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.     

Optimizing different adaptive strategies by using crop growth modeling under IPCC climate change scenarios for sustainable wheat production

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Crop production is highly sensitive to climate. It is affected by long-term trends in average rainfall and temperature, inter-annual climate...     

Growing green? Sectoral-based prediction of GHG emission in Pakistan: a novel NDGM and doubling time model approach

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are one of the leading causes of global warming. Therefore, accuracy estimates for greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions are a key...     

Salicylic acid to decrease plant stress

Pollution and climate change degrade plant health. Plant stress can be decreased by application of salicylic acid, an hormone involved in plant signaling. Salicylic acid indeed initiates pathogenesis-related gene expression and synthesis of defensive compounds involved in local resistance and systemic acquired resistance. Salicylic acid may thus be used against pathogen virulence, heavy metal stresses, salt stress, and toxicities of other elements. Applied salicylic acid improves photosynthesis, growth, and various other physiological and biochemical characteristics in stressed plants. Salicylic acid antagonizes the oxidative damaging effect of metal toxicity directly by acting as an antioxidant to scavenge the reactive oxygen species and by activating the antioxidant systems of plants and indirectly by reducing uptake of metals from their medium of growth. We review here the use of exogenous salicylic acid in alleviating bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases, heavy metal toxicity, toxicity of essential micronutrients, and salt stress.     

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...     

Growth-corruption-health triaca and environmental degradation: empirical evidence from Indonesia,Malaysia, and Thailand

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study examines the impact of economic growth, corruption, health, and poverty on environmental degradation for three countries from ASEAN, namely...     

Comparison of jatropha and karanja biofuels on their combustion characteristics

Biofuel blends produced from Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) and Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) oil were evaluated for their combustion properties. Two kinds of blends (regular diesel with Jatropha and Karanja oil) were prepared at 20% volume to the diesel and tested as alternative fuels in single cylinder (vertical), water-cooled, direct injection diesel engine at the rated speed of 1500 rpm. The performance of the engine in terms of thermal efficiency at full load for diesel was 30%. For Jatropha and Karanja biodiesel blends, the thermal efficiencies were 29.0% and 28.6%, respectively. The maximum cylinder pressure and ignition delay for biodiesel fuel blends are very close to that of regular diesel. Prolonged combustion was observed for Karanja oil blend in comparison to Jatropha oil blend. The combustion pattern also reveals the slow burning characteristics of vegetable oils and this study indicates that the blended biofuels have combustion characteristics that are similar to regular diesel fuels.     

Quality of tube well water intended for irrigation and human consumption with special emphasis on arsenic contamination at the area of Punjab,Pakistan

In the present study, the tube well water quality and the associated health risks, emphasizing on arsenic contamination, were investigated in rural and urban samples from Tehsil Mailsi located in Punjab, Pakistan. Arsenic concentrations (μg/L) were ranged from 12 to 448.5 and which exceeded the WHO recommended limit (10 μg/L) in all cases. The calculated average daily dose (3.3 × 10^?0.4 to 1.2 × 10^?0.2 mg/kg day) and hazard quotient (1.1–40) reflected the potential health risk to local population due to tube well water consumption as drinking purpose. Sodium percent (Na%), sodium absorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, Kelly’s index and magnesium absorption ratio were also determined to assess the suitability of tube well water for irrigation purpose. The resulting piper plot revealed the Na–Ca–HCO₃ type water chemistry of the area and generally alkaline environment. The spatial distribution of arsenic in the tube well waters pinpoints the significant contribution of anthropogenic activities to arsenic pollution. Nevertheless, different statistical tools, including principal component analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis and correlation matrices, revealed the contribution of both natural and anthropogenic activities and alkaline type of aquifers toward the high level of arsenic contamination.