world's hilly, and occasionally snow-covered, grasslands. They form a global family of mammals known as ungulates that is under increasing threat from war, encroachment or human greed.

For three days from September 13, over 100 naturalists from a dozen nations will meet at Munnar, Kerala, home to arguably the best conserved of the Indian ungulates — the Nilgiri tahr.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is holding the World Congress on Mountain Ungulates (WCMU), the fourth since 1989 and the first in Asia, near the Eravikulam National Park. The park, with its tropical grassland ecosystem, is today home to over 700 of the 2,000-odd tahr that are in the Anamalai region of the Western Ghats.

"Conservation efforts are afoot in over 20 countries — and they target such diverse ungulates like the Tibetan gazelle and the yak in Ladakh; the Iberian Ibex in Portugal; and its Nubian cousin in Yemen; the Alpine chamois in Italy and Switzerland; the Rocky Mountain goat of Canada and the U.S. and the Korean goral," explains Mohan Alembath, president of the Nilgiri Tahr Trust.

He is a conservationist who served the Kerala Forest Department until 2001. During a nine-year tenure as Wild Life Warden, he helped make Eravikulam one of the rare success stories in conservation this country has seen.

The event is hosted by the Munnar-based High Range Wildlife and Environment Preservation Association, largely staffed by nature-loving members of the Tata Tea plantations that dominate the Kannan Devan Hills.

Partnership
The partnership between the Association and the State Forest Department has been a model of public-private cooperation in conservation.

The delegates will be able to assess the results first-hand: the tahr's calving season is just over and the fresh count is just in. Their visit also coincides with the 12-yearly flowering of the neela kurinji, which is turning the Munnar hills into a blue blaze of colour.

Discussions
The discussions will include the need to create a Pamir Peace Park where China, Pakistan and Afghanistan meet, to help conserve the Marco Polo sheep now less than 6,000 in number.

It will discuss why the Swedish moose is under threat from its most formidable predator, the European brown bear.

It will consider what the disturbed environment in Kashmir is doing to the lifestyle and very existence of the Kashmir stag or hangul.

Hopefully, the exchange of experience and results will help the world's hooved grazers cling on a mite more firmly to their precarious and increasingly threatened grazing lands.
The Hindu (New Delhi), 12 Sep. 2006