This paper briefly synthesizes recent research illustrating how smartphones, sometimes in conjunction with other sensors, present a nexus point method for citizen scientists to engage with and use sophisticated
K.S. Sudhi KOCHI: The Kerala State Wetland Cell has written to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest for extension of the time for submitting its views on the draft regulatory framework for wetland conservation. The deadline for submission was Wednesday. This is the second time that the cell is approaching the Ministry for extension.
Nagercoil: The Tamil Nadu Farmers
Indiscriminate use of pesticides on croplands and harmful fishing nets are responsible for extinction of many species of fresh water fishes to a great extent, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Manik Lal Samaddar said yesterday. He also urged all stakeholders to work together to protect the remaining species of fresh water fishes and underscored the need for creating mass awareness to this end. Manik was addressing a press conference at Matsya Bhaban in the city ahead of the Fish Resource Development Movement 2008 that begins tomorrow.
Climate adaptation is the process of adjusting to novel climate regimes, such as reducing water consumption to compensate for reduced precipitation rates, shifting the location of an industry away from an increasingly drought-prone area to a region that will be receiving higher flows, or altering urban stream morphology to allow for larger and more frequent floods.
Water is called as Indrajal in mythology
A growing international water crisis is forcing governments to rethink how they value and use and manage water, especially because economic development hinges on water availability. Freshwater resources Drinking water supplies, agriculture, energy production and generation, mining and industry all require large quantities of water. In the future, these sectors will be competing for increasingly limited freshwater resources, making water supply availability a major economic driver in the 21st century.
When Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, was asked to ponder the future of the world before an audience of powerful businessmen and politicians, at a meeting in Switzerland earlier this year, he could have chosen any topic he liked. What he focused on was both a hoary old favourite, and a newly popular preoccupation, of debates on world affairs: the rising risk of wars over fresh water, as populations increase and the world gets drier.
The Aral Sea in Central Asia was the fourth-largest lake on the planet in 1960. By 2007 it had shrunk to 10 percent of its original size. Widespread, wasteful irrigation of the deserts along the Amu and Syr rivers, which feed the Aral, cut the freshwater inflow to a trickle. Nevertheless, a dam built in 2005 has helped the northernmost lake expand quickly and drop substantially in salinity.
The 18-hole golf course close to Nal Sarovar, that is driving an unfettered property development near the bird sanctuary, threatens to upset the delicate ecology there. Environmentalists say that the amount of fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals required to maintain this vast, artificially created, landscape is a threat to the bio-diversity of the lake. According to experts, the usage of chemicals in maintaining golf courses at times even exceeds the amount used in agriculture. With such intensive use, golf courses threaten to pollute ground and surface waters. Member of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and IIM-A faculty Prof Priyadarshi Shukla says this type of projects causes gradual and irreversible damage which breaks sustainability, putting pressure on the ecosystem. "Our green assets are under threat with a lot of property deve l o p m e n t h ap p e n i n g closer to ecosystems. If special laws are made for SEZs, which are productive assets, special laws are also needed for luxury assets, our ecosystems,' he says. "The golf course is being developed as a private property, but that should not happen at the cost of the ecology of Nal. Development should take place without compromising on the existence and sustainability of the ecology' says Shukla. According to environmentalist Kandarp Kathju, the golf course is more detrimental to the health of Nal Sarovar than any other project coming up there, such as the Film City. "Nal Sarovar and its downstream water bodies are at the heart of the delicate ecological system of the area. Today's golf requires tabletop greenery and this requires pesticides and fertilizers to maintain the course,' he says. Golf courses also require huge amount of water, which can result in depletion of underground as well as surface water levels. The entire area of Nal Sarovar with 360 islets is extremely shallow and seldom more than two metres deep, most of which get submerged during monsoon. Traditionally, farmers in the area have used water from the lake for cultivation. There are around 20,000 buffaloes in surrounding villages that feed on the aquatic plants and grass on the edges of Sarovar eight months of the year."The pesticides are likely to flow into the water bodies, besides percolating into the water table. Not just the aquatic environment, but the entire ecology, of which local communities are an integral part, is facing the risk of toxic chemicals polluting the water bodies,' says Kathju. Shukla says, "Developing a market requires foresight, and it is time the policy makers started
The Kabartal wetland situated in the upper Indo-Gangetic flood plains in northern India is significant because of its hydrological and ecological services, and the socio-economic and cultural values that it represents. Despite being designated as a wildlife sanctuary, this wetland is under threat from anthropogenic pressures.
