Showing results by author "Sivakumaran Sivaramanan" in All Categories

Managing nuisance aquatic vegetation consist physical, biological and chemical methods. Among physical control, techniques such as mechanical operation from bank to the control of Aponogeton, Nymphaea, Nymphoides and Potamogeton, floating machinery for free-floating weeds such as Eichhornia sp. are in practice. Among chemical weedicides, flumioxazin (clipers) are widely used due to its broad spectrum activity, chemical herbicides are often applied with a gel adjuvant to increase its efficiency and avoid chemical wastage. Carps and Tilapia fishes are used in biological control methods; more ...

We live in a changing planet. Nature has its own agenda. But man tries to keep it unchanged by his activities based on so called 'sustainability'. This situation makes such ecosystems under human control more fragile than resilience. Even changed novel ecosystems do continue to provide its ecological functions but human efforts to make such ecosystems to look untouched is not always a meaningful solution. Success of modern environmental reforms can be clearly evaluated by evidencing the relationship between Environmental Performance Index (EPI) and the Gross National Happiness (GNH). This ...

Sightings of garbage at open dumping, curbside wastes, beach trash and various litter, badly maintained or abandon buildings, curb graffiti, spray painted names and messages, hoardings, billboards, street banners, advertisement signs, electronic signs and public LED screens, telephone and utility poles, telephone, electricity and TV cables and wires, damaged vehicles and buildings, curbside weeds, aquatic weeds and eutrophic lakes, oil spills, curbside potholes, beggars, street children, smog/ haze and smoke could be an eyesore to the viewer, visual-clutter by dazzling billboards is common ...

Ocean acidification is the equally evil twin of climate change and it happens alongside of the global warming. Ocean acidification has lowered the pH of the ocean waters by about 0.11 units (SCOR 2009 as cited in ‘Tech Ocean Science’, n.d.). This is mainly due to anthropogenic CO2 emission, amount of CO2 on upper layer of the ocean has been increasing by 2 billion tons per year. Oceans have absorbed 1/3 of the CO2 produced by human activities since 1800 and fossil fuel burning alone account for half of the CO2 in the atmosphere (Sabine et al., 2004 as cited in ‘Tech Ocean Science’, ...

Animal abuse, cruelty and slaughtering are still in an increasing trend in this modern era. Unlike ancient times animals are killed not for food alone but also for various business needs. Crocodile, alligators and python slaughtered in a gruesome way for manufacture of Kelly bags for fashion industry, cattle are treated horribly even in dairy farms, whales and dolphins are killed for meat, fur seals are skinned alive, elephants and rhinos are hunt for their ivories, sharks are abandoned alive in deep waters after cutting their fins for soup, foxes, minks rabbits, cats and dogs are ...

Acid rain is one of the major environmental threats since 19th century. This book reviews the 2012 progress report of US EPA (2013) and summarizes the issue in various environmental aspects. Significant reduction in the SO2, NOx emission and deposition of acid have been occurred via the active implementation of Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR), Acid Rain Program (ARP) and NOx budget training program (NBP). Cross state air pollution rule and litigation (CSAPR) implemented by US EPA since 2011 reduces the cross boundary movement of effluents between US and Canada. US national composite means ...

This part attempts to provide adequate evidences to explain that environmental problems are human origin and it argues more philosophically by providing the statements of the leading philosophers on the man’s state and responsibilities in the environment, it concludes in order to preserve the environment, changes to be done in social and behavior levels in the entire human system. Modified genes from engineered crop plants are escaping into weeds and other wild varieties. Today GE canola, corn and lesser extent soybean and cotton are contaminating their non-GE counterparts; this has ...

We live in a changing planet, and the problem we face also change time to time. This phenomenon is exactly same for anthropogenic environmental problems, for instance, to mitigate pest outbreak we introduced DDT, but that solution itself become a severe threat to the environment. DDT underwent bioaccumulation in living organisms and it also went through biomagnification and affect the top-level carnivore in the food chain including humans. Similarly, many man-made solutions to man-made environmental crisis become a new environmental problem. This chain of problems continues as a succession....

According to IUCN (2009) global mangrove cover is estimated to be between 167,000 and 181,000km2. Among 40 % of them are found in South and Southeast Asia. More than a third of the mangrove plants are vanished due to over exploitation and destruction of their habitats, as global annual mangrove deforestation ranges 2-8%. Shrimp culture account for 20-50% of mangrove destruction worldwide. It has been predicted if rehabilitation or conservation activities not prevail developing countries will lose 25% of their remaining mangrove cover by 2050. This book comprises habitats of mangroves, their...

Each and every animal on earth has as much right to live as you and me. It is unacceptable to say that all human attempts to bring the captive closer to the wild have not been successful. However, it is unethical to redefine a species’ life as desired by humans or to satisfy human needs. Even a human offender is not allowed to spend his entire life in prison, so how can we do that to an innocent creature that never committed any harm according to its own ethics or righteousness? Those who argue that we keep them happy in captivity should think about what the same happened to them. Are ...

According to Global Economic Symposium (2016), in the past two decades proven gas reserves have increased by 70% and proven oil reserves by 40%, with the emergence of advanced technology new oil and gas fields are being discovered all the time, technology also opens up potential unconventional sources such as tar sands, shale gas and ultra deep waters, use of renewable energy sources also increases day by day. However, still 80% of the world’s total energy needs rely on fossil fuels and it is also confirmed that we have sufficient energy for next three decades. The energy crisis does not ...

Soil degradation is one of the major global threats. Mainly in countries like Africa, Australia, China and some part of US effects of top soil erosion are being increasingly realized. According to UNCCD, globally 2.6 billion people depend on agriculture but 52% of the land used for agriculture is moderately or severely affected by soil degradation, land degradation affects 1.5 billion people globally, due to drought and desertification annually 12 million hectares are lost where 20 million tons of grain could have been grown, 74% of the poor are directly affected by land degradation, about ...

Air pollution is a global issue, it is a growing challenge since the time of industrialization and according to WHO ambient both urban and rural areas was estimated to cause 3.7 million premature deaths all over the world in 2012, in addition 3 billion people still depend on coal and biomass fuel (in door), annually there is several billion CO2 and other greenhouse gases are brought to atmosphere. Industries, power plants and transport are some major anthropogenic sources. In industries and other stationary sources there are various emission reduction techniques are being practiced such as ...

El Niño is the strongest change in the weather pattern of tropical Pacific region. It causes severe storms, floods, drought, forest fires, epidemics, famine, fish kill, bleaching of corals, and die back of forests. El Niño of 1997/98 (also called super El Niño) affected temperature and the rainfall in United States caused cyclones in eastern Canada and US region, floods in China, forest fires in Australia, epidemics such as Dengue outbreak thrived over western Pacific and Asia, over 35 countries declared federal disaster area. Crop loss, land degradation, river sedimentation and ...

Coral reefs undergo bleaching and other apocalyptic effects which are caused both naturally and from anthropogenic means. This book reviews on stresses on corals such as coral mining, over fishing, using harmful methods for fishing, pollutants and waste deposits, destruction of reefs by boat grounding, natural factors such as elevated temperatures, radiation, acidification of oceans, diseases which cause bleaching and efforts taken to save the corals, in brief. Corals can be reproduced from vegetative fragments, several propagation and handling methods are being practiced in natural and ...