Genotoxicity of vegetables irrigated by industrial wastewater

IntroductionPollution of natural waters with waste effluentsarising from various industries has become a seriousproblem in India.In Rajasthan particularly,textilemills represent an important economic sector.Effluents from these textile and other dye-relat…     

Assessment of Groundwater Quality in a Structurally Deformed Granitic Terrain in Hyderabad, India

Geochemical study of groundwater from a structurally deformed granitic terrain near Hyderabad (India) was carried out to understand and evaluate the hydrogeochemical processes and quality of groundwater. Several trace elements (Fe, Mn, Be, Al, V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Mo, Cd, Sb, Ba, Pb, U) along with major ions and minor elements were precisely estimated in shallow and drilled wells to know the suitability of water for drinking and irrigation purposes. Analytical data shows that pH and major ion chemistry in dug wells and bore wells do not vary significantly, while some trace elements (Fe, Mn, Al, Be, Co, Pb, U and Zn) vary in dug wells and bore wells, which can be attributed to differential mineral weathering and dissolution/precipitation reactions along fractures/joints. Although the water is not potable, it was found to be suitable for irrigation with little danger in the development of harmful level of exchangeable sodium. It is inferred that the chemical composition of the groundwater in this region is likely to have its origin from silicate weathering reactions and dissolution/precipitation processes supported by rainfall and groundwater flow.     

Forestry-based carbon sequestration projects in Africa: Potential benefits and challenges

Carbon sequestration through forestry and agroforestry can help mitigate global warming. For Africa, carbon sequestration also represents an opportunity to fund sustainable development through financial inflows. However, with a low share of global carbon trade, there are strong concerns that African countries are losing out on this valuable opportunity. Through a comprehensive review of 23 carbon sequestration projects across 14 countries, this paper discusses ways to overcome critical challenges to scale up carbon investments in Africa. These projects are expected to sequester 26.85 million tCO₂ beyond the baseline situation. Within the continent, East Africa is the preferred destination for carbon investors. Most projects are non‐Kyoto compliant and represent voluntary emission reductions. While project benefits such as increased local incomes and improved natural resources are promising, there are concerns that conversion of grasslands into tree plantations can harm local ecosystems. Insecure land tenure constrains new investments and increases the risk that local communities will lose access to forests. Another challenge is that projects with smallholders have high transaction costs. These costs can be overcome by building strong community institutions and simplifying project guidelines. To attract more projects, African governments will need to build their capacity to identify relevant opportunities.     

1,2-Benzanthracene in soil.

Samples from three cultivated soils and one from a roadside, all in Ontario, were found to contain less than 1 to 68 ppb of 1,2-Benzanthracene (BA). Two plots subjected to stubble (residue of wheat crop) burning annually for 15 years did not contain significant amounts of BA, although polyaromatic hydrocarbons, including BA, result from pyrolysis of most organic matter.     

Scaling-up spatially-explicit ecological models using graphics processors

How the properties of ecosystems relate to spatial scale is a prominent topic in current ecosystem research. Despite this, spatially explicit models typically include only a limited range of spatial scales, mostly because of computing limitations. Here, we describe the use of graphics processors to efficiently solve spatially explicit ecological models at large spatial scale using the CUDA language extension. We explain this technique by implementing three classical models of spatial self-organization in ecology: a spiral-wave forming predator-prey model, a model of pattern formation in arid vegetation, and a model of disturbance in mussel beds on rocky shores. Using these models, we show that the solutions of models on large spatial grids can be obtained on graphics processors with up to two orders of magnitude reduction in simulation time relative to normal pc processors. This allows for efficient simulation of very large spatial grids, which is crucial for, for instance, the study of the effect of spatial heterogeneity on the formation of self-organized spatial patterns, thereby facilitating the comparison between theoretical results and empirical data. Finally, we show that large-scale spatial simulations are preferable over repetitions at smaller spatial scales in identifying the presence of scaling relations in spatially self-organized ecosystems. Hence, the study of scaling laws in ecology may benefit significantly from implementation of ecological models on graphics processors.     

Conventional pyrolysis of Plastic waste for Product recovery and utilization of pyrolytic gases for carbon nanotubes production

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Inevitably increase in plastic demand has resulted in an overgrowing production on a global scale. The utilization of plastics has been applied to a...