The Paris Agreement-2015

The Paris Agreement, following the 2015 Paris Climate Conference 2015 is about UN negotiated agreement on climate with the aim of keeping the average global warming below 2°C, above the pre-industrial levels. France played a key role in hosting this conference to save the world from the repercussions - risks and impacts of climate change. It is the aim of the conference to restrict the warming at 1.5°C. The countries participated presented their own National Climate Action Plans to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The progress made by the countries will be tracked through a robust accountability and transparency system.

Governments have agreed to strengthen societies’ ability to deal with the impacts of the climate change, and developing countries will be provided with international support for adaptation of the Agreement by the developed countries.

Developed countries will support developing countries by mobilizing funds of of USD 100 billion per year collectively, until the 2025. The Agreement will be ratified by 55 countries, (giving voluntary target for emission reduction) which account for 55% of the world’s GHG emissions The Agreement is due to enter into force in 2020. Meet every 5 years.   

The top 6 countries which are emitting GHG are: China, United Sates, European Union, India, Russian Federation and Japan.

If France could manage have carbon free electric grids in just 11 years, why not other countries? Policy makers should say NO for fossil-fuel based power. USE ONLY RENEWABLE ENERGY mix, sources, viz. solar, wind and hydro. Until such time, use standardized, modular nuclear power plants and go for nuclear power (fission or fusion) which is also a clean energy source. Enough research is done, now the time to scale-up the technology and implement in a massive scale.  

Water management issues, India

90% of India’s water withdrawal is for use in agriculture and livestock, often extracted by tube wells powered from the grid and drawing from groundwater reserves. High rates of population and economic growth, along with highly inefficient patterns of water use in the agricultural sector, are putting severe strain on India’s water resources. 

Major policy decision needs to be taken to improve upon or preserve the water resources. Some of the actions may be:

1.     Compulsory rain water harvesting

2.     Recycling of water

3.   Connecting the rivers to take water from the northern rivers (normally flooded due to melting of ice during summer) to southern states which suffer from water shortage during summer. 

4.     Judicious use of water in agricultural sector.  

Plastic waste management-A new study

Millions of tonnes of plastic waste, mainly package material is generated world-wide. About 10% of the waste gets recycled and the rest presents an environmental challenge in terms of water contamination and animal poisoning. Plastic is not degradable and hence needs to be stored for longer periods of time and is not environmental friendly. The major constituent in plastic material is polystyrene.

A Stanford Report (Sept. 29, 2015) indicates that an ongoing research in collaboration with researchers in China on plastic-eating worms may offer a solution for safely biodegrade various types of plastic.

The tiny worm, which is the larvae form of the darkling beetle can survive on a diet of Styrofoam and other types of polystyrene.

The study has opened a new door to the management of global plastic waste problem. It is long time to go before the research (in milligram levels) can be put into actual application in massive scale for plastic waste management. This needs to be addressed quickly to protect our environment, including marine life

University of Texas cancer study links meat to kidney cancer

Dr. Xifeng Wu and her team at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre investigated the effect of grilled or barbecued meat on the increased risk of kidney cancer. Grilling and barbecuing meat produces carcinogenic organic compounds which increases the kidney cancer risk. It is estimated that 61,000 Americans will be diagnosed with kidney cancer yearly.

American Cancer Society points out the recent IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer) report that processed meats such as sausages and bacon cause cancer. There is also a genetic component of population groups with high risk of kidney cancer and the meat eating only increases the risk. 

This is an important finding which is going to be discussed for a while. The western countries where grilled and barbecued meat is increasingly used will find it difficult to stay away from this dietary component and will continue with the habit. Like alcohol which is proven carcinogenic but still used worldwide, eating processed meat also will be continued knowing that they are cancer causing! Who cares for the research findings? 

Wireless pacemaker – a new development

A pacemaker is used to restore heart’s rhythm by sending tiny electrical impulses to the heart. Millions of people world-wide who are suffering from slow or irregular heart rhythm, are able to live more active lives due to the restoration of heart rhythm. Roughly 200,000 people in US alone get a pacemaker. These pacemakers have wires (one or two insulated leads) which carry impulses from the pacemakers implanted by surgical incision outside the heart, under the skin.

The new development is a miniature pacemaker (typically Micra TPSystem) fully self-contained, has no leads. and can easily implanted in the heart, with minimum invasive surgery. It is delivered through a catheter inserted in the femoral vein to the inside of the heart. International clinical trials demonstrates high implant success.

Questions to be answered are: the cost, failure rate, removal of the failed pacemaker from the heart and the actual battery life. This is a very good development and efforts should be made to make this novel device affordable, cost-wise.

(This is only for information, Always talk to your healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment, including your specific medical needs).  

Rent-a-womb tourism

As per the India’s new draft law, Assisted Reproductive Technology (regulation) Bill 2014, only Indian couples or a foreigner married to an Indian citizen can opt for paid surrogacy. By using the word couple, whether homosexuals and people in a live-in relationship are excluded by passing the Bill? Whether this will be in conflict with other provisions of law?  

India will be no longer a fertility tourism hot spot! But there is a positive side to this. As reported in the media, ruthless exploitation of the surrogate mothers rampant in some part of the country, will be curtailed. There is a need for strong regulation to prevent any unethical practices, including responsibility for post-delivery complications. Breakers of the law should be prosecuted and put behind bars. Women’s rights group must take active lead in ensuring strict regulation to protect surrogate mothers rights and bring-in awareness of the health risks.          

It’s getting hotter by the day! What next?

America’s Clean Power Plan launched recently can reduce carbon dioxide emissions from coal/gas based power plants by 870 metric tonnes by 2030. Similarly, Brazil pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 43% by 2030. These reductions are with respect to the levels in 2005. China which contributes major part of the global emissions, is taking steps to reduce emissions.   

Global carbon emissions are higher by 58% in 2012 as compared to the level seen in 1990. Today, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration is 400 parts per million. At the present rate of emissions, the global average temperature may rise by 4.5 degree C and if countries cooperate, the temperature my still rise by 3-5 degree C by 2100. As per the meteorological agency reports, the deviation from the average global air-surface temperature is 0.75 degree C warmer as compared to 1950 data. Oceans are getting warmer, glaciers are melting and the complexity of changing ocean currents and atmospheric pressure differentials are causing catastrophic effects such as storms, floods, forest fires, crops damage, droughts, etc, etc. The effects of the climate change are seen everywhere.

The next climate change talks will be held in Paris this year end. There will be tussle between developed and developing countries on the quantum of reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions. There is a necessity of a huge global climate fund to compensate poor nations from not using greenhouse gas emitting technologies for their development. Who will contribute and how much?  

If the nations which have good reserves of oil, coal and gas are not able to sell or use them for industrial development, what will happen to the world economy? Who will buy the fossil fuel which will not be allowed to burn? Solar/Fusion power may be the answer!  

Currency notes carry diseases-A study by IGIB, CSIR

Members of the public were looking for this study since people always have been doubting the potential of the notes and coins to spread disease-causing micro-organisms, carriers of diseases.

Everyone is aware of this serious issue but no quantitative study was made or reported for the information of the public. The scientists at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology should carry out this study in much more detail, including its potential to infect people with the diseases, and come out with some recommendations. 

The scientists found traces of DNA footprints of 78 disease-causing micro-organisms on the notes. Some of the bacteria on the notes can cause dysentery and TB!! What about the coins? It may be worse! (Source: The Indian Express, August 13, 2016).

US has plans to reduce carbon emission by 32% by 2030!

Finally, there is a good news for the environmentalists. Before the forthcoming talks on climate change in Paris, the US has most ambitious plans to reduce carbon emissions by 32% by 2030. USA is one of the lost industrialized countries in the world and the largest greenhouse gas emitting nation.  

Carbon dioxide is one of the important greenhouse gas and it is produced while burning coal or gas. Thermal power plants use fussil fuel such as coal or gas to generate electricity. In recent years, China and India contribute significantly to the global warming through industrialization and emission of carbon dioxide.   

The movement worldwide against global warming is looking at USA to lead from the front by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. President Obama’s plans to reduce emissions by 32% by 2030 is praiseworthy. Before the actual climate change talks in Paris, let us wish that the country prepone the deadline for the reduction by 5 years.

One of the serious repercussions of global warming is increase in the sea level and submerging of low-lying coastal areas around the globe. Controlling global warming at this stage is a challenging task to succeed.

The least we all can do is to stop right away the use of fussil fuel for industrial applications. Let us go to cleaner energy sources like wind, solar or nuclear.    

There is a video in YouTube.com showing an adhesive patch thermometer for measuring sick baby’s temperature for 24 hours.

As per the report, I quote:  “TempTraq is a Bluetooth-enabled wireless adhesive patch thermometer that can be applied underneath the arms of babies. The device is designed for 24 hour continuous monitoring of temperatures, allowing trend visualization to see if a fever is going up or down. The single-use device records temperatures between 86.0ºF and 108.3ºF, and syncs the data to an iOS or Android device, up to 40 feet (12 meters) away. Readings are color-coded to give parents a quick glimpse into how high the temperature actually is, and can send notifications whenever the child’s temperature rises past a user-specified red zone. The app also has note-taking abilities to record when the child eats, drinks, or takes medication. The data can be sent via email to family members or the family doctor”.

I have a few queries/comments that someone can answer:

1.     Will the adhesive tape affect the skin area where it is stuck on the child’s skin? For how long it can be used on the body, safely?

2.     How much radiation is emitted by the Bluetooth device?  It uses radio waves to transmit signals. Radio waves are part of electromagnetic radiation spectrum, similar to other non-ionizing radiations. However, the energy levels, may be in milli-watt level, should be known and should be declared on the device.

3.     Whether US-FDA has approved the use of this radiation emitting device on children continuously?  

4.     Controversy continues about possible non-heating effects of low-power non-ionizing radiation, such as non-heating microwave and radio wave exposure!!

Why Polonium is Highly Radiotoxic?

Polonium (named after Poland, the native country of Marie Curie) is a rare and highly radioactive element (symbol Po and atomic number 84). It was discovered in 1898 by Marie Curie and Pierre Curie. Chemically, polonium is similar to Bismuth. It is one of the radioactive daughter products of uranium (U-238) series and hence occurs in uranium ores, along with another alpha emitter of Radium isotope, Ra-226. It is found in uranium ores at about 0.1 mg per metric ton (1 part in 10¹⁰), which is approximately 0.2% of the amount of radium found in the ore. Because of its small abundance, the separation of polonium is very difficult. However, it can now be produced by irradiation of bismuth (Bi-209) by high energy neutrons. Major part of the legal Po-210 available is produced in Russia.

 

The time required for the decay of one-half of the Po-210 activity (called half-life) is 138 days. It emits alpha particles during decay and the decay product is stable lead isotope – Pb-206. Its parent, Bi-210 has a half-life of 5 days and it emits beta particles. The energy of the alpha particle emitted by Po-210 is 5.3 million electron volts (MeV)!

Because of its shorter half-life, specific activity, i.e., radioactivity per gram of the material is very high. As a comparison, as small as one milli-gram of Po-210 emits as many alpha particles as 5 gram of Ra-226, with a half-life of 1600 years!. A 1 gram sample of Po-210 will spontaneously get heated up to above 500 degree C, generating about 140 watts of power. The uses of Po-210 are in space probes, antistatic devices and as neutron and alpha source.

While handling polonium, it easily gets airborne. If a polonium sample is heated to 55 degree C, 50% of the material gets vaporized. This is in-spite of the fact that the melting point and boiling point of Polonium is high at 254 degree C and 962 degree C respectively.  

Polonium is handled in specially designed air-tight boxes called Glove Boxes, with adequate negative pressure inside so that the contaminated air inside the box is not coming out into the working environment. High performance gloves are used to prevent any possible diffusion of polonium inside the gloves and contaminate the hands of the working personnel. Use of torn/damaged gloves should never be used. The inside air of the glove box is double-filtered through high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters before its release into the environment. Appropriate monitoring of the workplace and individual handling polonium are carried out to ensure radiological safety.

Polonium is highly radiotoxic in the human body because its high-energy alpha particle emissions. In the body, there is no biological role for polonium. By mass basis, Po-210 is 250,000 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide. The lethal dose (LD₅₀) is as low as 1 micro-gram for an average adult.

Polonium can be easily absorbed (transcutaneous diffusion) through intact skin. Other modes of intake into the body are inhalation of the airborne polonium or ingestion of the polonium contaminated food or water. The target organ for polonium in the body, include spleen, liver, bone marrow and thymus. In view of the nature of the handling hazard, any work with polonium is strictly regulated by national regulatory body.