Island Erosion in India

Hey guys, we are back with another topic which can give you food for thought. We don’t post daily cause  scarcity of time. But whenever we post do follow it religiously.

Recently an uninhabited islands part of Lakshadweep named “parali 1” has vanished and has fully inundated under water . Besides “parali 1” which is a part of “Bangaram a toll”, other four Islands are also facing coastal erosion, parali 2 and 3 , Bangaram and Thinnakara.

Matter of worry is , this coastal erosion is not only confined to Lakshadweep and its Islands. It has also affected “largest Delta of world-sunderbans". There is constant threat on mangroves and other biodiversity of sunderbans.

Rising temperature and pollution is harming coral reeves of Lakshadweep, thus coastal erosion phenomenon has added more to their plight.

Regions for coastal erosion :-

Global warming and rising sea level being the first and foremost. Local reasons also play vital role in the coastal states of  India.

For e.g.-  In case of Lakshadweep, 2004 tsunami is also considered a culprit.

Besides this wave energy is also a main cause of coastal erosion.

Source :- Parth Solanki

Environmental Issues in India

India being a fastest growing economies of the world face “enormous uphill tasks” in saving natural resources . The development path adopted by India is neither sustainable nor equitable. And it is leading to widespread degradation of environment.

On the tip of iceberg of environmental issues facing India today are below.

                                        

(  (1) Emissions, Rain and Climate change :-

India releases the fifth largest amount of emissions and its stand on climate change is that our right to development is non-negotiable. Globally, climate change is expected to result in sea –level rise, which is serious threat to India considering it has 7,517 kilometer-long coastline.

More than 7 million people will be at risk due to sea expansion and could cost us 1,850 million rupees . Moreover, climate refuges from south Asia will also affect India. Around 75 million people of Bangladesh might be forced to take shelter in India. But more than that, it is the impact on the rains that will affect India the most. It will create havoc for Indian farmers and in turn affect Indian economy adversely. These impacts, in fact, are already showing up.

(2)    Land Degradation :-

Extensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and recently the push for genetically modified crops have affected land fertility, in turn affecting production. So much that vegetables and fruits are found contaminated by heavy metals and pesticides.

  (3) Pollution of fresh water resources:-

All the major rivers including the mighty Ganga, Yamuna, Riva, Sutluj and Cauvery are polluted with sewage and industrial toxic waste .  The ground water is depleted contaminated leading to various diseases like cancer, skin ailments and water borne diseases. Millions spent on Ganga and Yamuna Action Plans have not given the desired results.

     (4) Deforestation:-

India has been busy planting trees, to provide timber and fuel wood and in some cases to earn money from selling carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism. The country now ranks second globally in terms of total land area plantation. Yet forest degradation in India are disappearing at a rate up to 2.7 percent per year. It could put India ahead of most other countries in terms deforestation. This has affected the livelihood of a large population of native forest residents.

(     (5) Unbridled urbanization:-

Unbridled urbanization has created mammoth cities that are heaving under the weight of human population. Resources are stretched and the demand is unending. Lack of livelihoods in rural areas, a declining agriculture is further pushing people to urban areas. The cities like Mumbai, not built to bear the pressure are falling apart with severe shortfall in basic amenities. As an example, 2/5^th of India`s urban population resided in 35 metropolitan cities.

Source:- Dr. Seema Javed, senior media officer, Greenpeace India 

                                                             Thank you!!!!!

Climate Change is moving North pole

Hey Guys, We are back at our business once again. I hope you had a great Sunday. Sunday means fun-day for everyone, so we took a break from our blog to enjoy.

Now we are back with an interesting topic which can give us food for thought.

Earth being oblate in shape is divided into 3 parts basically 1)Equator, 2)North pole, 3) South pole. I am not penning down to teach you all geography, but our today’s topic is related to this “Climate Change is moving North pole”.

Global Warming melts ice of Earth. As ice melts & aquifers are drained, Earth’s distribution of mass is changing & with it the position of planet’s spin axis.

Earth’s northern pole is drifting rapidly eastward, & it looks like climate change is to blame.

The discovery may have measured implication for studies of ice loss & drought potentially improving our ability to predict such changes in future.

The North pole had shifted back & forth from East to West, with an overall trend that had it moving towards Canada. But since 2000, the pole’s typical drift as made a dramatic change. Since that time, the pole has been moving steadily eastward by about 75 degree, heading towards the prime meridian that runs through Greenwich England. This shift has been on the order of 10 cm a year.

What’s most exciting to the scientists is that they can now explain what’s actually causing the drift, and that may have significant ramification on climate science.

For at least a decade, scientists have suspected that the massive amounts of melting taking place in glaciers around the World could significantly redistribute mass on Earth.

If ice disappears from one part of the spinning Earth & resettles elsewhere as water, the planet shifts on its axis toward the place where it lost mass.

This does not end here or this is not the final conclusion because climate change is accelerating day by day and scientists are also doing their job. If we need to stop this catastrophe to happen, then we have to stop hurting our Mother Earth.

Share this as much as possible and also hit comment section to let us know your views regarding environmental issues.

High caffeine in energy drink

Hey guys, we are back with another hot topic and I’m dead certain you all are gonna like it.

But before that, I wanna ask you a question all the hard work you do after your hectic schedule, do you consume any sort of drink to get your energy back , well I’m talking about energy drink. It tastes so good, but it does have harmful effects on your body. So our today’s topic is “High caffeine in energy  drink.”

This energy drink contains Vitamin B12, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B3, etc. These vitamins does affect human body, but the main culprit is caffeine, which is in very high amount. Producer of these drinks often manipulate ingredient figures to increase their sales and this turns the tide in favour of producers.

Most of these brands have upto 320ppm  of caffeine in them. The Manufacturers claim  caffeine, taurine, glucoronolactone, vitamins, herbal supplements and sugar or sweetness that gives the energy.

According to study reports, it is the sugar that gives the energy rush, the caffeine only gives a “feeling” of energy.

Energy drinks fall under the category of “proprietors  foods ” in the Prevention Of Food Adulteration (PFA) Act of 1954.

    

An Amendment in the PFA act 2009 ensured that caffeine in energy drinks should be capped at 145ppm, the limit that was set for carbonate beverages.

However, Red Bull managed to set stay order on the amendment of the PFA act in 2010 And since then the energy drink market is expanding unregulated.

The Food Safety & Standards Authority Of India (FSSAI) is currently making regulations on energy drinks.

I guess many of you all are thinking how does these drinks affects environment, but it deteriorates human health, so individuals and government has to spend more on public health and also ill health disturbs food chain.

Vertical Forests

  Vertical Forest

Vertical forest  is a model for sustainable residential building, a  project for metropolitan reforestation contributing to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity without the implication of expanding the city upon the territory. It is a model of vertical densification of nature within the city that operates in relation to policies for reforestation and naturalization of large urban and metropolitan borders.

Benefits of Vertical Forests :-

·        Biological Habitats

·        Mitigations

·        Anti-sprawls

Biological Habitats:-

Vertical  Forests increases biodiversity. It helps to set up an urban ecosystem where a different kind of vegetation creates a vertical environment which can also be colonized by birds and insects , and therefore becomes both a magnet for and a symbol of spontaneous re-colonization of the city by vegetation and by animal life. The creation of a number of vertical forests in the city can set up a network of environmental corridors which will give life to the main parks in the city, bringing together the green space of avenues and gardens and interweaving various spaces of spontaneous vegetation growth

Mitigations:-

Vertical forest helps to build a micro-climate and to filter dust particles which are present in the urban environment. The diversity of the plants helps to create humidity and absorbs CO2 and dust ,produces oxygen, protects people and houses from harmful sun rays and from acoustic pollution.

Anti-sprawl:-

Vertical forest is an anti-sprawl measure which aims to control and reduce urban expansion . If we think in the terms of urban densification, each tower o the Vertical forest is equivalent to an area of urban sprawl of family houses and buildings o up to 50,000 square meters.

Key elements to look for:-

·        Trees:- Trees are a key element. The types of trees are made to fit their positioning on the facades and by height, and plants used in this type project should be pre cultivated. Over a period these plants can slowly get used to the conditions they will find on the building.

·        Management:- The management of the tree pots is under building regulation, as well as the upkeep of the greenery and the number of plants for each pot

·        Irrigation:- Irrigation in order to understand the need for water , the plan for these buildings took into account the distribution of plants across the various floors and their positioning.

The first example of vertical forest consisting of two residential towers of 110  and 76 m height, was realized in the centre of Milan, on the edge of the Isola neighborhood, hosting 900 trees(each measuring 3,6 or 9 meters) and over 20,000 plants from wide range of shrubs and floral plants distributed according to the sun exposure of the façade. On flat land, each vertical forest equals to 7,000 sq.m of forest. In terms of urban densification it is the equivalent of an area of a single family dwelling of nearly 75,000 sq.m. 


        Thank you!!