Wash out
In the guise of making washing easy, detergents are directing a chemical fusillade at the environment in the absence of regulation, discovers <font class="UCASE">suresh babu s v</font>
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State of biodiversity in the Nordic countries
The Nordic countries have agreed on a common target to halt the decline in biodiversity by 2010. This report aims at evaluating the 2010-target by presenting indicators that can describe trends in biodiversity in the Nordic countries. The results comprise the most comprehensive documentation of land use in the Nordic countries to date.
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UGANDA
Water hyacinths, Eichhomia crassipes, are posing a mafor problem for the country. Nearly 80 per cent of the Ugandan shoreline is clogged with these plants, which are killipg animals
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Winged guests: Vigil stepped up in Chilika
BERHAMPUR: With the onset of winter, feathered guests from Siberia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and central Europe have started arriving in the picturesque Nalabana Bird Sanctuary in the Chilika lake. The twittering of the avian species started last week and since then over 20,000 birds have descended on the Nalabana island so far, according to the wildlife sources.
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Frozen, but alive
life is possible on Mars or on a frozen-moon of Jupiter, say scientists. While drilling through ice that fills shallow lakes in Antarctica, they have found colonies of bacteria inside blocks of
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Golf course putting holes in Nal ecology
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
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A role for atmospheric CO2 in preindustrial climate forcing
Complementary to measurements in Antarctic ice cores, stomatal frequency analysis of leaves of land plants preserved in peat and lake deposits can provide a proxy record of preindustrial atmospheric CO2 concentration.
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Eking out a life in ice
Glaciers harbor microbes. In small, ice-covered lakes created by glacial runoff live fibrous mats of algae and plankton. And in a paper in last week's Science, researchers decribe an aggregate
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Nainital faces pollution threat
Nainital is being ruined by the organic pollution in the Nainital lake, construction and land encroachment, faulty planning and lop-sided development of tourism. According to Kumaon Univrsity
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To save a lake
The Dal lake in Srinagar still looks, for the most part, like its picture postcard images, islands, houseboats, floating gardens, shikaras, water shimmering under the summer sun. Perhaps it is just
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Wuller Lake project completed
The Department of Environment and Remote Sensing has completed the project of "change detection of Wuller Lake" which has taken place during the past 140 years. The mapping of the pasture land in
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'Dome'd to death
A NUCLEAR reactor in your vicinity could be the best way to contract breast cancer, as the latest Greenpeace report reveals. The report titled, "Nuclear Power, Human Health and the Environment:
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Concern over earth filling in Gulshan lake
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyer's Association (BELA) and Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara Welfare Society expressed their concern at the attempt to encroach the Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara lake with
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Fresh water may become a trade good
Canada's fresh water could become subject to international trade regulations after Ontario issued a permit letting a small Canadian company draw water from Lake Superior for exporting to Asia. The
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Canada water could become a trade good
Canada's fresh water could become subject to international trade regulations after Ontario issued permit letting a small Canadian company draw water from Lake Superior in order to export it to Asia.
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Briefs
At least 14 peacocks died recently in Morena district of Madhya Pradesh due to the consumption of toxicfoodgrains. Several groups, including the Save Powai Lake Committee, have laun ched a project
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Nitrogen overdose
Excessive nitrogen is causing nitrogen stress in flora and fauna
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Kolar reeling under severe water scarcity
Water problem in Kolar has worsened. There is an acute shortage for drinking water. The district is totally dependent on rains for water. With no rains, the lakes and tanks have become absolutely
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Wetlands or wastelands?
Indian government classifies wetlands as wastelands despite the fact that they serve as reservoirs of ecological diversity. During times of floods, they act as sponge, which hold water and release
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- Chilika still a healthy wetland, say experts
Contrary to popular belief, Chilika, Asia's largest brackish water lake, continues to be a biologically healthy wet land. Ornithologist and wildlife experts say that the richness of species and avian