International efforts for environment protection

The United Nations is very much conscious of the world-wide problem of maintaining the environment safe for human beings.The United Nations on the conference on the Human Environment was held at Stockholm in June 1972. The conference evolved the principles and action plan for controlling and regulating environment degradation. Institutional and financial arrangements were made for achieving that purpose. The United National General Assembly passed a resolution on December 15, 1972 emphasising the need of active cooperation among the States in the field of human environment. The resolution had designated June 5 as the World Environment day and had urged governments and organisations in the united nations system to undertake on that day every year ,world-wide activities reaffirming their concern for the preservation and enhancement of the environment.

Another resolution was passed, which provided for institutional and financial arrangement for international environment cooperation. Provisions were made for establishing a government council for environment program (UNEP) having global jurisdiction, environmental secretariat and environmental fund. Some of the recommendations of the first conference were regarding long and short term plans at the regional, sub-regional levels in the field of environment relating to the advancement of developing nations.

The international environmental legislation chart included-

'The protection, preservation and the enhancement of the environment for the present and future generations is the responsibility of all states and they should ensure that the activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment. All states should cooperate in evolving natural laws and norms regulations in the field of environment.'

Recently in 2009 ,a conference was held in Copenhagen , Denmark relating to the changing environment and climate around the world. Many leaders actively participated in that so as to find solution to rapid environment change.

Climate change-global warming and global cooling

There is a ongoing fluctuating of world climate , some years when temperature rises causing hazards like ice melting etc. which we all know is as global warming.Yet there is another undeniable theory or aspect we must know as global cooling.

Many scientists claimed that the earth was moving towards global cooling and reporters and media coverage were all about this , the effects it would bring . It was said that an ice age was coming and people were afraid. It was mainly highlighted in the 1970s. Just before this period there were proofs of the earth's rising temperature and so global warming was the focused issue. However, during the 70s many parts of the world was severely affected and large number of people died due cold and heavy snow.

Many scientists from the past have always warned that there would be ice age coming and the world climate during that time would change supporting this theory.But the scenario reverses after a decade or few and rising of the temperature prevails in many next years to come.

The result of both extremes of temperatures have caused havoc and loss of many lives.Recently, there is been simultaneous, warming of temperature and the temperature in some parts have fallen down drastically.Scientists have now been terming this word "climate change" rather than than the earlier Global warming, keeping in mind the fluctuation of temperature and climate .

There have been vast reduction in growth of crops following both warming and cooling.The growth is only good when the climatic condition is optimal .The climate change have caused starvation and death of large number of people due to reduced production of food.

The climate change occurring around the world is man-made , that it is caused by man ,s o now he must live with the consequences.

Alternate use of energy

There are some recently discovered alternate energies so as to save the environment . Human beings are always trying to use solar energy for their survival and day to day use. We know that green plants create their own food and energy with the help of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis happens in the presence of sunlight, water and carbon dioxide. The end results are food, chemical energy and release of oxygen gas. Whenever scientists tried to use the solar energy they were quite unsuccessful in utilizing a major part of solar power. The conversation rate of solar energy into electrical energy is quite inefficient. Now researchers at various places are trying to overcome this problem.

New solar charger for laptop computers-
Now we can have a green charger for our computers and laptops. We can take our laptops to outdoors and keep on using them without bothering that the charge will run out. Muzatch offers a solar charger for our computers. It is known as the MZH-SP-6500 / SP-6000 renewable energy charger. If one is traveling long distance in a car, or going on a business trip or in the wilderness and needs emergency power for laptop, this solar charger will come handy.

Fuel from chicken feathers-
Every year 11 billion pounds of poultry industry waste accumulates annually, because we have gigantic appetite for poultry products. They can't be stuffed into pillows. Mostly they are utilized as low-grade animal feed. Scientists in Nevada have created a new and environmentally friendly process for developing bio diesel fuel from 'chicken feather meal'. It has been discovered that chicken feather meal consists of processed chicken feathers, blood, and innards.

Solar-powered Atms by Vortex -
Alternative energy can be a boon for third world countries. Normally governments have to invest vast sums of money in developing infrastructures for a long period of time in underdeveloped areas. If we consider the example of cell phones, they have bypassed the usual wires, poles, roads, telephone exchange infrastructures. People residing in remote villages can be connected via mobiles. Same thing can happen with ATMs (automated teller machines) too. Vortex Engineering is an India-based rural ATM manufacturer. State Bank of India (SBI) wants to deploy 545 ATMs across semi-urban and rural India.

Use of Visible light to break down carbon dioxide-
We all are familiar with the effects of carbon dioxide on our environment. Carbon dioxide is responsible for causing the greenhouse effect. If scientists can breakdown this gas into other form it would lead us to reduce the concentration of this gas into environment substantially. It would mean dealing with the root cause of the problem. Now scientists are trying out to get hold of an organism which could help in the breakdown of carbon dioxide.

Solar energy from plant protein structure-
Nanoscience is quite fascinated with the process of photosynthesis. They want to duplicate this process exhibited by green plants and utilize the solar power for energy use. Till now power generating solar panels are not in a position to replace the fossil fuels. They produce little amount of energy and quite expensive also. Generation of solar energy also depends on geographical locations. Deserts are more suitable locations for solar power than areas experiencing temperate climate. But we can have a new source of solar power that also delivered a power packed performance for us when it is on our dinner/lunch plate i.e. pea power.

Honda solar hydrogen station introduced to green car market-
Honda finally unveiled their new solar hydrogen solar station and all signs point to a dramatic success. The station is smaller than previous models and enables an electric car owner to refill their fuel cell overnight. The unit should easily fit into a homeowners’ garage taking up significantly less space than previous models. The older model required a compressor and electrolyzer for it to be operational. One of the reasons the units were so big was because of the compressor that was required to run the unit. Not only that, the compressor was also the reason that the units were so expensive to produce and purchase.

Waste to energy continues to gain steam-
While new energy solutions are being discovered, refined and brought further and further into the public light, something that does not get a lot of headlines is waste to energy. This is being used in countries like Japan for quite some time and dramatically improving their waste disposal problems in highly populated areas.

Marine pollution

The continued degradation of the human environment has become a major problem in all parts of the world. Environment is everything that surrounds a plant or animal or human being, and affects the way it grows. The three major components of environment are; air, water and soil. The nature of these components are constantly being changed on earth through their interaction with living things .The two are very closely linked and a drastic change in one can lead to far-reaching changes in the other. The sea water which covers about two-third of the planet ,plays a vital role in maintaining the fundamental biological and ecological balance.

Man has always been attracted to the ocean for a variety of reasons which include adventure, food, trade, commerce, industry and recreation. He has thus put ocean to multiple use and will continue to do so in future. But the most injurious use mankind has put the ocean is for disposal of various harmful wastes. We are polluting our marine environment with increasing amounts of waste products, which originated with expanding technology,without full knowledge or ways in which these materials may interact with our surrounding and eventually affect our well being.

The sea-food man consumes is directly or indirectly dependent on the coastal zone and pollution of water in these areas causes significant threat to great portion of world fishing. The marine inhabitants like planktonic and nektonic (floating and swimming organisms), along with fish and fauna constitute the ecological unit know as “community”. It functions and survives on a delicate ecological balance, any disturbance of which will have harmful effects on marine food chain.

Pollution has already affected ocean’s source of food. Shellfish have found to have hepatitis, polio-virus and other pathogens. DDT was found in the Antarctic fish and penguins.

Marine pollution has also affected the recreational facilities on the beach. The floating materials like solid waste, oil, rotting algae, anaerobes have caused unpleasant odour and put threat to recreational and aesthetic value of sea.

The major sources of marine pollution are-:

1.Oil-Oil in marine environment comes from various sources like natural submarine seepage, natural decay of marine plant and animal life, shore-based industries and transport activities, wrecked oil tankers and other ships and discharges from ships which pump out cargo and clean tanks with sea water. Many techniques can help reduce the volumes and effect of oil pollution like mechanical removal of oil from polluted beaches.

2.Waste disposal-:Wastes can be divided into domestic and industrial wastes. The former include wastes from food processing , detergents and run-off from agricultural area. Latter includes heavy metals, radio-active nuclides inorganic chemicals and heated water.

So, as we see that there is an acute problem of marine pollution, necessitating it’s management. Management of marine pollution does not mean outright prohibition though , because that may evolve substantial deprivation to legitimate users. It would also stop the development and exploitation of ocean for the benefit of mankind. The solution lies in finding a balance between management and exploitation.

Plastic recycling

There is a growing problem regarding recycling of plastic. Discarded plastic products and packaging contribute to a growing portion of Municipal Solid Waste. In recent times the amount of plastic thrown has increased by more than 50 percent than at the beginning 0f 1990s. Plastic waste accounts for one-fifth of all waste in waste stream.Plastic recycling ws never expected to be widespread because the process is too expensive, unpractical and inefficient.This though is slowly being turned.


The difference between a polymer and a plastic
The term “plastics” is used to describe a wide variety of resins or polymers with different characteristics and uses. While all plastics are polymers, not all polymers are plastic. Polymers are rarely useful in themselves and are most often modified or compounded with additives (including colours) to form useful materials. The compounded product is generally termed a plastic.

For this discussion of recycling, an understanding of two basic types of polymers is helpful:
Thermoplastic polymers can be heated and formed, then heated and formed again and again. The shape of the polymer molecules are generally linear or slightly branched. This means that the molecules can flow under pressure when heated above their melting point.
Thermoset polymers undergo a chemical change when they are heated, creating a three-dimensional network. After they are heated and formed, these molecules cannot be re-heated and re-formed. Comparing these types, thermoplastics are much easier to adapt to recycling.

Plastic consumer goods not identified by code numbers are not usually collected. Plastic tarps, pipes, toys, computer keyboards, and a multitude of other products simply do not fit into the numbering system that identifies plastics used in consumer containers. There are actually thousands of different varieties of plastic resins or mixtures of resins. These are developed to suit the needs of particular products. There is limited recycling of some of these specific plastic products in truckload quantities from industrial sources. No one has entered the business of collecting a variety of these plastics in small quantities.

The Problem with Plastics Recycling
When glass, paper and cans are recycled, they become similar products which can be used and recycled over and over again. With plastics recycling, however, there is usually only a single re-use. Most bottles and jugs don't become food and beverage containers again. For example, pop bottles might become carpet or stuffing for sleeping bags. Milk jugs are often made into plastic lumber, recycling bins, and toys.

Currently only about 3.5% of all plastics generated is recycled compared to 34% of paper, 22% of glass and 30% of metals. At this time, plastics recycling only minimally reduces the amount of virgin resources used to make plastics. Recycling papers, glass and metal, materials that are easily recycled more than once, saves far more energy and resources than are saved with plastics recycling.

There are five factors that are necessary in order for the recycling of plastic to be a successful process. First, the supply of used plastic has to be of a large quantity. This large quantity of plastic is collected at certain areas, which is the second step. Once the plastic is collected, the sorting and separating process begins; this is the third step in the process. The sorting and separating process depends upon the type of polymers that make up the plastic. Plastic products are given codes to help the sorting and separating process. The fourth step in plastic recycling is reprocessing. The reprocessing of polymers includes the melting process, the melting process can be accomplished if the polymers have not been widely cross-linked with any synthetics. If the cross-linking of polymers contain too many synthetics, the polymers will be difficult to stretch and less pliable. The final step is the manufacturing of the melted plastic into new products.

Automobiles and pollution

A significant portion of the growth in the use of automobiles is seen especially in developing countries like China, Brazil, Russia , India, representing a desire of people in these countries to experience the freedom that comes with owning a vehicle and improve their quality of life. Also, given the large population, the demand for efficient, economical public transport is also in the increase. Therefore, the challenge of modern mobility is to meet these aspirations, satisfy the need for mobility and yet do it in a manner ,in harmony with nature, that has minimum impact on the environment and does not accelerate climate change.

The increasing price of fuel, depletion of fossil fuel resources, decline in availability of raw materials like iron ore and coal, recent reports on climate change in some cities are all true and present unique set of challenges for the growth and development of the automobile industry.

There is a need for the regulation in the transport sector to minimize the impact of vehicular emissions on the air quality.A number of court judgements in some places limited the age of commercial vehicles in the road and recommended a number of measures to reduce the environmental impact of vehicles. Those policies also set out a definite road map for fuel quality and emission levels which have only partially been implemented.

Technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emission , as well as local pollution for engines include currently off-the-shelf technologies, such as variable valve timing, cylinder deactivation, smaller engine with supercharger, throttles engines , and diesel vehicles.

In many developing nations vehicles used were manufactured and developed at a time when there were no emission legislation. To solve such issue ,vehicles produced before a certain date should not be allowed on the road after a certain other date.Also mandatory inspection should be introduced with view of maintenance of vehicle ,that which fail the test and cannot be rectified should not be allowed on the road.

A study has shown that vehicles over eight year old account for nearly eighty per cent of the pollution. To help take decisions regarding emission norms, air quality monitoring source apportionment studies has been done in many countries in Europe and Japan. But many times, lack of data and perceptions about the contribution of various sources to air pollution does not result in appropriate decisions.

Global warming-The price paying nations

As the saying goes, there is only one Earth. It is a reality .Another reality is that the Earth is deteriorating , that it is dying slowly and we as the residents living on it are responsible. Yes, all of us are responsible for bringing our Mother Earth to this state although it would not not be wrong to say some are more responsible than others.

The First world nations, with the industrialization and economic development are among the most privileged and rank in top among nations.T heir economy is booming and they lead the way for other less developed nations to follow. Yet , following to the development there have been various by –products given off , which have been extremely harmful to the environment we live in. The Co2 produced as by products of large factories and as emissions of vehicles etc. have increased and still increasing temperature on Earth by trapping the solar heat excessively.

We are all aware of causes and implications of earth’s rising temperature and global warming now .Recently, there have been undeniable calamines in various places in the world attributing to climatic change due to environmental pollution. The first world nations especially are now very actively participating in promotion of various campaigns against global warming and they are requesting other nations to join them. Recently,there was a summit held in Copenhagen where various world leaders participated, including the US President Barack Obama.The summit was about global climatic change.

There have now been suggested new legislation regarding the industrialization and production and manufacture so such to cut down on by product released in the atmosphere.This is going to contribute on environmental benefit but at the same time will bring economic development to a slow pace.The recently developing countries are going to be affected the most e.g. countries like India, China. Small underdeveloped countries like Nepal had done little in contributing to global warming effects as regards to producing industrial by-products in the air but nevertheless paying the price as the whole world.It’s once heavily snow covered mountains have begun melting due to global heat.

Fair or not, the price is here for all of to pay.For our sake and for the sake of future generations, the time has passed to lay the blame on each other and join hand in cause for a solution .

Types of Pollution

Every advance in technology means yet one more potential poison in our environment. The simplest definition of pollution may perhaps be’right thing in the wrong place’ e.g. salt in the sea is not pollution whereas salt in river is pollution. Pollution is disturbance or breach in the balance of nature.

The following are the types of pollution generally recognized-
1.Water Pollution:The presence, in concentration higher than normal, in natural waterways (lakes, streams, rivers and oceans) of dissolved or suspended foreign materials such as silt, chemicals, fecal matter, metallic elements organic material or nutrients.

2.Air pollution:The presence in the atmosphere of solid particles, liquid droplets or gaseous compounds which are not normally present or present in a concentration substantially greater than normal.

3.Waste pollution:The presence on land or water of solid material, organic or inorganic, which has no beneficial qualities.

4.Chemical pollution:The presence in plants and animal tissues including feed or foodstuffs, of adulterant chemicals which have no beneficial effect.

5.Thermal pollution:The discharge into the environment of stream of air or water which is at a different temperature from that of the environment at the point of discharge or downpour of this point.

6.Land pollution:Deforestation, industrialization, urbanization and indiscriminate use of fertilizers causes alarming degradation of earth and environment.

7.Oil pollution:Crude oil is another major pollutant particularly of the sea’s.

8.Noise pollution:Yes , it is also a type of pollution.The presence in the open atmosphere or in a confines space is considered undesirable, except by the people responsible for it.

The Story of a Farmer

Hari Bahadur who lives in one of the remote villages in Nepal.Nepal is a poor,agriculture –based hilly country.Hari Bahadur is one of the many farmers whose livelihood is solely based on the crops he grows in his small farm.He is a hard working farmer and supports his wife and children through his labour.

One day a team of International Non-Governmental Organisers come to his village.They teach the village farmers new things about farming and crop fertilizers.They tell them about how to increase the growth of crops by putting different chemical fertilizers .The INGO officers distribute various seeds to the farmers and give instructions how to plant and grow them.The villagers are overjoyed and happy .They thank the officers and take the seeds home.

In time they plant them in their fields including Hari Bahadur. When the harvesting comes the yield is almost double. Hari Bahadur is very happy and thanks the INGO officers from abroad again.The chemical fertilizers have really worked. He just waits eagerly to plant next seasonal crops.But this time the result is not as expected. The yield is less than before.Nevertheless, he does not lose heart and still next season season the crops grew minimal.Now ,he is a bit worried as his and his family’s livelihood is being apparently threatned. He wonders now what the chemical fertilizers contained.They had ruined the normal soil consistency as to make it infertile.He had no knowledge before that right quantity and quality of safely tested fertilizers only were good for crop and soil.The strong experimental fertilizers had ruined soil composition of the whole village.

The small amount of crops now grew in Hari Bahadur’s land and even that could not be irrigated properly.The rivers nearby had all dried due to global climate change.There was no more snow to melt down into the river.Hari Bahadur was not actually familiar with the concept of global warming or climate change and yet at the same time , he was being affected by it.

Now, Hari Bahadur must find an alternative source of income to support himself and his family as the land does not suffice.He enters the nearby forest and begins cutting down trees.Some he would sell and little he would take home to use.It’s not easy though cause forest rangers are on the watch for villagers cutting down trees.Little does he know about the implications of felling of trees on the planet or would be little bothered if someone explained it to him.He had bigger problems of his and his family to worry about.

This is not just about one Hari Bahadur but the story is true about many like him living in different places in many underdeveloped countries.

Deforestation Affecting Environment

Destruction of natural forest has brought about an environment crisis in different parts of the world. Forests maintain the proper balance of organisms, chemicals in the environment are either produced or absorbed by them and so they are the basis of our survival.They prevent soil erosion, floods and droughts. In the past there were plenty of forests and vegetation. But now they are facing the depletory effects of science and technology and population explosion. Deforestation breaks the delicate environmental balance , maintained by nature itself. Floods or droughts are the terrible consequences as are pollution and spread of infectious diseases.

Forests bear the responsibility to balance the ecosystem. Also the reduction of vegetative cover is a process which affect the agriculture, economic standard of living and environmental quality of virtually all nations.

Plenty of trees transpire the water collected on land and remove the conditions suitable for habitat of mosquitoes carrying a number of contiguous diseases. The main reason for deforestation in countries like Nepal , India and in the South Asia are-:

1.Inactiveness of guards or officers for forest protection. Strong group of private contractors fell trees by bribing the authorities or by exercising political pressure.

2.Deforestation for commercial purposes like manufacture of furnitures, packing of fruits or sports goods. Forest department cuts down trees for planting of teak and eucalyptus and for starting certain forest-based industries like plywood and paper.

3.Large scale urbanization, colonization and industrialization and construction of roads and water canals and drains covered alot of forests before.

To remedy the deforestation certain steps must be taken-Corrupt practices among officials of forest department are to be stopped and also there should be no exercise of political influence by private contractors. There must be checking on felling of trees even in one's own land or house, alternatives of excessive commercial use of timber must be discovered, manufacture of packing cases and cartoons should be replaced by some other material made from recycled wastes.

Global Warming -A Reality

Global warming as we were familiar in the past was a slow -growing process, which is not true anymore. It is on a fast increase suddenly and unexpectedly and has become a huge crisis at present due to which planet Earth is not in well condition.

Disasters have always taken place but never in this rate, they have never been this frequent that it has hit us hard recently .e.g. cyclone Larry in northeastern Australia, sections of ice the size of small states disintegrating from Artic and Antarctic, hurricane Katrina in new Orleans and Tsunami in Indonesia, vast numbers of earthquakes that have taken place recently around the globe.The emergency has become commonplace and things are not going right . It is all due to global warming.

There have been heat waves to storms to floods to fires to massive glacial melts, the global climate is in ruins. Scientists had predicted that this would happen, although even they did not anticipate that happening so alarmingly soon. If Earth were to be a living thing, it is having fever right now. It's a result of continued pumping of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, trapping the heat from the sun and raising earth's temperature. Human activity has been causing it.

It is now here for all of us to see and believe, as contrary to the past when people debated with each other whether the grim forecast was actually true. In the last five years, the debate has quietly come to an end. We thought that slow pace of nature deterioration would give us decades or even centuries to sort out the problem.

But glaciers and nature both are moving with surprising speed. A certain threshold past which slow creep of environmental decay gives way to sudden and powerful collapse. Several Greenland ice sheets have doubled their rate of slide and according to some research that by the end of the century the world could be locked in an eventual rise in the sea-level of as much as 20ft.