Green eMagazine

From The Pages of Disaster Diary

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:09:00 +0000

By the Editors ...

Source: and the earth cried “BHOPAL”, by Gilbert Cruz, published in time.com on Monday, May 03, 2010

Around midnight on Dec. 2, 1984, an accident at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, resulted in 45 tons of poisonous methyl isocyanate escaping from the facility. Thousands died within hours. More followed over subsequent months — about 15,000 in all. In total, about half a million people were affected in some way. Many of those who survived suffered blindness, organ failure and other awful bodily malfunctions. A shockingly high number of children in the area have been born with all manner of birth defects. In 1989, Union Carbide paid out about half a billion dollars to victims, an amount the afflicted say is not nearly enough to deal with the decades-long consequences. Bhopal remains the worst industrial disaster ever.

Environmental Protection

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:06:00 +0000

Author: Mahrukh (University of Peshawar)

Our planet is continuously changing. Sometimes it changes in a good way and sometimes in a bad way but the good news is that we can help it change for the better. Unfortunately now-a-days our planet is changing in a bad way and there are a lot of reasons behind it and I would like to highlight a couple of those in this piece of writing.

Energy

Our growing need for energy is one of the biggest problems that our planet facing now a days and one of the reasons is that producing electricity, one of the major forms of energy) causes pollution.

How to help:

When we are using electricity we have to think that where does it came from and how to use it less. Here are some ways to save electricity:

1) When you are leaving the room turn off the lights.

2) Fridge takes a lot of energy to keep food fresh, cool and healthy. We can help by not leaving the fridge door open.

3) Leaving electrical appliances such as TV, computer or any other thing on standby still use electricity although they look like they are turned off, we should simply turn them off.

Pollution:

Pollution is caused when harmful substances are released in air, water or land.

How to help:

1) Factories should not throw their wastage into rivers.

2) Many household cleaning products contain harmful chemicals so it’s better to buy eco-friendly products.

All is not lost. We can protect the environment and its future by learning a few tips.

Green Pakistan by Short Life Studios

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 14:01:00 +0000

Photography: Short Life | Studios

Air Pollution Causing Decline in Monsoon Rains

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:54:00 +0000

From around the web, by the Editors ...

Source: http://www.airqualitynews.com/2014/10/08/air-pollution-causing-decline-in-monsoon-rains-study-finds/

University of Edinburgh-led study suggests drying of monsoon over past 50 years caused by man-made anthropogenic aerosol pollution

Air pollution particles from man-made sources have played a “significant” role in a decline in monsoon rainfall over the past 50 years, a University of Edinburgh-led study has found.

According to the study, ‘Decreased monsoon precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere due to anthropogenic aerosols’, levels of rain recorded during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer monsoon in the second half of the 20^th century have fallen by as much as 10%.

It explains that changes to global rainfall patterns can have consequences for human health and agriculture, as summer monsoons are “an integral component of Earth’s hydrological cycle and affect the lives of billions of people” – largely in the likes of India, South East Asia and parts of Africa.

The team of scientists from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Reading behind the study found that emissions of tiny air particles from man-made sources – known as anthropogenic aerosols – were the cause of the decline in monsoon rainfall.

According to the study, high levels of aerosols in the atmosphere cause heat from the sun to be reflected back into space, lowering temperatures on the earth’s surface and reducing rainfall.

And, it adds that levels of aerosol emissions have increased considerably since the 1950s, with the most common sources being power stations and cars.

Method

The team calculated the average summer monsoon rainfall in the Northern Hemisphere between 1951 and 2005, using computer-based climate models to quantify the impact of increasing aerosol emissions and greenhouse gases over the same period.

They also took account of natural factors such as volcanic eruptions and climate variability to gauge the impact of human activity on the amount of monsoon rainfall.

However, the researchers said levels of man-made aerosols are expected to decline during the 21st century as countries begin adopting cleaner methods of power generation.

Lead author of the study, Dr Debbie Polson – University of Edinburgh’s School of GeoSciences – said: “This study shows for the first time that the drying of the monsoon over the past 50 years cannot be explained by natural climate variability and that human activity has played a significant role in altering the seasonal monsoon rainfall on which billions of people depend.”

The study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters in August 2014 and was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council, European Research Council and National Centre for Atmospheric Science.

Green Pakistan by Saad Naseer

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:48:00 +0000

Green Pakistan by Saad Naseer

Environmental Problems Caused by Landfills

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:44:00 +0000

Author: Mahrukh (University of Peshawar)

Landfill means the disposal of waste material by burying it, especially as a method of filling in and reclaiming excavated pits. There are many problems caused by landfills. Two of the major negative effects caused by landfills are atmospheric effects and hydrological effects. Both of these effects have equal importance.

1. Atmospheric effects:

The rotting organic matter in unmanaged landfills produce methane which is 20 time more effective then carbon dioxide but it is not compulsory that landfills only produce methane but household cleaning chemicals also produce methane. The chemicals like bleach and ammonia can produce toxic gases in landfills that can impact the quality of air in landfills. Dust and other forms of non chemical mixture often make their way into the atmosphere.

2. Hydrological effects:

The household cleaning and industrial chemicals make toxic soup in landfills. People throw away wastage in landfills from industrial chemicals to household cleaning which mix over time. Most of the times, animals come into contact with these chemicals and suffer from toxic diseases which mostly result in deaths.

Landfill fires:

The wastage and gases in landfill can easily ignite fire the most flammable gases methane which is commonly produce by landfills the fire fighters use a fire retardant foam to fight against fire in landfills due to presence of chemicals.

These are the problems caused by landfills but after the popularity of recycling more landfills have brought in use and now many companies look at landfills as gold mines, so the best way to clean our environment from landfill pollution is recycling.

Ozone

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:40:00 +0000

Author: Muhammad Hamza Qureshi (Peshawar Model Degree College)

Ozone is an allotropic form of oxygen containing three oxygen atoms chemically bonded together. Ozone is present in second of the four layers of atmosphere called “stratosphere”. Ozone layer is very important for the lives of animals, plants and human beings in our precious Earth. Stratosphere acts as a layer of ozone around the Earth. Ozone molecules present in ozonosphere absorbs ultra-violent and high cosmic rays of Sun and protects the Earth from it.

Stratosphere extends from 11 km to 50 km above from the sea level. Due to present of ozone molecules in the stratosphere, it is also known as “ozonosphere”.

Ozone Depletion

About ozone depletion, well according to “World Health Organization” ozone depletion is defined as “The decrease in the concentration of ozone molecules in stratosphere (ozonosphere) is called ozone depletion”. OR we can also say that “the process of formation of holes in ozone layer is called ozone depletion”.

There are lot of reasons which causes ozone depletion including man made sources and natural sources. These sources causes ozone depletion by emitting pollutants like oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides of sulphur (SOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and CFC’s (Chloro Floro Carbons).

1:Man-made Sources:

Contribution of man –made sources causes ozone depletion much more than natural sources. Internal combustion from automobiles, industrial wastes, furnaces, thermal power plants, agriculture burning and emittion of smoke from jet engine airplanes, forest fires, soil pollution and the combustion of fossil fuels are main man-made pollution emitting sources.

2: Natural Sources:

Natural sources also have a major part in ozone depletion. Volcano eruptions, natural gas emission, electrical discharging inside clouds, soil erosion, pseudumonas bacteria (nitrogen producing bacteria), sulphate spray from oceans are major natural sources of pollutants.

Effects of Ozone Depletion

Ozone depletion adversely affects the lives of humans, animals, plants, crops, marine life and materials. I am describing each of them as follows:

1: Effect on Humans:

The high energized cosmic rays and UV radiations fall on earth due to ozone depletion. These UV radiations when interact with humans causes various dangerous and abnormal diseases in humans. In a lot of cases, the UV rays, when interact with human cause’s skin cancer and sunburn. Skin cancer is an extremely dangerous disease which is caused due to the abnormal mitosis (cell division) in skin that eventually distributes in all of the body. Similarly these radiations also cause another extremely dangerous eye disease known as “CATARACTS”, it has been estimated that 12 million people have become blind due to this disease and 18 million have lost their part of eye sight. Pulmonary edema is another disease which causes swelling of lungs. In some cases It even causes death.

2: Effect on animals:

It has been estimated that UV radiations causes pink eye disease and blindness in most of the animals. However, skin cancer and sunburn is also founded in some animals.

Ozone depletion also causes forest fire, thus destroying habitat of thousands of animals.

3: Effect on plants:

The UV radiations when fall on leaves of plants, it mainly causes destruction of chloroplast (present in plant cell), and affects the process of photosynthesis.

4: Effect on crops:

Several worlds’ major crop sources are sensitive to UV radiations. When UV radiations fall on crops like rice, wheat, barley, oats, corn, soybeans, etc. these radiations slow down the process of its growth, photosynthesis and reproduction. It is estimated that 1% increase in UV radiations decreases 1% production of soybean crops. Thus UV radiations are dangerous for all.

Effect on marine life:

UV radiations when fall on lake, river, seas or oceans, they estimate themselves over 20m, thus when UV radiations fall on unicellular (prokaryotes) or immature multicellular organisms (like tortoise larvae) kills them. If these radiations fall on fish eggs, it may kill the under developing embryo in the egg.

Effect on materials:

UV radiations causes rubber to harden and crack, thus reducing life of tires. Besides plastics, fabrics, wood and many other construction materials are degraded by UV radiations.

These all causes led to the “global warming” or “greenhouse effect”

What we should do to prevent Ozone depletion:

1: We should not use CFC’s in refrigerator, freezers or air conditioned.

2: We should not use nitrous oxide (also known as NOS) in cars or bikes, etc.

3: To prevent global warming, we should prevent environmental pollution

Protect yourself from UV radiations:

1: Use sunblock frequently in summer.

2: Use sunglasses when going into sunlight.

3: Use sunblock before swimming.

Tobacco OR Life ???

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 10 Oct 2014 13:33:00 +0000

Author: Jamal Niazi (Quaid-e-Azam College of Commerce, University of Peshawar)

Introduction ...

Whenever we talk about our environment and air pollution, the things which comes in our mind are Plants, Trees, Air Pollution, Noise Pollution, Global warming and Ozone layers but no one pays attention to Smoking which is injurious to health and damaging to the environment as well. Smoking is very common in our society. That’s why people don’t even consider Tobacco as a Drug. The air pollution emitted from Tobacco smoke is 10 times greater than diesel car exhaust. Tobacco smoke produces fine particulate matter, which is the most dangerous element of air pollution for health. Smoking can have the following negative impacts on our immediate environment;

Polluting the air
Destroying forests
Starting bushfires
Killing marine creatures
Tobacco smoke contains tar and the gases like carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide.
Over 600 Million trees are being destroyed every year to provide energy to dry/process tobacco. Trees release Oxygen, which is a necessary for human survival. However, when trees are burnt, the result is carbon dioxide and other gases.
Nearly 7% of bushfires, which are responsible for many deaths each year, are caused by carelessly discarded burning cigarette butts.
When it rains we can clearly see these Cigarette butts lying in the streets and gutters are washed in to the rivers. These butts destroy the water quality which can have dangerous consequences.
Cigarette butts take 12 months to break down in fresh water and takes 5 years to break down in sea water.
Cigarette butts have been found in the Stomach of Birds and sea Turtles and have resulted in the death and destruction of many marine creatures.

Children & Teenager Smokers ...

Smoking is quite common in children and teenagers nowadays. The Pakistan Pediatrics Association (PPA) has estimated that 1,000 to 1,200 school-going children aged six to 16 take up smoking every day in the country. Among the youth (13-15 years old), around 34% are exposed to second-hand/passive smoke in public places and 27% report exposure at home. Second hand smoke can make children suffer serious diseases like Asthma, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), bronchitis and pneumonia and ear infections.

The developing lungs of children have higher rate of breathing then adults and little control over their indoor environment. Children receiving high doses of secondhand smoke, such as those with smoking mothers, are a major cause of lungs diseases in children.

Our Young Generation ...

Smoking is popular amongst youth due to easy availability and affordability. The number of Boys and Girls smokers in this country has increased and the number of Girl smokers increased from 6% to 16.3 percent this year. Not only Cigarettes, the young generation is also addicted to Shisha which is more harmful and dangerous for human health and environment as well. Shisha contains more tobacco than a cigarette. Smoking Shisha for an hour is equal to 1000 cigarettes. Shisha is also a major cause of Lungs Cancer, Mouth Cancer and Heart Attacks. Chewing Tobacco is also a habit, fast growing in our youth now days, which is a cause of Mouth Cancer.

Effects of Tobacco on Environment ...

Tobacco kills nearly Six million people each year out of which almost 600,000 die from second-hand smoke just from Tobacco. Smoking is not only a habit, it is an addiction.

Impact on food production

Tobacco plants are very sensitive that’s why Tobacco farmers use large amounts of fertilizer, Herbicide and Pesticides. When farmers grow Tobacco there is less land available for food crops and the soil which has been used to grow Tobacco is sometimes unsuitable for food crops.

Air Pollution

Tobacco is a major cause of environmental problems. Because the chemicals released from the smoke are dangerous. Trees are an asset. Trees are natural air fresheners. Trees provide Fresh air and Oxygen to everyone and also help to maintain the natural balance.

Fire Risks

Cigarette and Matches are the common causes of Fire. Many houses, forests burn due to carelessness of smokers. Many trees are destroyed in these fires. Many birds’ nests are destroyed in bushfires. Animals, birds and other creatures die in these fires.

Tobacco and Climate Change

Global warming is now widely believed to be the single biggest environmental threat facing the planet. Cigarette production contributes to global warming and altering the climate. The cutting and burning of trees is a cause of greenhouse effect. Smoke from cigarettes contains carbon dioxide and methane. Smoking releases about 2.6 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide in the air worldwide every year.

Effects of Tobacco on Health ...

According to a report of SHAUKAT KHANUM MEMORIAL CANCER HOSPITAL & RESEARCH CENTER, the Nicotine which released from Cigarette smoke is an addictive drug. Nicotine can cause a depressed mood, Sleeplessness, Irritability, Anxiety, Difficulty in concentration, Restlessness and increased appetite. Tobacco is a major cause of Heart Attacks, Mouth Cancer and Lungs Cancer.

How to Get Rid of Tobacco Smoking

A comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship could decrease the consumption of tobacco;
High rate of Tax on Tobacco;
Government must take some serious action and strictly implement Tobacco control Laws in the country;
Students should make awareness raising societies and create awareness amongst citizens and especially in students because our youth is a major victim of Tobacco smoking;
People should motivate and encourage Smokers to quit smoking;
Smokers must plan a quit date;
Smokers should consult Doctors and get some medications and therapies.

We have discussed approximately everything about Tobacco and now have the information that we didn’t know before. It’s clear now that Tobacco is a drug and injurious for health and also harmful for environment. So now it’s up to us what we choose:

“Tobacco OR Life”

Role of Students in Pollution Control

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:59:00 +0000

Author: Muhammad Hamza Qureshi

Pollution is anything that is released in atmosphere by either human activities or natural processes and affects lives of plants and animals.

I say that students can play an important role in its control. As students, they can form a social group whose mission should be to develop awareness in their society about harmful effects of pollution in our world and ways to control it. As their numbers grow they can organize events and address people about pollution. In doing so, not only the pollution in the area would be controlled but also the people will recognize it as a severe problem and will carry out precautions to control it.

Students can control pollution in many ways but as they say “every good thing, if you start it, start it from your home”. It is the duty of every student to bring awareness in the adults at home about what they are taught in school, college, etc. A student must inform the illiterate or uneducated about harmful effects of pollution which may include smoking, driving unconditioned vehicle which may emit the pollutants like carbon monoxide, dioxide, etc. Students should try to recycle the things. So, by starting with one’s home, a person can change the way of living of thousands.

Students these days are willing to depend on everyone instead of themselves. They want others to clean up there mess but they do not try to clean it by themselves. I think students are the ones dumping rubbish wherever they go. For example, from their rooms to classrooms, schools, playgrounds and cinemas etc.

So, I think that a student must try to change himself and must put garbage in dustbins and must try to clean his surroundings every time. In this way he would be taking first step in pollution control by showing people his own practical example so that more and more people may follow him.

Students can plant a tree every weekend. They could bring awareness in people by giving them references of how trees help and play a vital role in pollution control.

So, by following these easy steps, students can prove the fact that student can and do play a vital role in pollution control.

Reducing and Reusing Materials

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:50:00 +0000

Author: Marfua Siddique

The most effective way to reduce waste is to not create it in the first place. Making a new product requires a lot of materials and energy. Raw materials must be extracted from the earth, and the product must be fabricated and then transported to wherever it will be sold. As a result, reduction and reuse are the most effective ways you can save natural resources.

Protect the environment, and save money!

Benefits of Reducing and Reusing ...

Prevents pollution caused by reducing the need to harvest new raw materials;

Saves energy;

Reduces greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global climate change;

Helps sustain the environment for future generations;

Saves money;

Reduces the amount of waste that will need to be recycled or sent to landfills and incinerators;

Allows products to be used to their fullest extent.

Ideas on How to Reduce and Reuse ...

Look for products that use less packaging. When manufacturers make their products with less packaging, they use fewer raw materials. This reduces waste and costs. These extra savings can be passed along to the consumer.

Buy reusable over disposable items. Look for items that can be reused; the little things can add up. For example, you can bring your own silverware and cup to work, rather than using disposable items.

Maintain and repair products, like clothing, tires, and appliances, so that they won't have to be thrown out and replaced as frequently.

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:44:00 +0000

Author: Isaac Asher
Despite all the huge claims made by the Government, Environmental pollution is reaching worrying proportions worldwide. Urbanization and industrialization along with economic development have led to increase in energy consumption and waste discharges. The global environmental pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions and acid deposition, as well as water pollution and waste management is considered as international public health problems, which should be investigated from multiple perspectives including social, economic, legislation, and environmental engineering systems, as well as lifestyle habits helping health promotions and strengthening environmental systems to resist contamination

Environmental pollutants have various forms like Air Pollution. The polluted air does great harm to human health and has a direct relationship with disease rate. With the increase of vehicles and activities in cities, the noise has gradually become an important factor affecting people’s daily lives. On the other side, Water, the most important and basic part of human life and hence having a direct relationship with the quality of life, is also getting contaminated as a result of irresponsible behaviors adopted by the people towards it.
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Environmental pollutants have various adverse effects on human health from early life. Some of the most important harmful effects are perinatal disorders, infant mortality, respiratory disorders, allergy, malignancies, cardiovascular disorders, and increase in stress oxidative, endothelial dysfunction, mental disorders, and various other harmful effects.

Though, short-term effects of environmental pollutants are usually highlighted, wide range of hazards of air pollution from early life and their possible implication on chronic non-communicable diseases of adulthood should be underscored. Numerous studies have exposed that environmental particulate exposure has been linked to increased risk of morbidity and mortality from many diseases, organ disturbances, cancers, and other chronic diseases.

Therefore it is time to take action and control this menace. Otherwise, the waste products from consumption, heating, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, transportation, and other human activities will degrade and ultimately destroy the environment.

Based on the strength of the scientific knowledge regarding the adverse health effects of environmental pollution and the magnitude of their public health impacts, different kinds of interventions should be taken into account. In addition to industrial aspects, the public awareness should be increased in this regard. Likewise, health professionals have an exclusive competency to help for prevention and reduction of the harmful effects of environmental factors, this capacity should be highlighted in their usual practice.

It is about time that we lay our focus on research and professional implementation and I appeal all the dear readers to play their parts in any possible manner to control this menace while we still can, as it is said that a stitch in time saves nine.

If I were the Environmental Minister of Pakistan !!

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:31:00 +0000

Author: Sadia Niazi

Preface ...

As we all know that the Environment Minister of a state leads the Ministry of Environment serving in the cabinet of the Prime Minister. The Environmental Minister is required to be a member of parliament. I shall discuss some of the issues that an Environment Minister has to deal with on a daily basis and present my own views on these issues to deal with them easily.

Main Issues ...

The main issues to be discussed in this passage are ...

1. Traffic Regulation to keep environmental pollution at bay and introduction of environmental friendly fuels and vehicles.
2. Factory wastage to be dealt with safely and usefully.
3. Introduction of nurseries at various places to deal with air pollution and by a long shot “Ozone Depletion”.

These are some of the precautionary measures on some issues I would like to stress upon as The Environmental Minister of the state.

Remedies ...

1. Traffic ...

As we all know that our environment has been hit by a pandemonium of CO₂emitting vehicles that increase ten-folds on a daily basis. The vehicle owners need to be warned to get their vehicles serviced regularly and those who put a false ear to the warning should be fined or they can convert them into eco-friendly fuel vehicles to minimize air pollution. Also the prices of the eco-friendly vehicles should be lowered so that the general public could afford them without affecting their livelihood.

Eco friendliness awareness seminars and public meetings should be introduced so that the general public would convert their life styles and their daily necessities as according to the changing environmental conditions.

Extensive Motorways with multiple exits should be built to access the city from the outer roads which would take a lot of stress away from the city roads as the major cause of Air pollution is road jams caused by a lot of traffic stuck in a congested city road with smoke and horns clouding the area much like in a rock concert.

2. Factory Wastes ...

Dumping of factory wastage materials in the nearby clean streams and rivers is a major cause of water pollution that contaminates a major part of the water we drink as a daily life sustenance and for other necessities of daily life. The waste material should be carried well away from the areas where there are clean streams, rivers and population and should be utilized in power building projects or should be dumped well away in remote areas where there is no population or any usable material.

3. Nurseries ...

As we know the best way to fight any type of pollution is to purify the air and water supplies around that area and replenish the soil and the best way to do all of that with a single strike is to plant new trees and promote the idea in general public that without proper plantation their beloved land will lose its beauty and become a wasteland instead of a residential/commercial area if immediate precautions are not taken at once.

Large portions of land should be given to the environmental agencies and Greenpeace projects so that the land should be used for extensive rapid plantation to control the Carbon Dioxide surrounding the environment and purify the air around the densely populated areas and later on more projects should be started so that the effect can be immediate and nationwide.

Environment Photography by Saad Naseer

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:19:00 +0000

Environment Photography by Saad Naseer

ArtWork by Beenish Rehman

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:16:00 +0000

AN ARTWORK by BEENISH REHMAN

Climate Change Issues in Pakistan

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 07:09:00 +0000

Authors: Awais Amin, Omair Hassan & Sarmad Usman

Introduction:

Climate change is the significant and lasting changes in weather patterns over periods of time, ranging from decades to millions of years.

Climate change is the result of human interference and it may be due to biotic factors as well, like solar radiations and volcanic eruptions.

Scientist work to understand past climate and predict future climate by using observations and theoretical models.

Reasons:
Biotic factors:

Certain biotic factors are responsible for climate changes like;

Volcanic eruptions:

Earth`s climate has changed over periods of millions of years.

Long term natural changes resulted from volcanic activities releasing heat trapping CO2 into the atmosphere. Volcanic eruptions in the Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, Spain, Colombia and many more countries have emitted a significant amount of CO2 into the atmosphere resulting in the temperature rise globally over decades.

Forest Fires:

Forest fire is an uncontrollable fire in the area of combustible vegetation that occurs in the country sides or wilderness area.

China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Israel, Australia, Europe, Poland, Italy and France are some of the countries in which the wild fire phenomenon is common and occurs every now and then.

This wild fire burns down a significant number of trees and green vegetation which not only results in the decline of forest area in the world but a large amount of co2 and other toxic gases are released as well. It takes less time a tree to burn, but a lot to grow.

These wild fires around the globe contribute a major share in the rise of global temperature resulting in climate change.

Human Interference:

Human indulgence in various activities has also proven to be a major contribution in the climate change.

The various factors of human interference contributing to climate change are discussed below.

Industrialization:

Industries are setup all around the world, majority of investors are setting up industries all around the world to earn more and more money, housing a huge number of man power. But neglecting the harmful aspects of an industry.

Industrial wastes are a major cause of pollution, which gives a major part to climate change. The industrial wastes are not disposed of properly.

Certain laws are set up which are to be obeyed before setting up an industry, but unfortunately the developing countries are not following them up properly, which are major cause of the issue.

Deforestation:

Royale designs and luxurious architecture requires wooden work in construction, where does this wood come from? Obviously big guns are involved in the cutting of trees, which cause reduction in the trees population. This wood is transported illegally and is used in the black market.

Wood smuggling is common in third world countries. Which is a crime, a forestation is not done.

Woods are used for house hold purposes too. A huge amount of trees are cut and burned, which emits co2 too, resulting in green house effect.

Over Population:

The population of globe is increasing day by day, especially in the developing countries due to which the resource scarcity is getting common.

Lack of proper legislation on population growth is major factor of this inflation.

The requirements of an indivisual are increasing day by day due to which one tries to acquire more of them. One tries to live luxurious life, buy cars use electric house hold items neglecting the harmful effects of these items, contributing GHG to the atmosphere.

Lack of Awareness:

The public is unaware of the harmful effects of industrialization, technological development.

The only focus is on how to avail and develop new technologies, neglecting the need of how to save our planet earth. Technologies should be developed and adopted keeping in view their harmful and beneficial effects on environment. Energy should be conserved; natural energy sources should be utilized.

Global Problem:

Climate change is not a national or limited problem; it has impacts on the globe, altering the natural equilibrium as a whole.

Some aspects of climate change as threat to the globe are below.

Melting of Ice in Antarctica:

The Antarctic ice sheet covers about 98% of Antarctic continent and is the largest single mass of ice of earth. Approximately 61% of all fresh water on earth is held in the Antarctic ice sheet.

According to a research conducted in 2009, the continent-wide average surface temperature trend of Antarctica is positive and significant at >0.05°C/decade since 1957 West Antarctica has warmed by more than 0.1°C/decade in the last 50 years, and this warming is strongest in winter and spring (Wikipedia).

This melting down of ice results in disastrous floods worldwide.

Depletion of Ozone:

Ozone depletion describes two distinct but related phenomena observed since the late 1970s: a steady decline of about 4% per decade in the total volume of ozone in Earth's stratosphere (the ozone layer), and a much larger springtime decrease in stratospheric ozone over Earth's Polar Regions. The latter phenomenon is referred to as the ozone hole. (Wikipedia)

The above study shows the harmful impacts of climate change on the ozone layer.

Responsibility for climate change:

Individually:

The responsibility lies on each and every individual, waste product should be disposed of properly, the environment and surrounding should be kept clean and this act should be done individually in one’s own capacity.

Energy shall be conserved, wasting of fuel and other resources shall be avoided.

United Nation Organization:

Uno shall devise certain laws and be implemented on responsible agents for climatic change.

Industries should be kept limited, human population shall be managed, forestation laws shall be redefined and implemented, and various green projects shall be launched in collaboration with the authorities of developed countries.

Environmental Protection Agency:

Environmental protection agency shall have thorough check on the various agencies and factors responsible for climate change. Vehicles technology should be changed to hybrid, two stroke engines shall be replaced with four stroke engines. Electric trains, solar and hybrid cars shall be promoted.

Forestry:

Forestry department should promote a forestation projects, and plantation shall be done all over the country.

The natural forests in the northern regions shall be saved, wild life department play an important role in this regard.

Issues in Pakistan:

Diseases:

Enormous amount of diseases have been recorded for the past decades due to the rapid industrialization, climate change.

Cancer, Bronchitis, Asthma, Whooping cough, Heart diseases, Depression, Sun burn, Skin diseases, Eye diseases, are some of the major diseases caused due to climate change.

Famine:

The famine which struck the “Tharparkar” region in Pakistan in 2013 was a huge one, death toll reached 213+.

The food insecurity in Pakistan is common, causing enormous death toll.

Floods:

The devastating flood which struck the northern region of Pakistan in 2010 took lives of 2000 people; 20 million people were directly and indirectly affected by it.

In 2003 Sindh province was badly affected when above normal monsoon rainfall caused flooding in the province; urban flooding also hit Karachi where two days of rainfall of 284.5 millimeters (11.20 in) created havoc in the city, while Thatta district was the worst hit where 404 millimeters (15.9 in) rainfall caused flash floods in the district. At least 484 people died and some 4,476 villages in the province were affected.

The main cause of these disasters is climate change.

Water scarcity in Thar Desert:

The water scarcity in Thar Desert In 2013 affected a huge amount of people in the region. Scientific studies show that such natural disasters were a result of climate change.

Intense Summers:

Weather data of past years have shown that 0.76 degree Celsius increase in temperature is recorded in one decade.

Such rise in temperature would cause abrupt changes in the natural equilibrium as it has already been proven.

Intense winters:

Weather data has shown that winters now a days are more intense than before.

Acid Rain:

“Acid rain” is term used to describe several ways that acids fall out of the atmosphere. A more precise term is acid deposition.

The industries in Pakistan emits green house gases which accumulate in the earth`s stratosphere, with the rain fall these gases specially so2 combines with water to form sulphuric acid, and comes down in form of acid.

Threat to Biodiversity:

Climate change alone is expected to threaten with extinction approximately one quarter or more of all species on land by the year 2050, surpassing even habitat loss as the biggest threat to life on land. Species in the oceans and in fresh water are also at great risk from climate change, especially those that live in ecosystems like coral reefs that are highly sensitive to warming temperatures, but the full extent of that risk has not yet been calculated.

Species drift:

The changes in environmental conditions have caused species drift in various plants.

One Specie is replaced by more competent specie which is more used to the changed environment.

Mega migration:

Due to the climatic changes it can be observed that whole flock of birds and animals migrate from one place to another.

Depletion of Natural Resources:

Natural resources are at great risk and are moving towards annihilation.

Threat to Aquatic Life:

Aquatic life, that is fish and aquatic plants are at major risk due to the changes in climate.

The temperature of water bodies’ rise due to the industrial wastes poured down into oceans, the movement of submarines and cargo ships are also major threat to the aquatic life.

Counter measures:

International and national authorities shall act, and devise plans to face the impacts of climate change and devise plans to counter balance them.

Environmental Diseases - An Overview

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 06:57:00 +0000

Author: Anam Niazi

“A healthy ecology is the basis for a healthy economy”, thought provoking statement said by Claudinic Schneider. Environment is a wide term which literally means surrounding and everything that affects an organism during its lifetime but sometimes these surroundings leave desirable and undesirable effects on human health in different ways.

Environmental pollution is one of the major problems that the world is facing today and causing irreparable harm to the earth, mainly to the lives sustaining on earth. Basically environmental pollution is of two types, one is due to nature of law and problems arising due to environmental deterioration and second is because of violation of environmental laws by human beings through industries, smoke, deforestation etc.

Environmental pollution causes, directly or indirectly, serious damaging and lethal effects on human health and according to the World Health Organization, quarter of the diseases that the humanity is facing today are due to long term exposure to environmental pollutants.

Environmental diseases are the products of such human activities that harm the environment. Four basic types of pollution are air, water, land and noise pollution that are busy in affecting human health in their own ways.

Air pollution is by far the most harmful form of pollution and responsible for causing numerous health issues. According to the WHO, 7 million premature deaths are related to air pollution. Asthma is another chronic and inflammatory disease of airways that is caused by it. National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) states that ground level ozone, sulfer dioxde, nitrogen oxide, and particulate materials trigger it.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is another respiratory disorder caused by air pollution. In this disease, air sacs and airways lose their shape and become distended or floppy that makes the airways narrowed. Chronic bronchitis (Long term inflammation of bronchial tubes) and emphysema (Irreversible damage of the tissues lining of air sacs) are its two types.

According to American Lung Association (ALA) Long term exposure to air pollution especially automobile exhausts boost risk for lower lung function and more susceptibility to lung cancer. Lung cancer is uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in one or both lungs that can develop into tumor and impaired lung function. It is caused due to the inhalation of potential carcinogenic chemicals and gases.

Water is a sign of life but when it gets contaminated with sewerage, gases, hazardous microbes it can be life threatening. One of the water related disease is Diarrhea. According to the WHO, it causes 4% of all deaths and 5% health loss to disability. Its cause can be bacterial, viral and parasitic contamination with water. Cholera and dysentery are the severe forms of diarrhea in which severe dehydration and electrolyte depletion occurs in body. Shigellosis is water borne disease associated with bloody diarrhea.

Some other important water borne diseases are Malaria, Typhoid Fever, Ambiasis, Hepatitis A and Viral Gastroenteritis. Mild symptoms of drinking contaminated water are abdominal cramps, vomiting and redness of eyes, rashes when come in contact.

Soil/Land pollution is the presence of chemicals, harmful substances or pathogenic organism in natural soil environment. Diseases related to it are skin, stomach infections kidney, liver disorders, and cancer.

Most pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers contain benzene, chromium and other chemicals which are carcinogenic in nature so when the crops contaminated with these are ingested they decrease Red blood cells, white blood cells and antibodies and affect body’s immunity. Their toxicity or poisoning requires immediate hospitalization or medical treatment.

Noise pollution is simply the unwanted form of pollution, disturbing noise that may cause to increase the irritation or anger of an individual. Some of its effects are temporary or permanent deafness, hypertension (high BP), stress, sleep disturbances and color blindness.

We all are exposed to the severities of Environmental Pollution in many ways and now it’s up to us to decide whether we become subjects to slow poisoning to death or we fight against it and strive for a green, healthy and disease free environment.

Plants - The Natural Air Fresheners !!

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 06:51:00 +0000

Author: Saddam Wazir

Though an Air Purifier can do some of the work of making the air around us, whether at home or at office, a little bit fresh but plants can do the filtering of air in a better way than a machine in a natural manner. In addition to this they can do it without the usage of the energy from electricity resources, and also, plants look quite pleasant and have a natural touch as well.

Indoor air pollution is considered to be one of the worst dilemmas that we are facing in this century. We breathe pollutants on daily basis as we are exposed to a wide range of indoor air contaminants such as toxin, smoke, chemicals and detergents fumes etc.

According to a NASA study, ‘house plants can purify and revitalize air in our homes and offices and can protect us from the externalities of such common toxins as benzene formaldehyde and ammonia.

Plants act as a filtering agent by absorbing toxins through their leaves especially plants having the largest leaves. The theory is that when plants do the absorbing first, our nose and lungs take on less of a burden. That leads to the reduced incidents of asthma, allergies etc.

Now we have to decide the suitable place to keep plants. It will need to be easily accessible and where we can have the odd waters, window sills and sunlight available. Usually bedrooms are an excellent place for plants as plants convert Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen. Rooms that are heavily laden with electrical equipments such as TVs, fridge, microwave ovens, air conditioners, computers and other such appliances and also those areas that have high potential of fumes are also favorable for keeping plants in.

Here is the list of top ten plants that can be selected as an air freshener.

Areca Palm
Reed Palm
Dwarf date palm
Boston fern
Janet Craig dracaena
English Ivy
Australian Sword fern
Peace Lily
Rubber plant
Weeping fig.

Let’s Say 'NO' to Air Pollution !!

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 06:46:00 +0000

Author: Mansoor Shah

Clean air is the blessings of nature. Allah has blessed us with clean air which is the key to a healthy life. Allah has also blessed us with a beautiful earth and its beauty lies in its greenery, but because of pollution causing activities, we have ruined it and we have forgotten the Message of our religion Islam about the cleanliness that ‘Cleanliness is Half of Faith’. So being Muslims it’s our duty to keep ourselves and our environment clean.

Our beloved city Peshawar used to be known as the City of Flowers, but it as a matter of sadness that we could not keep it that way and so much so that the World Health Organization has declared it the 6^th most polluted city in the world.

The most common causes of air pollution in Peshawar are the huge urbanization and the increase in sudden population of Peshawar with influx of Afghan refugees coupled with the increased use of energy consuming technologies that are necessary for the fulfillment of needs of such huge population such as vehicles, which have increased the vehicular emissions and with this we have even surpassed the permissible level of the carbon dioxide emissions provided by the World Health Organization which is 10 particles per million (PPM) to a shocking 27 PPM according to the Environmental Protection Agency statistics.

We can’t blame government alone for this dilemma in Peshawar as we, the citizens, are equally responsible because air pollution is the byproduct of our own actions and habits. Our lives are at risk and our average life time is reducing because of different diseases caused by air pollution which cause serious illness such as asthma, bronchitis and throat and lung cancers.

It’s time to eliminate air pollution from Peshawar and by doing so we can save millions of lives around us. We need to stand against this severe dilemma and say no to pollution causing activities as then and only then Peshawar will once again be rightfully called as Green Peshawar.