Factors affecting farmers’ use of organic and inorganic fertilizers in South Asia

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Fertilizer, though one of the most essential inputs for increasing agricultural production, is a leading cause of nitrous oxide emissions from...     

Major Climate risks and Adaptation Strategies of Smallholder Farmers in Coastal Bangladesh

Environmental Management - Rural households in South Asia’s coastal deltas face numerous livelihood challenges, including risks posed by climatic variability and extreme weather events. This...     

Climatology of PM2.5 organic carbon concentrations from a review of ground-based atmospheric measurements by evolved gas analysis

In this work we have compared ground-based measurements of organic carbon (OC) in the fine aerosol (PM2.5) fraction that are reported in peer-reviewed publications as part of both short campaigns and continuous monitoring networks. The comparison provides a quantitative review of global OC measurements for the purpose of establishing the extent to which organic aerosol concentrations are known with sufficient geographic and historical resolution to constrain global climate models. Only North America has sufficient measurements to provide meaningful spatial and temporal trends, although available measurements from China and Japan indicate that the Asian region is the most polluted with OC concentrations of approximately 10 μg m^?3. These measurements have a low spatial resolution, with most sites located in highly urban areas within a small geographic region. OC concentrations in North America are approximately 1 μg m^?3 and are better characterized spatially, temporally, and historically by continuous monitoring networks established decades ago. OC concentration shows a weakly increasing trend in some regions from 1997 to 2006, although in most regions it has remained effectively constant over the last ten years. Eastern U.S. sites show maximum OC in the winter and western U.S. sites show maximum OC in the summer. There is no correlation at U.S. sites between OC concentration and sulfate, nitrate, or ammonium ions, with R² < 0.1 in each case.     

Tourism and its impact on livelihood in Manaslu conservation area,Nepal

Tourism is an activity of a person which includes traveling and staying in places that are outside of their location for business, vacation and other purpose. Large-scale tourism in developed and developing countries has positive and negative effects on the regional and national economies, local culture, physical infrastructure and environment. There are considerable gaps in research regarding tourism and livelihood in developing countries like Nepal. This research work aims at fulfilling such gap by assessing the impact of tourism on livelihood in Manaslu conservation area (MCA) of Nepal. We interviewed 76 household followed by three focus group discussions and five key informant interviews. The first-hand information collected at the site is complimented by socioeconomic and tourism-related secondary information. Socioeconomic variables such as marital status, size of household, education and landholding status had positive effect on tourism participation while livestock-holding status and occupation of the household had negative effect on tourism participation. Number of visitors is increasing in MCA in recent years, and tourism participation is helping local people to earn more money and improve their living standard. So, awareness and education related to tourism, gender empowerment of women, advertisement and publicity on tourism promotion, adequate subsidy and training on ecotourism and skill development trainings on handicraft are recommended.     

Gas Chromatographic Analysis of Ambient Halogenated Compounds

Abstract

Fugitive dust emission from limestone extraction areas is a significant pollution source. The cracking operation in limestone extraction areas easily causes high total suspended particulate (TSP) concentrations in the atmosphere, occasionally exceeding the 1-hr national emission standard of Taiwan (500 μg/m³). The concentration and size distribution were measured at different distances (0.05–15 km) in the extraction areas. The highest hourly concentrations of TSP, PM₁₀ (suspended particulate matter [PM] smaller than 10 μm), and PM_2.5 (suspended PM smaller than 2.5 μm) are 1111, 825, and 236 μg/m³, respectively, during the cracking process. Measurement results obtained from the Micro-Orifice Uniform Deposit Impactor indicated that the mass median aerodynamic diameter is ～0.7 μm, with the geometric standard deviation exceeding 7. In addition, the emission factors are 0.143 and 0.211 kg/t for both vertical well and stair extraction operations, respectively. Experimental results demonstrate that the corresponding TSP control efficiencies for spraying water, planting grass, setting short walls, paving gravel roads, and establishing vertical well transportation are ～55, 50, 44, 22, and 30%, respectively. Furthermore, the PM₁₀ control efficiencies are ～45, 41, 54, 35, and 30%, respectively, whereas the PM_2.5 control efficiencies are roughly 23, 31, 15, 11, and 10%, individually.