tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81351733085378139792024-03-14T03:30:44.142-07:00Environment & ManThis blog is to the betterment of the relaton of man and the environmentazzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-15338753044641558902012-08-02T02:43:00.003-07:002012-08-02T03:01:00.983-07:00Skin cancer found in fish, for the first time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="infuse" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0px; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><img alt="Image: Skin cancer on a coral trout" height="240" src="http://msnbcmedia1.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/120801-coral-trout-cancer-hmed-304p.grid-6x2.jpg" width="320" /> </div>For the first time, a case of widespread skin cancer has been identified in the wild marine life. These are called as "RAMBO FISH" by the local fishermen; their scarred and blackened skin makes them look as if they have survived wars.<br />
<br />
These species called coral trout, found on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, were brought to the attention of Dr.Michael Sweet at the University of Newcastle in the UK last year. <br />
<br />
Dr.Sweet and his colleagues after a collaborative study ruled out the speculations of any fungal disease and said that the black scars, which look like human melanomas, are in fact the symptoms of skin cancer. Of the 136 fish sampled, 20 (15%) showed dark lesions on the skin .<br />
<br />
<br />
Source: <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528765.100-first-skin-cancer-found-in-wild-fish.html" target="_blank">New Scientist</a><br />
Image Source: <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/" target="_blank">MSNBC</a></div>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-77581940409439460182010-07-28T03:00:00.000-07:002011-04-21T17:35:16.097-07:00A letter by Late Smt. Indira Gandhi on Environment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">By:</span></span></b><br />
<div style="margin: 5pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Smt. Indira Gandhi </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">(late Prime Minister of </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">India</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Plenary Session of United Nations Conference on Human <span style="color: black;">Environment</span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Stockholm</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">14th June, 1972</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 9pt; font-weight: bold;"> </span></div><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It is indeed an honor to address this Conference-in itself a fresh expression of the spirit which created the United Nations-concern for the present and future welfare of humanity. It does not aim merely at securing limited agreements but at establishing peace and harmony in life-among all races and with Nature. This gathering represents man's earnest endeavour to understand his own condition and to prolong his tenancy of this planet. A vast amount of detailed preparatory work has gone into the convening of this Conference guided by the dynamic personality of Mr. Maurice Strong the Secretary General. </span></span><br />
<div style="margin: 5pt 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I have had the good fortune of growing up with a sense of kinship with nature in all its manifestations. Birds, plants, stones were companions and, sleeping under the star-strewn sky, I became familiar with the names and movements of the constellations. But my deep interest in this our `only earth' was not for itself but as a fit home for<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">man</span><span style="background-color: white;">. </span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 5pt 0pt;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 5pt 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white;">For more <a href="http://www.greenteacher.org/images/EE%20Papers/Man%20And%20Environment.doc.">Download the Document </a></span></span></span></div><span class="fullpost"></span></div>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-76825515357471143632010-07-28T02:57:00.001-07:002010-07-28T02:57:57.566-07:00Man and His Environment<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"> Every year millions of people flock to the sandy beaches of Florida in hopes of surf, sun and fun. The things that one can do at the beach are almost unlimited: picnicking, touring the ocean on a motor boat, fishing, snorkeling, or just playing games on the beach. Amidst all the fun it is hard to think about the effects this has on the environment. Even the simplest picnic is problematic to the ecosystem; there is almost always litter left behind, either accidentally or purposely. With a high gust of wind a sandwich bag could fall into the water and pose a threat to wildlife. Eighty percent of all marine pollution comes from human activities on land. According to Scholastic Update, five major sources of ocean pollution are: runoff from land 44%, air pollution 33%, shipping 12%, dumping wastes 10%, offshore oil production 1%.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"> A prime example of this would be human impact on the loggerhead sea turtle which may mistake a sandwich bag for a jellyfish, one of their primary sources of food, and try to eat it. Upon ingestion, however, the turtle may choke and die. <a name='more'></a> The mere presence of all the people found on the beach provides another problem for the turtle. In reproduction the sea turtle lays it's </span><span style="color: black;">eggs deep in the sand of the beach, however with all the millions of people walking on the beach, a nest of eggs is likely to be destroyed either by a person walking by or an umbrella pole placed into the sand. Another threat to the sea turtle is the bright lights from lamp poles and buildings. When the new turtles hatch at night they mistake the bright lights for the moon and head away from the water towards the city. In this case death is inevitable; in order for the sea turtles to survive they must make it to the water before the gulls can have them for a meal.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.biol.andrews.edu/everglades/Ecosystems/human_impact/human_impact_index.html"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="">More</a> </span></span><span class="fullpost"></span>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-23488265465760082642010-07-28T02:56:00.000-07:002010-07-28T02:56:57.191-07:00Man and EnvironmentBy Asst. Dr. Nantana Gajaseni <gnantana@chula.ac.th></gnantana@chula.ac.th><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-large;"><b>Life = biosystems organized by interactions between biological components interacting with physical environments, and become a unified whole with capacity to maintain homeostasis and self-perpetuation</b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-large;"><b>For more <a href="http://www.sc.chula.ac.th/courseware/2303105/BBA_Part1_1n.ppt">Download PPT </a></b></span> <br />
<br />
<span class="fullpost"></span><br />
<br />
<span class="fullpost"></span>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-73927853140935618942010-07-28T02:54:00.000-07:002010-07-28T02:54:14.458-07:00Man in Relation to His EnvironmentBy <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><b>Keshav Malik</b></span><br />
<div align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Conditions influencing development or growth is how the dictionary defines the word environment. For the plant, as we know, sunlight, air and water are the environment. For insects and animals topography, climate, food resources as also the proximity of different animal species, or man, is the environment. Changes in the relationship or balance of any of these several factors determine the behaviour of the plant or the animal, although this becomes acutely evident only in the long run.</span></div><b> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">The real environment</span><br />
</b> <div align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Now the environments that influence or determine plants and animals also mould human nature. But for the purposes of this workshop, as indeed in any context, the generality of men are rather less concerned with these environments and more with the vital human forces or factors fatefully shaping man. If I may say so, man’s real environment is men. It is social behaviour that conditions human development in any crucial sense of that term. And what is it that moulds social behaviour — ideas, beliefs, notions, biases, presuppositions? A child is born to all these and his unfolding character and physical nature reflect his mental inheritance. This is his real environment. All outwardly observable behaviour, all notable action could be traced to habits planted or shaped by belief.</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">The record of nations with vast differences in flora and fauna and in climate has shown us amazing similarity in outlook, temperament and attitude. Nations close in the first factors have shown an equal diversity in characteristics. History is replete with instances of the so-called national characteristics of a people, at once ranging from peaceable to warlike, from earthy to other-worldly, at different periods of their existence. These notable changes are due to a great many factors, but here, as I said, we must pay attention to those factors that, for our purpose, are the prime movers. Changes in dynasties, foreign conquests, floods, the havoc of drought, all these go to condition and influence man. And the aggregate of thus influenced men perpetuate the attitudes and the characteristics of the single individual. But many of the above-mentioned factors are only the outer determinants that passively shape man. The active element is the conscious shaping of the individual from man’s own beliefs about himself, his nature, his destiny. It is these attitudes that determine man’s relations to his time and life. When a man believes in predestination, his attitudes and behaviour are complementary. When a man believes that man makes history he assists at or is crucial to his own becoming. In other words, the state and nature of human awareness at a point of time in a cultural milieu are all important in the moulding or adapting of man to the total environment.</span></div><b> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Two states</span><br />
</b> <div align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Now man’s beliefs are expressed not always directly but through institutions, rituals, cults, ceremonials, and through the assertion of a host of group identities. These cultural or social artifices are almost of a hydraulic chemistry and of far-reaching effect on human conduct. As if in keeping with animal reflexes and instincts, they can through usage over time get to be solid, icy, inflexible, unpliable. In other words, they are not amenable to easy change or renovation. They perpetuate themselves because, in turn, human beings themselves are prone to act out of two different natures — the pre-rational and the rational, the one open to enquiry, prepared for adaptation. This second state, the fluid one, itself follows on a state of heightened awareness, of imaginative perception. It is to be in constant touch with essential human values, as also to be possessed of a realistic knowledge of the material means, in order so to effectuate those values. In the fluid state, as I term it, there is no sacrosanctity attached to means. Holiness inheres only in the essentials. On the other hand, in the ‘iced state’ of institutions the means themselves tend to become fixed, sacred; with the result that it becomes all but impossible to question them. Fresh adaptation, here, becomes quite improbable in relation to new environments. The truth of essential values is lost. Rigidity, inflexibility, conformity, these are the consequences.</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Thus institutions, at once useful and inescapable in the pursuit of the necessary, the good or the truthful life, very often become ends in themselves. A great deal of human history is the chronicle of this predicament: that, on the one hand, without organizations and institution the fruits of human insight, ingenuity, intelligence cannot easily be handed down to the individual, and on the other, that once come into being the authority which organizations or those who hold power exert creates the logic of its own vested interest. But with luck, and given a degree of sophistication, these institutions remain what they are — means to serve the individual, materially or spiritually. At these moments in history civilization has a chance of being at its peak. The too anarchical individual tends to be asocial, whereas the individual well ensconced in the vestments of social organization tends to be authoritarian. Either way there is faulty adaptation in the essential growth and development of the human self. As one knows, the visions and insights of seers, saints, savants often get to be stratified in the narrow religious orders that follow them, so there is not too much room here for the mind, heart or spirit to move about. Similarly political or social organizations often frown on freedom of thought. It is solitary men really, therefore, who keep the ship of life on an even keel. Captains of state, kings, others, are good enough to guide the destiny of a nation in its race for survival. But from the long-term perspective they function within the confines of settled ideas and established, stratified power. No matter how civilized, the rulers are unable to break new ground. It is for this that men without organizational power but only with the power of their spirit, heart or mind chart the longer path. It is from these sources that better adaptations related to the deeper values are consummated.<a name='more'></a></span></div><b> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Necessity and freedom</span><br />
</b> <div align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">If necessity rules the choices of state, freedom does the movements of the men who bring about fresh adaptations to the environment. This freedom of the savant is not born of caprice but is subordinate to his adherence to certain self-transcending values. It is a question of opting for something which is not yet, for which the majority is not, to which the state is often opposed. Now to exist in such a condition of ostracism, aloneness or solitude and yet without any hatred or contempt for mankind is itself one of the supremely important factors in human evolution, in other words in the revolution of man’s inner being. It needs moral courage. And indeed courage, on a lower plane, is itself the means for animal survival. But, as we know, man does not live by mere survival; even when in a depressed state mankind lives for and by spirit. For no man is so abject that he is unaware of his human self; his pride or his sense of integrity is born of some trace of awareness, of consciousness — that is, in his being able to reflect on lasting values in the context of time and death. Awareness of self stems from the human capacity to stand back from oneself and to imagine one’s life as a non-person, and to imagine the other man as oneself. This is the inner situation that makes man human, above his normally animal, self-possessive nature. This it is, too, which ushers in the conflict of values in the human soul and a moral split between thought and act, between emotion and reason — which leads to a psychic sickness. But with self-discipline there may be a great inner joy, born of the conviction that goodness is its own reward, that to experience life intensely without possessing it is to live it richly enough. Now human history ever since settled society has been a saga of man attempting to transcend his narrower nature to attain the wider one. Since mankind at a certain stage of psychic development still does find life at the survival values good enough, but nevertheless comes to grief (meeting with the inevitable terrors of existence, destroyed in the endless conflicts of a divided mankind), the sensitive struggle to remind it either of a richer life as if offered by the arts and the life of the mind or of the religious one which helps draw men together. And it is in the light of this that new social orders are conceived. The fact is that the so-called self-surpassing values are far from practised. And yet, such is the logic of human evolution that they cannot be completely disowned, at least lip service needs to be paid to them. This is the reason for humans’ lying to themselves and to others. But lying is a good adaptive device for the impersonal state or for the individual acting on behalf of state or party, though not for the individual who is a person, and moral. The individual’s mortality, or rather his sensing of it, and a human organization’s relative immortality, makes the individual the moral agent of possible social conscience and deeper sentience. It is this state of richer awareness, of a loftier, more delicate perception, that is in constant danger of being destroyed by the collectivity. But then awareness is the <i>sine qua non</i> of human existence as distinct from the indifferent brute one.</span></div><div align="JUSTIFY"><br />
</div><div align="JUSTIFY"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.ignca.nic.in/cd_05015.htm">more</a>. </span></div>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-27381538624726563012010-07-28T02:52:00.000-07:002010-07-28T02:52:36.454-07:00Stonehenge Had Neighboring, Wooden Twin—More to Come?<h2 class="subtitle">"It will completely change the way we think about the Stonehenge landscape."</h2><h2 class="hidden" style="min-height: 3173px;">Main Content</h2><!-- ### LEFT COLUMN ### --> <div class="primary_photo" style="min-height: 492px;"> <img alt=" Picture of what a second henge near Stonehenge might have looked
like." height="450" src="http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/238/cache/new-henge-stonehenge-reconstruction_23874_600x450.jpg" width="600" /> <div class="caption">Evidence of a timber henge, shown in an artist's reconstruction, has been found near Stonehenge.</div><div class="credit">Illustration courtesy University of Birmingham</div><div class="credit"><br />
</div><div class="credit"><a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.co.in/news/2010/07/100723-stonehenge-woodhenge-twin-timber-circle-gaffney-science/">more. </a></div></div>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-70936911738545608552010-07-03T09:29:00.000-07:002010-07-03T09:29:17.011-07:00Start of Civilization<b>Neolithic Revolution (~12,000 BC)</b><br />
<br />
The Neolithic (New Stone) Revolution occurred about 10,000 years ago and dramatically changed the way that early humans lived. Two important factors come out of the Neolithic Revolution:<br />
<ul><li> The development of agriculture and</li>
<li> The domestication of animals.</li>
</ul><br />
These two changes allowed people to stay in one spot instead of wandering from place to place following their main food source (animals). Somehow Neolithic people learned how to plant and raise crops and keep and raise livestock for food. Now people were put in the situation of living together permanently and as a result much cooperation was needed for survival and civilizations started to arise.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Characteristics of a Civilization</b><br />
<br />
With the Neolithic Revolution civilizations now began popping up in unsurprising locations - river valleys. These river valleys provided people with fertile soil due to their floods. These floods, combined with the new-found knowledge of farming and animal domestication, allowed for a stable food supply and so the Neolithic people settled down around these rivers. As these people lived together in one spot civilizations arose, which often shared theses common characteristics:<br />
<ul><li> Advanced technical skills - Sometime around 3000 BC, the Neolithic peoples around these river valleys learned how to make and use bronze tools and weapons. This in part allowed these peoples to construct permanent shelters and homes since they no longer were nomads, following their food source and looking for caves as shelter.</li>
<li> A form of government - The floods that helped to provide the fertile soil for survival also posed a problem. The floods were sometimes massive and could wipe out an entire village if uncontrolled and farmers needed to get water to their fields during the dry season. As a result an irrigation system (dikes and canals) was necessary to control these waters. The construction of these projects required organization and cooperation among the Neolithic people on a massive scaled. So governments probably developed to direct these projects and to provide rules by which to live.</li>
<li> A division of labor - As agricultural productivity increased, fewer people were needed to work in the fields producing food (much like the Industrial Revolution of the 18th century in England). These "extra" people who weren't needed to farm could then become artisans, or merchants or traders and production of all sorts was able to increase thereby providing a better standard of living for all.</li>
<li> A calendar - Calendars were created out of the need to predict and know when the floods would arrive. Most of these early calendars were based on the cycle of the moon.</li>
<li> A form of writing - Writing systems developed to keep records, put down rules, and to pass on complex instructions (maybe for irrigation) to future generations. For example the Egyptians developed a system of writing called hieroglyphics and the Sumerians developed cuneiform. </li>
</ul>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-50212709937034822382010-07-03T09:25:00.000-07:002010-07-03T09:25:01.356-07:00Earth the Biography: Oceans<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hwVU0-2Qnso&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hwVU0-2Qnso&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-39366213083218992982010-07-03T09:24:00.001-07:002010-07-03T09:24:28.121-07:00The Early Earth and Plate Tectonics<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDqskltCixA&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDqskltCixA&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-39070110198070503502010-04-21T21:48:00.000-07:002010-04-21T21:48:26.911-07:00Earth Day 2010 - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaEarth Day is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in held on April 22, 1970.<br />
Earth Day is celebrated in spring in the Northern Hemisphere and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Many communities celebrate Earth Week, an entire week of activities focused on environmental issues. The first Earth Week originated in Philadelphia in 1970 (starting April 16 and culminating on Earth Day, April 22.)Earth Day Network, a group that wishes to become the coordinator of Earth Day globally, asserts that Earth Day is now observed on April 22 on virtually every country on Earth.<br />
World Environment Day, celebrated on June 5 in a different nation every year, is the principal United Nations environmental observance. <br />
Earth Day 2010 will coincide with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_People%27s_Conference_on_Climate_Change" title="World People's Conference on Climate Change">World People's Conference on Climate Change</a>, to be held in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochabamba" title="Cochabamba">Cochabamba</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivia" title="Bolivia">Bolivia</a>, and with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Year_of_Biodiversity" title="International Year of Biodiversity">International Year of Biodiversity</a>.azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-67135912781359910122010-01-21T06:40:00.000-08:002010-01-21T06:40:23.049-08:00Man's effect on the environment<span class="postbody">Man has had many far-reaching effects on the environment over the years. Global warming, pollution and the damage to the ozone layer are a few of the major things that can be heard about in the news. Man has damaged the earth gradually over the years and this damage cannot be reversed, we are now trying to stop any more damage being caused to the environment. For example, hedgerows have been destroyed but now people have realised what effects this is having on the environment the government are paying farmers to replant them instead of fencing. Not all of man's effects on the environment are harmful some are beneficial. Conservation work is going on across the country and this is helping to preserve the wildlife and countryside that we have left. The expanding human population has placed a huge demand on the food production of the country. The resources are limited but the population is increasing quite rapidly so the problems are growing. The demand for food means that crops need to be perfect so the use of fertilisers and herbicides is increasing too. <br />
<br />
One of the problems in the countryside affecting the environment is the disposal of effluent and other pollutants. The main type of waste that we have to dispose of is organic effluent particularly from farms and sewage works. This is disposed of in several ways, the main one being pumping it into the sea and rivers around the country. In more recent years sewage recycling plants have been developed to reuse the water in the waste. Water treatment works are used to treat the waste before it is pumped into the river or sea. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
The disposal of the waste is accomplished in several ways. Direct removal into a stream or lake is the most commonly used means of disposal. In parts of the world that are faced with worsening shortages of water for both domestic and industrial use, authorities are reusing appropriately treated wastewater for, irrigation of non-edible crops, industrial processing, recreation, and other uses. In one such project, the Potable Reuse Demonstration Plant in Denver, Colorado, the treatment process uses normal primary and secondary treatment followed by lime clarification to remove suspended organic compounds. During this process, an alkaline state is created to improve the process. In the next step, re-carbonation is used to bring the pH level to neutral. Then the water is filtered through several layers of sand and charcoal, and ammonia is removed by ionisation. Pesticides and any other dissolved organic materials still present are absorbed by a granular, activated-carbon filter. Viruses and bacteria are then killed by ozonisation. At this stage the water should be cleansed of all contaminants, but, for added reliability, second-stage carbon absorption and reverse osmosis are used, and chlorine dioxide is added to obtain the highest possible water standard. <br />
<br />
The other main place that effluent is disposed of from is industry. Industrial plants put their waste into the main drains, because they pump it into the main drains it has to be a particular pH i.e. neutral (between pH6 and pH10). If the pH fluctuates out of this range, there are valves along the main pipe line from the industrial works that close to prevent the effluent leaking into the main sewage system. The pH can then be regulated by either adding caustic soda (an alkaline) or hydrochloric acid to neutralise it again. If the valves did not close and the effluent were allowed to travel into the sewage works then it would kill all the nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria that break down the waste. The bacteria are very sensitive to the chemicals that are used and if these levels fluctuate too much, it will kill the bacteria and the whole decomposition process will be affected. The bacteria remove the ammonia in the effluent. There are filters in the water treatment works that sieve out a lot of the suspended solids and there are chemicals which are added to make the rest of the solids bind together with the help of bacteria so that they come to the surface and can then be filtered off. The water that eventually comes out is pumped from an outlet into the river unless it is to be recycled then it goes on for further cleansing. The effluent that is pumped into the streams gives the decomposers in the water a huge food supply, therefore they use up much of the oxygen and eutrophication - death of the waterway - results. The decomposers deprive the other organisms such as fish and crustaceans of oxygen causing them to die. This in turn affects the whole food chain. <br />
<br />
Phosphates are products formed by the replacement of some or all of the hydrogen of a phosphoric acid by metals. Depending on the number of hydrogen atoms that are replaced, the resulting compound is described as a primary, secondary, or tertiary phosphate. Also known as trisodium phosphate, tertiary sodium phosphate is used as a detergent and water softener. Primary and secondary phosphates contain hydrogen and are acid salts. Phosphates are important to metabolism in both plants and animals. Primary calcium phosphate, Ca(H2PO4)2, is an ingredient of plant fertilisers. When it is used as a fertiliser it can be washed into the waterways by the rain and pollute the rivers and streams. Increasing attention has been focused on the environmentally harmful effects of phosphates in household detergents. Detergents containing phosphates are known to be water pollutants because phosphates are a primary nutrient of algae. When algae grows in excess, it can choke a lake or river and draw off needed oxygen from aquatic life. This is called eutrophication <br />
<br />
Nitrates are also harmful to the environment. Calcium, sodium, potassium, and ammonium nitrates are used in fertilisers to provide a source of nitrogen for plant growth. If these nitrates get into the water flow then they can, like phosphates, have damaging effects on the life that live there. <br />
<br />
Factory chimneys emit Sulphur Dioxide, which has to be monitored. Inside the chimneys are several filters that sift out the solids in the emissions. Sulphur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by industrial processes is ultimately converted into dilute sulphuric acid, returning to Earth as acid rain. For this reason, sulphur dioxide is a major cause of air pollution. Acid rain is rain with a greatly lowered pH. Oxides of nitrogen are also emitted from car exhausts that also add to the formation of acid rain. The acid rain in turn comes down and erodes buildings and other things. In heavily industrialised areas of America, ladies have reported holes appearing in their tights when rain falls on them. In areas with plenty of limestone rocks, the effects are reduced because the acid reacts with the rocks and neutralises the rain. In areas without limestone, lakes become acidic, leading to the death of the wildlife. Trees are also killed as a direct result of acid rain. Many governments are ignoring the warnings and not controlling the emissions from their industry before it is too late. <br />
<br />
Crude oil, known as petrol, is used in the manufacture of fertilisers, medicines, plastic, building materials, paints and to generate electricity. It is also used for the fuelling of transport such as cars and planes. Petrol contains hydrocarbons and sulphur. When the hydrocarbons and sulphur are burned for use they give off sulphur dioxide and carbon dioxide. These gases are harmful to the environment. Sulphur dioxide forms sulphuric acid and causes acid rain, carbon dioxide adds to the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect means that the levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases that usually prevent heat loss from the earth are increasing. This results in raised temperatures on earth leading to partial melting of the polar ice caps. If the ice caps melted too much some countries would be flooded, if they were all to melt then the whole world would be underwater. <br />
<br />
There is a need to produce more food for the population and a need to preserve the wildlife and the environment. It is essential to satisfy the needs of the expanding population but it is also essential to preserve the environment. Living organisms are dependent on each other, if a tiny little fungus or algae plants were destroyed then the rest of the food chain would be affected. The algae or fungi are the producers so the primary consumers have nothing to eat so they die and the secondary consumers then have nothing to eat so they die. Plants and can be used for many purposes which is why they are becoming extinct. Drugs have been derived from plants. Genetic variation also decreases with the loss of species and new genes can never be discovered e.g. for crop breeding. The reduction of trees is leading to more carbon dioxide in the air and therefore increasing global warming. <br />
<br />
The government is trying to reverse some of the effects man has had on the environment by, for example, paying farmers to replace hedgerows in their fields which had previously been removed to make room for more crops. Factories have to monitor the amount of emissions that come from their chimneys very closely and if they emit too much sulphur dioxide or other harmful chemicals then the factory can be closed down. Factories also have to monitor the amount of chemicals that they pump into the drains, they have to neutralise the effluent before it is pumped into the main drainage system to prevent any chemicals getting into the main sewers and into the rivers and affecting the ecosystem of the rivers. Some waste can be recycled, at the water treatment works they can make the water clean enough, may be not to drink, but to water non-edible crops and for industrial processes and recreation. <br />
<br />
Crop rotation is another way in which the land is being preserved a little more. Different crops are being grown in different places so that the same nutrients aren't being used from the same piece of soil every time and therefore the nutrients are being used in equal quantities. The nutrients in the soil then have time to replenish themselves over the years. In addition, natural fertilisers are being used like farmyard manure instead of phosphates and nitrates. This means that the nutrients are released slowly as they decay and therefore improve the structure of the soil. <br />
<br />
The human population is expanding rapidly and the demand for food is increasing too. There are limited resources with which to produce this food so therefore the demand is greater then the production. Farmers are under pressure to produce more and more food. The crops they produce all have to be perfect, there can be no waste so herbicides and fertilisers have to be used to maintain the high production rate. The farmland has to be maintained, this is done with regular grazing of cattle to keep eating the grass and with ploughing to prepare the soil for re-use next time. Ploughing removes the plants that would compete with the crop and gives the seedlings the chance to establish themselves quickly and easily. Ploughing also helps to aerate the soil. Harrows are used to break up the lumps of soil and make the surface smooth. This allows the seedling to be planted at a consistent depth. The farmer uses herbicides to control the weeds among the crops, to do this he uses a crop sprayer. To harvest the crops a combine harvester would be used. This cuts down the crop and chops it and then it is pout into a tractor and trailer. Other crops such as potatoes and peas are harvested differently, peas with a pea viner which picks the peas from the rest of the plant. Potatoes are picked using a potato drill. The farmer will then use fertiliser or farmyard manure to replace the nutrients removed by the plants, they would use a muck spreader to do this. Cattle remove nutrients from the soil so it has to be fertilised regularly to maintain the productivity and allow the animals to eat. <br />
<br />
The demand on agriculture to increase food production conflicts greatly with the need to protect the environment. Organic crops are becoming more popular as they don't have any fertilisers on them, which affect the environment. Many farmers are turning to organic crops and the government is introducing incentives to try to encourage farmers to grow organic food as it can be expensive. Interest free loans are being introduced for farmers who will convert their dairy farms to organic ones. Oilseed rape crushers have been introduced to produce organic oilseed rape. The oil is destined for human consumption and the by-products are for animal feed. This is to try to encourage organic oilseed rape to be grown in the UK as it is not currently and has to be bought outside the UK. Farmers are being offered money by the EU to meet agri-environmental measures. The scheme has been set up for the next seven years and is designed to improve the environment. Farmers are being paid to convert farmland into woodland. There are increasing fuel prices to try to discourage people from using their cars as much and protect the environment. But these prices are hitting farmers badly, as they can't afford to run their machinery to maintain and harvest their crops. These crops are ultimately our food therefore, the increasing fuel prices to protect the environment are preventing as much food being produced. <br />
<br />
Organic food production seems to be a very good idea. It protects the environment as it doesn't involve the use of herbicides and fertilisers and it allows the farmers to carry on producing food in large enough quantities. The government incentives are helping farmers to become established in the organic farming trades. With organic food becoming more popular with the consumer, the demand for organic produce is increasing. Organic food tends to be more expensive as the entire crop isn't perfect but it is environmentally friendly. <br />
<br />
Man's effects on the environment are many but the effects are being slowed down and where possible reversed. The consequences of many years of abuse to the earth are being realised and people are trying to do something about it. Tillage operations that prepare the soil for planting and control weeds expose bare soil to possible erosion by wind and water. An example is the Dust Bowl area of the United States. The planting of crops and raising of cattle here left the soil exposed, which led to extensive wind erosion during the 1930s. Erosion removes fertile soil and contributes to problems of air and water pollution. Several techniques are used to combat erosion. Crop rotation is also being increasingly used to hold soil in place between plantings. Still, many small-seeded crops require a finely worked seedbed, and soil erosion cannot be eliminated. The dust bowl cannot be used for crops or cattle now. If crop rotation and other land maintenance did not take place, this would happen to the land in the UK. Global warming is being reduced as much as possible by the reduction of toxic emissions and wastewater is being recycled instead of pumped into rivers and seas. Man is trying to reverse and slow down the effects on the environment although some things cannot be reversed. <br />
<br />
References: <br />
<br />
Biology Core - Mike Bailey and Keith Hirst <br />
<br />
Encarta 98 Deluxe encyclopedia <br />
<br />
Comptons Interactive Encyclopedia <br />
<br />
Heinemann Advanced Biology - Ann Fullick <br />
<br />
Farmers Weekly Aug 2000</span>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-88232365685292750602010-01-16T00:05:00.000-08:002010-01-16T00:05:26.147-08:00Mission Green Earth<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NZTyF4qnCPE&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NZTyF4qnCPE&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-66599848167411200702010-01-14T22:35:00.001-08:002010-01-14T22:35:36.429-08:00Haiti Earthquake Aftermath<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8IySBl2aq-A&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8IySBl2aq-A&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-60048352524651363822010-01-14T22:33:00.000-08:002010-01-14T22:33:07.925-08:00ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT PPT<div><h3 style="margin: 3px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/shivajichoudhury-73450-environment-management-thermal-power-plant-pollution-water-air-science-technology-ppt-powerpoint/" target="_blank"><br />
</a></h3><object height="354" id="player" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.authorstream.com/player.swf?p=shivajichoudhury-73450-environment-management-thermal-power-plant-pollution-water-air-science-technology-ppt-powerpoint" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://www.authorstream.com/player.swf?p=shivajichoudhury-73450-environment-management-thermal-power-plant-pollution-water-air-science-technology-ppt-powerpoint" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="354"></embed></object><br />
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">See more <a href="http://www.authorstream.com/" target="_blank">presentations</a> by <a href="http://www.authorstream.com/User-Presentations/shivajichoudhury/" target="_blank">shivajichoudhury</a> | <a href="http://upload.authorstream.com/multipleupload/" target="_blank">Upload your own PowerPoint presentations</a><br />
</div></div>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-86945407409337576562010-01-14T22:31:00.000-08:002010-01-14T22:31:24.591-08:00Environment Forum PPT<div><br />
<object height="354" id="player" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.authorstream.com/player.swf?p=242740_633892049410328750" /><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><embed src="http://www.authorstream.com/player.swf?p=242740_633892049410328750" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="354"></embed></object><br />
<div style="font-family: arial; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 11px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">See more <a href="http://www.authorstream.com/" target="_blank">presentations</a> by <a href="http://www.authorstream.com/User-Presentations/martinf1/" target="_blank">martinf1</a> | <a href="http://upload.authorstream.com/multipleupload/" target="_blank">Upload your own PowerPoint presentations</a><br />
</div></div>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-89782266896118640442009-10-30T17:57:00.000-07:002009-10-30T17:58:17.230-07:00Will the earth end on 21 December 2012?There has been a serious debate going on this subject for quite a few years all over the world. People say that all the popular religions indicate the end of the world on this day.<br /><br />They even say that Nostradamus had given a similar prediction. They also claim the Mayan’s calendar ends on this day.<br /><br />They give so many reasons for the end of the world. It could be the result of the third world war. It could be the result of drastic changes in the solar system. It could also be the result of huge natural calamities.<br /><br />It is also said that the earth’s magnetic field is changing to a great extent and so on and on. They also say that there is a serious threat to earth by some comets and asteroids that are fast approaching towards the earth.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CIHKrhVLeL8&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CIHKrhVLeL8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br />The earth has been surviving for millions and millions of years. It had experienced so many disasters in the past but never failed in its survival. Of course, there have been many earth faults and notable changes in the global phenomenon.azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-37936951755902501242009-10-30T17:54:00.000-07:002009-10-30T17:57:01.824-07:00Will Earth Die a “Natural” Death?<span class="content">According to recent research, the devastating, although not very urgent, news on the long-term status of planet Earth is now in. Clara Moskowitz, a staff writer for <em>Space.com</em>, recently reported that new calculations suggest the Earth will be sucked into the Sun and burned to a crisp in 7.6 billion years (2008). The new “findings” come from work done by Robert Smith, former professor at the University of Sussex, in association with astronomer Klaus-Peter Schroeder</span>.<p><span class="content">Smith warned that while 7.6 billion years might seem like too far in the distant future to cause concern, things would get deadly several billions of years before that. He proposed that in about one billion years the Earth will be so close to the Sun that there will be “no atmosphere, no water and a surface temperature of hundreds of degrees, way above the boiling point of water” (as quoted in Moskowitz).</span></p> <p><span class="content">The reason for Earth’s expected demise is a slowing down of the Earth’s orbit caused by gravitational forces from the Sun as well as forces from gas that the Sun expels. As bleak as Earth’s eventual destruction sounds, Smith is still upbeat. Moskowitz reported: “Some scientists have proposed a scheme for down the road to use the gravity of a passing asteroid to budge Earth out of the way of the sun toward cooler territory, assuming there is life around at the time that is intelligent enough to engineer this solution” (2008). Concerning this bizarre solution, Smith commented that it sounds like science fiction, but “[i]f it is done right, that would just keep the Earth moving fast enough to keep it out of harm’s way. Maybe life could go on for as much as 7 billion years” (as quoted in Moskowitz).</span></p> <p><span class="content">The problem with all this doomsday talk is that the biggest factor in the equation is left out—God. Humans have become so conceited and filled with a false sense of importance that some actually think we not can only predict our planet’s ultimate destruction, but also postpone it if there are still some intelligent scientists (like present ones) who are around when the time comes.</span></p> <p><span class="content">The fallacy of this line of thinking was pointed out almost 2,000 years ago by the inspired apostle Peter. In his second epistle, Peter discussed scoffers who would say: “Where is the promise of His [Jesus’—<span class="contentsmall">KB</span><span class="content">] coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4). Notice the uniformitarian assumption of Peter’s scoffers. They assume that all things continue as they are now and will continue that way.</span></span></p> <p><span class="content"><span class="content">Apply that to Smith’s research. Since the Earth’s orbit is slowing down slightly at the present, he assumes that it will continue to do so for the next 7.6 billion years. But Peter reminds the scoffers that they are willfully forgetting something very important, “that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water” (2 Peter 3:5-6). The key factor in the world’s creation, preservation, and destruction is not ongoing, current natural processes, but the “word of God” that created the world and destroyed life on the Earth in the Flood of Noah. Peter concludes his thoughts by saying: “But the heavens and the earth which now exist are kept in store by the same word, reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:7).</span></span></p> <p><span class="content"><span class="content">When the Lord enacts His plan to destroy the physical Universe, including our planet Earth, then it will be destroyed, not before (see <a class="bodylink" href="http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2311">Butt</a>, 2003). All uniformitarian theories about Earth’s eventual demise are vain mental gymnastics. Instead of looking 7.6 billion years into the future, we all should realize that the destruction of this physical Universe will come as a thief in the night (at any time). “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (2 Peter 3:11)?</span></span></p> <div align="center"><span class="content"><span class="content"><b>REFERENCES</b></span></span></div> <p><span class="content"><span class="content">Butt, Kyle (2003), “What Will Happen When Jesus Comes Again?,” [On-line], <span class="contentsmall">URL:</span><span class="content"> <a class="bodylink" href="http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2311">http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2311</a>.</span></span></span></p> <p><span class="content"><span class="content"><span class="content">Moskowitz, Clara (2008), “Earth’s Final Sunset Predicted,” <em>Science.com</em>, [On-line], <span class="contentsmall">URL:</span><span class="content"> http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20080226/sc_space/earthsfinalsunset predicted;_ylt=AtenKy4HBtxHEO3FFWp5w.kiANEA.</span></span></span></span></p>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-25933899465712909002009-03-17T18:13:00.000-07:002009-03-17T18:14:11.793-07:00RAin water Harvesting<span style="color: rgb(189, 164, 109);"><span class="Heading"><span style="color: rgb(142, 118, 64);">The Northeastern hill ranges</span></span></span><span class="Heading"> </span>stretch over six Indian states Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya, extending over Bangladesh and northern Myanmar, touching the southern slopes of the Brahmaputra valley and the northern, eastern and southern slopes of the Barak valley. The Meghalaya plateau covers the entire state of Meghalaya and the Karbi hills of Assam. .<span class="fullpost"><br /></span><span class="fullpost"><br /></span><p>The climate and rainfall of the area varies considerably across the region. Encircled by hills and plateaus, rainfall varies even more than temperatures. The average annual rainfall reaches a peak of 13,390 mm in the Cherrapunji-Mawsynram region. But areas that fall in the rainshadow region of the Meghalaya plateau need irrigation. While the northern slopes of the Brahmaputra valley receive an annual average rainfall of 2,500 mm, the area south of the valley and the northern part of Meghalaya receive an annual rainfall of about 2,000 mm.</p> <p>Distribution of the population in the Northeast is also very uneven. Within the plains there are pockets of very high population density, such as the Manipur plains (400 persons/sq km) and the Nowgong plains (302 persons/sq km). The vast hill tracts, however, have a low population density. </p> <p>The water resources potential of the region is the largest in the entire country. Given its heavy rainfall, it also has abundant groundwater resources. But only a small part of the region has been studied to estimate the groundwater potential. The maximum scope for development of groundwater exists in Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. The available surface water resources have hardly been tapped because of the rugged nature of the terrain. Hence, cultivation in the region is largely rainfed and jhum cultivation (shifting cultivation) has been widely adopted.2 </p> Nonetheless, there are documented instances of some indigenous rainwater harvesting systems used for cultivation, of which some are ingenious. Settled agriculture is practised in the form of irrigated terrace cultivation in parts of Nagaland and a few villages of Meghalaya. Channels are dug to irrigate these fields. The other chief indigenous source of irrigation is the bamboo irrigation system found in parts of Meghalaya, and in some villages in the Mokokchung district of Nagalandazzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-52347311680285105412009-01-23T16:57:00.000-08:002009-01-23T17:03:16.112-08:00India debuts 'agricultural Wikipedia'<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="float: left;" src="http://www.enn.com/image_for_articles/39141-1.jpg/medium" /></div> Indian scientists have launched an 'agricultural Wikipedia' to act as an online repository of agricultural information in the country. The government-backed initiative, Agropedia, was launched last week (12 January). It aims to disseminate crop- and region-specific information to farmers and agricultural extension workers — who communicate agricultural information and research findings to farmers — and provide information for students and researchers.<span class="fullpost"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><img src="file:///C:/Users/azzax/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot-1.jpg" alt="" /><br /></div><span class="fullpost"> The website currently contains information on nine crops — rice, wheat, chickpea, pigeon pea, vegetable pea, lychee, sugarcane, groundnut and sorghum — but its creators say that all agriculture-related topics will be eventually covered.<br /><br />Content will be continually added and validated through review and analysis by invited agricultural researchers, in a manner similar to that used by Wikipedia and using open source tools, says V. Balaji, head of knowledge management and sharing with the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), a partner in the project.<br /><br />The site also houses blogs and forums where anyone can provide and exchange knowledge.<br /><br />The 85 million-rupee (around US$17 million) project is being implemented over 30 months and is backed by the National Agricultural Innovation Project, a six-year government programme intended to modernise agriculture.<br /><br />The World Bank and the Indian government have provided the funding for the project and six Indian agricultural and technology institutions are partners in the project, providing information and technological expertise.<br /><br />India is considered a global leader in promoting innovative ways of using technology for farm and rural outreach, Balaji told SciDev.Net.<br /><br />In the last five years close to 12,000 information technology-enabled rural information centres — some with Internet access — have been established but there is a lack of accessible agricultural information, he says.<br /><br />It is hoped that even where farmers have no access to the Internet, the Agropedia information can be used as a basis for radio plays, for example, says Balaji.<br /><br />Agropedia's lead architect, T. V. Prabhakar of the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, initially envisioned the website as the equivalent of Wikipedia for global agriculture three years ago, but for now it will concentrate on India-specific information.<br /><br />He says that the initial phase of the project — developing a mechanism to manage the vast repository of knowledge — is nearly completed, and the next step is to develop ways to disseminate the knowledge.<br /><br />Trials will soon begin in six locations around the country.<br /><br /><br />Source : http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/39141<br /></span>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-84062123964025530262009-01-23T16:53:00.000-08:002009-01-23T16:57:09.501-08:00Shree Padre-The Water MAN<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lWhYAnHfFgA/SXpm6zaPe7I/AAAAAAAAApE/1sdea7BR_9c/s1600-h/Shree+Padre+Latest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 165px; height: 220px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lWhYAnHfFgA/SXpm6zaPe7I/AAAAAAAAApE/1sdea7BR_9c/s320/Shree+Padre+Latest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294657472346160050" border="0" /></a><br />Mr. Shree Padre has made impressive strides in farm journalism. He is from Vaninagar, a village in Kerala bordering Karnataka. A farmer by profession, he has been associated with the publications of All India Areca Growers’ Association, Puttur (Karnataka State) since 1987. First with Areca News, a newsletter that became Adike Pathrike in November 1988. He had been the Chief Editor of this unique venture in farm journalism for more than a decade and at present he is its Executive Editor.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div> The initial efforts by Mr. Padre in prodding the farmers to come out with their innovations and experiences were met by reluctant responses. Subsequently he took the initiative to conduct workshops in farm journalism for farmers and the results were very much encouraging. The trained farmers not only began to write about their own farm experience, but also began to report, interview and narrate the farming experiences in their neighbourhood. By his radical and pro-farmer stance, Mr. Padre has given a new dimension to farm journalism in the country, setting aside the age-old notions of information supply, practiced by the official agencies.<span class="fullpost"><br /><br /></span><p align="justify"> Through <a href="http://www.farmedia.org/farmers_own_media.html"> Adike Pathrike,</a> Mr. Shree Padre has turned the concept of “farmers first” into reality. His efforts through the journal are the fine Indian example of <a href="http://www.farmedia.org/self_help_journalism.html"> self-help journalism, </a> widely acclaimed for its efficacy the world over, especially in rural communication for development. His talent in photography has helped in providing additional weightage to his write-ups. His style of writing is unique in Kannada journalism.</p> <p align="justify"> In recent years, Mr. Shree Padre is working persistently in the field of soil and water conservation in Karnataka and Kerala. He has been conducting awareness programmes on the theme, a unique effort in the region. He has been vigorously collecting and documenting information on rainwater harvesting from world over. Mr. Padre’s series of <a href="http://www.farmedia.org/profiles/padrearticles.html">feature articles</a> on soil and water conservation became an eye-opener for farmers and many experiments based on his articles have been yielding fruitful results in different places. He has written seven books (Six in Kannada and <a href="http://www.farmedia.org/profiles/padre_rainwater.html"> one in English</a>) on rainwater harvesting. Vijaya Karnataka, a Kannada Daily carries his column on water conservation, Hanigoodisona every Wednesday. </p> <p align="justify"> To boost his efforts, Mr. Padre has initiated a water forum <a href="http://www.farmedia.org/profiles/jalakoota.html">‘Jalakoota’</a> in October 2001. The forum is involved in several activities on soil and water conservation including rainwater harvesting.</p> <p align="justify"> Mr. Padre successfully initiated a campaign against the hazardous <a href="http://www.farmedia.org/endo_open.html"> endosulfan </a> spraying on the cashew plantations in the Kasargod district of Kerala, which had serious repercussions on the health of the villagers. </p><p> Email: <a href="mailto:shreepadre@sancharnet.in">shreepadre@sancharnet.in</a><br />Tel: 91-8251-287234, 91- 04998 - 266148<br />Address:<br />Editorial Consultant, Adike Patrike<br />Post: Vaninagar, Via: Perla - 671 552<br />Kerala State, INDIA<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>His blog is: <a href="http://jeevajala.blogspot.com/">http://jeevajala.blogspot.com<br /></a></p><ul><li><fontsize=+1> <p align="right"><a href="http://www.farmedia.org/profiles/padre_interview.html"> <b>Padre's interview<b> </b></b></a><b><b> </b></b></p></fontsize=+1></li><li><fontsize=+1><b><b> </b></b><p align="right"><b><b><a href="http://www.goodnewsindia.com/Pages/content/conservation/shreePadre.html"> <b>The Rain Man of Canara Coast</b> </a> <b> </b></b></b></p></fontsize=+1></li><li><b><b><b> <fontsize=+1> </fontsize=+1></b></b></b><p align="right"><b><b><b> <a href="http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/People/RuralJY.htm#shre"> <b>Padre's Profile as published in rainwaterharvesting.org </b></a> </b></b></b></p></li></ul>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-49130375836355658792009-01-23T16:45:00.000-08:002009-01-23T16:46:36.683-08:00Large differences in lifestylesThe large differences in consumption rates indicate that there are large differences in lifestyle. The consumption rates are lowest for families that live in smaller homes and spend much of their time in the vicinity of the home. They travel less and shorter distances, and in their daily life they make less use of private cars than the others.<br />Many of the participants of the research project appreciated the comparisons between the various sectors of consumption.Such comparisons made it easier to see in which sectors the consumption rates could be reduced. Others found the results too superficial. Simple comparisons between sectors and with an average consumer were not enough.<span class="fullpost">Participants wished to get more detailed information that could help them to make the right choices.<br /><br />Some of the participants wanted to know the limit of sustainable consumption, the amount of natural resources that can be safely used by an individual. Based on the presently available information, the researchers cannot give any definite figures. However, it is obvious that less is better. The eco-efficiency discussion has brought forward goals on different levels. In a shorter time perspective, the consumption rates should be reduced down to one fourth of the present level, but a long-term target in the Western countries should be to reduce the consumption of natural resources down to one tenth of the present level.</span>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-24018051127813469432009-01-04T20:59:00.000-08:002009-01-18T23:45:30.785-08:00DYNAMICS OF ERUPTIONS<p><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:-1;color:#000000;">This section examines the variability of volcanic environments and the physical and chemical controls on eruption dynamics. Environments of volcanism are discussed in terms of <i>plate tectonic</i> theory. <i>Image below is courtesy of Jeffrey Hulen.</i></span></p> <h2><center><table width="448" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2"> <tbody><tr> <td width="22%"> <center> <a href="http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Heat.html"><img src="http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Images/Diagrams/vulcan_vs.jpg" alt="Eruption Dynamics" naturalsizeflag="3" width="144" align="bottom" border="0" height="174" /></a> </center></td> </tr> </tbody></table> </center></h2> <h2><center><table width="450" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2"> <tbody><tr> <td width="100%"> <center><img src="http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/Images/Eruptions/etnaplume_usra_oct2001.jpg" alt="SeaWiFS satellite image, Mt. Etna" naturalsizeflag="0" width="657" align="bottom" border="0" height="296" /></center></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></center></h2>Mt. Etna is Europe's highest volcano at 10,900 ft (3,516 m). This SeaWiFS satellite image was taken on Monday October 28 one day after Mt. Etna began to erupt. The image is taken from the perspective of looking across the Mediterranean Sea, toward the west - Albania and Greece are beneath Italy's "heel." The red arrows show the ash plume from the eruption moving to the south. Lava from the eruption toppled some ski resort facilities and power lines, but it failed to reach any of the several towns and villages, which lie all too close to the flanks of Mt. Etna. Courtesy of NASA.azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-75231860329997634352009-01-04T20:57:00.000-08:002009-01-15T09:20:03.879-08:00Oceans<table width="713" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="611"><br /><p><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/oceans2.jpg" width="258" border="0" height="164" /></p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">We know comparatively little about the <span class="glossarycolor">oceans</span>, yet they </span><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">occupy a vast area of the <span class="glossarycolor">Earth</span>. In total the oceans cover 361,100,000 square kilometres (139,400,000 square miles) and occupy a volume of 1,370 million cubic kilometres (329 million cubic miles). The average depth of the oceans is 3,730 metres ( 12,238 feet).</span><p><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/oceans3.jpg" width="258" border="0" height="164" /></p><p><br /></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Water covers more than 70 per cent of the Earth's surface. Most of this water is contained within four interlinked oceans—the <span class="mapcolor">Pacific</span>, which occupies an area larger than all of the world's continents combined, the <span class="mapcolor">Atlantic</span>, which is about half the size of the Pacific, the <span class="mapcolor">Indian Ocean</span>, and the small, icy <span class="mapcolor">Arctic Ocean</span> surrounding the <span class="mapcolor">North Pole</span>. The waters around <span class="mapcolor">Antarctica</span> are sometimes described as the <span class="mapcolor">Southern Ocean</span>, but most geographers regard this region as extensions of the three largest oceans. Despite their vast size, little was known about the oceans until comparatively recently. Before World War I, the ocean floors were believed to be featureless <span class="glossarycolor">plains</span>. They are now known to have features as irregular as those on land.</span></p><p><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/oceans5.jpg" width="259" border="0" height="373" /></p><p> </p><p><b><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Ocean Floor Topography</span></b> </p><p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Below <span class="glossarycolor">sea level</span>, most continents are surrounded by gently sloping <span class="glossarycolor">continental shelf</span>, which are effectively continuations of the <span class="glossarycolor">continents</span>. These shelves vary tremendously in width, and may extend as far as 1,500 kilometres (930 miles) out to <span class="glossarycolor">sea</span>. Many continental shelves are crossed by submarine <span class="glossarycolor">canyons</span>, some of which are larger than the <span class="mapcolor">Grand Canyon</span>. Oceanographers believe these huge depressions were carved out by dense, <span class="glossarycolor">sediment</span>-loaded water flowing across the seafloor.</span> </p><p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">The <span class="glossarycolor">continental shelves</span> end at depths of about 130 metres (430 feet). Beyond this point there is a marked change of gradient, where a steep <span class="glossarycolor">continental slope</span> plunges down to the ocean floor, or abyss. Where the continental slope meets the ocean floor is the <span class="glossarycolor">continental rise</span>. <span class="glossarycolor">Sediments</span> wash down from the continental shelf and slope and collect in the rise, which extends up to 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) across the abyss from the continental slope.</span> </p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">The abyss proper, which reaches average depths of 4,000 to 6,000 metres (13,000 to 20,000 feet), consists of large <span class="glossarycolor">abyssal plains</span> broken by low hills. Features of the ocean floor include <span class="glossarycolor">seamounts</span>, and <span class="glossarycolor">volcanoes</span> such as the <span class="mapcolor">Hawaiian</span> chain, which break the surface as <span class="glossarycolor">islands</span>. Some <span class="glossarycolor">extinct</span>, flat-topped volcanoes, such as the <span class="mapcolor">Pacific Guyots</span>, are covered by coral deposits, including <span class="glossarycolor">reefs</span> and <span class="glossarycolor">atolls</span>.<br /></span></p><p><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/oceans1.jpg" width="258" border="0" height="167" /> </p> </td> <td width="88"> <br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="705"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="705"> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);"> The most prominent features rising from the abyss are <span class="glossarycolor">mid-oceanic ridge</span>. Formed when <span class="glossarycolor">magma</span> rises to the surface along separating underwater <span class="glossarycolor">plate</span> boundaries, these extensive <span class="glossarycolor">mountain</span> chains are present in all of the <span class="glossarycolor">oceans</span>. Mid-oceanic ridges cover nearly 23 per cent of the earth's surface, and generally rise about 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) above the ocean floor. <span class="glossarycolor">Rift valley</span>, bounded by <span class="glossarycolor">fault</span> zones, may appear along the crests of the ridges where new ocean <span class="glossarycolor">crust</span> has been formed by the oozing magma. The <span class="glossarycolor">temperatures</span> of the rocks in this area are higher than normal, demonstrating that the area is volcanically active. Parts of the <span class="mapcolor">Mid-Atlantic Ridge</span>, for example, which stretches from the <span class="mapcolor">Norwegian Sea</span> to the <span class="mapcolor">South Atlantic</span>, emerge as volcanic islands in <span class="mapcolor">Iceland</span> and the <span class="mapcolor">Azores</span>.</span><br /></p><p><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/oceans4.jpg" width="258" border="0" height="165" /></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Hot <span class="glossarycolor">springs</span> were discovered in underwater rift valleys as recently as 1977. Minerals in the hot spring water are deposited around their vents, and build up to form chimneys. Because the water that gushes from these chimneys is dark, they have been named "black smokers". The mineral-rich water around the black smokers, which is often heated to 350C (662F) or more, provides a breeding place for strange bacteria and living creatures, such as blind crabs and tripod fish, formerly unknown to science. Their presence has led to speculation that life may first have evolved on earth in such hostile environments as these.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">The other main physical features in the oceans are deep <span class="glossarycolor">trenches</span>, alongside which are chains of <span class="glossarycolor">volcanoes</span>. Some volcanic chains, such as those in eastern <span class="mapcolor">Asia</span>, form <span class="glossarycolor">islands</span>, while others intrude into adjacent land areas, as in <span class="mapcolor">Central</span> and <span class="mapcolor">South America</span>.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">The trenches and ocean ridges are active zones, where the <span class="glossarycolor">Earth's</span> crust is unstable. They are associated not only with vulcanicity, but also with intense seismic activity. The study of these features helped in the formulation of the theory of <span class="glossarycolor">plate tectonics</span>, and the recognition that <span class="glossarycolor">mid-oceanic ridges</span> are plate margins where new crustal rock is being formed as <span class="glossarycolor">plates</span> move apart, while the trenches mark where plates are being destroyed in <span class="glossarycolor">subduction zones</span>. The <span class="mapcolor">Marianas Trench</span>, on the floor of the <span class="mapcolor">North Pacific Ocean</span>, is the deepest known ocean trench, reaching a maximum depth of 11,033 metres (36,198 feet).</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Plate tectonics explains how the <span class="glossarycolor">oceans</span> were formed. Around 200 million years ago, all the <span class="glossarycolor">continents</span> were joined together in one supercontinent called Pangaea. During the last 180 million years, Pangaea has broken up and new oceans have formed through ocean-spreading along <span class="glossarycolor">rift valleys</span> in the mid-oceanic ridges between the continents. The theory is supported by the fact that none of the <span class="glossarycolor">basaltic</span> rocks which cover the ocean floor are more than 200 million years old. The oceans, therefore, are young features by comparison with the continents, where rocks have been found that date back around 3.8 billion years.</span></p> <p><b><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Ocean Water</span></b></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="705"><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">The oceans contain 97 per cent of the world's water. All of the Earth's natural elements are present in this water, the most common being sodium and chloride, which together form salt. The salinity of ocean water varies between about 3.3 and 3.7 per cent. Areas where the <span class="glossarycolor">evaporation</span> rate is high and there is little rain generally have a high salinity. Other areas, such as the <span class="mapcolor">Baltic Sea</span>, which receive large amounts of fresh water from <span class="glossarycolor">rivers</span>, are much less saline.</span> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Variations in the salinity and <span class="glossarycolor">temperature</span> of the water in the oceans create density differences in the water, which in turn cause ocean <span class="glossarycolor">currents</span>. These currents flow through all of the oceans, redistributing the water, transferring heat, and modifying the <span class="glossarycolor">climate</span>. However, most of the familiar surface currents, such as the warm Gulf Stream which brings mild weather to northwestern Europe, are caused by <span class="glossarycolor">prevailing winds</span>. The effect of currents on climate were well demonstrated in 1997-1998, when a phenomenon known as <span class="glossarycolor">El Niño</span>, caused by currents in the Pacific Ocean, caused freak <span class="glossarycolor">weather</span> conditions in many parts of <span class="mapcolor">North</span> and South America, eastern Asia, and <span class="mapcolor">Australia</span>.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);"><span class="glossarycolor">Tides</span> and <span class="glossarycolor">waves</span> influence the movement of the water in the oceans. Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the <span class="mapcolor">Moon</span> and <span class="glossarycolor">Sun</span>, which cause the waters in the oceans to rise and fall in a continuous cycle. <span class="glossarycolor">Winds</span> are normally responsible for the waves. Light winds create calm waters, while choppy waves and rough <span class="glossarycolor">seas</span> are the result of strong winds. Along the <span class="glossarycolor">coasts</span>, storm waves bombarding the <span class="glossarycolor">shore</span> cause <span class="glossarycolor">erosion</span>, but the most terrifying waves are generated by <span class="glossarycolor">earthquakes</span> or <span class="glossarycolor">volcanic</span> eruptions. Called <span class="glossarycolor">tsunamis</span>, these waves, which are 15 metres (50 feet) or more in height, most frequently occur in the Pacific Ocean.</span></p> <p><b><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Ocean Life</span></b></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="705"><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">The oceans are home to an incredible variety of living organisms, ranging from the world's largest animal, the blue whale, to microscopic algae. Around 160,000 ocean species have been named, and scientists believe there may be tens of millions more unclassified. The most important part of the ocean is the euphotic zone, where sunlight can penetrate easily. Beyond this zone, which extends to about 60 metres (200 feet) below the surface, the light becomes too weak to support plant life, and beyond 200 metres (650 feet) it fades away completely.</span> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Scientists divide marine life into four main groups: <span class="glossarycolor">plankton</span>, neuston, nekton, and benthos. Plankton, mostly visible only through a microscope, are found near the surface. They include tiny plants, called phytoplankton, which use sunlight to make their food, and many of which are single-celled, together with microscopic animals collectively known as zooplankton. <span class="glossarycolor">Crustaceans</span>, which also include many single-celled creatures, make up about 70 per cent of the zooplankton. The copepod, the most common animal in the ocean, is a zooplankton. Much plankton is actually the young of larger ocean species, such as crabs and starfish. Plankton provide the basis of the <span class="glossarycolor">food chain</span> in the ocean. Neuston are organisms that live at or within 10 to 20 centimetres (4 to 8 inches) of the surface, and include jellyfishes, Portuguese man-of-war, floating snails, and sargassum weed. Nekton, or free-swimming organisms, live mostly near the surface, although some inhabit the dark ocean depths. Among this group are fish, squids, and marine mammals such as whales. Close to the ocean floor dwell the marine organisms collectively known as benthos, among them crabs, lobsters, and starfish, together with <span class="glossarycolor">fish</span> such as halibut and sole. Other organisms, such as sea grass, become anchored to the ocean floor. Even the deepest ocean <span class="glossarycolor">trenches</span>, where water pressures are enormous, contain living creatures. Many are <span class="glossarycolor">scavengers</span> that feed on dead organisms which have drifted down from the top layers.</span></p> <p><b><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Studying the Ocean</span></b></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="705"><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Oceanography began in the second half of the 19th century, and is therefore a relatively young science. One of the most significant early explorations in this field was the round-the-world expedition of a British research ship called Challenger. But while information accumulated about seawater and the myriad life forms it contained, measuring <span class="glossarycolor">ocean</span> depths was restricted. This was because the only means available before World War I involved lead-weighted ropes or wires, and such a time-consuming, laborious technique was suitable only for shallow <span class="glossarycolor">coastal</span> waters. From the 1920s, the use of echo-sounders enabled oceanographers to begin the huge task of mapping the ocean floor and, from the 1930s and 1940s, manned descents into the oceans took place in submersibles. Research accelerated after World War II, and the accumulation of information about the ocean floor in the 1950s and 1960s, using increasingly sophisticated techniques, led to the formulation of the theory of <span class="glossarycolor">plate tectonics</span>. Today the study of "inner space", as the oceans have been called, continues with the aid of research ships, submersibles, <span class="glossarycolor">satellites</span>, and computers.</span> <p><b><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Overfishing and Pollution</span></b></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="705"><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">The oceans are an important source of food, minerals, <span class="glossarycolor">fossil fuels</span>, and energy. Tidal power is already generated, and wave power has potential as an alternative energy supply for the future. However, many formerly rich fishing grounds, such as the <span class="mapcolor">Grand Banks</span> off <span class="mapcolor">Newfoundland</span>, have been overfished and the cod, for which this fishing ground was once well-known, are now rare. Other misuses of the oceans include oil spills, which are caused by accidents to oil tankers, or the deliberate emptying of oil into the sea when the tankers are cleaned. The dumping of poisonous factory wastes, untreated sewage, or other harmful pollutants, including radioactive wastes, adds to the <span class="glossarycolor">pollution</span> problem.</span> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Two important tropical oceanic environments, where <span class="glossarycolor">fish</span> and other organisms breed, have been seriously damaged. These are <span class="glossarycolor">coastal</span> mangrove <span class="glossarycolor">swamps</span>, which have been polluted and <span class="glossarycolor">deforested</span>, and <span class="glossarycolor">coral reefs</span>. A global survey in 1997 suggested that about 95 per cent of coral reefs have been damaged by overfishing, dynamiting, poisoning, pollution, or ships' anchors. The worst damage occurred in the Indo-Pacific region, where there is great demand for reef fish as a delicacy.</span></p> <p><span style="color: rgb(128, 128, 0);">Global warming could have major effects on the circulation of the <span class="glossarycolor">oceans</span> and, subsequently, on world <span class="glossarycolor">climates</span>. For example, computer models suggest that global warming could weaken the <span class="mapcolor">Gulf Stream</span> and this would mean much colder winters for northwestern Europe. Global warming could also melt ice locked in the global ice packs and release it into the oceans, where it would cause sea levels to rise and low-lying <span class="glossarycolor">islands</span>, such as the <span class="mapcolor">Maldives</span>, to be submerged within a century. The <span class="glossarycolor">conservation</span> of the oceans and their valuable resources is a matter for urgent coordinated international action.</span> </p></td></tr></tbody></table>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-57833239968809082732009-01-04T20:56:00.000-08:002009-01-04T20:57:39.870-08:00Plate Tectonics<table width="95%" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="77%"><span style="color:#808000;">According to the theory of plate tectonics, the earth’s <span class="glossarycolor">crust</span> is broken up into at least a dozen rigid <span class="glossarycolor">plates</span> that move independently of one another. These slabs rest upon a layer of heated, pliable rock called the asthenosphere, which flows slowly like hot tar. <span class="glossarycolor">Geologists</span> have not yet determined exactly how these two layers interact, but a popular theory is that the movement of the thick, molten material in the asthenosphere forces the upper plates to shift, sink, or rise.</span> <p><span style="color:#808000;">The basic concept behind plate tectonics is simply that heat rises. Hot air rises above cool air, and warm water <span class="glossarycolor">currents</span> flow above cold water. The same is true of the heated rock below the <span class="glossarycolor">earth’s</span> surface. The asthenosphere’s molten material, or <span class="glossarycolor">magma</span>, pushes upwards, while cooler, hardened matter sinks deeper into the <span class="glossarycolor">mantle</span>. </span></p></td> <td width="23%"><a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/wpe8.jpg"><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platet1.jpg" alt="wpe8.jpg (29205 bytes)" width="250" border="0" height="162" /></a> <p><a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platetectonics1.gif"><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platetectonics1_small.gif" alt="platetectonics1.gif (125902 bytes)" width="249" border="0" height="169" /></a></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><span style="color:#808000;"> Sinking rock eventually reaches the extremely hot <span class="glossarycolor">temperatures</span> of the lower asthenosphere, heats up, and begins to rise again. This continual, roughly circular motion is called convection. At diverging plate boundaries and at <span class="glossarycolor">hot spots</span> in the otherwise solid <span class="glossarycolor">lithosphere</span>, molten material wells up to the surface, forming a new crust.</span> <p><b><span style="color:#808000;">Continental Drift</span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><span style="color:#808000;">The theory of plate tectonics was not widely accepted until the 1960s and 1970s. Before that time, most scientists believed the earth’s <span class="glossarycolor">continents</span> and <span class="glossarycolor">oceans</span> to be stationary. At the beginning of the 20th century, German meteorologist Alfred Wegener suggested that all continents had been part of one huge supercontinent, Pangaea. According to Wegener, about 200 million years ago Pangaea broke into separate plates that slowly drifted away from each other, leading to today’s continental arrangement.</span> <p><span style="color:#808000;">One of Wegener’s most convincing pieces of evidence was the almost perfect fit between the eastern <span class="glossarycolor">coast</span> of <span class="mapcolor">South America</span> and the western coast of <span class="mapcolor">Africa</span>. To support his theory, he pointed out that rock formations on opposite sides of the <span class="mapcolor">Atlantic</span>—in <span class="mapcolor">Brazil</span> and <span class="mapcolor">West Africa</span>—match in age, type, and structure. Also, the formations often contain fossils of the same terrestrial creatures, indicating that South America and Africa must have previously been connected.</span></p> <p><span style="color:#808000;">In subsequent years, scientific discoveries steadily began to support the fundamental aspects of Wegener’s theory. Geologists demonstrated the existence of the slowly moving asthenosphere, underlying the crust at depths of 50 to 150 kilometres (30 to 80 miles). In addition, scientists in the 1920s used sonar, an echo-sounding device, to determine ocean depths and map the seafloor. They concluded that the <span class="mapcolor">Mid-Atlantic Ridge</span>, detected in the 19th century, was part of a worldwide ocean <span class="glossarycolor">ridge</span> system.</span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"> <p><b><span style="color:#808000;">Seafloor Spreading</span></b></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"> <p><span style="color:#808000;">Additional evidence for plate tectonics came in the 1950s and 1960s. During this period, scientists discovered that all rock fragments maintain a set magnetic pattern based on when the rocks formed. Geophysicists also learned that the earth’s <span class="glossarycolor">magnetic field</span> had reversed between north and south dozens of times over millions of years. With this knowledge, they examined both sides of ocean ridges and found that the rocks on one side of the ridge produced a mirror-image geomagnetic pattern of the rocks on the other side.</span> </p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> </tbody></table><table width="95%" border="0"> <tbody><tr> <td width="74%"><span style="color:#808000;">The rocks nearest the ridge were relatively young, but the rocks aged as the distance from the ridge increased. In addition, marine <span class="glossarycolor">sediment</span> was thicker and older further from the ridge, whereas the ridge itself had virtually no deposits of sediment. These observations, added to those of the heat flow at the ridge, confirmed the creation of new crust at <span class="glossarycolor">mid-ocean ridges</span> and the mechanism of <span class="glossarycolor">seafloor spreading</span>.</span></td> <td width="26%"><a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platetectonics2.gif"><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platetectonics2_small.gif" alt="platetectonics2.gif (103736 bytes)" width="234" border="0" height="148" /></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><span style="color:#808000;">After molten rock reaches the seafloor as lava, deep ocean water quickly cools and consolidates the material. To make room for this continual addition of new crust, the plates on either side of the ridge must constantly move apart. In the <span class="mapcolor">North Atlantic</span>, the rate of movement of each plate is only about 1 to 2 centimetres (0.4 to 0.8 of an inch) per year. In the <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/introduction.html"><span class="mapcolor">Pacific</span></a>, the rate can be more than 10 centimetres (about 4 inches) annually.</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><span style="color:#808000;"><b>Subduction</b></span></td> </tr> </tbody></table><table width="95%" border="0"> <tbody><tr> <td width="74%"><span style="color:#808000;">The <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/micronesia/about_destin/guam.html"><span class="mapcolor">Marianas Trench</span></a>, just east of the <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/micronesia/about_destin/guam.html"><span class="mapcolor">Mariana Islands</span></a> in the western Pacific, is the deepest seafloor depression in the world at 11,033 metres (36,198 feet). The Marianas Trench is one of many deepwater <span class="glossarycolor">trenches</span> formed by the geologic process of <span class="glossarycolor">subduction</span>. During subduction, the edges of plates are subducted, or forced under, other plates. Ocean crust is drawn down into the <span class="glossarycolor">mantle</span> and partially melted.</span></td> <td width="26%"><a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/wpe3.jpg"><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platet2.jpg" alt="wpe3.jpg (12229 bytes)" width="236" border="0" height="152" /></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><span style="color:#808000;">An important effect of the melting of subducted ocean crust is the production of new magma. When subducted ocean crust melts, the magma that forms may rise from the plane of subduction deep within the mantle, erupting on the earth’s surface. Eruption of magma melted by subduction has created long, arc-shaped chains of <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/volcanoes.html"><span class="glossarycolor">volcanic</span></a> islands, such as <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/asia/japan/introduction.html"><span class="mapcolor">Japan</span></a>, the <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/asia/philippines/introduction.html"><span class="mapcolor">Philippines</span></a>, and the <span class="mapcolor">Aleutians</span>. Where an oceanic plate is subducted beneath continental crust, the magma produced by subductive melting erupts from volcanoes situated among long, linear <span class="glossarycolor">mountain</span> chains, such as the <span class="mapcolor">Andes</span> in <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/south_america/index.htm"><span class="mapcolor">South America</span></a>.</span> <p><b><span style="color:#808000;">Plate Boundaries</span></b></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><span style="color:#808000;">Plate boundaries do not necessarily match the <span class="glossarycolor">coastlines</span> of <span class="glossarycolor">continents</span>. A plate can consist of continental crust, oceanic crust, or both. In most cases, continents are part of larger plates that extend for hundreds of miles offshore. Many plate boundaries are far out in the middle of the ocean. There are three types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform.</span> <p><span style="color:#808000;">Divergent boundaries exist where plates move away from each other, pushed apart by heated, material moving upwards from the asthenosphere. An additional force involved in divergence may be the subduction of the heavier, older, and thicker crust at the opposite ends of each diverging plate. As the heavy edge sinks, it pulls the rest of the plate with it, away from the divergent boundary. Magma at the divergent boundary hardens, adding new crust to the edges of the separating plates. Scientists often refer to these as constructive boundaries, due to the construction of new material. <span class="glossarycolor">Mid-ocean ridges</span> are examples of this type of boundary. These ridges frequently resemble submarine mountain ranges, portions of which are high enough to break the ocean’s surface, in places such as <span class="mapcolor">Iceland</span> in the <span class="mapcolor">North Atlantic</span>.</span></p> <p><span style="color:#808000;">Divergent boundaries also exist within continents. The <span class="mapcolor">Great Rift Valley</span>, which extends for more than 4,830 kilometres (3,000 miles) from <span class="mapcolor">Syria</span> to <span class="mapcolor">Mozambique</span>, is a well-known example. Divergence has caused the earth’s crust to thin and drop along this plate boundary. A boundary where two plates collide is a convergent boundary.</span></p> <p><span style="color:#808000;"> When an oceanic plate, such as the <span class="mapcolor">Nazca Plate</span> which moves eastwards under the southeastern <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/pacificocean.html"><span class="mapcolor">Pacific Ocean</span></a>, meets a continental edge such as South America, the denser and heavier oceanic crust is normally subducted and partially melted beneath the continental plate. Ocean trenches at the boundary of the plate and <span class="glossarycolor">mountain</span> chains on the continental plate often result. </span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> </tbody></table><table width="95%" border="0"> <tbody><tr> <td width="74%"><span style="color:#808000;"><span class="glossarycolor">Earthquakes</span> can occur at these plate margins, shifting plates by up to 5 metres (about 15 feet) at once. Such <span class="glossarycolor">faults</span> exist in <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/south_america/chile/introduction.html"><span class="mapcolor">Chile</span></a>, <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/asia/japan/introduction.html"><span class="mapcolor">Japan</span></a>, <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/asia/taiwan/introduction.html"><span class="mapcolor">Taiwan</span></a>, the <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/asia/philippines/introduction.html"><span class="mapcolor">Philippines</span></a>, <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/new_zealand/introduction.html"><span class="mapcolor">New Zealand</span></a>, and <span class="mapcolor">Sumatra</span>. When two continental plates collide, the crust from both plates thrusts upwards, creating mountain chains. The collision of <span class="mapcolor">India</span> with the Asian continent formed the <span class="mapcolor">Himalayas</span>. In fact, the mountain range is still growing in height today because India and <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/asia/index.htm"><span class="mapcolor">Asia</span></a> are still converging.</span></td> <td width="26%"><a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platetectonics3.gif"><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platetectonics3_small.gif" alt="platetectonics3.gif (86215 bytes)" width="239" border="0" height="156" /></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><span style="color:#808000;">At a <span class="glossarycolor">transform boundary</span>, plates move past each other in opposite directions. Little volcanic activity accompanies transform boundaries, but large, shallow earthquakes can occur. The <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/north_america/western_usa/california/california.html"><span class="mapcolor">San Andreas Fault</span></a> in <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/north_america/western_usa/california/california.html"><span class="mapcolor">California (USA)</span></a>, is the most famous example of this type of boundary. Mid-ocean ridges are offset by hundreds of small transforms.</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> </tbody></table> <table width="95%" border="0"><tbody><tr> <td width="74%"><span style="color:#808000;">The revolutionary theory of plate tectonics forms the basis of modern geologic thought and explains many of today’s landforms and the movement of continents. This theory also provides an explanation for many of the world’s earthquakes and <a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/volcanoes.html"><span class="glossarycolor">volcanoes</span></a>. Most earthquakes and volcanic eruptions take place near plate margins. </span></td> <td width="26%"><a href="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platetectonics4.gif"><img src="http://www.pacificislandtravel.com/nature_gallery/platetectonics4_small.gif" alt="platetectonics4.gif (83214 bytes)" width="243" border="0" height="112" /></a></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="2" width="100%"><span style="color:#808000;"> Unfortunately, many large cities exist along plate margins, such as along the Ring of Fire, a zone of intense volcanic and seismic activity surrounding the Pacific Ocean. Humans repeatedly suffer the effects of these often catastrophic manifestations of tectonic activity.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8135173308537813979.post-74470760873367618652009-01-04T20:55:00.000-08:002009-01-04T20:56:32.544-08:00EarthquakesEarthquakes occur when the Earth’s crust moves suddenly along a fault. Rock under great strain ruptures and releases energy in the form of seismic waves. However, most earthquakes are so slight that they are not felt by humans. Some quakes create vibrations resembling those caused by the passing of a heavy truck. The vibrations of major earthquakes can be catastrophically destructive, having the ability to level entire cities in seconds. <br /><br />History of Earthquake Study<br />Since ancient times, people living in earthquake-prone areas have been preoccupied with earthquakes. Some of the ancient Greek philosophers attributed them to subterranean winds; others blamed them on fires deep in the Earth. Around AD 130, the Chinese scholar Zhang Heng reasoned that waves must ripple through the Earth from the source of an earthquake. He constructed an elaborate bronze vessel to record the passage of such waves and delicately balanced eight balls in the mouths of eight dragons placed around the circumference of the vessel. A passing seismic wave would cause one or more of the balls to drop.<br /><br />In the early 20th century, the Russian seismologist Prince Boris Golitzyn invented the modern seismograph. His device, using a magnetic pendulum suspended between the poles of an electromagnet, ushered in the modern era of earthquake research.<br /><br />Kinds and Locations of Earthquakes<br />Scientists recognize three general classes of earthquakes: tectonic, volcanic, and artificially produced. The tectonic variety is by far the most devastating, and such quakes pose particular difficulties for scientists trying to develop ways to predict them.<br /><br />According to the theory of plate tectonics, the ultimate cause of tectonic earthquakes is stresses set up by movements of the dozen or so major and minor plates that make up the Earth’s crust. Most tectonic quakes occur at the boundaries of these plates, in zones where one plate slides past or beneath another.<br /> <br /><br />Earthquakes resulting from subduction account for nearly half of the world's destructive seismic events and three-quarters of the Earth's seismic energy. These are concentrated along the Ring of Fire, a narrow band about 38,600 kilometres (24,000 miles) long, which coincides with the margins of the Pacific Ocean. Crustal rupture in such earthquakes tends to occur far below the Earth's surface, at depths of up to 645 kilometres (400 miles).<br /><br />Tectonic earthquakes beyond the Ring of Fire occur in a variety of geological settings. Mid-ocean ridges are the sites of numerous such events of moderate intensity that take place at relatively shallow depths. Humans rarely feel these quakes. Such earthquakes account for only about 5 per cent of the Earth's seismic energy, but the instruments of the worldwide network of seismological stations record them daily.<br /><br />Tectonic earthquakes also occur in a zone stretching from the Mediterranean and Caspian seas to the Himalayas, and ending in the Bay of Bengal. Within this zone, which releases about 15 per cent of the Earth's seismic energy, continental land masses riding on the Eurasian, African, and Indo-Australian plates are forced together to produce high, young mountain chains. The resulting earthquakes, which occur at shallow to intermediate depths, have devastated areas of Portugal, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Greece, Iran, India, FYRO Macedonia, Turkey, and other countries partly or entirely on the Balkan Peninsula.<br /><br />One other category of tectonic earthquakes includes the infrequent but large and destructive ones that occur in areas far removed from other forms of tectonic activity. Prime examples of these so-called mid-plate earthquakes are three massive tremors that shook the central United States region around New Madrid, Missouri, in 1811 and 1812. Powerful enough to be felt 1,600 kilometres (1,000 miles) away, these shocks produced movements that rerouted the course of the Mississippi River. Geologists believe that the New Madrid earthquakes are symptomatic of forces tearing apart the Earth’s crust—forces such as those that created Africa’s Great Rift Valley. <br /><br />Of the two classes of non-tectonic earthquakes, those of volcanic origin are seldom large or destructive. They are of interest chiefly because they herald impending volcanic eruptions, as they did in the weeks preceding the eruption in 1980 of Mount St Helens in the northwest United States. Such earthquakes originate as magma works its way upwards, filling the chambers beneath a volcano. As the flanks and summit of the volcano swell, swarms of small earthquakes signal the rupture of stressed rocks. On the island of Hawaii, seismographs register as many as 1,000 small quakes a day before an eruption occurs.<br /><br />Humans may contribute to the cause of earthquakes through a variety of activities such as filling new reservoirs, detonating underground atomic explosives, or pumping fluids deep into the ground through wells. For example, in 1962 Denver, Colorado, in the United States began to experience earthquakes for the first time in its history. The tremors coincided with the pumping of waste fluids into deep wells at an arsenal east of the city. After officials discontinued the pumping, the earthquakes persisted for a while and then ceased.<br /><br />Earthquake Effects<br />Earthquakes produce various adverse effects to the inhabitants of seismically active regions. They can cause great loss of life by destroying structures such as buildings, bridges, and dams. Earthquakes can also trigger devastating landslides. Massive fires caused by the rupture of gas and electrical lines have damaged or destroyed many cities.<br /><br />Another destructive effect of an earthquake is the generation of a so-called tidal wave. This type of wave is caused by sub-sea tremors, not tides, so it is more properly called a seismic sea wave or (its Japanese name) tsunami. These towering walls of water have struck populated coastlines, destroying entire towns. Sanriku, Japan, a town with a population of 20,000, suffered such a devastating fate in 1896. <br /><br />Liquefaction of soils is another seismic hazard. When subjected to the shock waves of an earthquake, soil used in landfill may lose virtually all its bearing strength and become similar to quicksand. Buildings have literally been swallowed up by these materials.<br /><br />After a major earthquake, there may be a series of further tremors, some of them severe enough to cause additional damage. These tremors are called aftershocks.<br /><br />Richter Scale<br />Seismologists have devised several scales of measurement to describe earthquakes quantitatively. One is the Richter scale—named after the US seismologist Charles Francis Richter (1900–1985)—which measures the energy released at the focus of a quake. It is a logarithmic scale that runs from 1 to 9: a magnitude 7 earthquake is 10 times more powerful than a magnitude 6 earthquake, 100 times more powerful than one of magnitude 5, 1,000 times more powerful than one of magnitude 4, and so on. About 800 earthquakes of magnitudes 5 to 6 occur annually worldwide, in comparison with about 50,000 earthquakes of magnitudes 3 to 4, and only about one earthquake of magnitudes 8 to 9.<br /><br />Theoretically, the Richter scale is an open-ended one, but until 1979 an earthquake of magnitude 8.5 was thought to be the most powerful possible. Since then, however, improvements in seismic measuring techniques have enabled seismologists to refine the scale, and they now consider 9.5 to be the practical limit.<br /><br />Devastating Earthquakes<br />Historical records of earthquakes before the mid-18th century are generally lacking or unreliable. However, reasonably trustworthy records do exist for the following ancient earthquakes: one off the coast of Greece in 425 BC that created the island of Évvoia, one that destroyed the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor in AD 17, one that levelled much of Pompeii in 63, and those that partially destroyed Rome in 476 and Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 557 and again in 936. Severe earthquakes struck England in 1318, Naples in 1456, and Lisbon in 1531.<br /><br />The 1556 earthquake in Shaanxi Province of China, which killed about 800,000 people, was one of the greatest natural disasters in history. In 1693, an earthquake in Sicily resulted in a loss of approximately 60,000 lives. In the early 18th century the Japanese city of Edo (the site of modern Tokyo) was destroyed, with the loss of some 200,000 lives. In 1755 the city of Lisbon was devastated by an earthquake and about 60,000 people died, a disaster which the French writer Voltaire wrote about in his novel Candide. An earthquake shook Quito, now the capital of Ecuador, in 1797, and more than 40,000 people died.<br /><br />In North America, the series of earthquakes that struck southeastern Missouri in 1811 and 1812 was probably the most powerful experienced in the United States in modern history. The most famous US earthquake is the one that shook the area of San Francisco in 1906, causing extensive damage and resulting in the loss of 700 lives.<br /><br />Among the most recent earthquakes was the one on 17 January 1995 that severely damaged Kobe, Japan, killing more than 4,000 people and leaving over 275,000 people homeless. The earthquake measured 7.2 on the Richter scale and lasted 20 seconds. On 28 May 1995 an earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale struck Neftegorsk, Russia, an oil-producing town on Sakhalin Island in the far eastern part of the country. The earthquake caused great destruction, killing more than 2,000 people and demolishing blocks of flats. In China’s Yunnan Province, near Lijiang, a tremor of magnitude 7.0 struck on 3 February 1996, killing more than 300 people, seriously injuring another 3,800, and damaging or destroying an estimated 830,000 homes.<br /><br />Preparing for Earthquakes<br />Countries in earthquake-prone areas, such as Japan, have placed great emphasis on researching and implementing state-of-the-art building construction that will be able to withstand earthquakes. Communities have established and rehearsed detailed emergency procedures. Yet even Tokyo, despite being among the best-prepared nations to deal with earthquakes in the world, is vulnerable to serious damage and heavy loss of life. Tokyo’s problems include: soft soil in some locales that may easily liquefy; a large number of old, buildings of weak construction; narrow streets that would be rendered impassable after earthquake damage; and highly flammable refineries in the industrial areas.<br /><br />Earthquake Prediction<br />Attempts to predict when and where earthquakes will occur have met with some success in recent years. China, Japan, Russia, and the United States are the countries most actively supporting such research. In 1975 the Chinese predicted an earthquake of magnitude 7.3 at Haicheng, evacuating 90,000 residents only two days before it destroyed or damaged 90 per cent of the city’s buildings. One of the clues that led to this prediction was a chain of low-magnitude tremors, called foreshocks, that had begun about five years earlier in the area.<br /><br />Other potential clues being studied are the tilting or bulging of the land surface and changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, in the water-levels of wells, and even in the behaviour of animals. A new method currently being studied involves measuring the buildup of stress in the Earth’s crust. Most predictions are only rough estimates, but as advancements are made in seismology and plate tectonics, the accuracy of predictions will improve, leading to earlier warnings and fewer deaths.azzaxphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09430691527664979885noreply@blogger.com0