Nice words of Pamaran (http://pamaran.wordpress.com) to think about Nature's present condition.

Nice words of Pamaran (http://pamaran.wordpress.com) to think about Nature's present condition.

The following lines are a part of Mr.Pamaran's one of the articles - "IRUPATHAAM NOOTTRAANDIN ISAI NANDHAN RAASAIYAAVUKKU". Really...... touching..... We need to think and do something in this regard.

"நகரத்தின் நகங்கள் நீண்டு……
வயல்வெளிகள் ரியல் எஸ்டேட்டுகளாய்…….
மிச்சமிருக்கிற மரங்களும் சூறையாடப்பட்டு…….உயர் ரகக் குழந்தைகளுக்கான டிஸ்னி லேண்டுகளாய்…….
கிராமத்துச் சிறுவர்கள் வெட்டுக்கிளியும்,பொன்வண்டும் பிடித்துத் திரிந்த புதர்க் காடுகள்….ஹாலிடே ரிசார்ட்டுகளாய்….
எங்கள் இயற்கை ‘நவீனத்தின்’ கோரப்பற்களால்குதறப்பட ஆரம்பித்தாயிற்று."

Air Pollution

Air Pollution

(wikipedia, www.solcomhouse.com/airpollution.htm)

Pollution (is a process) is defined as the excessive discharge of undesirable substances into the environment, adversely altering the natural qualityof the environment and causing damage to humans, plants and animals.

Air pollution is the introduction of (undesirable or unwanted substances) chemicals, particulate matter, or biological materials that cause harm or discomfort to humans or other living organisms, or cause damage to the natural environment or built environment, into the atmosphere.

A substance in the air that can cause harm to humans and the environment is known as an air pollutant.

Classification of Pollutants

1. primary

2. secondary.

Primary pollutants are directly emitted from a process, such as ash from a volcanic eruption, the carbon monoxide gas from a motor vehicle exhaust or sulfur dioxide released from factories.

Secondary pollutants are not emitted directly. Rather, they form in the air when primary pollutants react or interact. An important example of a secondary pollutant is ground level ozone — one of the many secondary pollutants that make up photochemical smog.

Some pollutants may be both primary and secondary: that is, they are both emitted directly and formed from other primary pollutants.

Examples for Primary Pollutants are :

Sulfur oxides

Nitrogen oxides

Carbon monoxide

Carbon dioxide

Volatile organic compounds (VOC)

Particulate matter

Persistent free radicals

Toxic metals, such as lead, cadmium and copper.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

Ammonia (NH3)

Odors — such as from garbage, sewage, and industrial processes
Radioactive pollutants

Examples for Secondary Pollutants are :

Particulate matter formed from gaseous primary pollutants and compounds in

photochemical smog

Ground level ozone (O3) formed from NOx and VOCs

Also Read the following link for "Air Pollution" - Indian Scinario :

http://envfor.nic.in/soer/2001/ind_air.pdf

Ecology and it's components

Ecology and it's components

(Courtesy:http://thelivingenvironmentcheatsheet.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html)

What is ecology?Ecology is the scientific study of how living things interact with the environment

Autotrophs are producers and producers are organisms that make their own food. They are the only organisms that can convert solar energy into chemical energy or food (organic compound). They carry out autotrophic nutrition. Plants and algae are autotrophs.
Auto: means self
Troph: means feeder
Autotrophs are self-feeders
PLANTS ARE AUTOTROPHS. (They make their own food)
ALGAE ARE AUTOTROPHS (They make their own food)Scientists estimated that about 65 - 85% of the oxygen we breathe comes from algae.

Heterotrophs are consumers and consumers are organisms that eat or obtain nutrients made by autotrophs. They depend on autotrophs for food. Horses, cows, lions and humans are heterotrophs.

Herbivores are heterotrophs that eat plants only, EX. COWS .
Carnivores are heterotrophs that eat meat only, ex. lions.
Omnivores are heterotrophs that eat both meat and plants, ex. humans.
Decomposers are organisms that break down dead organisms and return them to the soil. They recycle nutrients. Ex. of decomposers are fungi and bacteria.
Predators are organism that kill other organisms for food, ex. a lion is a predator.

Prey are organisms that are killed and eaten by other organism, ex. deers are killed and eaten by lions.

Scavengers are heterotrophs that eat dead organisms, Ex. vultures.

Biotic are living things.
Abiotic are nonliving.Niche is the role that the organism play in the environment. For example, a lion's role is "predator"Habitat is the place where organisms live.Carrying Capacity refers to the maximum number of organism a habitat can support. Once the number of organisms reaches the carrying capacity, it levels out or stop growing.
Limiting Factors refers to any biotic or abiotic aspect of the environment that affect population growth. For example, in a desert, water and temperature are abiotic limiting factors; food, prey, and predator are biotic factors that can affect population growth.

Species Two organisms are of the same species if the can reproduce (make babies or offspring) and their babies are fertile. That is their babies can also make babies.

Population: Organisms of the same species living at the same place at the same time, for example a population of dogs, a population of cats.

Community: Different populations living at the same place and at the same time. For example, we live in a community made up of people, cats, dogs, trees, other animals and plants.
Ecosystem consist of the living and the nonliving

The Food Chain And The Food Web show how energy moves through the ecosystem.

EXAMPLE OF FOOD CHAIN

Energy for this food web comes from the sun.

THINK! The arrow in the food chain or the food web represents energy. The caterpillar is receiving its energy from the flowers by eating them.
What happens to the owl population if the snake population is removed from the food chain?
How is the caterpillar population affected by the removal of the snake population?

EXAMPLE OF FOOD WEB

How is the rabbit population affected if the deer population is removed from the food web?

The first organism in the food chain or the food web is always a plant because only plants can convert sunlight into food.
In the next level in the food chain or web are the herbivores because herbivores eat plants.
Carnivores are found on the third level or higher because they eat herbivores or other carnivores.
The arrow in the food chain or food web represents energy
Energy decreases as it goes through the ecosystem because energy is used for life functions and energy is lost as heat.
- If you remove an organism from the environment, the environment becomes less stable.
- The greater the biodiversity, the more stable the environment.

Questions
Why are plants at the bottom of the food pyramid?
What happens to energy as it goes through the ecosystem?
In the food web, how come no arrow is pointed toward the plant?
What is the role of decomposers?
Identify two organisms that carry out decomposition.
What does the arrow represent in the food web?
At what level of the energy pyramid would you find the largest amount of biomass?

Answers
Plants are at the bottom of the food pyramid because they can convert sunlight into food for animals.
The decomposers recycle nutrients, or break down dead organisms and return them into the soil so that they can be used by plants.
Fungi and bacteria carry out decomposition
In the food web, the arrow represents energy.
The largest amount of biomass is found at the bottom of the energy pyramid.

Ecological Succession

ECOLOGICAL SUCCESSION

Courtesy:wikipedia
Ecological succession, is the phenomenon or process by which a community progressively transforms itself until a stable community is formed.

Succession may be initiated either by formation of new, unoccupied habitat (e.g., a lava flow or a severe landslide) or by some form of disturbance (e.g. fire, severe windthrow, logging) of an existing community. Succession that begins in areas where no soil is initially present is called primary succession, whereas succession that begins in areas where soil is already present is called secondary succession - is the invasion of a habitat by plants on land that was previously vegetated. Removal of past vegetation may be caused by natural or human disturbances such as fire, logging, cultivation, or hurricanes.

Succession stops when species composition changes no longer occur with time, and this community is said to be a climax community.

Courtesy:http://geopolicraticus.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/ecological-succession-in-cultural-geography/

courtesy:http://mrswolfgang.wikispaces.com/Spack-Weber+Ecological+Succession

Ministers of Environment and Forests Ministry - India & Tamilnadu

Ministers of Environment and Forests Ministry - India & Tamilnadu

Government of INDIA:

Minister - Shri. Jairam Ramesh

Government of Tamilnadu:

Minister for Forests : Thiru K.T Pachamal
Minister for Environment : Thiru T.K.M Chinnayya

Forest Ecosystem

Forest Ecosystem

Some Statistics: (Dinamani - 10.10.2010)
Total land area in India - 32.87 Lakh Sq.K.M.
Total Forest area in India - 7.75 Lakh Sq.K.M. (23.75% of toal land area)

Total land area in Tamilnadu - 1.30 Lakh Sq.K.M.
Total forest area in Tamilnadu - 22,877 Sq.K.M. (17.59% of total land area)
but, we need to increase the forest area as 33% of total land area. For this we need to have about 11.4 crore trees yet.

Definitions: A forest ecosysted is a terrestrial unit of living organisms (plants, animals and microorganisms), all interacting among themselves and with the environment (soil, climate, water and light) in which they live (http://forestry.about.com/b/2011/01/24/what-is-a-forest-ecosystem.htm).

The entire assemblage of forest organisms (trees, shrubs, herbs, bacteria, fungi, and animals, including people) together with their environmental substrate (the surrounding air, soil, water, organic debris, and rocks), interacting inside a defined boundary. Read more: (http://www.answers.com/topic/forest-ecosystem#ixzz1Qk1QzxRo - McGraw-Hill Science & Technology Dictionary)

A web link: http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/cbd-ts-04.pdf.

in the above link you could find a e-book (research thesis...?) on Values of Forest eco system.

Importance of Forests: The world's forests hold importance for all of their inhabitants as well as for the overall health of the planet. The benefits of forests to society and to the diversity of life make it vital that they be protected from deforestation and other potential negative impacts of civilization. (http://www.ehow.com/about_5422707_importance-forest-ecosystem.html#ixzz1QpvJkHy2)

Types of Forests:
Forests thrive in diverse climatic regions throughout the world, and can be categorized by their locations and elevations.
Tropical: lush, dense forests found near the equator. They are vital storehouses of the planet's biodiversity.
Sub-tropical: consists of trees that can resist the summer drought.They are found to the north and south of the tropical forests.
Mediterranean: located to the south of the temperate regions and made up primarily of evergreen trees.
Temperate: mix of coniferous evergreen and deciduous trees found in North America, northeastern Asia and Europe.
Coniferous: These forests are found around the poles in cold, windy regions and contain both conifers and hardwoods.
Montane: also known as cloud forests. Contain mainly conifers and are found in high-elevation tropical, sub-tropical and temperate zones.

Biodiversity in forest: Forests contain a greater range of biodiversity than any other ecosystems on earth. Only a fraction of the species found in forests have been examined and studied. A single massive tree in the Amazon rainforest can be home for thousands of species. The wide variety of trees and plants found in tropical forests comprises particularly intensive biodiversity. This biodiversity is be important on its own terms in ways we may not currently understand, as interdependent species have evolved over millions of years to interact and flourish.

The role of forests:
Forest ecosystems deliver a vast array of products and services to the society. Perhaps the most famous product from the forest is wood, which also has a enormous diversity of applications and purposes, such as construction purposes, furniture and fuel. But apart from that there is a large number of non-timber forest products, like medicinal plants, honey, fruits and bushmeat. The availability, the use and the importance of these products varies per region and per culture. Especially in developing countries many people are dependant upon these products. In many cases they form an important part of the diet, like proteins from animal products. Most often the poorest and vulnerable part of society depend very much on the forest. This group can also revert to the forest resources in periods when their conditions get worse – the forest is then functioning as a safety net.

Environmental Science and Engineering

Environmental Science and Engineering

Today's (23.06.2011) class is the first class for these students(2nd year EIE) and also for this subject. Reason for studying this course was briefed. There are somany reasons, especially very important reasons, behind this subject to learn.

Being an Engineer, we should concern about the environment atmost. "Engineers make the World" - this is a famous quote which describes the engineers work/character/attitude etc. So, we can not imagine a world with out engineers. They produce/make/create everything. So, they are responsible for everything which happens in the planet. If any body wants to make anything he/she has to get the required resources from the surrounding (environment....?). So, we produce everything at the cost of environment.

We are the responsible for the protection of environment. So, this course is very important for engineers to learn/know/study. The aim of the subject would not be met out only by studying and writing exam in/on this subject. We need to correlate the concepts of this course with real life. Then only we can feel the importance of this course. We need to follow atleast very few methods to protect environment in our life. We should work hard for sustainable development in all the respects.