Sustainability of winter tourism in a changing climate over Kashmir Himalaya

Mountain areas are sensitive to climate change. Implications of climate change can be seen in less snow, receding glaciers, increasing temperatures, and decreasing precipitation. Climate change is also a severe threat to snow-related winter sports such as skiing, snowboarding, and cross-country skiing. The change in climate will put further pressure on the sensitive environment of high mountains. Therefore, in this study, an attempt has been made to know the impact of climate change on the snow precipitation, water resources, and winter tourism in the two famous tourist resorts of the Kashmir Valley. Our findings show that winters are getting prolonged with little snow falls on account of climate change. The average minimum and maximum temperatures are showing statistically significant increasing trends for winter months. The precipitation is showing decreasing trends in both the regions. A considerable area in these regions remains under the snow and glacier cover throughout the year especially during the winter and spring seasons. However, time series analysis of LandSat MODIS images using Normalized Difference Snow Index shows a decreasing trend in snow cover in both the regions from past few years. Similarly, the stream discharge, comprising predominantly of snow- and glacier-melt, is showing a statistically significant declining trend despite the melting of these glaciers. The predicted futuristic trends of temperature from Predicting Regional Climates for Impact Studies regional climate model are showing an increase which may enhance snow-melting in the near future posing a serious threat to the sustainability of winter tourism in the region. Hence, it becomes essential to monitor the changes in temperature and snow cover depletion in these basins in order to evaluate their effect on the winter tourism and water resources in the region.     

Virulence profiles of vancomycin-resistant enterococci isolated from surface and ground water utilized by humans in the North West Province,South Africa: a public health perspective

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) have been responsible for numerous outbreaks of serious infections in humans worldwide. Enterococcus faecium...     

Effect of UV-A radiation as an environmental stress on the development,longevity, and reproduction of the oriental armyworm, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mythimna separata</Emphasis> (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)

The ultraviolet light (UV-A) range of 320–400 nm is widely used as light trap for insect pests. Present investigation was aimed to determine the effect of UV light-A radiation on development, adult longevity, reproduction, and development of F₁ generation of Mythimna separata. Our results revealed that the mortality of the second instar larvae was higher than the third and fourth instar larvae after UV-A radiation. As the time of UV-A irradiation for pupae prolonged, the rate of adult emergence reduced. Along with the extension of radiation time decreased the longevity of adult females and males. However, the radiation exposure of 1 and 4 h/day increased fecundity of female adults, and a significant difference was observed in a 1 h/day group. The oviposition rates of female adults in all the treatments were significantly higher than the control. In addition, UV-A radiation treatments resulted in declined cumulative survival of F₁ immature stages (eggs, larvae, and pupae). After exposure time of 4 and 7 h/day, the developmental periods of F₁ larvae increased significantly, but no significant effects on F₁ pupal period were recorded.     

Exploring Patterns of Seafood Provision Revealed in the Global Ocean Health Index

Sustainable provision of seafood from wild-capture fisheries and mariculture is a fundamental component of healthy marine ecosystems and a major component of the Ocean Health Index. Here we critically review the food provision model of the Ocean Health Index, and explore the implications of knowledge gaps, scale of analysis, choice of reference points, measures of sustainability, and quality of input data. Global patterns for fisheries are positively related to human development and latitude, whereas patterns for mariculture are most closely associated with economic importance of seafood. Sensitivity analyses show that scores are robust to several model assumptions, but highly sensitive to choice of reference points and, for fisheries, extent of time series available to estimate landings. We show how results for sustainable seafood may be interpreted and used, and we evaluate which modifications show the greatest potential for improvements.     

Evaluation of Beta‐naphthoxyacetic Acid for Mutagenic Activity in the Salmonella/mammalian Microsome Assay

1,3‐β‐d‐Glucan derived from baker's yeast was chemically modified in two steps yielding crosslinked carboxymethyl glucan as the sodium salt (2). After cation exchange with hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride, a hydrophobic adsorbent (3) was obtained which showed an excellent binding of the estrogenic mycotoxin zearalenone with a maximum adsorption of up to 183 mg/g. Compound 3 additionally showed a relatively high adsorption capacity for the trichothecene T‐2 toxin of at least 10 mg/g. Starting from 2, various derivatives were prepared by cation exchange using quaternary ammonium salts bearing substituents besides methyl from four to 18 carbon atoms. The adsorption of T‐2 toxin on these derivatives were compared with compound 3 leading to the conclusion that 3 is the best adsorbent of all investigated tetraalkylammonium‐modified derivatives of 2.     

Genotoxicity of methyl parathion in short‐term bacterial test systems

Abstract

Genotoxicity of the insecticide methyl parathion was investigated in Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli bacterial test systems for the detection of back mutations and DNA‐damage. Methyl parathion was mutagenic to S. typhimurium strain TA100 after activation with rat liver microsomal and cytosolic enzymes. In DNA repair tests, methyl parathion was effective in inducing damage to the S. typhimurium strain TA1538 which lack excision repair compared to the strain TA1978 which is proficient in excision repair mechanisms. Normal laboratory light conditions had no effect on the mutagenicity tests, however, exposure of methyl parathion in the petri dish containing the tester strain TA100 and rat liver microsomal and cytosolic enzymes reduced the mutagenic activity and increased the toxic effects of methyl parathion.     

Recovery of gas waste from the petroleum industry: a review

Environmental Chemistry Letters - Globally, 150–170 billion cubic metres of gas are being flared annually from petroleum refineries, petrochemical industries and from landfills. In this...     

Use,exposure, and environmental impacts of pesticides in Pakistan: a critical review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The excessive use of pesticides is posing major threats to humans and the environment. However, the environmental exposure and impact of pesticides in...     

Induction of apoptosis in A431 cells via ROS generation and p53-mediated pathway by chloroform fraction of Argemone mexicana (Pepaveraceae)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Argemone mexicana(Pepaveraceae) is an important medicinal plant commonly known as ‘maxican prickly poppy’ and is traditionally used to...