Depleted Uranium: Radioactive poison of the future war.

Pakistan may use it against India in future.

 By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Recently I got the chance to see a film on uranium disaster. Film was based on the effect of depleted uranium used in the wars of Iraq and Bosnia. Still today many people in the world are unaware of the effects of the radioactive radiation. Information on children dying due to cancer after the war were reported and published.

                                    

Thousands and thousands of people, including many children, died after the war in Bosnia from the use of depleted uranium projectiles. Completely healthy people who have lived or are still living in locations were targeted missiles out of the blue they got cancer or leukemia and after a longer or shorter disease died. For the first time this scientific report on poisoning was confirmed in the movie “Deadly Dust” by German author Frider Wagner.

According to Wagner, one-third or half of the particles that remain in the affected area are tiny, "fine" dust. Inhalation it stays in the lungs person who happened to be at the scene of the explosion and the continuously radiates lethal radiation. The consequence is a range of diseases, most cancer and leukemia, miscarriages in women, dry blood vessels and, subsequently, a number of genetic deformities. Children were born deformed or dead, no limbs, ears, nose, eyes, and even the head.

Increased rates of immune system disorders and other wide-ranging symptoms, including chronic pain, fatigue and memory loss, have been reported in over one quarter of combat veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. Combustion products from depleted uranium munitions are being considered as one of the potential causes by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, as DU was used in 30 mm and smaller caliber machine-gun bullets on a large scale for the first time in the Gulf War. Veterans of the conflicts in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Kosovo have been found to have up to 14 times the usual level of chromosome abnormalities in their genes. Increased rates of immune system disorders and other wide-ranging symptoms, including chronic pain, fatigue and memory loss, have been reported in over one quarter of combat veterans of the 1991 Gulf War. Combustion products from depleted uranium munitions are being considered as one of the potential causes by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, as DU was used in 30 mm and smaller caliber machine-gun bullets on a large scale for the first time in the Gulf War. Veterans of the conflicts in the Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Kosovo have been found to have up to 14 times the usual level of chromosome abnormalities in their genes.

U.N. experts said that they found three radioactive hot spots in Bosnia resulting from ammunition containing depleted uranium used during NATO air strikes in 1995.

The tests found radiation at two sites in the Sarajevo suburb of Hadzici and one in Han Pijesak, in the Bosnian Serb republic, according to preliminary results released by the United Nations Environmental Program.

During its 1995 bombings of Serb positions around Sarajevo, NATO used munitions containing depleted uranium, a slightly radioactive heavy metal that is used to pierce armor. The Bosnian government said about 10,800 rounds with the material were fired in its territory.

Once lodged in the soil, the munitions can pollute the environment and create an up to 100-fold increase in uranium levels in groundwater, according to the U.N. Environmental Program.

Depleted uranium (DU) was widely used in tank kinetic energy penetrator and auto cannon rounds for the first time in the Gulf War and has been suggested as a possible cause of Gulf War syndrome.

Troops responsible for cleaning up Iraqi ammunition dumps may have been exposed to depleted uranium, a form of uranium used in munitions because of its density and metallurgical properties.

Depleted uranium has been used in at least the last four wars by the United States and its allies: Gulf War 1, Bosnia and Kosovo in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Gulf War 2. The last two of the four wars, took place in 2001 (Afghanistan) and 2003 (Iraq). Effects of the contamination can manifest from within a few hours to five years.

Increases in the rate of birth defects for children born to Gulf War veterans have been reported. A 2001 survey of 15,000 U.S. Gulf War combat veterans and 15,000 control veterans found that the Gulf War veterans were 1.8 (fathers) to 2.8 (mothers) times as likely to report having children with birth defects. After examination of children's medical records two years later, the birth defect rate increased by more than 20%.
Tests of 5 Gulf War Veterans in 2007 and analyzed by Wayne State University Medical staff revealed the 5 Veterans studied have severe chromosome damage. The damage uncovered is 10 times the level found in the normal population. The chromosome damage is similar to that seen when exposed to Alpha radiation and could be related to Depleted Uranium munitions exposure. Further, more widespread tests need to be conducted before conclusions can be drawn from this research.

Since 2001, medical personnel at the Basra hospital in southern Iraq have reported a sharp increase in the incidence of child leukemia and genetic malformation among babies born in the decade following the Gulf War. Iraqi doctors attributed these malformations to possible long-term effects of DU, an opinion which was echoed by several newspapers.

Hospital statistics in Basra document that cancer rates are indeed on the rise. In 1988, there were 11 cases of cancer per 100,000 people in the city. By 2001, that number had increased to 116 per 100,000.

Iraq's 1999 National Cancer Registry in Baghdad, also noted an alarming increase in leukemia cases, particularly near Basra. Countrywide, the number of overall cancer cases has grown steadily since the Gulf War, with 7,481 cases in 1989 and 8,592 in 1997, according to registry statistics.

Doctors in Basra say that they have no explanation other than depleted uranium for the rise in cancer cases, even factoring in the growing population and greater awareness of cancer symptoms. 'The only factor that has changed here since the '91 war is radiation.

The water, soil and air in large areas of Iraq, including Baghdad, are contaminated with depleted uranium that has a radioactive half-life of 4.5 billion years.

Accounts of children being born with cancer and birth defects have been highlighted in German newspaper Der Spiegel, where Iraqis who were interviewed were not sure of the explanation behind so many dead and deformed newborn babies in the Iraqi city of Basra.

"Some had only one eye in the forehead. Or two heads,” Askar Bin Said, an Iraqi graveyard owner, told the newspaper, describing some of the dead newborn babies that are buried in his cemetery.

“One had a tail like a skinned lamb. Another one looked like a perfectly normal child, but with a monkey's face. Or the girl whose legs had grown together, half fish, half human," he added.

The report cites a study published in the Germany-based Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology saying there was a “sevenfold increase in the number of birth defects in Basra between 1994 and 2003. Of 1,000 live births, 23 had birth defects,” adding that similar high numbers were reported from the city of Fallujah.

War of Iraq (Gulf War):

Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighboring Kuwait in early August 1990. Alarmed by these actions, fellow Arab powers such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt called on the United States and other Western nations to intervene. Hussein defied United Nations Security Council demands to withdraw from Kuwait by mid-January 1991, and the Persian Gulf War began with a massive U.S.-led air offensive known as Operation Desert Storm. After 42 days of relentless attacks by the allied coalition in the air and on the ground, U.S. President George H.W. Bush declared a cease-fire on February 28; by that time, most Iraqi forces in Kuwait had either surrendered or fled.

Gulf War II:

The 2003 Invasion of Iraq (19 March – 1 May 2003), was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations. The invasion phase consisted of a conventionally fought war which concluded with the capture of the Iraq capital Baghdad by United States forces.

War of Bosnia:

The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina came about as a result of the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Crisis emerged in Yugoslavia with the weakening of the Communist system at the end of the Cold War. The Bosnian War or the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina was an international armed conflict that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1 March 1992 and 14 December 1995. Bosnia's war, which witnessed the worst atrocities Europe, has seen since the Second World War.
The internecine conflict between the Serb, Croat and Muslim communities is remembered worldwide for the horrific scenes of ethnic cleansing, concentration camps and mass graves.
By the end of the war in 1995, more than 100,000 people had been killed and almost a million more injured and displaced.

What is Gulf War syndrome?

In the early 1990s, about 700,000 US troops were deployed to the Middle East to take part in a 5-week air bombing campaign and a 5-day ground operation that involved almost no traditional combat. Of these soldiers, about 150,000 subsequently became ill, almost all had to leave the service, and many remain unemployable.

Gulf War syndrome (GWS), affecting a number of men and women who served in the Persian Gulf War, represents a group of medical and psychological complaints, including fatigue, respiratory illness, muscular pain, spasms, skin rash, memory loss, dizziness, peripheral numbness, and sleep disturbances.

The postulations being most scrutinized are exposure to toxins in the environment (such as oil fires), chemical and biological weapons, low-level uranium exposure, an immune reaction to a drug administered to protect against attacks of Soman (a nerve gas), dust, and even the immunizations (specifically, the anthrax vaccine and polio booster) given to the troops prior to deployment.

A total of 24 soldiers from Europe have died of cancer since their 1994 and '95 service in Bosnia. In response, Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Guterres wrote to NATO's Robertson demanding an explanation of where and why DU munitions were used in Europe.

Between 300 and 800 tons of DU munitions were blasted into Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait by U.S. forces in 1991. The Pentagon says the U.S. fired about 10,800 DU rounds -- close to three tons -- into Bosnia in 1994 and 1995. More than 31,000 rounds, about 10 tons, were shot into Kosovo in 1999 according to NATO.

Toxic, radioactive uranium-238 so-called depleted uranium -- used in munitions, missiles and tank armor may be responsible for deadly health consequences among U.S. and allied troops and populations in bombed areas, and has probably caused permanent radioactive contamination of large parts of Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and perhaps Afghanistan. Depleted uranium "penetrators" as they are called burn on impact and up to 70 percent of the DU is released (aerosolized) as toxic and radioactive dust that can be inhaled and ingested and later trapped in the lungs or kidneys.

The primary radiation danger from depleted uranium is due to alpha particles, which do not travel far through air, and do not penetrate clothing. Thus, the primary concern is internal exposure, due to inhalation, ingestion or shrapnel contamination.

Mystery of Depleted Uranium:

After more than 50 years producing atomic weapons and nuclear energy, the  USA has 500,000 tonnes of depleted uranium stored, according to official data. Depleted uranium is radioactive also and has an average lifetime of 4.5 thousand million years. This is why such waste has to be stored safely for an indefinite period of time, an extremely costly procedure. In order to save money and empty their tanks, the Department of Defence and Energy assigns depleted uranium free of charge to national and foreign armament companies. Apart from the USA, countries like the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Russia, Greece, Turkey, Israel, the Gulf monarchies, Taiwan, South Korea, Pakistan or Japan purchase or manufacture weapons with depleted uranium.

The use of DU in munitions is controversial because of questions about potential long-term health effects. Normal functioning of the kidney, brain, liver, heart, and numerous other systems can be affected by uranium exposure, because uranium is a toxic metal. It is weakly radioactive and remains so because of its long radioactive half-life (4.468 billion years for uranium-238, 700 million years for uranium-235). The biological half-life (the average time it takes for the human body to eliminate half the amount in the body) for uranium is about 15 days. The aerosol or palliation frangible powder produced during impact and combustion of depleted uranium munitions can potentially contaminate wide areas around the impact sites, leading to possible inhalation by human beings.

Natural uranium metal contains about 0.71% U-235, 99.28% U-238, and about 0.0054% U-234. In order to produce enriched uranium, the process of isotope separation removes a substantial portion of the U-235 for use in nuclear power, weapons, or other uses. The remainder, depleted uranium, contains only 0.2% to 0.4% U-235. Because natural uranium begins with such a low percentage of U-235, enrichment produces large quantities of depleted uranium. For example, producing 1 kg of 5% enriched uranium requires 11.8 kg of natural uranium, and leaves about 10.8 kg of depleted uranium with only 0.3% U-235 remaining. Natural uranium metal contains about 0.71% U-235, 99.28% U-238, and about 0.0054% U-234. In order to produce enriched uranium, the process of isotope separation removes a substantial portion of the U-235 for use in nuclear power, weapons, or other uses. The remainder, depleted uranium, contains only 0.2% to 0.4% U-235. Because natural uranium begins with such a low percentage of U-235, enrichment produces large quantities of depleted uranium. For example, producing 1 kg of 5% enriched uranium requires 11.8 kg of natural uranium, and leaves about 10.8 kg of depleted uranium with only 0.3% U-235 remaining.

Depleted Uranium is also produced by recycling 'spent' nuclear fuel, in which case it contains traces of Pu and Np  and has therefore been called 'dirty DU'.

A 1995 technical report issued by the American Army indicates that "if depleted uranium enters the body, it has the potentiality of causing serious medical consequences. The associated risk is both chemical and radiological". Deposited in the lungs or kidneys, uranium 238 and products from its decay (thorium 234, protactinium and  other uranium isotopes) give off alpha and beta radiations which cause cell  death and genetic mutations causing cancer in exposed individuals and  genetic abnormalities in their descendents over the years.  In its 110,000 air raids against Iraq, the US A-10 Warthog aircraft launched 940,000 depleted uranium projectiles, and in the land  offensive, its M60, M1 and M1A1 tanks fired a further 4,000 larger caliber also uranium projectiles.

It is estimated that there are 300 tonnes of radioactive waste in the area which might have already affected 250,000 Iraqis.

More widespread tests need to be conducted before conclusions can be drawn from this research

Threat of Depleted Uranium use in future war between India and Pakistan:

Seeing the tension mounting between India and Pakistan, use of depleted uranium from Pakistan cannot be ruled out if war starts between two countries. Pakistan is increasing its capacity to produce nuclear bomb. According to a report Pakistan may be using depleted uranium in manufacturing war weapons.
Pakistan Ordnance Factories is the biggest defence industrial complex in Pakistan meeting almost one hundred percent of the ordnance needs of its armed forces, mainly the army.

In 2001 Pakistan developed a 125mm armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding sabot (APFSDS) projectile with a depleted uranium (DU) long-rod penetrator. It was made for use with Chinese-made T-80UD tanks. The Pakistani defence industry works closely with China, sharing research and development - this is largely done as a strategic counter-balance to Russia's close links with India's arms industry.

Depleted Uranium is used by a variety of countries – about 17 at this point. These countries are currently using/stockpiling DU weaponry: U.S., Great Britain, France, Russia, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Turkey, and Kuwait. So it is not a small thing.

In 1996 the UN passed a resolution specifically about DU, that DU weapons are Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). They are illegal under all international laws and treaties, and the European Parliament in 2001 passed a resolution against DU, and that resolution was actually the result of the use of DU by NATO in Bosnia.

The Issue of Depleted Uranium (DU) is extraordinarily important. It represents a clear threat to the health of all humanity, and all life forms on planet Earth. Scientists, medical professionals, war veterans, active duty personnel, international lawyers and the global human community are calling for an awareness of this crisis and simply to stop the use of Depleted Uranium, in order to preserve life on the planet.

Reference:

The Nation, May 26, 1997.

New York Times, Feb. 14 & Jan. 29, 2001.

Susan Taylor Martin (2003-05-25). "How harmful is depleted uranium?". St. Petersburg Times.

http://www.history.com/topics/persian-gulf-war

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bosnia-still-living-with-consequences-of-war

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/775087

http://www.lef.org/protocols/health_concerns/gulf_war_syndrome_01.htm

http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Gulf-War-Syndrome.aspx

http://www.forbiddenknowledgetv.com/videos/weapons/us-army-depleted-uranium-training-film-.html

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/LAF208A.html

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/0126-03.htm

http://www.seattlepi.com/national/article/Other-uranium-hot-spots-1100683.php

http://stgvisie.home.xs4all.nl/VISIE/depleted_uranium1.html

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/12/19/255949.html

http://rense.com/general70/deple.htm

http://www.bandepleteduranium.org/en/a/72.html

http://www.i-amperfectlyhealthy.com/DepletedUranium.html

Geological history and the importance of pegmatite veins.

Pegmatite veins are common in almost all the rock type in Ranchi city of India.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Pegmatite, meaning “joined together,” was first applied to graphic granite sometime before 1822. Subsequently, it has been extended to refer to any abnormally coarse grained rock of overall igneous character. The term “pegmatite” was first used by a French mineralogist René Haüy but he used this term as a synonym of graphic granite. Contemporary meaning was given to the rock type in 1845 by an Austrian mineralogist Wilhelm Heidinger.

Most of pegmatites are more than 1 centimeter across; grains up to a meter or two across are relatively common; and individual crystals up to several meters in greatest dimension have been reported. In any case, no matter how large the grains, most pegmatites have typical igneous rock textures.

Pegmatites are associated with plutonic or intrusive rocks and were evidently formed by slow crystallization at considerable depths below the surface.

Individual pegmatite masses may be classified as simple or complex. The simple ones have an overall homogeneity and consist almost wholly of microcline perthite and quartz plus or minus minor amounts of biotite and /or black tourmaline.

The complex pegmatites tend to be compositionally zoned and to contain, along with quartz and microcline, large quantities of clevelandite, noteworthy amounts of muscovite, and well formed crystals of such minerals as apatite, beryl, topaz, colored tourmaline, and spodumene, plus a number of less common minerals that contain elements such as lithium, niobinum, tantalum, cesium, uranium, and the rare earths.

Pegmatites consist of minerals which are found also in the rocks from which they are derived, e.g. granite-pegmatites contain principally quartz and feldspar while gabbro-pegmatites consist of diallage and plagioclase. Rare minerals, however, often occur in these veins in exceptional amount and as very perfect crystals. The minerals of the pegmatites are always those which were last to separate out from the parent rock. As the basic minerals are the first formed the pegmatites contain a larger proportion of the acid or more siliceous components which were of later origin.

Most simple pegmatites occur as dikes within large igneous masses or their surrounding country rocks. Most complex pegmatites occur as lenticular pods or irregularly shaped masses within the country rocks surrounding large masses or as apparently isolated masses within metamorphic rock terranes.

Pegmatites are not rare rocks but their overall volume is small. They form small marginal parts of large magma intrusions known as batholiths. They form as a late-stage magmatic fluid starts to crystallize. This fluid is rich in water, other volatiles, and chemical elements incompatible in main magmatic minerals.

This is the reason why pegmatites are so coarse-grained and why they contain so much unusual minerals. They are coarse-grained because of high volatile content which makes the magma less viscous and therefore enhances mineral growth (chemical elements are free to move to look for and join a suitable and already existing crystal). Unusual minerals form because the fluid is enriched in exotic chemical elements like lithium, boron, beryllium, rare earth elements, etc. These elements are forced to form their own mineral phases because they are rejected by major rock-forming minerals like quartz, feldspar, and others.

Pegmatites are very irregular not only in distribution, width and persistence, but also in composition. The relative abundance of the constituent minerals may differ rapidly and much from point to point. Sometimes they are rich in mica, in enormous crystals for which the rock is mined or quarried (India). Other pegmatites are nearly pure feldspar, while others are locally (especially near their terminations) very full of quartz. They may in fact pass into quartz veins (alaskites) some of which are auriferous.

This wealth of minerals makes pegmatites often valuable as a mineral resource. Pegmatites may be mined because of their high content of feldspars, clay (if weathered), mica, or many metal-bearing minerals. Pegmatite is also a source of gems like beryl, tourmaline, zircon, etc.

Most pegmatites are granites with or without exotic minerals but mafic pegmatites (gabbro, diorite) are known as well. Silica undersaturated (without quartz) magmatic rocks may be also pegmatitic.

Pegmatite intrusions in the rocks in Ranchi city of India.

Above pictures shows the pegmatite intrusions in the rocks of Ranchi city.

The Pegmatite veins are common traversing almost all the rock type of the area. Their width varies from few meters to tens of meters.  Coarse pegmatitic intrusive are quite abundant, though they tend to cluster at places and result in irregular distribution. They are mainly composed of feldspar (with potash feldspars being much more abundant than the plagioclase) and quartz. The other minerals which are present are tourmaline, muscovite and rarely garnet. At places, the pegmatite contains streaks and specks of pyrite.  

Rifle range- This is the highest point of Ranchi, situated in Bariatu, east of Bharamdih hills. The major rock type is granite gneiss with augen shaped crystals of felsic minerals. Large number of intrusions of pegmatites veins is very common in this part . These intrusions are very thick are in the form of sills and dykes, mainly dykes. Pegmatite contain large crystals of tourmaline and garnet. Muscovite is also present in some proportion.

The other hills where the intrusion of pegmatite is seen are Jagnnathpur hill, Tagore hill, Bharamdih hill etc.

Reference:

Dietrich, R.V. and Skinner, B.J. 1979. Rocks and rock minerals. John Wiley & Sons, U.S.A.

Priyadarshi, N. 1998. A handbook geology of Chotanagpur. Aoyushi Publication, Ranchi, India.

http://www.sandatlas.org/2012/09/pegmatite/

Are we moving towards global cooling or we are passing through major warming period?

Does the concept vary from season to season in the mind of the mass?

By

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Geologist.

Total northern hemisphere is reeling under cold wave. Most part of the area is under thick cover of ice and snow. People are being killed due to severe cold waves. Lakes are freeze; leaves are drooping down due to the loads of the snow. Every where its white cover. Where there is no snow cold waves are showing impact on the population. Agriculture fields are under threat of frost bite. In India scores of people have been killed due to chilling wind and dropping of temperature. People like me are not able to understand whether we are moving towards global cooling or we are passing through major global warming period.  

When ever I talk about global warming concept today people are confused. They ask questions, why you are talking about global warming when it’s too cold. They are not easily accepting the concept of warming in chilling cold. It’s totally opposite in peak warm season. People put question mark on global cooling. They easily accept the concept of global warming. Does the concept vary from season to season in the mind of the mass? Every body can’t have scientific concept. Their thinking on the global warming or global cooling vary from hot to cold and cold to hot season. Even the media avoid doing the story on global warming in winter season.

Now a day’s media is also playing a big role in floating the concept, causes and effect of global warming. When I was in school I never heard of any such words like global warming or global cooling. We use to enjoy every season without any thought or any fear of climate change.

Every time a year is fixed to show that till that date or year there will be major changes on Earth ecosystem due to increasing green houses gases or global warming.  When the date passes without any major impact again other date is fixed.

It is not the question that how much we can believe on such predictions, but the question is can we predict the effects of global warming/cooling or climate change with accuracy? The way the increasing trend of global warming is shown or predicted, it seems that in coming 30 to 40 years earth will be totally devoid of any life and earth will die. I don’t think so.

Is really global warming is there or we are just exaggerating it? It is said that main cause of the global warming is due to increase in carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere.

Between 1940 and 1970, global temperatures went down slightly, even though carbon dioxide levels went up. This has been attributed to the cooling effect of sulphate aerosols.

Studies of ice cores show that carbon dioxide levels rise and fall with or after (as much as 1000 years) temperature variations. This argument assumes that current climate change can be expected to be similar to past climate change.

Most computer models suggest that the globe will warm up 1.5 degree centigrade to 4.5 degree centigrade if carbon dioxide reaches the predicted level of 600 ppm by the 2050. Although this may be largely true, there are other possible mechanisms that could act in the opposite direction. For instance the sulphate aerosols-the tiny bit of dust that are also added to the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned by human activity, may cool the climate. The aerosols reflect away the sun’s radiation. Thus, they partially counter the warming that may be caused by the greenhouse gases. However, the degree to which these emissions might reduce the impact of greenhouse gases is not yet fully understood.

Other theory says that, in the past million years, the Earth experienced a major ice age about every 100,000 years. Scientists have several theories to explain this glacial cycle, but new research suggests the primary driving force is all in how the planet leans.

The Earth's rotation axis is not perpendicular to the plane in which it orbits the Sun. It's offset by 23.5 degrees. This tilt, or obliquity, explains why we have seasons and why places above the Arctic Circle have 24-hour darkness in winter and constant sunlight in the summer. Tilt varies between 21.5 and 24.5 degrees over a cycle of roughly 41,000 years. The greater the tilt, the more the seasonal imbalance in heat delivery from the Sun and the less the chance of ice remaining through the summer in temperate climates. At present we are near a neutral point between the extremes of this oscillation of tilt, thus neither favouring nor promoting an ice age.

Scientists who assess the planet’s health see indisputable evidence that earth has been getting warmer, in some cases rapidly. Most believe that human activity, in particular the burning of fossil fuels and the resulting buildup of green house gases in the atmosphere, have influenced this warming trend. In the past decades scientists have documented record-high average annual surface temperatures and have been observing other signs of change all over the planet: in the distribution of ice, and in the salinity, levels, and temperatures of the oceans.

Everywhere on earth ice is changing. The famed snows of Kilimanjaro have melted more than 80 percent since 1912. Glaciers in the Garhwal Himalayas in India are retreating so fast that researchers believe that most central and eastern Himalayan could virtually disappear by 2035. Artic sea ice has thinned significantly over the fast half century, and its extent has declined by about 10 percent in the past 30 years.

This is one of the aspect of the global warming which most of scientists believe is man made. There is small minority of atmospheric and other scientists who disagree with this general scientific consensus. According to these scientists we still know too little about natural climate variables that could change the assessment (up or down). In addition, computer models used to predict climate change are improving but still are not reliable.

They also point out that some signs of global warming may not necessarily be caused by human activities. For example, while many glaciers are shrinking, others are growing. Also, glaciers shrink and grow naturally over long periods of time for reasons that are largely unknown.

Finally, they contend that global warming may be a lot less damaging than many people think and can be beneficial for some regions. For example, some countries may be able to increase crop productivity because of more rainfall and longer growing seasons.

They also claim that more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could increase the rate of photosynthesis in areas with adequate amounts of water and other soil nutrients. This would remove more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and help slow atmospheric warming.

The history of earth’s climate is characterized by change. Times of glaciations on the earth have been followed by warm intervals and the duration in years of both cold and warm intervals has varied by several orders of magnitude.

What ever may be the truth we have no options but we have to opt wait and watch theory.

Nature of the earth today is not fully understood. I am sure no one can say with accuracy what’s happening in the nature and also what’s going to happen in the future. It’s all the speculations and hypothesis.   

Groundwater exploitation is also raising sea levels.

By 2050, groundwater pumping will cause a global sea level rise of about 0.8 millimeters per year.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi

Slowly but surely, the sea level continues to rise. Recent research suggests this increase is also driven by the exploitation of underground water by humans that eventually flowed into the sea.

Climate change, with its associated melting ice caps and shrinking glaciers, is the usual suspect when it comes to explaining rising sea levels. But a recent study now shows that human water use has a major impact on sea-level change that has been overlooked.

Science community was shocked by the claim that 42% of the sea-level rise of the past decades is due to groundwater pumping for irrigation purposes. What could this mean for the future – and is it true?

Global warming is melting glaciers and causing sea levels to rise. The volume of water is also expanding because of heat. This ‘thermal expansion’ contributes significantly to the surge in the sea levels. But there is yet another important reason for the rising sea levels, as a team of hydrologists led by Yadu Pokhrel from Rutgers University (USA) has discovered for the first time.

Experts had already identified a flaw in existing models. If one takes ice melting and the expansion of water because of higher temperatures into account the oceans should have risen by 1.1 mm per year in the second half of the 20^th century. However in reality, they rose by 1.8 mm.

Groundwater makes up about twenty percent of the world's fresh water supply, which is about 0.61% of the entire world's water, including oceans and permanent ice. Global groundwater storage is roughly equal to the total amount of freshwater stored in the snow and ice pack, including the north and south poles. This makes it an important resource which can act as a natural storage that can buffer against shortages of surface water, as in during times of drought.

Most of the Earth’s liquid freshwater is found, not in lakes and rivers, but is stored underground in aquifers. Indeed, these aquifers provide a valuable base flow supplying water to rivers during periods of no rainfall. The contribution from groundwater is vital; perhaps as many as two billion people depend directly upon aquifers for drinking water, and 40 per cent of the world’s food is produced by irrigated agriculture that relies largely on groundwater.

During the last 30 to 40 years there has been an enormous rise in food production in many countries through the increased use of irrigation. Much of this irrigation water has been drawn from groundwater as people realise the advantages to increased productivity of timely irrigation and security of application.

Due to human usage, groundwater reaches the ocean through the sewage system and rivers as well as the hydrological cycle in the atmosphere- and contributes about 42 per cent of the rise in the sea levels.

Because of population growth and increased irrigation, ground and drinking water consumption has doubled over the last few decades. 

A recent study from Yoshihide Wada and other researchers from Utrecht University attempted to assess the status of global groundwater depletion—that is, the amount of water that is being drawn out from underground reservoirs that is not being replaced by precipitation—and came up with some startling conclusions. Chief among them that depletion of groundwater may be contributing to as much as 25 percent of observed sea-level rise in recent years.

As people pump groundwater for irrigation, drinking water, and industrial uses, the water doesn’t just seep back into the ground — it also evaporates into the atmosphere, or runs off into rivers and canals, eventually emptying into the world’s oceans. This water adds up, and a new study calculates that by 2050, groundwater pumping will cause a global sea level rise of about 0.8 millimeters per year. Other than ice on land, the excessive groundwater extractions are fast becoming the most important terrestrial water contribution to sea level rise.

Taking into account the seepage of groundwater back into the aquifers, as well as evaporation and runoff, the researchers estimated that groundwater pumping resulted in sea level rise of about 0.57 mm in 2000 — much greater than the 1900 annual sea level rise of 0.035 mm.

The amount of groundwater pumped out by Delhiites and others across northern India is highest in the world and is contributing as much as 5% to the total rise in sea levels.

A new study using satellite data has found that the region - a swathe of over 2,000km from west Pakistan to Bangladesh along north India - extracts a mind boggling 54 trillion litres from the ground every year, a figure that's likely to cause serious concern over the future of water availability.

Reference:

http://www.uu.nl/EN/Current/Pages/Grondwaterwinningleidtkomendejarentotzeespiegelstijging.aspx

http://reliefweb.int/report/india/north-indias-groundwater-use-raising-sea-levels-5

http://www.unep.org/DEWA/water/groundwater/pdfs/Groundwater_INC_Cover.pdf

http://www.nature.com/news/source-found-for-missing-water-in-sea-level-rise-1.10676

http://www.agu.org/news/press/pr_archives/2012/2012-25.shtml

How could the shape of plant leaves indicate temperature?

There is a general relationship between leaf shape and the climate.

by

Dr. Nitish Priyadarshi. 

Fig.1 Leaf of tropical areas having drip tip for water run off.

How could the shape of plant leaves indicate temperature, you ask? Surprisingly, they do so very well. There is a general relationship between leaf shape and the climate. In 1978 Jack Wolfe, of the United States Geological Survey, put the relationship on a quantitative footing. Using data for present –day forests in eastern Asia, he showed that there is a remarkable correlation between the mean annual temperature and the shapes of the leaves. The particular features of leaves that seem to be most distinctive in this regard is the nature of the leaf margin. In tropical areas, where temperatures and precipitation are high, leaves tend to be large and have smooth edges, without serrations, and they often have a narrow, elongated tip-sometimes referred to as a drip tip (Fig.1.)- that facilitates water runoff. In contrast, leaves in cooler regions are typically smaller, narrower, and usually have jagged edges. In today’s forests these characteristics are specific to climatic conditions through out the globe.

Warmer leaf temperatures promote both photosynthesis and transpiration; thus, plants in drier climates tend to have smaller leaves to reduce evaporative cooling, while in more humid climates larger leaves are common because the attendant water cost is less critical (Givnish, 1984).

Since plants are stationary they must respond developmentally and ultimately evolutionarily, to their environment. As a result, it's not surprising that leaf morphology (shape) has been shown to be related to climate. For example, some the following correlations have been reported (a) leaf length is directly related to the mean annual temperature (MAT), (b) leaf area is directly correlated to both MAT and mean annual precipitation (MAP); and (c)leaf width is directly correlated with MAP. Thus, leaves are longer and larger in climates with warmer temperatures and higher rainfall.

Another interesting observation that was first reported more than 100 year ago is that woody deciduous plants having leaves with toothed margins (termed serrate) predominate in temperate climates while species with smooth (termed entire) leaf margins predominate in frigid (arctic) and tropical climates.

Reference:

Givnish TJ. 1984. Leaf and canopy adaptations in tropical forests. In: Medina E, Mooney HA, Vasquez-Yanes C, eds. Physiological ecology of plants of the wet tropics. The Hague, the Netherlands: Dr. W. Junk Publishers, 51–84. 

Macdougall,J.D. 1996. A short history of planet earth, mountains, mammals, fire, and ice. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Canada.

http://www.employees.csbsju.edu/ssaupe/biol106/Labs/leaf%20lab.pdf