Impact of anthropogenic activities on water quality of Lidder River in Kashmir Himalayas

The pristine waters of Kashmir Himalaya are showing signs of deterioration due to multiple reasons. This study researches the causes of deteriorating water quality in the Lidder River, one of the main tributaries of Jhelum River in Kashmir Himalaya. The land use and land cover of the Lidder catchment were generated using multi-spectral, bi-seasonal IRS LISS III (October 2005 and May 2006) satellite data to identify the extent of agriculture and horticulture lands that are the main non-point sources of pollution at the catchment scale. A total of 12 water quality parameters were analyzed over a period of 1 year. Water sampling was done at eight different sampling sites, each with a varied topography and distinct land use/land cover, along the length of Lidder River. It was observed that water quality deteriorated during the months of June–August that coincides with the peak tourist flow and maximal agricultural/horticultural activity. Total phosphorus, orthophosphate phosphorus, nitrate nitrogen, and ammoniacal nitrogen showed higher concentration in the months of July and August, while the concentration of dissolved oxygen decreased in the same period, resulting in deterioration in water quality. Moreover, tourism influx in the Lidder Valley shows a drastic increase through the years, and particularly, the number of tourists visiting the valley has increased in the summer months from June to September, which is also responsible for deteriorating the water quality of Lidder River. In addition to this, the extensive use of fertilizers and pesticides in the agriculture and horticulture lands during the growing season (June–August) is also responsible for the deteriorating water quality of Lidder River.     

Empirical gas emission and oxidation measurement at cover soil of dumping site: example from Malaysia

Methane (CH₄) is one of the most relevant greenhouse gases and it has a global warming potential 25 times greater than that of carbon dioxide (CO₂), risking human health and the environment. Microbial CH₄ oxidation in landfill cover soils may constitute a means of controlling CH₄ emissions. The study was intended to quantify CH₄ and CO₂ emissions rates at the Sungai Sedu open dumping landfill during the dry season, characterize their spatial and temporal variations, and measure the CH₄ oxidation associated with the landfill cover soil using a homemade static flux chamber. Concentrations of the gases were analyzed by a Micro-GC CP-4900. Two methods, kriging values and inverse distance weighting (IDW), were found almost identical. The findings of the proposed method show that the ratio of CH₄ to CO₂ emissions was 25.4 %, indicating higher CO₂ emissions than CH₄ emissions. Also, the average CH₄ oxidation in the landfill cover soil was 52.5 %. The CH₄ and CO₂ emissions did not show fixed-pattern temporal variation based on daytime measurements. Statistically, a negative relationship was found between CH₄ emissions and oxidation (R ²?=?0.46). It can be concluded that the variation in the CH₄ oxidation was mainly attributed to the properties of the landfill cover soil.     

Impact of climate change on pastoralists’ resilience and sustainable mitigation in Punjab,Pakistan

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Climate change has adversely affected pastoral community in Pakistan through increased severity of livestock diseases, floods, and drought. These...     

Sustainable cropping pattern in North Iran: application of fuzzy goal programming

Due to the important role that the application of mathematical programming models have in determining optimal cropping patterns, this research presents a sustainable cropping pattern that considers selected economic, environmental, and social goals together. Using a random sampling method, a sample size of 168 farmers was selected in the Sari County, Iran. Our results showed that economic, self-sufficiency, environmental, and social goals have a distinctly different impact on cropping pattern performance. Compared to the current cropping pattern, the gross margins for economic and social goals increased by nearly 11 and 2 %, respectively, and the gross margins for self-sufficiency and environmental goals decreased by nearly 2 and 36 %. Interestingly, it has been found that the performance of the current cropping pattern has an average positive impact of 6 % if economic, self-sufficiency, environmental, and social (employment) goals are realized simultaneously.     

Wheat productivity responses in the rice-based system under different no-till techniques and nitrogen sources

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - No-till wheat is gaining popularity in rice-based cropping system as it provides a better chance for timely planting of wheat, management of crop...     

An integrative framework for sustainable supply chain management practices in the oil and gas industry

This paper proposes a framework for understanding the contextual factors of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices in the O&G industry. It is based on a literature review of studies related to SSCM of O&G topics. The review reveals that there is a lack of SSCM research specific to the industry. Present studies focus on individual stages of its supply chain and do not consider all dimensions of sustainable development, namely economic, environmental and social factors. In addition, existing frameworks lack important contextual aspects of the industry's business and organizational environment. To address these gaps, our research develops an overarching framework operationalizing the internal and external contextual factors of the O&G industry environment that can influence the outcome of its SSCM practices. The proposed framework is useful as a tool in the formulation and implementation of SSCM strategy that enables alignment of a company's internal capabilities with its external environment.     

Indirect forced solar drying of banana slices: phenomenological explanation of non-isotropic shrinkage and color changes kinetics

Solar drying technology is a noteworthy technique as it uses the renewable solar energy. In this study, thin slices of banana were dried by using an indirect forced solar dryer at air mass flow rates of 0.016, 0.041, and 0.082 kg s^?1. In order to assess the kinetics of shrinkage and color changes, image processing technique was applied for determining area, volume, density, total color difference and browning index. Shrinkage factor of the samples was less than 1 during drying indicating non-isotropic shrinkage with contraction of inner voids. Furthermore, product shrinkage showed two descending drying steps in which the volume change was more than the evaporated water volume in the first step and equal to that in the second step. The dimensionless evaporated water volume with respect to the dimensionless volume difference of the product also revealed that two steps of volume change existed during drying separated at critical moisture ratio 0.23. The area and volume changes were only related to the product moisture content and were independent of the air mass flow rate, and hence air temperature. In contrary to the browning index, the total color difference was not influenced by air mass flow rate and the least change in browning index occurred at mass flow rate of 0.041 kg s^?1.     

Degradation of petroleum hydrocarbons from bottom sludge of crude oil storage tanks using in-vessel composting followed by oxidation with hydrogen peroxide and Fenton

In this research the feasibility of aerated in-vessel composting process followed by chemical oxidation with H₂O₂ and Fenton for removal of petroleum hydrocarbons from oily sludge of crude oil storage tanks was investigated. The ratios of the sludge to immature compost were 1:0 (as abiotic control), 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, 1:8 and 1:10 (as dry basis) at a C:N:P ratio of 100:5:1 and 55 % moisture content for a period of 10 weeks. Six concentrations of H₂O₂ and Fenton were added to the compost mixture for a period of 24- and 48-h reaction times. Results showed that petroleum hydrocarbons removal in ratios of 1:2, 1:4, 1:6, 1:8 and 1:10 were 66.6, 73.2, 74.8, 80.2 and 79.9 %, respectively. The results of the abiotic experiments indicated that the main mechanism of hydrocarbon removal in the composting reactors was biological. The application of combined composting and chemical oxidation demonstrated a remarkable (about 88 %) overall removal. The study showed that in-vessel composting combined with chemical oxidation is a viable choice for the remediation of the sludge.     

Oral administration of potassium bromate, a major water disinfection by-product, induces oxidative stress and impairs the antioxidant power of rat blood

Potassium bromate (KBrO₃) is a widely used food additive, a water disinfection by-product and a known nephrotoxic agent. The effect of KBrO₃ on rat blood, especially on the anti-oxidant defense system, was studied in this work. Animals were given a single oral dose of KBrO₃ (100 mg/kg body weight) and sacrificed 12, 24, 48, 96 and 168 h after this treatment. Blood was collected from the animals and separated into plasma and erythrocytes. KBrO₃ administration resulted in increased lipid peroxidation, protein oxidation, hydrogen peroxide levels and decreased the reduced glutathione content indicating the induction of oxidative stress in blood. Methemoglobin levels and methemoglobin reductase activity were significantly increased while the total anti-oxidant power was greatly reduced upon KBrO₃ treatment. Nitric oxide levels were enhanced while vitamin C concentration decreased in KBrO₃ treated animals. The activities of major anti-oxidant enzymes were also altered upon KBrO₃ treatment. The maximum changes in all these parameters were 48 h after the administration of KBrO₃ and then recovery took place. These results show for the first time that KBrO₃ induces oxidative stress in blood and impairs the anti-oxidant defense system. Thus impairment in the anti-oxidant power and alterations in the activities of major anti-oxidant enzymes may play an important role in mediating the toxic effects of KBrO₃ in the rat blood. The study of such biochemical events in blood will help elucidate the molecular mechanism of action of KBrO₃ and also for devising methods to overcome its toxic effects.