Monday, March 28, 2011

Useful bacteria are important in sewage treatment plants

Hi,

Sewage treatment plants and how they work is important in our syllabus.


Another treatment plant



Cheers

Euthrophication a form of water pollution

Hi,

Euthrophication occurs in water bodies such as rivers, lakes and ponds. It results in smelly water bodies which have bacteria growing in large numbers in it and it is devoid of fish, and other aquatic animals and also submerged plants such as hydrilla.

Excess fertiliser usage by farmers and runoff from animal farms and raw sewage from human settlements cause euthrophication.




Respect for ecological systems is of utmost importance in us leading eco-sensitive lifestyles.

Bio-accumulation or biological magnification

Hi,

Bio-nondegradable substances in water bodies accumulate in the bodies of organisms along the food chains. The top predators will end up with the highest levels and usually lethal concentrations of these poisonous chemicals.






Water pollution is disastrous for fauna and flora that live in rivers, lakes and ponds.

Lets respect the habitats of all fellow earthlings.
Cheers

The story of DDT

Hi,
DDT was one of the most used chemical pesticides used by man. It is now banned in most countries for use on crop plants.

When it was first invented, it was thought to be safe and it was used on crops, people, on walls and cupboards to kill ants and household pests and mosquitoes.

In the book "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson raised the alarm at the abandon with with people were using the pesticide as it was already noticed that all insects, including the useful ones, as well as birds were dying in large numbers.




DDT which is now banned was even sprayed on children.


Respect of all living things, flora and fauna, will stand us in good stead.

Cheers

Bophal Industrial disaster, 1984

Hi,

Bophal Industrial disaster in 1984 is yet another ecological catastrophe which changed the world. Union Carbide, an American pesticide company tried to cut production cost by reducing number of qualified employees. The poorly trained employees could not run the pesticide company and a huge explosion in the middle of the night caused thousands of deaths.



Not feeling cheerful even today, 26 years later,

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Chernobyl nuclear powerstation disaster 1986

Hi,

Nuclear energy and nuclear power-stations became popular in the 1970s.
In 1986, a power-station in Soviet Russia at a place called Chernobyl was once of the 10 worst ecological disasters that change the world.

A colourless, odourless and highly radioactive gas and dust was produced at the nuclear power-station station which rose high up into the air and within 1 month, one-third of the people who worked and lived in the vicinity had died of radiation sickness.

Radioactive particles in the air will get distributed far and wide by the wind and will finally settle down when the rain washes the air. Once on the ground, it will be absorbed by the plants and it will pass through the food chain. It will end up in vegetables, fruits, milk and meat.

Radioactive iodine is particularly harmful as it gets concentrated very quickly in the thyroid glands. These glands are very active in babies and children as the hormone, thyroxine controls metabolic rates and growth. Thyroid cancer will cause death in children exposed to radioactive iodine.

Even up to now, 25 years later, the place is still out of bounds and uninhabitable.

Oil tanker disasters caused great damage to coastal life

Hi,

Oil tankers wrecks have caused great damage to coastal life. Here is Torrey Canyon Disaster which occured in 1967.



We have to learn to take care of our oceans, seashores and other ecosystems.
Hi,

Minamata disease is caused by mercury poisoning. It occurred in Japan in 1952 to 1960.

In 1952, a company involved in making plastic products dumped its waste water into the Minamata River. Buy the time they were stopped in 1966, 400 tons of mercury was was dumped.

Minamata disease caused nerve problem and involuntary nervous twitches and loss of balance when walking. Severe birth defects was seen in children born to mothers who consumed tainted fish and other seafood from the region. Even small amounts bio-non degradable substances get concentrated into lethal concentrations due to bioaccumulation.



Cheers