Project - Maintaining ecological balance using machine learning algorithms

TOPIC:
     MAINTAINING ECOLOGICAL BALANCE USING MACHINE LEARNING ALGORITHMS

MOTIVE:

Our environment has a lot of plant and animal species and each one is obviously dependent on one other for its survival. The animals living in a particular ecosystem suffer when there is an increase or a decrease in the number of species that must actually exist in the ecosystem. This is because if there is an increase in a particular kind of species in the ecosystem, there might not be sufficient food available for all of the animals to exist and at the same time if there is a decrease in a particular kind of species, these species might be the food for some other animal in the ecosystem. As a result, those animals will be left without food, thereby affecting the food chain. Thus, the number of species that exist in a particular system has to be maintained at a constant rate to maintain and preserve ecological balance.  So, our group thought that if there exists some automated system, using the concept of machine learning, which could actually monitor the current population in a particular ecosystem, it will be of great help in maintaining ecological balance.

ALGORITHM:

Machine learning algorithms can be used to easily solve real life situations, using computer algorithms.  Machine learning algorithms predict the output by establishing by a pattern in the given set of inputs. The inputs are nothing but training sets. The population in a particular ecosystem is first stored in the database.  The ecosystem should be constantly monitored and any increase or decrease of number of the species living in the ecosystem should be constantly updated in the database. This database actually acts as the input for the machine learning algorithm. The machine learning algorithm already would have established some patterns in the input when the database was first created. That is, suppose if we take pond ecosystem for example, let us assume that it has A,B,C and D species living in it. Classification rules can be used to classify the population of species A, species B, species C and species D so that the population count of all the species is correctly maintained and any imbalance in the ecosystem is correctly detected. The optimal number of species which must be available in the ecosystem is already stored in the database. Machine learning algorithm should be designed in such a way that whenever there is a rise in population of any particular species in the ecosystem, it can easily detect by comparing the input patterns. Decision trees are used to find whether the population is within limits or whether it has exceeded the limits. If it is within limits then the algorithm does nothing. But if some change is detected, then this information can be intimated to some governmental organization who can take the necessary actions to transfer those species to another ecosystem, so that the ecological balance in that ecosystem is maintained.

Field trip - Pallikaranai and Vandalur zoo

PALLIKARANAI

Pallikaranai consists of a lot of lakes and water bodies. A large number of birds, animals, plants, reptiles, etc, live in and around the lakes of pallikaranai. Pallikaranai is actually a marsh land near Bay of Bengal. There are totally ninety four wetlands in India and Pallikaranai is one among them. Pallikaranai being a marshland helped retain the ground water and it was also the place where all the birds from other states and countries live and breed. Due to effects of pollution and other environmental issues, Chennai has very little natural ecosystems which are remaining and Pallikaranai is also one among them. But a sad part is that these lakes and water bodies in Pallikaranai was not properly maintained and a part of Pallikaranai has already been converted by people into a dump yard where the wastes and sewage produced by the city are deposited. The wastes are burned and this results in air pollution. Some of these wastes do not decompose and they settle in the water bodies and pollute the water also. As a result, the plants and animals living in the water are also affected. Construction of buildings in and around pallikaranai has also caused extinction of birds and animal species of Pallikaranai. 

VANDALUR ZOO

 

Vandalur zoo has a large variety of animals like lions, tigers, white tigers, deer, monkeys, elephant, etc, reptiles like crocodiles, snakes and birds like parrots, peacock, etc. Zoo is fully covered with trees and plants so that the place remains cool both for the visitors as well as for the animals. All the animals are placed in huge cages and are properly fed by the zoo. The animals are given an environment such that they never feel that they are not in their natural homes. Visitors also advised not to harm the animals while seeing them. The entire zoo is kept clean by placing dustbin cans at every short distances and people who throw the wastes outside the dustbin and on the roads of the zoo are fined because these wastes may pollute the environment as well as these may harm the animals. During our field trip to Vandalur zoo, I loved watching all the animals and birds. But I saw an interesting bird named sarus crane. The board in the zoo across this bird said that suppose if the partner of this bird dies, the other bird leads the rest of its life in sorrow remembering about the death of its partner. It was so nice to know a bird living its entire life remembering its partner. This bird is such a wonderful creation.

Animal Testing

New medicines, products, cosmetics, etc, are being invented almost every day in some part of the world. Most of these products are developed only for human use. These products cannot be directly used by the humans without being tested because sometimes the usage of these products by the humans may introduce allergy or even cause serious illness or death even if the medicine or drug is not taken in correct propositions. They also test the products on animals because some of the ingredients of the product might cause harm to humans. So researchers, scientists and companies first test the medicines or the products with the animals before introducing it into the market for use by humans. Suppose if the researchers feel that the animal on which testing is carried on developed allergy when a particular product is tested, they work on their research again till the testing of their product in mice gives successful result. This is called animal testing. Every year, a large number of animals are killed either intentionally or unintentionally because of animal testing. Animal testing is done on almost all the animals. But scientists mostly use mice or rodents to test their inventions because the genes of mice match with those that of humans. Moreover, mice are used for testing because they reproduce at a faster rate when compared to other animals and they are easy to handle by the researchers and scientists. Nowadays, scientists are trying to develop genetically modified mice whose genes exactly match the humans. This makes the testing even more accurate and perfect. The scientists have special animals in their laboratories only on which they test their medicines and drugs. They do not simply use road side animals to test their drugs. The reason why researchers chose animals for testing is because they do not feel any pain when the drug is tested on them. This is because they have only five senses and they also lack consciousness. Animal testing is more prevalent in India when compared to other countries. So if the researchers in other countries want to test their medicine or drug, they come to India to do animal testing because in other countries animal testing is illegal under their law. Nowadays, animal testing have been banned by most of the companies in the world. But there are many cases in which animal testing have proved wrong. One such example is thalidomide, which was a drug used to treat morning sickness. This drug was tested on animals and since this drug did not cause any harm to animals, this drug was introduced into the market. But later they found that regular consumption of this drug lead to birth defects. There is still a debate going on claiming whether animal testing is legal or not. One group argues that without testing on animals, none of the products can be used by the humans because just by inventing a product, the researchers cannot correctly predict how it will work on humans. So testing the products on animals make them feel that their invention works in the manner they wanted it to be and thus bring the product into market. But the other group argues that animals are being tortured by the humans in the name of testing and humans have no right to exploit the animals in the way they want. Animals do have their own rights even though they cannot claim it to the humans. They also argue that the tests done on animals need not necessarily work in the same way as it works in the animal that is tested.  Animal testing causes serious problem to the environment also. Frogs and cockroaches are the animals which are dissected the most while doing experiments. Frogs form an important part of food chain because they feed on a large number of insects. As they are being dissected, there is a significant reduction in the number of frog species and this only indirectly affects the food chain and hence the environment. However, regulations have been framed by the government that researchers should use minimum number of animals to perform testing. That is, they should try to test only their final product and not during each and every stage of their development. Nowadays, several alternate methods are considered instead of animal testing. Suppose if a particular drug or a medicine can be tested without the use of animals, then the researchers should try to follow that method. Animal testing has both advantages and disadvantages.  So humans should use try to avoid animal testing as much as possible thinking in welfare of the animals.

Blizzard disaster Mitigation Plan - Group activity

INRODUCTION:
                                     As far as the world knows, tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, flood, fire, etc, are the most dangerous and popular disasters which causes huge damage to mankind. But, blizzards are also disasters which causes loss of life and property similar to any other disaster. Blizzards are most common disaster in the North Eastern countries. They are nothing heavy and ferocious winter storms along with strong wind of about 40 miles per hour. Blizzard can last for two hours. Blizzards cannot be as accurately predicted as earthquakes or tsunamis. 

IMPACTS OF BLIZZARDS:

A car trapped in a blizzard

Blizzards usually cover the roads with snow and the snow is so powerful that it can even engulf the cars. The winds which occur along with blizzards usually uproot trees. Houses with very thin and soft roofs are easily damaged because of blizzards. Houses, in the area where blizzards occur, will be covered with thick snow. Electric and communications lines are disrupted and damaged and this can also result in fire. Roads become fully covered with the water that melts from snow during blizzard and so the roads become very slippery. This is one of the most important reasons for accidents occurring because of blizzards. The snow and ice gets melted and gets deposited in the water bodies. This might also cause floods. Blizzard also erodes the soil. The pressure and the temperature of the area where blizzards occur decreases.  Due to excessive accumulation of snow, people in those areas suffer from breathing problems. Blizzard also results in  food, water and power shortage. Since the temperature is decreased to a great extent during blizzard, pets and farm animals are placed in great threat and this also affects the growth of plants.

IMPACTS IN WATER CYCLE:

                                        The rate at which the water vapourises is decreased due to a grater extent due to blizzards. Most of the water found is present only in the frozen state and is in the form of snow. This greatly affects water cycle.

INSTANCES FROM THE PAST: 
 

Blizzards are very common in the North Eastern countries.

·The great white was a most severe blizzard which happened in 1888 and it lasted for 3 days. Because of this blizzard, snow fall was found to fall from a height of 50 inches in certain regions of New Jersey. The winds were at a speed of 45 mph. This blizzard was also cause for a fire accident which resulted in a loss of property which was about $25 million worth.

Great white blizzard of 1888

· There was a blizzard in Boston in 1978 on March 93, February 96, February ’06 and the winds were at a rate of 65mph.

DIFFERENT MITIGATION MEASURES:

Blizzards are very common in north east countries. People of these countries should constantly keep listening to the weather forecasts and suppose if the condition is likely that blizzard might happen, people in these countries should avoid going outside until the danger of blizzard subsides. But tourists who go to visit these north east countries are unaware of blizzards and thus they may be affected by blizzards. People should check the automobiles and its parts to check whether it will survive the heavy winter weather condition and it should also have a winter emergency kit to help the people during danger.  People should avoid travelling during blizzards because it is very dangerous to travel during blizzard especially during night time .It is better for the tourists to stay in the heart of the city so that they can get help and rescue immediately. Tourists should always travel only after asking the local government authorities whether the road condition is suitable for the tourists to travel and they should carry with them necessary warm clothes, boots and sleeping bag. Similarly, these blizzards can also result in carbon-monoxide poisoning. While travelling, the tourists should check periodically whether exhaust pipe is not covered by snow and it is also better to drive the car by having a portion of their window open so that tourists do not die because of suffocation. Moreover, these blizzards also cause other problems to the people living in those areas like disruption of power and electricity supply, disruption of wiring and telephone system, etc. It is better if the people have an inverter or alternating power generating machine so they can survive safely till the menace caused by blizzards go down. They should also have snow removal equipment ready so that they can clear away the snow in and around the house to stay safe. People should always be prepared to manage those extreme conditions. They should keep torchlight and other emergency lamps, medicines, fuel required to cook food, etc ready in order to survive till the chaos of blizzards reduces. It is also better for the people to warm up the house as much as possible so that they can survive during blizzard even if they stay indoors. People should also check whether the house roofs are strong enough because during blizzards snow falls at a very high velocity and it can actually damage the roofs and as a result, can collapse the entire house. People should also have their cell phones with them so that they can call for rescuers when they are in trouble. People in those areas where blizzards occur frequently, should wear appropriate clothes to protect themselves from blizzards. They should wear light, warm and water resistant clothes to survive in the extreme cold conditions. Human lungs will not be able to inhale very cold air. People in those areas therefore should wear a scarf or a mask which will protect their mouth, nose and lungs from cold air. Blizzards can easily cause cold stroke. So people should always wear clothes so that the expose parts are well covered with warm clothes and suppose if they are outside when blizzards occur, they should try to hide themselves in a warm and dry place. It is better for the people to exercise for sometime suppose if they find a place for them to hide during blizzard because exercising will increase the body temperature and also keep the body warm. It will also help in easy circulation of blood in the body. Snow will reduce the body temperature and consumption of snow will lead to even death of humans. During blizzards, people should take care not to eat or consume snow by mistake because it may cause hypothermia. During blizzards, snowfall and wind will be very ferocious that it can actually mislead a person who is walking. People should try to avoid walking as much as possible during blizzards. It is better for the people stay inside their homes during blizzards. People should store sufficient drinking water and first aid equipment along with them. People should take utmost care to turn off gas before evacuating. People living in the blizzard prone areas should build and design their houses with materials which keeps the houses warm like plywood, plastic sheeting .Electric heaters produce toxic fumes which might easily affect small children. So, kerosene heaters can be used to avoid the fumes. Any kind of electrical equipment should not be placed in wet areas.

CONCLUSION:

                                             Even though the loss caused by blizzard is not very popularly known as those caused by earthquake, tsunami, etc, blizzard too is as dangerous as any other disaster.  Blizzards can be controlled and prevented only by the people who are living in the blizzard prone areas. Since people visiting the north eastern countries are not really aware of this kind of disaster, they face serious problems during blizzard when they reach the north eastern countries. So, the knowledge about this blizzard should be spread to the people all over the world so that the dangers faced by people during blizzard can be reduced.

           

           

Structure of the Environment

Environment is nothing but the one which surrounds each and every living and non-living organism on the earth. The environment consists of a non living component namely abiotic component, living component namely biotic component and an energy component. 

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS

The abiotic component is the non-living or physical component of the environment. The abiotic environment consists of all the non living organisms of our environment like air, land, light, water, etc. The abiotic component mainly consists of Lithosphere, Hydrosphere and Atmosphere.

LITHOSPHERE

The earth is covered both on the surface and under the ground by old rigid rocks and soil. This land and underground covering of the earth is known as lithosphere. The soil covers a majority of the Earth’s land. The soil which covers the earth now was formed several millions of years ago. The soil of the earth has minerals, both organic and inorganic nutrients, and all the other essential nutrients necessary for the proper growth of plants. All the nutrients of the soil penetrate deeper into the ground and they are present as deep as the roots of the plants. Since these plants act as food for all the animals, the nutrients which the plants absorb from the soil are transferred through the food chain to the animals. Animals excrete waste and all these wastes are deposited on the land surface. These wastes are decomposed by bacteria and fungi present in the soil and they return the nutrients back to the soil. In this way, the nutrient content of the soil is maintained. Some of the minerals which are present in the soil are calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, silicates, etc. The nutrients and the minerals present in the soil help to maintain the fertility of the soil. Many small insects, bacteria, fungi, worms and pests survive only in the soil. They help in balancing and maintaining the nutrient content of the soil. Lithosphere contains a large number of minerals which the humans extract from the soil and manufacture goods by mining these minerals for their livelihood. Many natural non renewable resources such as coal, petroleum and natural gas are also found in the lithosphere.

HYDROSPHERE

Like soil, water is also an essential component of our earth. Nearly seventy percent of the earth’s surface is covered by water. The surface of the earth as well as under the surface and above the surface of the earth is covered by water. This covering of the earth with water is called hydrosphere. Hydrosphere includes not only the water which is present in lakes, oceans, ponds, sea, etc. but also includes the water which is present in the soil and under the ground and also the water which is present in the vapour form in the atmosphere. Ninety seven percentage of water is present in ocean and the remaining three percentage of water is found as fresh water. Ice present in the polar regions has less than one percentage of water. Less than one percentage of water is available for drinking purpose. For many aquatic animals like fish, whale, tortoises, etc water only serves as their home. The hydrologic cycle or the water cycle is responsible for maintaining the water which is present in the Earth. The water which is present in the water bodies evaporate because of the heat of the sun and deposit as vapour in the atmosphere to form clouds. Now the amount of water in the water bodies gradually decreases. When enough amount of water vapour is deposited in the clouds, it returns water back to the Earth in the form of rain. The rain water slowly fills up the water bodies. Thus the water content of the water bodies is maintained and balanced. 

Suppose if the temperature of the Earth was colder, then the water will be frozen state and if the temperature of Earth was hot, then the water will be present in a gaseous and vapour state. The water which is present in the earth is in the liquid state only because of the moderate temperature of our planet Earth. The water which is present in the oceans and seas keep moving everyday .The movement of water mainly depends on temperature of the water as well as the salt content of the water. Since the warm water which is present in the tropical regions has more temperature and it is less dense, this water moves towards the northern poles and the cold water which is present in the poles has less temperature when compared to the warm water in the tropics and hence this cold water moves from the poles to the tropical region. All the living organisms, both plants and animals depend on water for its survival. Plants mainly require water for photosynthesis and animals require water to carry out their normal metabolic activities. The water which is present in the ocean has a large number of chemicals which play a major role in the greenhouse effect. Humans have contributed a lot to the destruction of hydrosphere in the form of pollution. Wastes from industries are discharged into the nearby oceans and lakes thereby decreasing the nutrient content of the water. Algae are present in the water in small quantities and this is responsible for maintaining the nutrient content of the water in the oceans and lakes. But sometimes, the growth of algae increases by a large amount by which the nutrient content of the water is increased to a larger extent. This increase in the nutrient content of the water leads to the death of organisms which are present in the water. This increase of nutrient content of water in the water bodies like oceans, lakes, etc, due to the increase of algae in the oceans and lakes is called algal bloom and this process of increasing the nutrient content of the water and the death of aquatic organisms in the oceans and lakes due to the increase of algae is called Eutrophication. Acid rain is also responsible for polluting the water. Acid rain is mainly made up of sulphuric and nitric acid.

ATMOSPHERE

  
Like soil and water, the covering of the Earth by air is called atmosphere. Seventy eight percentage of the Earth’s air is made up of nitrogen, twenty one percentage of air is made up of oxygen and the remaining is made up of hydrogen, carbon, etc. The atmosphere extends for 500 km above the surface of the earth. The solar energy from the sun reaches the earth. The earth absorbs how much ever of energy it needs and radiates the remaining energy. The atmosphere re emits the energy radiated by the earth and the atmosphere helps to maintain the heat and the temperature of the earth. Air is also needed for the survival of all living organisms for respiration and photosynthesis. The atmosphere consists of five layers. The layer of the atmosphere which is nearer to the surface of the earth has more temperature and the temperature decreases as the layer increases in altitude. That is, the outermost layer of the atmosphere is the coldest when compared to the other layers. The layer of the atmosphere near the surface of the earth is troposphere. This layer receives most of the heat energy from the earth and this layer is warmer when compared to the other layers of the atmosphere. Troposphere consists of eighty percent of the atmosphere’s mass. The layer above the troposphere is the stratosphere. Actually this layer should be colder when compared to troposphere. But since this layer with the help of ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun, it is bit hotter when compared to troposphere. This layer is also known as the ozone layer. This layer is thinned due to the harmful chlorofluorocarbon emitted by the humans and thus the harmful ultra violet radiations reach the surface of the earth.  These ultraviolet rays can cause several health problems in humans like cancer, skin diseases, etc. The next layer above stratosphere is mesosphere. In this layer, water in the atmosphere exists in frozen form and they form ice clouds. Most of the meteors before falling on the surface of the earth have to cross the atmosphere. Mesosphere burns most of the meteors entering into the atmosphere thus reducing the disaster the meteors can cause upon falling on the earth. Mesosphere is colder when compared to stratosphere. The layer above the mesosphere is the thermosphere. This layer is colder when compared to mesosphere. The air molecules which are present in the thermosphere have less density when compared to the air molecules which are present in the layers below it. So the air molecules are scattered widely in this layer. The last and the outermost layer of the atmosphere is the exosphere. This layer is mainly made of only hydrogen and helium gas molecules. When light passes through atmosphere, the light is scattered by the gaseous molecules which is present in the atmosphere. It is only because of the movement of gas molecules in and around the atmosphere that the heat is maintained and distributed around the earth. Atmosphere is severely affected because of the air pollution caused by the humans. The harmful gas and chemical molecules released by the industries and vehicles pollute the air which is present in the atmosphere. As a result, the air which circulates around the surface of the earth is polluted and it cause health problems like asthma, lung cancer and other diseases to humans.

BIOTIC COMPONENT

The biotic component is nothing but the living component of the environment such as plants and animals.

BIOSPHERE

Biosphere includes all the living organisms of the earth which interacts among themselves as well with the abiotic components of the environment. The lithosphere interacts with the hydrosphere. That is, the soil present in the land absorbs the water and supplies it to the plants. The hydrosphere interacts with the atmosphere. That is, the water from all the water bodies evaporates due to the heat of the sun and accumulates as clouds in the atmosphere. The atmosphere in turn interacts with both lithosphere and hydrosphere. The rain from the atmosphere increases the water available in all the water bodies as well as gets deposited as ground water under the surface of the earth. All these interactions among the abiotic components of the environment is essential for the successful maintenance of the biosphere, which is the one which includes all the living organisms of our earth such as animals, plants and birds.  Living organisms survive in the earth by using the food, water and other resources which are available in the biosphere. Living beings use the resources of the biosphere and at the same time dump their waste in the biosphere. Biosphere absorbs all the wastes dumped and try to maintain and renew the resources that are still available. Biosphere consists of all the ecosystems namely pond ecosystem, river ecosystem, desert ecosystem, etc and helps in the interaction and transfer of energy from one ecosystem to another ecosystem. 

There are several factors which directly or indirectly influences biosphere. One such factor is how far our earth is situated from the sun. If earth was too close to the sun, then the temperature will be too hot and hence living organisms will not be able to survive. If the earth was too far away from the earth, then the earth will not receive any sunlight and hence the temperature will become too cold. Then also living organisms cannot exist. Our earth is situated at an optimal distance from the Sun which is perfect to support plant and animal life. All the other planets which do not support life has lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. . It is only because earth supports life that it is surrounded by biosphere apart from lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. Biomes are the small sub divisions of the biosphere which is found all over the earth. Biomes are not only found on land but also on water. In the land, the biomes belonging to different regions across the world are distinguished by means of the latitude of the location to which a particular biome corresponds to. Biomes consist of nothing but only birds, animals, plants and human beings. Biomes near the equator generally have large amount of plants and animals. Biomes in the temperate zones have little bit lesser amount of animals and plants when compared to equator biome. But the biome in the polar region has sparse animals and plants.  Living organisms are actually very adaptive to their environment. If not, then they will not be able to survive in this earth. The reason behind this is that earth is frequently affected by many natural disasters like earthquake, tsunami, floods, etc. After each and every disaster that takes place, the climate, temperature and the plants and animals which can survive for the new environment keeps changing. The living organisms therefore should be quick in adapting to the new and changing environment. Humans play a major role in both the preservation as well as the destruction of the biosphere and in turn the environment. As the population of human beings increase in the earth, many of the plants and animals are forced to move out of their natural habitat. As a result, many of the plants and animals are becoming extinct. So in order to preserve and save these species from extinction, 17 biosphere reserves are found in India. The biosphere reserves which are found in Tamilnadu are Nilgiri Biosphere reserve and Gulf of mannar biosphere reserve. UNESCO started The Man and Biosphere Programme to create awareness to the human beings about the importance of biosphere, its role in the environment and educated them about the duty of every person in the world to protect the environment and use the available resources wisely and efficiently.

Genetically modified crops - Lettuce

Lettuce is a leafy vegetable which has vitamin A in large quantities. The beta cells in the pancreas of our body produce insulin. Blood sugar which is produced in the body is stored in the cells and used by the body whenever it is needed. When a person suffers from diabetes, the beta cells do not produce insulin. Lettuce has been genetically modified to fight diabetes.  This lettuce was developed by a scientist named Daniell. He injected the lettuce with the human gene to produce insulin. The lettuce thus produced has the normal insulin which is the same as the insulin produced by the beta cells of a non diabetic person. Scientists chose lettuce to produce insulin because the crop can be cultivated very cheaply. This genetically modified lettuce was tested in a diabetic mice.  After consuming this lettuce for nearly two months, the sugar level of the mice became normal and the beta cells also produced insulin in the normal way as how it is generated in a non diabetic mice. Daniell proved that this genetically modified lettuce is capable of making the beta cells to produce insulin in its normal way. This genetically modified lettuce is still not fully cultivated and tested in humans. But once this comes into existence, it can definitely reduce the number of people suffering from diabetes. The people suffering from diabetes usually take insulin injection to control diabetes. But, since the plant cell walls are made up of cellulose, it does not allow the insulin to degrade. When people suffering from diabetes eat the genetically modified lettuce, the bacteria which are present in the intestine react with the cell walls and tries to break the cell wall. As a result, the insulin which is stored in the lettuce is released into the blood. There are a lot of food restrictions for people suffering from diabetes. However, a diabetic patient is allowed to eat lettuce because it contains all necessary vitamins, nutrients and fibres. Even if this genetically modified lettuce comes into existence, the diabetic patient can very well consume this lettuce without any second thought. This lettuce can also be consumed by the persons not suffering from diabetes also so that they can be prevented from being affected by diabetes.

Commercial - Rexona

Deodorants and antiperspirants are used to temporarily eliminate body odour. Usually, bacteria will be there in the armpits because it is not exposed to sunlight.  Rexona is a popular deodorant which reduces the bad body odour with pleasant smelling perfume and it also has the necessary chemical ingredients to kill the bacteria in the armpits. But rexona is responsible for a lot of environmental and health impacts. The deodorant like rexona have several mineral oils. These mineral oils release a large amount of carbon and other harmful polluting substances into the environment. One of the most important ingredient in rexona is aluminium in the form of aluminium chlorohydrate, aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex, aluminium chloride, and aluminium zirconium tricholorohydrex compounds.  But when this aluminium reacts with our body, it can cause breast cancer in women and also Alzhemier’s disease. These deodorants can also affect kidneys indirectly.  When people try to mine the aluminium present in deodorants, they destroy several natural land areas, create pollution in water and also cause several other environmental problems. Rexona also has a large number of organic compounds. These organic compounds increase the level of ozone in the environment. Similarly, triclosan is also an important ingredient in the manufacture of many deodorants like rexona.  But this triclosan makes the human body resistant to antibiotics. Similarly, when the human beings take bath, the triclosan which will be present in the arm pits will mix with the water used to take bath and reach the ground water. This chemical also kills several aquatic organisms and also affects the endocrine systems of several fish and frogs. One more important component is parabens which is responsible for killing the bacteria in the armpits. This parabens is an environmental oestrogen. Oestrogen is a hormone which is produced by the body in women. This oestrogen should be present in an optimal amount to be healthy. When there is an excess of oestrogen produced in the body, this causes several hormonal diseases in women.  When women are exposed more to parabens because of the use of deodorants, this increases the oestrogen hormone in the body and causes several hormone related diseases in women. This parabens is actually formed from a petrochemical derivative named toluene.  This also causes several skin diseases in people who have sensitive skin.  Deodorants also have several components which shrink the body tissues and create small rashes in our armpits. In order to reduce the harm created by these deodorants people can go in for natural deodorants and antiperspirants.  People should always choose the deodorants with less harmful chemicals, baking soda, vinegar, vegetable glycerine, etc.

Industries -Tamilnadu Newsprint and Papers Limited

Tamilnadu Newsprint and Papers Limited is a paper manufacturing industry in Tamilnadu. TNPL does not cut trees and does not use the wood to manufacture paper. Instead it uses bagasse for manufacturing paper. Bagasse is nothing but the sugarcane waste and this industry uses as little wood as possible.TNPL uses nearly one million tonnes of bagasse to produce paper every year and it is the largest paper manufacturing industry in the world which uses bagasse to manufacture paper. It produces both printing as well as writing paper. The paper produced by TNPL is not only used by India but the papers are also exported to other countries. The major aim of TNPL is to produce papers without causing harm to the environment. It makes papers by following environmental harmless and pollution free technologies . The industry follows all the environmental laws and regulations and produces paper accordingly. It uses only renewable raw materials for making papers and minimises the use of resources like water, power, wood, energy etc. as much as possible. 

It mainly depends on river Cauvery for its water supply. It is allowed to use only 16 million gallons of water from Cauvery every day. During the process of manufacturing paper, effluents will be released from the industry. Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board has framed certain regulations with regards to the quantity of effluents that should be released by any industry. Every industry should follow the rules specified by the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Boatrd. The effluents released by TNPL during the process of manufacturing paper does not violate the rules specified by the Tamilnadu Pollution Control Board. The effluent water released by TNPL is treated properly and it is used to irrigate the lands around the industry. Every year, it is making utmost efforts to reduce the amount of water used for the production of paper. By treating the effluent water released during the manufacturing process, it returns nearly 80% of the water it has used from the river Cauvery. It also has rain water harvesting system to make efficient use of rain water and reducing the water used from the river Cauvery. TNPL does not rely on outside sources to generate power. It has its own power generating station which produces approximately 61.18 MW of power. It takes immense measures to save energy. To generate energy, it tries to use maximum amount of waste fuels released due to agricultural processes. Every year, it tries to reduce the amount of energy consumed by two percent. It has also started a wind farm project which tries to reduce the carbon emissions. Lime sludge and fly ash will be released during manufacturing paper. With the ash and sludge released during paper manufacturing, TNPL is in an aim to start a small cement producing plant. In 2004, TNPL has received the ISO 14001 certificate for successfully implementing the environmental management system and in 2009, it received the green business leadership award. TNPL is in an idea of using wild sugarcane for making paper instead of bagasse. The major advantage of using wild sugarcane is that it uses less water when compared to bagasse because it has less sucrose and high fibre content. TNPL plays a major role in reducing deforestation. TNPL alone takes the pride of saving 30000 acres of forests every year by producing papers using bagasse rather than by using the woods of the trees. TNPL has two plantation schemes namely Farm Forestry and Captive plantation to plant and cultivate 15000 acres of land every year.  In captive plantation scheme, it gives government land which is not being used and other lands belonging to TNPL on lease to grow and cultivate pulp wood which gives more yield when compared to the existing pulp wood. Under farm forestry planting scheme, it helps nearby farmers and employees to encourage cultivating pulp wood.  By the end of next year, TNPL plans to cultivate about one lakh acres of land using the above two planting schemes. It also educates its employees as well as people around the industry to save and protect our environment in whatever means they can. TNPL tries in every way possible to save raw materials, resources, power, energy, water, forests and also plants crops to increase the green cover of our country.

Movie Review - Kingdom of spiders

Kingdom of Spiders is a science fiction movie which clearly talks about how human intervention with the environment can lead to disastrous effects both to the environment as well as to the humans. The movie mainly speaks about how the overuse of pesticides by the humans causes a particular group of spiders called tarantulas to attack both humans and other animals. The movie goes like this. There is a farmer named Colby who owns large acres of land and is actively involved in cultivating the lands. One day, one of his calf becomes sick and he takes the calf to Hansen, who is a veterinary doctor, for treatment. But Hansen is not able to figure the reason for the calf’s sickness. After few days, the calf dies. Hansen is really disturbed because he does not know the reason for the calf’s death. So to do more investigation into the calf’s disease and death, he goes to Colby’s farm to take the calf’s blood for examining in the laboratory. He also sends the blood sample to Ashley who works in a well known laboratory with the hope that she might be able to help him in some means. After a few days, Ashley tells Hansen that the calf was not affected by any ordinary disease and it died due to the venom of a spider which was found in the blood of the calf. She also tells Hansen that she wants to see the calf’s dead body and also the farm where the calf died. So Hansen takes Ashley to Colby’s farm. While she is examining the calf, Colby’s wife finds out that their dog is also dead and screams to Colby for help. Ashley takes blood sample from the dog and finds out that the dog is also dead because of the same reason as his calf.  So she informs Hansen and Colby that HansenHboth the calf and the dog is dead because of the venom of the spider which was found injected into both the animal’s blood stream. Colby tells both of them that he found a spider hill behind his farm a few days ago. He takes both Hansen and Ashley to the spider hill. Both of them finds the spider hill to be formed by a large group of spiders namely tarantulas. Ashley has already some knowledge about the tarantulas and she asks Colby whether he uses pesticides for his farm. Colby tells her that his crops in the farm is frequently destroyed by small insects and pests and therefore uses pesticides to kill the pests. She tells him that the spider hill is formed by the tarantulas because of the overuse of pesticides. She also tells that these tarantulas feed only on the pests and insects and since he uses pesticides to destroy pests, the spiders are left without any food and therefore they form groups to attack other animals for their food. Ashley tells Colby that they have to find a solution sooner so that the spiders do not start attacking animals. After a few days, when Ashley and Hansen come again to visit Colby’s farm, they see a bull being attacked by the tarantulas. She feels that the spiders will soon start attacking humans also. In the mean time, Colby tries to destroy the spider’s hill by firing the spider’s hill. The tarantulas, being angered by Colby’s approach, attack him and kill him. The spiders start killing other humans also. Ashley and Hansen are really shocked upon the death of Colby and ask the sheriff of the city to take some immediate steps to stop the menace created by these spiders. The mayor instructs the sheriff to destroy the spider hill and also to spray pesticides all over the city to stop the spiders from attacking animals and humans. Ashley says to the mayor that the overuse of pesticides has only caused this much harm to the city and again using pesticides will only worsen the situation. Instead, she asks the mayor to bring to city many small birds and rats upon which the spiders can feed so that they would not cause harm to humans. The mayor does not listen to Ashley and orders to spray pesticides all over the city. This angers the tarantulas and they start killing humans in a more aggressive manner than before. This movie clearly depicts how changes caused to the environment by the humans can revert back to humans themselves again. Small pests and insects found in the farm are the food for the spiders like tarantulas. Man, thinking that he can control nature on his own, tries to destroy the pests by using pesticides, thereby breaking the food chain. As a result, the spiders are left without food and thus start attacking and killing whoever comes its way for its survival, without caring about whether it a human or an animal. This movie has once again proved the fact that humans can never control nature and if he tries to do so, it will result in harm for humans only.

Inconvenient truth

 An inconvenient truth is a documentary film which mainly emphasis on effects of global warming on environment, how the climatic change have significantly contributed to the destruction of the environment especially from the US point of view  and that the citizens of the world have to come out with a possible solution to reduce global warming. The movie goes on in such a way that Al Gore who was one of the US Vice President, narrates the issues regarding global warming through slide show as well as telling the audience about his own life incidents. Some of the incidents from his life which he would have quoted in this movie are how he spent his time in college with Roger Revelle, who was a climate expert, his loss of his sister who was suffering from lung cancer and the sudden death of his son in a car accident. He would have also explained in this movie how scientists and researchers feel regarding the present climate change of our planet. Throughout the movie, various facts regarding global warming, climate change, condition of the earth in the present days in comparison with the past, the energy and resources left over in the world for us to consume as well as consume, etc will be given to the audience. The facts regarding all the climatic change will be presented by Gore in such a manner that it will actually remind people how much they have only been responsible for the present condition of the environment and it is their duty to rectify it. Many scientists and researchers feel that the major contribution to global warming is the enormous emission of carbon-di-oxide and green house gases into the atmosphere.  He would have also spoken about how the glaciers, ice caps and ice sheets in the polar regions have already started melting due to global warming. If the present situation continues, then soon all of the glaciers in the polar regions would be melted and the entire earth will be covered only by water. But, still many feel that global warming is just a phenomenon which is created by man and does not exist at all. A few others say that global warming is not proven by anyone yet and there is no harm caused to the environment because of global warming. This movie would have clearly explained the fact that global warming exists in the world and that the dangers caused because of this will surely be harmful to the environment and the humans. The movie also shows how the various parts of the world have already started facing the harmful effects because of this global warming and climatic change. Apart from the humans being affected because of these environmental issues, the animals and birds are also affected. Each of the animals and the birds will be accustomed to live in a particular environment. When their environment becomes uncomfortable for them to survive because of the climatic change, they either move out from their natural homes or die because of the sudden changes in the environment. Many penguins have already started dying in the arctic regions because of the melting of the glaciers. This movie was actually directed to make the people of the world aware of the pathetic condition of our environment and how only the people of the world are merely responsible for it. It also provides some suggestions for the people to protect and conserve our environment from all the issues it is facing, especially with global warming and climatic change being the main objective behind this movie. If necessary measures are taken by the people immediately, then definitely global warming can be reduced.

Vertical farming

The human population is increasing every year. Hence large quantity of food crops needs to be grown in order to feed all the people. A much larger amount of land area than the existing one is required to cultivate the food crops. If farmers continue to grow and cultivate the food crops in a normal manner, due to lack of necessary soil and water, they will not be able to cultivate food crops for all the people in the world. This is because the amount of land area which is available for agricultural purposes is not sufficient to feed all the people of the world.  In order to avoid these problems, farmers can start practicing vertical farming. Vertical farming is a kind of farming, in which farmers can cultivate plant and food crops inside vertically inclined surfaces and tall buildings. Since in this technique, plants are not cultivated in outside land, farmers should take utmost care in controlling the climate, temperature and other requirements which are needed for the cultivation of food crops. There is no restriction on the types of crops which can be grown using this method. All types of crops can be grown using vertical farming. Vertical farming saves the large amount of land area required to grow crops as well as it helps farmers to cultivate crops with less waste. Thus, this is an environmental friendly as well as an economical solution to meet the increasing demands for food all over the world. Healthy crops can be grown using this method but the farmers should properly control and monitor the environment needed for the cultivation of crops like temperature, sunlight, carbon-di-oxide, pollination, etc. Plants which are grown outdoors can easily spread their roots to absorb minerals and nutrients from the soil. Since this is not possible while cultivating crops indoors, vertical farming uses either hydroponic greenhouse methods or aeroponic techniques to grow the food crops. The crops which are grown indoors using vertical farming consume less energy, water and land when compared to those crops which are grown outside. In hydroponics method, the plants are placed in gravel, small rocks, sand or wool, without the use of soil and the roots of the plants are dipped in a solution of water which is nothing but the minerals and nutrients which are needed for the growth of plants. The plants need carbon di oxide for their photosynthesis process. If the plants are grown outside, they can readily absorb carbon di oxide from the atmosphere and use it to prepare food. Since the plants are grown indoors, the room where the plants are cultivated should be provided with a sufficient amount of carbon di oxide so that the plants can easily absorb them to prepare food. The plants are also exposed to the daylight, by using small windows and doors, to help the plants carry out their process of photosynthesis. Obviously, all the nutrients which are placed in the solution are not used by the plants. Those minerals and nutrients which are not used by the plants can be recycled and can used again for the growth of other plants. Using vertical farming helps the farmers to reduce soil erosion as well as the waste produced when the same plants are cultivated outside. By practicing vertical farming, the use of pesticides, herbicides can be reduced since the plants are grown inside tall buildings and hence destruction of crops by insects and pests is quite impossible. Since the plants are grown indoors, the farmers need not worry about natural disasters like floods, rain, etc., destroying their crops. Vertical farming produces nearly 20 times the crops that are produced by outdoor farming. If the plants are grown are outdoors, insects can easily help in pollination. If the plants are grown indoors, then pollination has to be done manually by the farmers or they have to allow insects inside the rooms where the plants are cultivated so that they can help in pollination. This is one of the disadvantages of vertical farming. Obviously, vertical farming is costly. But in order to meet the demands of the food of the world, farmers should soon adapt themselves to cultivate crops using vertical farming also so that the world does not face any food crisis.  Vertical farming is not introduced in a full fledged manner in cities and urban areas. However, the future depends only on vertical farming.