Showing results by author "Sivakumaran Sivaramanan" in All Categories

Seven of top ten marine fisheries consist 30% of world’s fish catch are fully or over exploited, according to the report of Environmental justice foundation, each year about 10 million tons of bycatch are taken by shrimp trawlers, it is also estimated about 150, 000 sea turtles are killed annually by prawn trawlers, subsidies given by governments for the careful utilization of ocean resources has reached $15-30 billion every year. Marine Stewardship Council has certified 12 fisheries for sustainable management. This book reviews the causes of over exploitation of coastal and marine ...

Ocean acidification is the equally evil twin of climate change and it happens alongside of the global warming. Ocean acidification has lowered the pH of the ocean waters by about 0.11 units (SCOR 2009 as cited in ‘Tech Ocean Science’, n.d.). This is mainly due to anthropogenic CO2 emission, amount of CO2 on upper layer of the ocean has been increasing by 2 billion tons per year. Oceans have absorbed 1/3 of the CO2 produced by human activities since 1800 and fossil fuel burning alone account for half of the CO2 in the atmosphere (Sabine et al., 2004 as cited in ‘Tech Ocean Science’, ...

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is becoming major thread to the whole world. Its toxic emissions mixed with virgin soil and air and causing harmful effects to the entire biota either directly or indirectly. Direct impacts include release of acids, toxic compounds including heavy metals, carcinogenic chemicals and indirect effects such as bio magnification of heavy metals. Many private firms are involved in collecting, dismantling, separation and exporting e-wastes for recyclers. However, strict regulations are currently being followed as on approval of such firms such as e-...

Animal abuse, cruelty and slaughtering are still in an increasing trend in this modern era. Unlike ancient times animals are killed not for food alone but also for various business needs. Crocodile, alligators and python slaughtered in a gruesome way for manufacture of Kelly bags for fashion industry, cattle are treated horribly even in dairy farms, whales and dolphins are killed for meat, fur seals are skinned alive, elephants and rhinos are hunt for their ivories, sharks are abandoned alive in deep waters after cutting their fins for soup, foxes, minks rabbits, cats and dogs are ...

Increasing nutrient loading from agro-fertilizer effluents, industrial effluents, municipal and domestic effluents including black water contamination and urban runoff accelerates the eutrophication in many parts of the world, many developing countries discharges grey water directly to the coastal water which increases the coastal eutrophication. According to Dr.Robert Diaz (VIMS and WRI) there are 762 coastal areas affected by eutrophication and/or hypoxia, algal blooms are removed by methods such as magnetic separation (Acid modified fly ash and magnetite (Fe3O4)), using beach sand or ...

Major sources of marine pollution are particles, hazardous chemicals, industrial, agricultural & residual wastes, warm water effluents, urban runoff and discharges, noise and invasive species. Plastics, oil or other organic wastes, PVC, plasticides, furans, dioxins, phenols, PCB and heavy metals are directly toxic to marine fauna while others block their alimentary canal or injuring the soft body parts such as eyes, gills or delicate eggs and young ones. Oil spills reduces the dissolving oxygen to water, affects plumage of birds and fur of mammals and associated with several malefic effects...

Acid rain is one of the major environmental threats since 19th century. This book reviews the 2012 progress report of US EPA (2013) and summarizes the issue in various environmental aspects. Significant reduction in the SO2, NOx emission and deposition of acid have been occurred via the active implementation of Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), Acid Rain Program (ARP) and NOx budget training program (NBP). Cross state air pollution rule and litigation (CSAPR) implemented by US EPA since 2011 reduces the cross boundary movement of effluents between US and Canada. US national composite means ...

This part attempts to provide adequate evidences to explain that environmental problems are human origin and it argues more philosophically by providing the statements of the leading philosophers on the man’s state and responsibilities in the environment, it concludes in order to preserve the environment, changes to be done in social and behavior levels in the entire human system. Modified genes from engineered crop plants are escaping into weeds and other wild varieties. Today GE canola, corn and lesser extent soybean and cotton are contaminating their non-GE counterparts; this has ...

We live in a changing planet, and the problem we face also change time to time. This phenomenon is exactly same for anthropogenic environmental problems, for instance, to mitigate pest outbreak we introduced DDT, but that solution itself become a severe threat to the environment. DDT underwent bioaccumulation in living organisms and it also went through biomagnification and affect the top-level carnivore in the food chain including humans. Similarly, many man-made solutions to man-made environmental crisis become a new environmental problem. This chain of problems continues as a succession....

Each and every animal on earth has as much right to live as you and me. It is unacceptable to say that all human attempts to bring the captive closer to the wild have not been successful. However, it is unethical to redefine a species’ life as desired by humans or to satisfy human needs. Even a human offender is not allowed to spend his entire life in prison, so how can we do that to an innocent creature that never committed any harm according to its own ethics or righteousness? Those who argue that we keep them happy in captivity should think about what the same happened to them. Are ...

Thinning of Antarctic ozone layer during spring season has been observed since 1980s, largest depletion occurred during the period between 1980 and 2000. Incoming UV (particularly UVB & UVC) during the Antarctic spring causes deleterious effects such as cataract, skin burns, melanoma, reduction in agricultural food production and climatological changes. After 1987 Montreal protocol significant efforts are made mainly by UNEP, WMO and WHO to reduce the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone depleting substances (ODS), protocol established an international time frame on reducing ...

Soil degradation is one of the major global threats. Mainly in countries like Africa, Australia, China and some part of US effects of top soil erosion are being increasingly realized. According to UNCCD, globally 2.6 billion people depend on agriculture but 52% of the land used for agriculture is moderately or severely affected by soil degradation, land degradation affects 1.5 billion people globally, due to drought and desertification annually 12 million hectares are lost where 20 million tons of grain could have been grown, 74% of the poor are directly affected by land degradation, about ...

Air pollution is a global issue, it is a growing challenge since the time of industrialization and according to WHO ambient both urban and rural areas was estimated to cause 3.7 million premature deaths all over the world in 2012, in addition 3 billion people still depend on coal and biomass fuel (in door), annually there is several billion CO2 and other greenhouse gases are brought to atmosphere. Industries, power plants and transport are some major anthropogenic sources. In industries and other stationary sources there are various emission reduction techniques are being practiced such as ...

El Niño is the strongest change in the weather pattern of tropical Pacific region. It causes severe storms, floods, drought, forest fires, epidemics, famine, fish kill, bleaching of corals, and die back of forests. El Niño of 1997/98 (also called super El Niño) affected temperature and the rainfall in United States caused cyclones in eastern Canada and US region, floods in China, forest fires in Australia, epidemics such as Dengue outbreak thrived over western Pacific and Asia, over 35 countries declared federal disaster area. Crop loss, land degradation, river sedimentation and ...