Plastic Overshoot Day marks the point when the amount of plastic waste generated exceeds the world’s capacity to manage it, resulting in environmental pollution. In 2024, the global Plastic Overshoot Day is projected to occur on September 5th. Each country has its own Plastic Overshoot Day, which is determined by …
indian metros are fast turning into virtual gas chambers as pollution levels have reached unmanageable proportions. Delhi, Calcutta and Mumbai rank fourth, sixth and 13th respectively among the 41 most polluted cities in the world. This is one of the findings reported in a document, Global Pollution and Health, prepared …
a report highlighting a progressive decline in sperm counts in men over a period of time has recently created a sensation the world over. Carried in The British Medical Journal (March, 1996), it says that researchers in Edinburgh studied 577 men in Scotland and reported that those born after 1970 …
The threat to the foetus seems all pervasive, with even something as seemingly innocuous as a computer display screen being a threat. High levels of radiation (including X-rays, magnetic impulses from electronic devices, like computers, or nuclear radiation), can kill cells and damage organs. At low doses, radiation can initiate …
the womb is, in essence, a miniature universe in creation. Primitive cells and tissues take human form within its sheltered confines. Sheltered? Not so anymore. This placid abode of the yet unborn is under siege. Crossing the physical barrier between a mother and her foetus, noxious environmental pollutants generated by …
it may escape one's notice, but every time we breathe, we inadvertently inhale an invisible stream of gases, aerosols, particles, microbes, pollen and dust into our lungs. Although many take it for granted, it is an act that is not easy on millions of people all over the world. The …
HARITT is a small village, about 66 kin from Calcutta and dominated by potato-growers. The place was in news in May 1996, as potatoes worth Rs 15 million rotted inside the Polba Dadpur Cold Storage Cooperative Society Ltd (PDCSC- SL). Flies and insects are dominant in this 4,000-household village today …
THE Arctic islands of Svalbard may be far from the madding crowd but are more polluted. Birds nesting on this last stop before the North Pole produce highly toxic faeces which build up layers of heavy metals on lake shores and peat bogs. And fish in the islands" many lakes …
Travel and tourism is the world's largest industry, transporting more than 528 million people internationally, employing 211.7 million people, and generating US $322,000 million in receipts in 1994. And it is expanding fast. Its impact on the environment is evident. Lest environmental decline destroy the very resources - landscapes, wildlife, …
THF battle to save the Aral sea (Down To Earth, Vol 4, No 12), which has been on for several years now, is plagued by a dearth of solutions. "They are compiling voluminous reports, listing developments and sending sporadic humanitarian relief. Yet, they have so far failed to come up …
AGGRESSIVE behaviour and delinquency in boys may not be inherent, as is generally thought. It might also not be related to the social environment around the child- rather it could be caused due to the physical environment, A new study finds that high levels of lead in the bone might …
As every available nook and corner on an already burdened earth sells for sky-rocketing prices, the raging issue of crowded cities,with,popu- lation tearing at its seams, once again takes centre stage. What have the cities of today the world over have to offer to its citizens? Squalor, diseases, scarcity of …
A CONTRACT between Russian, American and Japanese organisations, to hasten a long-awaited radiation clean-up, was signed in Moscow last month. This incident may mark the first concrete step taken by the concerned parties towards solving the staggering problem of radiation pollution off the Pacific coast of Russia in the Far …
A THREE-YEAR study conducted by the World Wide Fund for Nature-International for the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) reveals that sea birds inhabiting the Midway Islands in the,north Pacific have concentrations of persistant organic pollutants ajhigh as those in the birds found around the shores of the Great Lakes, North America …
WHAT has been a source of sustenance for years has suddenly become: bane for the tribals of Bastar, Madhya Pradesh. They are being slowly poisoned through contaminated tubewells in the region. High levels of iron-oxide were found in about 1,400 villages in the country's largest district. The villagers suffer from.black …
It seems to be Nigeria all over again in the state ofTabasco near Mexico City. Protestors have blockaded dozens of oil wells belonging to the state-owned oil monopoly, Petroleos Mexicanos - Pemex for short - accusing it of environmental damage and corruption. "In, our region, there is misery all around …
MINING is the world's second oldest activity (after agriculture) which provides gainful jobs. The post- Independence industrial scenario has seen India become an important exporter of mineral ores - especially, to an extent, iron ore. Nearly half of the iron ore exports from India comes from the tiny island state …
Statistics and studies on mining in Goa are rare, few and far between... for obvious reasons, because the private mine- owners form a powerful interest group in the state, which most politicians are wary of disturbing. One authoritative study, entitled Report of the Task-Force of the Eco- Development Plan for …
NATURAL organisms are once again coming to the aid of humans in rectifying past errors. Soil pollution, caused by oil products mainly in the oil-producing regions, can now be overcome by means of a biological preparation - putidoyl - consisting of a mixture of tiny microbes and minerals. The preparation …
BETTER late than never, Sri Lanka's market gets lead-free petrol for the first time from this year, thanks to prolonged lobbying by environmentalists. "This was essentially a follow-up to numerous requests made by environmentalists," said Eric Nanaykkara, deputy general manager of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation - the country's sole petrol …
FROM the miasma of late 18th century Manchester to the Earth Summit at Rio, Markham's 'tourist guide to pollution', turns out to be much more than that. Beyond the travelling roadshow of international environmental negotiations and airport biologists, Markham successfully conveys the magnitude of today's environmental crisis and the impending …
