Page 397 - Environment
Air pollution leads to millions of asthma attacks annually worldwide: Study
Air pollution may be to blame for up to 33 million emergency asthma attack visits to hospital every year, with half of the visits estimated to occur in South and East Asian countries, notably India and China, a global study has found. Asthma is the most prevalent chronic respiratory disease worldwide, affecting about 358 million people, said researchers, including those from the University of York in the UK. Countries like India and China may be harder hit by the asthma burden because they have large populations and tend to have fewer restrictions on factories belching smoke and other sources of pollution, they said. The findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, suggests car emissions and other types of pollution may be a significant source of serious asthma attacks. "This is the first global study of the potential impacts of air pollution on serious asthma attacks that cause people to visit emergency rooms in hospitals around the world," said Johan ...
China, France launch satellite to study climate change
China sent its first ever satellite built in partnership with another country into space on Monday, a device tasked with helping scientists better predict dangerous cyclones and climate change by monitoring ocean surface winds and waves. A Long March 2C carrier rocket blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwest China's Gobi Desert at 0043 GMT, according to China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence. The 650-kilogram (1,430 pound) China-France Oceanography Satellite (CFOSAT) is the first satellite jointly built by China and France and will allow climate scientists to better understand interactions between oceans and the atmosphere. It's fitted with two radars: the French-made SWIM spectrometer, which will measure the direction and the wavelength of waves, and China's SCAT, a scatterometer that will analyse the force and direction of winds. The data will be collected and analysed in both countries. The instruments will ...
India's 2018/19 sugar output seen at 32 million T, below prior forecast
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's sugar output in the current 2018/19 season is expected to be lower than earlier expectations and could drop further if more sugar gets diverted for ethanol production, a leading trade body said on Monday.
'World's first bio-brick grown from human urine'
Researchers say they have developed the world's first bio-brick grown from human urine, an advance with significant consequences for waste recycling and upcycling. The bio-bricks are created through a natural process called microbial carbonate precipitation, said researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa. Loose sand is colonised with bacteria that produce urease enzyme which breaks down the urea in urine while producing calcium carbonate through a complex chemical reaction. This cements the sand into any shape, whether it is a solid column or the rectangular building brick described in the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. Suzanne Lambert and Vukheta Mukhari from UCT tested various bio-brick shapes and tensile strengths to produce an innovative building material. The development is also good news for the environment and global warming as bio-bricks are made in moulds at room temperature, researchers said. Regular bricks are kiln-fired at ...
Kejriwal blames Centre, Haryana & Punjab govt for Delhi's pollution
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal blamed the Centre, and the governments of Haryana and Punjab on Monday for the severe air pollution in Delhi, alleging that they were not ready to do anything despite the all-out efforts by the Aam Aadmi Party government. "The pollution was in control in Delhi throughout the year, but this time (winters) every year, Delhi has to face severe pollution condition due to the Centre, BJP-led Haryana and Congress-led Punjab governments. "Despite our all-out efforts, they are not ready to do anything. Farmers of these two states are also fed up with their governments," Kejriwal tweeted. Delhi's air quality continued to remain in the very-poor category with an overall air quality index of 348 on Monday. Stubble-burning is the major reason for the increase in the pollution level in the National Capital Region in winters. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed farmers from Punjab, who do not burn stubble in fields.
Focus: Vattenfall looks to gas and biomass as end of coal power looms
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - Vattenfall is considering converting its German coal-fired power stations to use fuels including gas or biomass as utility companies in the country brace for a government deadline for phasing out coal altogether.
Rocket carrying 1st UAE-made satellite launched from Japan
A Japanese rocket carrying the United Arab Emirates' first locally made satellite has lifted off from a space center in southern Japan. The KhalifaSat Earth observation satellite was launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency from its Tanegashima Space Center. The H-2A rocket also is carrying an Ibuki-2 greenhouse gas observation satellite for Japan. The launch is part of the Gulf nation's ambition under its fledging space programme. The country aims to send its first two astronauts to the International Space Station in 2019. The UAE also aims to send a probe on its way to Mars in 2020 and to build a science city there by 2117. Japan also aims to expand its commercial satellite launch services by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and make them globally competitive.
Grasim's Harihar Polyfibers units wins 'Golden Peacock Award for Sustainability 2018'
Harihar Polyfibers Unit of Grasim, which was accorded this distinction, produces rayon grade pulp. Harihar Polyfibers Unit began operations with an initial capacity of 32 KTPA in 1972-73; the plant today produces 70 KTPA of pulp a year from eucalyptus wood. About 90% of energy used is derived from renewable resources and chemical recovery is around 98%.
Thick haze engulfs capital, air quality remains poor
Delhi's air quality continued to remain in the very poor category Monday as a thick haze engulfed the city which is battling alarming levels of pollution. An overall Air Quality Index of 348 was recorded which falls in the very poor category, according to data of the Central Pollution Control Board. Twenty-nine monitoring stations located in different parts of the city recorded very poor air quality while four stations recorded severe air quality. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". Authorities have attributed the deterioration of air quality to localised factors like construction activities and vehicular pollution as well as regional factors like pollution by stubble burning from neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana. A thick smog engulfed the national capital as authorities said the situation mayfurther deteriorate next month during the ...
Andaman Agriculture dept trying to popularise organic farming
The Agriculture department of the Union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands is trying to popularise organic farming with the aim to convert the archipelago into organic island, a top official said. Organic farming is free of chemical pesticides and chemical fertilisers and it also helps in bio-diversity conservation and environmental protection, Director of Agriculture, R V Singh told PTI. "We are tying to create create awareness among the farmers and the consumers the benefit of organic farming," Singh said. The aim is to convert the whole Union Territory into an organic farming island and in tune with this efforts are being made to create more awareness among farmers and consumers, he said. The director of Agriculture said the department has already selected the Neil island to take up organic farming. Neil island which is located 37-km to the south of Andaman islands is known as the 'vegetable bowl' of the Andamans. The Neil island has immense potential and is ...
Big brands pledge to turn tide on global plastic waste
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Big brands - from Coke to Kellogg - pledged on Monday to cut all plastic waste from their operations in what the United Nations called the most ambitious effort yet to fight plastic pollution.
China says new animal feed standards will cut chunk out of appetite for soy
BEIJING (Reuters) - New standards on the protein content of animal feed in China will cut its annual consumption of soybeans by 14 million tonnes, the government said late last week, marking a drop of about 13 percent from the last crop year in the world's top buyer of the oilseed.
Climate change a threat to oysters: Study
According to a recent study, climate change is a threat to even the most tolerant oysters.Climate change-associated weather events may cause flooding that threatens the survival of the Olympia oyster. Oceans around the world typically have a salt content (salinity) of around 3.5 per cent, but the percentage varies more in shallow coastal waters affected by rainfall.Researchers studied three groups of Olympia oysters from different areas of the California coast where the influence of rainfall on seawater salinity varies. The findings of the study were presented at the American Physiological Society's (APS) Comparative Physiology: Complexity and Integration conference in New Orleans.One group was native to a large estuary--a body of seawater near the mouth of a river--that was routinely exposed to freshwater flooding from extreme precipitation, which decreased the salinity of the oysters' surroundings.A second group lived in a small estuary that received much less freshwater exposure, ..
Air quality improved following Sterlite's closure: TNPCB
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board submitted before a panel constituted by the National Green Tribunal here on Sunday that the ambient air quality has improved in the vicinity of the closed Vedanta's Sterlite copper plant in Tuticorin, which was contested by the firm. The panel, headed by former Chief Justice of Meghalaya High Court, Tarun Agrawal was apprised by the State PCB that Sulphur-di-oxide emission declined very much following the plant's closure, according to intervenors in the matter, Fathima Babu and Thermal S Raja. "The PCB submitted data of air samples collected in (October 2018) and around the closed Sterlite unit. Several parameters were studied and it showed an improvement in the ambient air quality in the neighbourhood," Babu and Raja who participated in the hearing of the panel told PTI. Sterlite's counsel said PCB's submissions were contested on grounds that the company was neither intimated nor called upon to participate in the sampling exercise .
As Akhilesh belittles 'Krishi Kumbh', state minister reminds him of Saifai extravaganza
An Uttar Pradesh minister Sunday reminded Akhilesh Yadav of the annual Saifai Mahotsava when the Samajwadi Party chief took to Twitter to belittle a farmers' event here inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Those who had spent crores of rupees during their regime on song and dance shows at Saifai Mahotsava, are talking today about the interests of farmers, state Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi said Sunday, attacking Yadav. The 'Saifai Mahotsava' used to be held annually at SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav's village Saifai in the Etawah district. The agriculture minister tweeted further, "I would like to point out that the BJP government last year purchased 37 lakh MT wheat and this year the figure is 53 lakh MT. Statistics will show who is the real well-wisher of farmers." The former chief minister had tweeted recently, "On one hand, the state government is sacrificing the interests of the farmers, while on the other hand it is organising 'dhong' (fake) Krishi ...
Over 76 lakh tonne paddy procured in Punjab
Over 76.2 lakh tonne of paddy has been procured in Punjab this season, Food and Supplies officials said on Sunday.
Haze engulfs national capital as worst pollution of season recorded in morning: authorities
A haze engulfed Delhi, which continued to battle dangerous levels of pollution, as it recorded the worst air quality of this season during the day Sunday, officials said. The overall Air Quality Index of New Delhi was recorded at 381 Sunday morning which falls in the very poor quality, according to data of the Central Pollution Control Board. The air quality improved during the day and an overall AQI of 360 was recorded at 4 pm which also falls in very poor category, according to the data. An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". In the NCR region, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon recorded severe pollution levels, while Noida and Greater Noida recorded very poor air quality. Authorities attribute the dip in air quality to localised factors like construction dust, vehicular pollution as well as regional factors like pollution due stubble burning from Punjab and Haryana. A
Delhi continues to grapple with high pollution levels as residents voice concern
Delhi continues to grapple with alarming levels of pollution as citizens expressed their anger and concern over the deteriorating air quality in the city which is one of the most polluted in the world. Delhi recorded its worst air quality of this season Sunday as a thick haze engulfed the national capital which continued to grapple with deteriorating air quality. The overall Air Quality Index of Delhi was recorded at 381 which falls in the very poor category, the highest of this season, and just points below severe pollution level, according to data by the Central Pollution Control Board. On Twitter, #righttobreathe trended where Delhiites used the hashtag to express concern over the rising pollution. "One can escape the epidemic and water pollution. But there is no escape from air pollution. Air is everywhere," a user Amul Atri said on Twitter. People also posted pictures of haze and smog on Facebook and Instagram with the hash tag of #righttobreathe. Health experts specialising in ..
Lucknow zoo seeks int'l experts' help to treat injured Russian crane
The Lucknow zoo authorities have written to national and international experts to find the cure for the injured female demoiselle crane, which was rescued in Allahaganj town of Lucknow's Shahjahanpur district on October 17.The demoiselle crane, which was tagged in Russia with a Global Positioning System (GPS) for the collection of data on the migratory bird, fell in Shahjahanpur in an injured state. Her wings and bones were broken.The locals initially thought it was a spy bird and informed the police about it. However, the bird was later handed to the forest department.Covering a distance of over 5,000 kilometres, demoiselle cranes migrate from Russia every year to spend winter in Gujarat and Rajasthan.Around 55-day old female crane begun its journey with other members of the flock and successfully crossed the Himalayas, but fell in Shahjahanpur after suffering from an injury.Dr. Utkarsh Shukla, a veterinarian doctor, informed that after the people studying the locations of the bird ..
Odisha CM orders crime branch inquiry into elephants' death
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday ordered a crime branch inquiry into the incident of electrocution of seven elephants near Kamalanga village in Odisha's Dhenkanal district.The Chief Minister directed the crime branch to take appropriate action in case of any criminal negligence.Apart from this, the state government also suspended six officials and sacked a junior engineer of the Central Electricity Supply Utility (CESU), while the forest department suspended three of its field staff including Dhenkanal Range Officer.Seven elephants died here due to non-rectification of sagging lines and non-cabling of transmission lines.Passing the buck to the electricity department, the forest department said that last year, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Dhenkanal had submitted a stretch of 136.57 kilometres of low-tension lines passing through vulnerable areas for cabling.