Diesel Generators releases black carbon which affects plant life.

It is also hazardous to the lungs and general health.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Fig.1. Thick layer of black carbon deposited on the fungus. Source is nearby diesel generator.
Fig.2 Black carbon being deposited on the fungus.
Fig.3 Black carbon deposited on the fungus.
Fig.4. Black carbon deposited on leafs.
Fig.5. Dead leafs due to the impact of exhaust fumes from the diesel generator.

Above photographs shows how the black carbons released by the diesel generators affect the plants. Black carbon or soot is seen deposited on fungus. These fungus are very nearer to the exhaust pipe of the generator. Even the leaves exposed to the fumes are seen dead in the picture.

Commonly known as soot, black carbon enters the air when fossil fuels and biofuels, such as coal, wood, and diesel are burned. Black carbon is found worldwide, but its presence and impact are particularly strong in Asia.

These black particulate can affect vegetation in three ways. These are:

• Direct deposition on leaf surfaces or other surfaces exposed to atmosphere.
• Blocking leaf stomata and /or uptake into leaf tissues.
• Deposition onto substrates (e.g. soil) and indirect effects via changes in substrate chemistry.

Black carbon is a potent climate forcing agent, estimated to be the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide (CO₂).

Soot is a general term that refers to impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon. They are classified as a "known human carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

Soot or black carbon is in the general category of airborne particulate matter, and as such is considered hazardous to the lungs and general health when the particles are less than five micrometres in diameter, as such particles are not filtered out by the upper respiratory tract. Smoke from diesel engines, while composed mostly of carbon soot, is considered especially dangerous owing to both its particulate size and the many other chemical compounds present.

Between 25 and 35 percent of black carbon in the global atmosphere comes from China and India, emitted from the burning of wood and cow dung in household cooking and through the use of coal to heat homes. Countries in Europe and elsewhere that rely heavily on diesel fuel for transportation also contribute large amounts.

Diesel combustion in trucks, buses and cars emit a lot of black carbon. The particulate air pollution also commonly comes from burning firewood, indoor cooking, and biomass burning.

Black soot deposited on Tibetan glaciers has contributed significantly to the retreat of the world's largest non-polar ice masses, according to new research by scientists from NASA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Soot absorbs incoming solar radiation and can speed glacial melting when deposited on snow in sufficient quantities.

Rare earths elements are in increasingly short supply as world demand surges.

Jharkhand State of India can play major role in Rare Earth Elements production.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

China has been steadily reducing export quotas since 2005 for rare earth elements, which consist of 17 metals used in crucial new green technologies like hybrid cars, wind turbines and superconductors, as well as in missile guidance systems and mobile phones.

According to Chinese experts, “Mass extraction of rare earth will cause great damage to the environment and that's why China has tightened controls over rare earth production, exploration and trade,".

Overseas buyers have expressed concern about China's policies to restrict rare earth exports, which have driven up global prices. Rare earths are in increasingly short supply as world demand surges, with industry officials predicting a global shortfall of 30,000 to 50,000 tonnes by 2012.

The automobile industry uses tens of thousands of tons of rare earth elements each year, and advanced military technology depends on these elements, too. Lots of "green" technologies depend on them, including wind turbines, low-energy light bulbs and hybrid car batteries. In fact, much of western civilization depends on rare earth elements such as terbium, lanthanum and neodymium.

If that happens, the western world will be crippled by the collapse of available rare earth elements. Manufacturing of everything from computers and electronics to farm machinery will grind to a halt. Electronics will disappear from the shelves and prices for manufactured goods that depend on these rare elements will skyrocket.

Seeing the possible scarcity of rare earth elements in coming future, India can play major role in REE production. Especially Jharkhand and West Bengal State, which has the potential of good REE in its rocks and inland placers.

Rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a collection of seventeen chemical elements in the periodic table, namely scandium, yttrium, and the fifteen lanthanides. Scandium and yttrium are considered rare earths since they tend to occur in the same ore deposits as the lanthanides and exhibit similar chemical properties. Rare earth minerals occur chiefly in association with alkalic plutons and in placers derived from them. Specific minerals mined for their rare earth or thorium content are monazite and bastnaesite. Despite their high relative abundance, rare earth minerals are more difficult to mine and extract than equivalent sources of transition metals (due in part to their similar chemical properties), making the rare earth elements relatively expensive.

Common Properties of the Rare Earths.

1. The rare earths are silver, silvery-white, or gray metals.
2. The metals have a high luster, but tarnish readily in air.
3. The metals have high electrical conductivity.
4. The rare earths share many common properties. This makes them difficult to separate or even distinguish from each other.
5. There are very small differences in solubility and complex formation between the rare earths.
6. The rare earth metals naturally occur together in minerals (e.g., monazite is a mixed rare earth phosphate).

Indian reserves are predominantly of monazite ore. Monazite contains about 60% of the rare earths of the cerium group expressed as oxide plus an average 7.2% thorium and minor yttrium. It is yellowish to reddish brown mineral. In India, it occurs in commercial concentrations in beach sands.

The pegmatite veins in crystalline rocks contain a few rare earth minerals as their accessory constituents. The most common of these are columbite and tantalite, torbernite, aeschynite, allanite etc. which occur in the mica pegmatite of Hazaribag in Jharkhand State of India. Other places in India are Nellore, Andhra Pradesh and Tranvancore in Kerala and Rajasthan. Gadolinite is found associated with cassiterite in a tourmaline pegmatite in Palanpur; and molybdenite in the crystalline rocks of Chota Nagpur in Jharkhand state.

Geological Survey of India (GSI), during field season 1993-94, carried out detailed study of the north Singhbhum shear zone, in Jharkhand State, with a view to establishing mineral potential including rare earth elements (REE). The results obtained, being not encouraging, similar study in parallel north Purulia shear zone, which is also known as Jhalda shear zone is to be taken up. It extends westward in Ranchi district and is associated with apatite and magnesite mineralization. Recently, some carbonatites with high REE values are reported from this shear zone in West Bengal in India.

In the course of specialized thematic mapping of Chota Nagpur gneissic complex in parts of West Bengal, a few rare metal pegmatites bodies have been identified .Chemical data of these samples show high cesium (1.72 to 13.73%), rubidium (0.27 to 0.33%) and lithium (0.07 to 1.36%).

The world reserve base in terms of rare earth oxides content is estimated at 110 million tones. Although a certain degree of rare earth’s processing exists in a number of countries, the industry is dominated by a few main players like USA, France, Japan and China.

Mineable concentrations of source elements of the rare earth group of metals are uncommon. Bastnaesite is mined extensively in China and the USA. Monazite is recovered largely as a by-product of processing heavy mineral sands in various parts of the world, primarily Australia and India.

Among the inland placer deposits containing heavy mineral, there are two appreciable concentrations of monazite, which are located in Ranchi plateau of Jharkhand and the Purulia planes of West Bengal in India. These occurrences cover an area of about 608 km² , forming a thin cover of an average depth of about 50 cm (which may be locally up to 2 m). These deposits have been formed due to the weathering and erosion of Precambrian gneisses and schists, intruded by pegmatites and porphyritic granits, which are rich in monazite and other associated heavy minerals.

The rare earths are constituents of more than 100 minerals, but only few are recovered. Bastnaesite, monazite, xenotime and rare earth-bearing clays are the principal sources of rare earth supply in the world.

REE are strategic resources upon which entire nations are built. In many ways, they are similar to rubber -- a resource so valuable and important to the world that many experts call it the "fourth most important natural resource in the world," right after water, steel and oil. Without rubber, you couldn't drive your car to work or water your lawn. Many medical technologies would cease to work and virtually all commercial construction would grind to a halt.

Climate of the world is changing.

Climate is changing, carbon dioxide is increasing, and Earth is getting hotter.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Mumbai floods

First it was Bombay floods, then Kosi floods, Punjab floods, Rajasthan floods, Leh floods, Jharkhand drought (all in India). Now it is Paksitan floods, China flash floods and landslides, boiling of Moscow, forest fires in Russia, Bolivia and Portugal, and there are lots more to say and write. Millions affected, thousands died, no ending disaster. Climate of the world is changing. What would you think? Yes its climate change or in other broad definition its global warming.

If we take the case of drought in Jharkhand State of India, it is very unusual. Other than some pockets of the state, Jharkhand never passed through severe droughts. Rainfall was sufficient all around the year. But from last one year rainfall pattern has changed. Farmers are still waiting for the sufficient rainfall. Agriculture scientists are worried. Monsoon Clouds have changed their way from Bay of Bengal.

Scientists feel that carbon dioxide is rising, so temperature is also rising. And they conclude that, all these disasters are the out come of Global Warming and El Nino. To larger extent it’s true. Climate is changing worldwide. Where it is use to rain heavily now passing through droughts.

All the three factors (air temperatures, air pressure and humidity) which affect weather are changing. Temperature is rising so the humidity. Humidity is the amount of moisture that is present in the air. We know that the amount of moisture in the air affects the climate and weather greatly. If there is a lot of moisture in the air, it is likely to rain.

The cloud become bigger and bigger, heavier and heavier. Finally, the water droplets become so heavy, that they fall as heavy to very heavy rain as it happened in Leh and part of Uttrakhand states in India, where hundreds died this year due to cloud brust.

Heating of Arabian Sea has resulted in the disaster floods in Mumbai, now in Rajasthan and Gujrat and in neighbouring country Pakistan.

Heavy rains have also affected Delhi, Mumbai and other metro cities of India. Other than climate change, “Urban heat island effect”, may be the other cause of these heavy showers. Scientists have found that urban areas are 1 to 5.5 degree centigrade hotter than the countryside.

The summer of 2002 saw widespread flooding over much of central and western Europe, from Romania to Russia. The city that was most badly affected and was certainly most in the news was the Czech capital, Prague. In August of that year heavy rainfall from a slow-moving frontal system which also affected much of the rest of Europe. The river Vltava rose ominously, forcing the country’s president to enforce an evacuation of 40,000 people.

Scientists discovered that North America, Europe, Asia and Australia had the highest rate of warming during the 20th century. These places experienced temperature rises of between 0.5 and 0.6 degree centigrade from 1950 to 1999. Industrial activity coupled with deforestation in these parts of the world is high. Oil refineries and factories that burn fossil fuels for making electricity produce air pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. As carbon dioxide is greenhouse gas, it traps heat and warms the earth’s surface.

Climate is changing, carbon dioxide is increasing, and Earth is getting hotter. We are under the threat of worst changes of nature. Scientists have found that the Earth’s temperature increased up to 0.6 degree centigrade during the 20th century. They believe that one of the main causes of this global warming is the increase in green house gases in the atmosphere. They estimate that if the amount of green house gases continues to increase, the earth’s temperature will continue to rise too, perhaps by up to 3.5 degree centigrade over the coming decades.

There was a time when Sea Monsters did exist.

In many cultures of the world there are different stories of these ancient giant reptiles and their interactions with human beings.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Fig. Kaliya Nag (cobra snake)
There is nothing quite so frightening as the idea of a sea monster. Unlike T. Rex and other giant dinosaurs, which went extinct, might sea monsters live on? Might they lurk beneath the leaden cloak of the oceans, breaching occasionally into view? Through the ages, serious mariners have returned to port with accounts of huge, snaky beasts baring teeth and trailing feathery manes, undulating through the waves or rearing like a horse. Stories about water serpents have slithered into many cultures. But what about the science of sea monsters? In fact, there was a time when they did exist. About 250 million years ago Earth’s continents were gathered into one landmass, Pangaea. Shallow seas and the lack of significant marine predators created new niches for many reptiles that had developed on land. They wriggled into the water, swam, reproduced, and died becoming the fossils.

In many cultures of the world there are different stories of these ancient giant reptiles and their interactions with human beings, stories from Scotland, to North America, India and to China is rich with stories of encounter with big reptiles. One such theory is of importance of dragon in Chinese culture. No one knows when the Chinese belief in dragons began, but it extends back thousands of year. With serpent like scaly bodies, horses heads, and blazing rabbit eyes, the dragons inhabited ponds and rivers and could fly on bat wings to the heavens in spirally water-spouts.

If times were hard and drought stalked the land, peoples gave them offerings, asking them to breathe out mists and clouds and their heavenly rain.

Some Chinese dragons are considered evil, such as the Chien Tang River monster and the seagoing, red-maned Shan, but overall they are benevolent, embodying fecundity and fortune. In the distant past some dragons were transformed into Sea Dragon Kings, Hai Long Wang, who lived in the oceans and protected seafarers.

The dragon is probably the best-known mythical creature. Steeped in symbolic meaning, it appears in all culture in the form of fairy tales and legends, including stories in the Bible, and is especially prominent in Chinese mythology. Dragons breathe fire and are close to invincible. In some cultures they are bane to humanity, but in others are bringers of good luck.

Well into the sixteenth century, most people believed that dragons really existed. Swiss natural scientists and humanist Konard Gesner (1516-1565) differentiated between three types of dragons in his six-volume work on the animal world. One was like a gigantic snake without wings, another resembled a winged snake, and third creature had a snake’s body, membranous wings, a horned head, and armored claws.

In Hindu religious stories many such descriptions of large serpent like animals has been mentioned several times. Lord Sheshnag is depicted is the divine serpent with a thousand heads. According to Hindu mythology, the world rests on the hoods of Lord Sheshnaga, and when he shakes his head, there are earthquakes. He is also known as Ananta (eternal) since he is immortal and is not affected by death even during the destruction of the Universe. The most common representation of Lord Vishnu shows him floating on the infinite space of the cosmic ocean reclined on the coils of the hydra-headed serpent-deity Shesh-Nag.

Kaliya in Hindu mythology , was the name of a poisonous Nāga(cobra snake) living in the Yamuna River, in Vrindavan in India. The water of the Yamuna for four leagues all around him boiled and bubbled with poison. No bird or beast could go near, and only one solitary Kadamba tree grew on the river bank.

The proper home of Kāliyā was Ramanaka Dwipa, but he had been driven away from there by fear of Garuda (a type of hunting bird), the foe of all serpents.

Once Krishna and herdboys were playing ball, and while playing Krishna climbed up the Kadamba tree and hung over the river bank, the ball fell into the river and Krishna jumped after it. Kāliyā rose up with his hundred and ten hoods vomiting poison and wrapped himself around Krishna's body. Krishna became so huge that Kāliyā had to release him. So Krishna saved himself from every attack, and when he saw the Brij folk were so much afraid he suddenly sprang into Kāliyā's head and assumed the weight of the whole universe, and danced on the naga's heads, beating time with his feet. Then Kāliyā began to die. But then the naga's wives came and prayed to Krishna with joined palms, worshipping Krishna and praying for their husband.
Kāliyā, recognizing the greatness of Krishna, surrendered, promising he would not harass anybody. So Krishna pardoned him and then let him go free to leave the river and go to Ramanaka Dwipa. Some identify it as Fiji
Kaliya is depicted as a large black cobra, and was said to have one hundred and ten heads; it may be that the Infada tribe had a cult within itself that worshipped this Great Snake.
Kraken are legendary sea monsters of gargantuan size, said to have dwelt off the coasts of Norway and Iceland. The sheer size and fearsome appearance attributed to the beasts have made them common ocean-dwelling monsters in various fictional works. The legend may actually have originated from sightings of real giant squid that are variously estimated to grow to 13–15 m (40–50 ft) in length, including the tentacles. These creatures normally live at great depths, but have been sighted at the surface and reportedly have "attacked" ships.
Kraken is the definite article form of krake, a Scandinavian word designating an unhealthy animal, or something twisted. In modern German, Krake (plural and declined singular: Kraken) means octopus, but can also refer to the legendary Kraken

Remains of a bus-sized prehistoric "monster" reptile was found on a remote Arctic island in year 2007. Initial excavation of a site on the Svalbard islands in August yielded the remains, teeth, skull fragments and vertebrae of a reptile estimated to measure nearly 40 feet long.
Argentine scientists have discovered the remains of a fierce sea monster in the year 2005 that terrorized Pacific waters in the age of the dinosaurs. The researchers are calling it Godzilla after the legendary movie monster, but it really was an ancestor of modern crocodiles. Millions of years ago when dinosaurs ruled the land, these early crocodiles dominated the oceans, but they never seem to have caught the public's imagination as dinosaurs have.

Around Lake Manitoba in the Canadian province of the same name, people believe in the existence of Manipogo, a snake-like, humped, dark brownish black sea monster. Its estimated length ranges between 12 and 50 feet. In 1962, two fisher man managed to photograph it, but the quality of the image was terrible-it could just as easily show as a drifting branch-and thus not accepted as proof.

North of Toronto, Canada, many people believe that Igopogo, also known as Kempenfelt Kelly, lives in the Lake Simcoe. It is said to have a long neck and dog like head. All descriptions of the beast are in agreement, supporting the theory that an unidentified creature really does inhabit the lake. In 1970, John Kirk, president of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, organized a search for it, which was unsuccessful. Amateur video recordings show a dark shadow, after a which a head surfaces, looks around for a few seconds, and then goes under again. Kirk categorizes the creature as a seal or sea lion.

460 million years ago, the biggest animal on Earth was a jet-propelled cone with tentacles, the type was Cephalopod mollusk. and size was up to 11m long. The giant orthocone's living tissue was at one end of a very long conical shell. It had no fins and no tail. Along the underside of the cone ran a flexible, fleshy tube. The orthocone moved along by forcing water out in the opposite direction to where it wanted to go. It controlled its vertical position by adjusting the amount of seawater in the chambers of its shell. Its mouth and metre-long tentacles emerged from one end of the shell.

It ate fish as well as arthropods, e.g. sea scorpions. It seized its prey using its tentacles and beak-like mouth to rip apart.

Sea scorpions were the first animal ever to have moved from water to land also knew how to get out of its shell. Size was 1-2m long. Lived during Ordovician, 460-445 million years ago. Sea scorpions had strong defences - spines, claws and armour plating. They walked on six legs, the back two of which were flattened into paddles. Out of the water they were cumbersome but could swim a little underwater.

They were normally sea-floor dwellers but they could also live in freshwater and on land. Megalograptus browsed the seafloor looking for fish, trilobites and other animals in the sand and mud. It also ate its own kind.

Megalograptus could only grow in size by shedding its hard shell and growing a new one. While it was naked, it gathered with others in shallow water for safety in numbers. During moulting, it took advantage of its briefly soft body and abundant nearby neighbours to mate.
It is amazing to think that ancient sea monsters swam over the most of the present land mass. Fortunately It was some million years ago when the present land mass was submerged by ancient oceans. Fossils found in central America and many parts of the world prove that they really lived.
Reference:
National Geographic Magazine, December,2005.
http://www.supiri.com/nature/ocean-life/ancient-sea-monsters/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22097625/
http://www.physorg.com/news82051643.html
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2005-11-10-voa88-67515052.html
http://www.asianartmall.com/AVATARS%20OF%20LORD%20VISHNU.html
http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn8298/dn8298-1_350.jpg
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/dinosaurs/seamonsters/
binagupta.sulekha.com/mstore/binagupta/albums...

Can animals predict earthquakes?

Most animals show increased restlessness before an earthquake.

Govindpur in Jharkhand animals were nervous before earthquake.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Picture credit: animalsandearthquakes.com/etho-g5.gif
In order to reduce the risk of an earthquake and reduce and mitigate its effects, it is necessary to predict where and when a future, large earthquake may occur. For example, it would be important to know when such an earthquake will hit, where it will strike, and what the level of its destructiveness may be. Earthquake prediction at the present time is not an exact science, and forecasts of earthquake occurrences have not been very accurate. Presently predictions are given in statistical terms. For example, when a prediction is made that :here is a 90% chance that an earthquake will occur in the next 50 years", it does not mean that this earthquake cannot happen tomorrow or it may not be delayed by 50 years. Thus, present predictions are not within a reasonable time frame that can be of usefulness to planners, policy makers, and those in government that deal with public safety.

Unusual behaviour of animals prior to earthquakes received wide publicity after the Haichang earthquake of February 4, 1975 was successfully predicted in China. The official report was presented by the Chinese delegation at the Inter-governmental meeting convened at UNESCO, Paris in February 1976 which stimulated considerable scientific interest. Prior to this, however, several instances of abnormal animal behaviour were noticed before occurrence of some of the damaging earthquakes in different parts of the world, but they were considered more as historical legend. In Japan, innumerable rats were seen every day in a restaurant in Nagoya city, which suddenly disappeared on the evening prior to the Nobi earthquake of 1891.
Since the beginning of recorded history, observations of unusual animal behavior before earthquakes have been recorded by people from almost all civilizations. The animal behavior reports are often ambiguous and not consistently observed. In folklore, some animals have had more reports of being able to predict earthquakes than others, especially dogs, cats, chickens, horses, and other smaller animals. There have been reports with elephants, as well. Goats, cows, and most larger animals are generally reported as being less able to predict earthquakes.

In 1920, the largest earthquake to hit China with a magnitude of 8.5 occurred in Haiyuan County, Ninghxia Province. According to reports of eyewitnesses, prior to this earthquake, wolves were seen running around in packs, dogs were barking unusually, and sparrows were flying around wildly. It is reported that prior to the 6.8 magnitude earthquake in 1966 in Hsingtai County, Hopei Province, in Northern China, all the dogs at a village near the epicenter had deserted their kennels and thus survived the disaster.

The earliest reference we have to unusual animal behavior prior to a significant earthquake is from Greece in 373 BC.

As early as 1886, a seismologist named Milne had mentioned that dogs escaped from the city of Talcahuano in Chile before an earthquake (1835). Flocks of birds flew inland before the Chilean earthquakes of 1822 and 1835. Monkeys were reported to have become restless a few hours before the Managua earthquake (1972) in Nicaragua. In the Tientsin region of China, chickens refused to enter their dens, tigers became restless, yaks declined to eat and horses and sheep started running restlessly a few hours before the earthquakes of July 18, 1969. Hens and cocks were reported restless about an hour prior to the 1896 Ryukyu earthquake in Japan. In Yugoslavia, birds in zoo started crying before the 1963 earthquake. Deer gathered and cats disappeared from villages in northern Italy two or three hours before a damaging earthquake occurred in 1976. Such observations have also been noticed among animals who live underground, like snakes, insects and worms, and those living in water (fishes).

In Japan, fishes were reported to have disappeared before the Kanto earthquakes of 1923. Just before the 1855 Edo earthquake on November 11, many grass snakes were reported to have come out of the ground near the epicentral area, despite severe cold. Other instances involving fishes have been reported in Japan near north-western coast before the 1896 earthquake and the Tango earthquake of 1927 when abundant fishes were caught near the coast.

An interesting instance of unusual behaviour of dogs (but not of other animals) was reported before the destructive earthquake on November 24, 1976 in Turkey (Toksoz,1979).

Although several destructive earthquakes have occurred in the Himalayan region and elsewhere only one authentic observation of unusual animal behaviour was reported in India. In Govindpur in Jharkhand state of India, on February 19, 1892, animals were noticed to sniff the ground and exhibit nervousness such as dog shows in the presence of an unaccustomed object, while the air had distinctly sulphurous smell an hour before the shock.

During the recent damaging earthquakes in India of Uttarkashi (1991), Latur (1993), Jabalpur (1997), Chamoli (1999) and Bhuj (2001), there were reports of isolated cases of unusual behaviour of pet dogs, but the phenomenon was not observed on a large scale. According to the Chief conservator of forests for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a few minutes before the killer tsunami waves generated by an underwater earthquake hit the Indian coastline in December 2004, a herd of 500 blackbucks rushed away from the coastal areas to the safety of a nearby hilltop.

The Group of Earthquakes Research of the Institute of Biophysics, China (1979) carried extensive survey of the animal behaviour before damaging earthquakes occur. Its results are summarized below.
1. Most animals show increased restlessness before an earthquake.
2. The precursor time varies from a few minutes to several days, with increased restlessness at 11 hours which becomes still more marked about 2 to 3 hours before the earthquake. In general, the precursor times of various animals are mostly within 24 hours before the earthquake.
3. These observations have been noticed predominantly in the high intensity or epicentral regions close to active faults.
4. Changes in animal behaviour are observed during earth- quakes of magnitude 5 or more.
5. More intense responses can be noticed with the increase of intensity of earthquakes.

We can easily explain the cause of unusual animal behavior seconds before humans feel an earthquake. Very few humans notice the smaller P wave that travels the fastest from the earthquake source and arrives before the larger S wave. But many animals with more keen senses are able to feel the P wave seconds before the S wave arrives. As for sensing an impending earthquake days or weeks before it occurs, that's a different story.
There is little evidence for animals being able to sense earthquakes before they happen, although it is likely they can sense the initial, weaker P-wave or ultrasonic wave generated by a big underground explosion or the rupture of an earthquake, even if the waves are too small for humans' senses. These waves travel faster than the S-wave and Rayleigh earthquake waves that most strongly shake the ground and causes the most damage. It is speculated that when this happens, animals can detect the incoming earthquake wave, and start behaving agitatedly or nervously.

Others postulate that the animal behavior is simply their response to an increase in low-frequency electromagnetic signals. The University of Colorado has demonstrated that electromagnetic activity can be generated by the fracturing of crystalline rock. Such activity occurs in fault lines before earthquakes. According to one study, electromagnetic sensors yield statistically valid results in predicting earthquakes.

Accounts of similar animal anticipation of earthquakes have surfaced across the centuries since. Catfish moving violently, chickens that stop laying eggs and bees leaving their hive in a panic have been reported. Countless pet owners claimed to have witnessed their cats and dogs acting strangely before the ground shook—barking or whining for no apparent reason, or showing signs of nervousness and restlessness.

But precisely what animals sense, if they feel anything at all, is a mystery. One theory is that wild and domestic creatures feel the Earth vibrate before humans. Other ideas suggest they detect electrical changes in the air or gas released from the Earth.

Geologists, however, dismiss these kinds of reports, saying it's "the psychological focusing effect," where people remember strange behaviors only after an earthquake or other catastrophe has taken place. If nothing had happened, they contend, people would not have remembered the strange behavior.

Reference:

Srivastava, H.N., 1983.Earthquakes. National Book Trust, India.

Toksoz, M.N. 1979. Field investigations of the 24 November 1976 earthquakes in Turkey and its precursors. Int. Symp. Eathq. Pred. (UNESCO, Paris), Abstracts.

http://www.drgeorgepc.com/EarthquakePredictionChina.html
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/topics/animal_eqs.php
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/11/1111_031111_earthquakeanimals.html

Forest fires have become a wildcard in the global-warming game.

Carbon dioxide is increasing in the atmosphere due to forest fire.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Fires in Eastern India and Northwest Burma
[Fig.1 Scores of active fires were burning in eastern India and the mountainous provinces of northwest Burma (Myanmar) on March 9, 2009, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite passed overhead and captured this photo-like image. Locations where the sensor detected active fires are outlined in red. Agricultural and other land-maintenance fires are common in the area this time of year (dry season), so many of these fires were probably intentionally started by people. However, as in all parts of the world, intentional fires occasionally get out of control. Some of the larger or smokier fires in this scene could be accidental forest fires.Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response TeamText credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory.]
Forest Fires in Nepal
[Fig. 2. On March 12, 2009, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite caught a glimpse of a relatively rare event: large–scale forest fires in the Himalaya Mountains of Nepal. Places where the sensor detected active fires are outlined in red. The numerous small fires in southern Nepal may not be wildfires, but rather agricultural or other land-management fires.The image is centered on Nepal, and it shows the towering Himalaya Mountains arcing through the small country. Many national parks and conservation areas are located along the northern border of the country, and the fires appear to be burning in or very near some of them. Five people were killed by the forest fire southwest of Annapurna in early March; according to a news report they were overtaken while in the forest gathering firewood. According to that report, Nepal commonly experiences some small forest fires each spring, which is the end of the dry season there. However, conditions during the fall and winter of 2008 and 2009 were unusually dry, and fires set by poachers to flush game may have gotten out of control.Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response TeamText credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory ]

Fires in West Africa

[Fig. 3. Agricultural and other land-management or trash-burning fires are widespread across West Africa in the dry season. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on March 17, 2009, shows scores of fires (locations marked in red) burning in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Although agricultural burning such as this is not necessarily immediately hazardous, it can have a major impact on air quality and human health, climate, and natural resources.

Image credit: Jeff Schmaltz, NASA's MODIS Rapid Response TeamText credit: Rebecca Lindsey, NASA's Earth Observatory]

Imagining Earth without forests is a horrifying picture to conceive. As its knowledge base has expanded and deepened, mankind has realised that forests are extremely important to the survival of humans and other life forms on earth. Yet deforestation in the form of forest fire continues unabated in different parts of the world. According to the World Resource Institute based at Washington DC (U.S.A.), the rates of rainforest destruction are 2.4 acre per second, 149 acres per minute, 214000 acres per day and 78 million acres per year.

The forest is also vital as a watershed. Because of the thick humus layer, loose soil, and soil-retaining powers of the trees' long roots, forests are vitally important for preserving adequate water supplies. Almost all water ultimately feeds from forest rivers and lakes and from forest-derived water tables. In addition, the forest provides shelter for wildlife, recreation and aesthetic renewal for people, and irreplaceable supplies of oxygen and soil nutrients. Deforestation, particularly in the tropical rain forests, has become a major environmental concern, as it can destabilize the earth's temperature, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels.

Besides being the source for food, plants help us in a number of other ways. Animals, including humans, inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide; plants take up carbon dioxide and in return they release oxygen – this exchange is very important. Forests in particular act as a huge carbon dioxide sink. If there were not enough trees to absorb carbon dioxide, its accumulation would make the environment poisonous. Over the last 150 years, the amount of carbon dioxide has increased.

While all living plant matter absorbs CO2 as part of photosynthesis, trees process significantly more than smaller plants due to their large size and extensive root structures. In essence, trees, as kings of the plant world, have much more “woody biomass” to store CO2 than smaller plants, and as a result are considered nature’s most efficient “carbon sinks.”

According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), tree species that grow quickly and live long are ideal carbon sinks.

Forests are carbon stores, and they are carbon dioxide sinks when they are increasing in density or area. In Canada's boreal forests as much as 80% of the total carbon is stored in the soils as dead organic matter. A 40-year study of African, Asian, and South American tropical forests by the University of Leeds, shows tropical forests absorb about 18% of all carbon dioxide added by fossil fuels, thus buffering some effects of global warming. Tropical reforestation can mitigate global warming until all available land has been reforested with mature forests. About 70-80 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide are fixed annually by terrestrial and aquatic photoautotrophs.

Life expectancy of forests varies throughout the world, influenced by tree species, site conditions and natural disturbance patterns. In some forests carbon may be stored for centuries, while in other forests carbon is released with frequent stand replacing fires.

From the last hundred years forests are being reduced drastically due to forest fire, the most common hazard in forests. Though the forests fires are as old as the forests
themselves, but in recent years the incidence of forest fire, either man made or natural, has increased many fold.

They pose a threat not only to the forest wealth but also to the entire regime to fauna and flora seriously disturbing the bio-diversity and the ecology and environment of a region. During summer, when there is no rain for months, the forests become littered with dry senescent leaves and twinges, which could burst into flames ignited by the slightest spark.

The burning of forest trees gives off not only carbon dioxide but also a host of other, noxious gases (Green house gases) such as carbon monoxide, methane, hydrocarbons, nitric oxide and nitrous oxide, that lead to global warming and ozone layer depletion. Consequently, thousands of people suffered from serious respiratory problems due to these toxic gases. Burning forests and grasslands also add to already serious threat of global warming. Recent measurement suggest that biomass burning may be a significant global source of methyl bromide, which is an ozone depleting chemical.

Wild land fires are taking tons of carbon out of storage and feeding it into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, a primary greenhouse gas.

Usually it is cars, factories and power stations that are most often mentioned as sources of carbon dioxide (CO2), a gas which traps heat in the atmosphere. Trees, considered the "lungs of the planet", soak the gas up. But what if they burn?

Trees absorb carbon dioxide as they grow and climatologists see forests as carbon "sinks" - places where large amounts of that element are stored. When they burn, whether in forest fires or as logs in a stove, it is released.

In the atmosphere, CO2 is the main gas which contributes to the greenhouse effect - trapping the earth's heat which would otherwise be radiated into space.

The latest UN report on global warming says temperatures will rise by a best estimate of 1.8 to 4.0 Celsius (3 to 7 Fahrenheit) this century and sea levels will rise by between 18 and 59 centimetres. The resulting hotter, drier summers.

Bushfires that have scorched Australia's Victoria state released millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and forest fires could become a growing source of carbon pollution as the planet warms.

A raging forest fire in the Saranda forest, one of the largest Sal forests in Asia, of Jharkhand State of India has become a cause of concern for locals as well as the authorities. According to recent reports large area has been covered with fire. From the last two decades we already are seeing the effects of global warming in Jharkhand State. From last several years Jharkhand is facing extremes of the climate. Earlier thick forest cover played major role in absorbing excess carbon dioxide and balancing the temperature difference. But unfortunately due to deforestation in large scale in Jharkhand, carbon dioxide may have increased in the atmosphere many fold.

During the 1997-98 El Nino 20M hectares burnt. This one event released 2.6 billion tons of carbon - the highest annual increase since measurements began. They were so massive that the output of CO2 from combustion reached 40% of the world total. This happened again in 2006.
Indonesian fires have shown us that catastrophic events in small areas can release vast amounts that have been locked away for millennia.

The WWF said about 10 million hectares of forest were burned in the 1997 forest fires, releasing about 2.57 gigatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, making Indonesia the world’s third-largest emitter after the United States and China.

There has been a four-fold jump in the average number of wildfires beginning, a process that began in the mid-1980s. The total area being burned is six and a half times greater, and the length of the bush fire season has been extended by 75 percent. In South-East Asia, in Russia and in the Amazon the extent of bush fires has increased.

Sources:
http://himachal.gov.in/home/HomeGuards/pdfs/forest%20Fires.pdf
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/greek-huge-forest-fires-could-be-co2-threat/214144/0
http://nidm.gov.in/Forest_Fires2_ii.asp
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0858185.html
http://www.planetextinction.com/planet_extinction_trees.htm
http://72.14.235.132/search?q=cache:http://redapes.org/news-updates/major-forest-fires-in-sight-as-more-hotspots-detected/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_sink
http://environment.about.com/od/whatyoucando/a/best_trees.htm

POTENTIAL OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN JHARKHAND STATE OF INDIA.

POTENTIAL OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN JHARKHAND STATE OF INDIA.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Till a couple of decades back geothermal energy was not playing any significant role in the scenario of world energy production. Even now, it hardly constitutes 1% of the total electricity output. Lately, however, geothermal energy scene is changing very fast with a rapid spurt in its direct and indirect use, primarily due to Eco-friendly, renewable and pollution free character. Also, geothermal resources are abundantly available throughout the globe.

Geothermal water has a temperature appreciably higher than that of the local average annual air temperature. However, in general, a spring is considered hot when its temperature is about 12.2 0c higher than mean annual ambient temperature . The relative terms geothermal water, warm springs and hot springs are common.

Geothermal water discharges from numerous springs located mostly in mountanious or plateau areas. The springs are connected by faults to deeply buried reservoirs that contain geothermal water, which moves upward along the fault zones to discharge at the land surface. Much geothermal water discharges as hot springs that flow steadily instead of erupting at intervals.
One theory use to explain how geothermal water becomes heated in areas that are underlain by complex geologic structures is that when precipitation falls in highland areas recharges the aquifer system. Some of the water moves downward along faults and fracture zones to great depths. As the water descends, it becomes heated because of the geothermal gradient. At some depth, the heated water becomes lighter than the overlying water and then moves upward along faults to discharge as spring flow.

Jharkhand has the good reservoir of geothermal energy in its earth’s interior, whose surface manifestations are the steaming grounds and hot springs. The hot springs in Peninsular Shield of Jharkhand are located along a zone running more or less parallel to Damodar Valley Coalfield, i.e. along faulted boundaries.

In Jharkhand the thermal springs are found in Tatta- Jarom of Palamau district and Surajkund, Duari, Bagodar of Hazaribag district. The Tatta spring occurs within the Gondwana rocks and Jarom occurs within Proterozoic rocks. The temperature of the thermal discharge at Jarom is 50 degree c. (centigrade) to 57 degree c. while at Tatta it varies from 61 degree c. to65 degree c. in different spouts. All the thermal springs in Hazaribag district are grouped in Damodar valley graben geothermal province.

Needless to emphasis that geothermal energy is presently recognized as the only one of the so-called alternative renewable energy resources which is technically, commercially and economically viable for generation of electricity. There is another important aspect. Unlike, other power projects-a ‘geothermal plant’ has a minimum negative impact on the environment. It is thus necessary to promote such alternative sources in Jharkhand to combat with power crisis.
Surajkund main spring in Hazaribag district records the second highest temperature 88 degree c. after Tattapani hot spring of Madhya Pradesh. The other hot springs are Lakshmikund (53 degree c.), Brahmakund (45 degree c.), Ramkund (62 degree c.), Satrughnakund (68 degree c.) and Sitakund (53 degree c.) and they discharge thermal fluids up to 4 liter per second. Tatta discharge 2.1 liter per second and Jarom discharge 1.8 liter per second.
Most of the hot springs of Jharkhand are not potable due to high concentration of floride. Concentration of Helium is highest in the thermal gases of Surajkund. Where as Methane is highest in Barkagaon. In Jarom Mercury concentration in soil around the hot springs varies from 20 ppb (parts per billion) to 125 ppb. Cawa Gandhwani and Duari hot springs are more radioactive.
Excessive concentration of certain dissolved minerals in geothermal water pose water-quality problems. The most common of these minerals are dissolved fluoride, arsenic, and iron. Concentration of dissolved fluoride in excess of 4 milligrams per liter can cause mottling of teeth, especially children’s and can cause bones to become brittle.
The geothermal energy can be used for space heating, development of cold storage for preservation of bio and agro products, setting up of plants for drying, processing, preserving and canning of fruits and fruit products.

The hot springs in Jharkhand are situated mainly in hilly tribal belt or in isolated and remote region of the state. Obviously these rural areas are backward and poor. The energy needs of the people of rural and backward area are primarily for irrigation, farm inputs, processing and preservation of agro products, cooking, lighting and space heating. Hot spring water of low temperature has been directly used for irrigation of field/farm and to increase the soil temperature for obtaining early maturity and bumper crops as done in China and Russia. Waters of low temperatures of hot springs can be directly used for irrigation of field/ farm to increase the soil temperature for obtaining early maturity and to increase production of vegetables and mushroom growth under controlled conditions. The hot springs area can also be used for development of tourism and health resorts.

Regarding Helium concentration assessment of Helium reservoir may be undertaken in the area studied to see if Helium can be mined and Methane content may be evaluated to determine whether it is a usable resource in the region.

As a matter of fact, our resources are quite similar to that of China, who are exploiting them on large scale. They rank number one in installed thermal power capacity. It is, therefore necessary to give serious thought to exploit our resources too, at least those situated in power starved hilly areas, where due to lack of infrastructure and adequate demand, conventional power plants would not be economically viable.

Reference:
Dunn, J.A., 1942, The economic geology and mineral resources of Bihar Province: Mem. Geol. Surv. India, v. LXXVIII, p. 197-204.

Ghosh, P.K., 1954, Mineral springs of India: Rec. Geol. Surv. Ind., v. 80, p. 545-558.

Prasad, J.M., 1996, Geothermal energy resources of Bihar, in U.L. Pitale, and R.N. Padhi, eds., Geothermal energy in India: GSI special publication 45, p. 99-117.

Priyadarshi, N., 2002, Potential of geothermal energy in Jharkhand State, India, in Proceedings of the 1st conference and exhibition on strategic challenges and paradigm shift in hydrocarbon exploration with special reference to Frontier Basins, held in Mussoorie, India. Published by Association of Petroleum Geologists, v. 2 p. 261-265.

Did climate change killed ancient civilization?

Did climate change killed ancient civilization?
by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi
Devastating Kosi floods in India, floods in China, floods in Mexico, droughts in some parts of the world, extremes of climates and lots more. Effects are dying people and displacement. Is these phenomenon is recent or earlier too our ancient civilization was affected with climate change?

We assume that we are first to deal with such severe environmental issues, when that’s just not the case. Earlier too our oldest civilization passed through environmental disaster and climate change which gradually ended the ancient civilization. Even the most developed civilization like Indus Valley civilization, Maya civilization and Sumerians were affected with environmental changes like floods, droughts etc. Lots of theories and causes have been put forward regarding decline of these developed civilizations. But after going through the different research reports, it can be said that climate change ended the ancient civilizations in different phases.
Native global flood stories are documented as history or legend in almost every region on earth. Old world missionaries reported their amazement at finding remote tribes already possessing legends with tremendous similarities to the Bible's accounts of the worldwide flood. H.S. Bellamy in Moons, Myths and Men estimates that altogether there are over 500 Flood legends worldwide. Ancient civilizations such as (China, Babylonia, Wales, Russia, India, America, Hawaii, Scandinavia, Sumatra, Peru, and Polynesia) all have their own versions of a giant flood.
This article attempts to bring to light some of the environmental problems which occurred through out our history from one civilization to other.

Indus valley civilization
The Indus or the Harappan culture is older than the chalcolithic cultures. It arose in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent. It is called Harappan because this civilization was discovered first in 1921 at the modern site of Harappa situated in the province of West Punjab in Pakistan.
Comparatively rainless, the Indus region is not so fertile these days. Its prosperous villages and towns show that it was fertile in ancient times. At present it has only rainfall of about 15 cm. in the fourth century B.C. one of the historians of the Alexander informs us that Sindh was a fertile part of the country. In earlier times the Indus possessed more natural vegetation which attracted more rainfall. It supplied timber fuel for baking bricks on a large scale, and also for construction. In course of time, natural vegetation was destroyed by the extension of agriculture, large scale grazing, and supply of fuel.
A possible natural reason for the Indus Valley civilization decline is connected with climate change that is also signaled for the neighboring areas of the Middle East: The Indus valley climate grew significantly cooler and drier from about 1800 BCE, linked to a general weakening of the monsoon at that time. Alternatively, a crucial factor may have been the disappearance of substantial portions of the Ghaggar Hakra river system. A tectonic event may have diverted the system's sources toward the Ganges Plain, though there is complete uncertainty about the date of this event as most settlements inside Ghaggar-Hakra river beds have not yet been dated.
The Harappan culture declined suddenly between 1800-1700 BC and its end is as puzzling as its beginning. How and why did this first great empire of South Asia decay into oblivion? One cannot say with certainty whether massacres by marauders or the inbuilt decay that had set in caused the decline of this powerful civilization. Another school of thought relates the demise of the Indus valley civilization to have been brought about by a major tectonic shift that caused continuous floods of this area.
Research has proved that the decline of the glorious Harappan culture was due to a variety of factors, both manmade and natural. In the beginning of the second millennium BC, there were great changes in the environmental conditions-the climate changed and large parts of the plains were flooded when tectonic changes threw up a dam in the lower Indus Valley.
Sumerian civilization:
Sumer, located in southern Mesopotamia, is one of the earliest known civilizations in the world. The Sumerians were the first group that everyone can agree is worthy of being called a “civilization”. They arose in what is today Iraq some time around the 6th millennium BC, and were conquered by about 2400 BC. The Sumerians arose in the area known as the “Fertile Crescent”. This area of land, also called Mesopotamia, was an oasis of fertile land sandwiched between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Soil salinity in this region had been long recognized as a major problem. Poorly drained irrigated soils, in an arid climate with high levels of evaporation, led to the buildup of dissolved salts in the soil, eventually reducing agricultural yields severely. During the Akkadian and Ur III phases, there was a shift from the cultivation of wheat to the more salt-tolerant barley, but this was insufficient, and during the period from 2100 BC to 1700 BC, it is estimated that the population in this area declined by nearly 3/5ths.
Most farms had to be irrigated with ditches fed by the rivers. This was wildly successful. For the first time in history, there was a food surplus. This in turn led to a population surplus, with people in cities abandoning agricultural labor and eating the surplus produced by farmers.
Like all good things, it couldn’t last. There was an inherent flaw in the system. The hot sun evaporated most of water, leaving behind salt. Where the water didn’t quickly evaporate, the water table rose, also bringing salt to the surface.
After years and years of salt slowly accumulating, a tipping point was reached. The land had become too salty for the wheat production. The only way to reclaim the land was to let it lie fallow for several years.

There is a wealth of evidence pointing to severe environmental issues in the Sumerian civilization. One of the most important pieces of information from that time is the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient poem about the mythological hero-king Gilgamesh and his search for immortality. Even in this work there are mentions of environmental problems. After thousands of years of existence, a lack of food brought on by the unproductive soil crippled the Sumerians.
Maya Civilization:
Originating in the Yucatan Peninsula, the ancient Maya civilization occupied a vast area of Mesoamerica between the time period of 2600 BC and 1200 AD. Constructing thousands of architectural structures and developing sophisticated concepts surrounding the disciplines of astronomy and mathematics, the Maya civilization rose to a cultural florescence between the years of 600 to 800 AD. Although this prosperity reigned for nearly two centuries, the Maya civilization met with misfortune between the years of 800 and 900 AD.
During this time period, known by archaeologists as the Classic Collapse of the Maya civilization, many southern cities were abandoned and most cultural activities ceased. The Maya, never able to regain their cultural or geographical prominence, were assimilated into other Mesoamerican civilizations until the time of the Spanish Conquest in 1530 AD.
The cause of the collapse of the Classic Maya civilization represents one of the great archaeological mysteries of our time, and has been debated by scholars for nearly a century. Some scientists theorize that the paleoclimate of the region was not only different than the present day climate, but the natural climate variability of the past could have included a period of intense drought that occurred in conjunction with the Classic Maya Collapse.

The sudden demise is one of the greatest archeological mysteries of our time. What caused the collapse of the great Maya civilization?


The answer, say researchers, is climate change. According to a new study published in the issue of Science journal , a long period of dry climate, punctuated by three intense droughts, led to the end of the Maya society. "Climate change is to blame for one of the most catastrophic collapses in human history," said Gerald Haug, a professor of geology at the University of Potsdam, Germany, and one of the study's authors.
The drought hypothesis is not new. Sediments taken by scientists in 2001 from a lake on the Yucatan peninsula showed that a series of extended droughts coincided with major cultural upheavals among the Maya people.

Experts say the Maya were particularly susceptible to long droughts because about 95 percent of their population centers depended solely on lakes, ponds, and rivers containing on average an 18-month supply of water for drinking and agriculture.

Reference:

Ancient India by Ram Sharan Sharma, NCERT, New Delhi.

http://india.mapsofindia.com/the-country/ancient-history/indus-valley-civilization.html

http://www.mohenjodaro.net/indusdecline.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer#Decline

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/offbeat-news/environmentalism-in-3000-bc/912

· Stefan Lovgren for National Geographic News, March 13, 2003. Climate Change Killed off Maya Civilization.
Hodell, D. A., J. H. Curtis and M. Brenner. 1995. Possible role of climate in the collapse of Classic Maya civilization. Nature 375:391-394.