World Environment Day (June 5)

Today’s Times of India quotes Mahatma Gandhi’s words: “Earth provides enough to satisfy man’s needs, but not every man’s greed”.

The news item gives details about the pollution status in a few Indian cities. The data are alarming to say the least! The major pollutant is suspended particulate matter (SPM). It has reached the critical stage, probably due to construction activities to accommodate ever-increasing population in urban areas. The carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in the environment has breached a limit of 400 parts per million. It is one of the many Green- House Gases (GHG) emitted by industrial activities. Then, there is more GHG potent methane gas emitted by activities in agriculture. As per the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), every year around 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted across the world! The ill-effects of the climate change, such as extreme climates, increase in the sea water levels, dead water bodies, depletion of forests, etc are seen  everywhere.

India launched 8 missions to counter climate change. No clear road map is available. Unless the missions are taken on war footing, nothing worthwhile is going to come out of these missions. 

Are we really awake? If we are awake then what we are doing to control global warming and to protect our environment? 

World Cancer Day - Cancer can be curbed!

As per a report appearing in the Times of India, two-thirds of the cancer cases in India can be prevented by exercising control on diet, alcohol and tobacco. It is reported that there are about 30 lakh new cases of cancer at any give time in India. Cancer accounts for about 5 lakh deaths in the country in a year, and as per the WHO report, the estimated cancer deaths in India will increase to 7 lakh by 2015. 

The experts on Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai say that there is a need of creating awareness amongst eople about the cancer-causing properties of alcohol, tobacco and areca nut and junk food. The combined consumption of tobacco and alcohol has synergistic effect on the cancer induction and propagation. 

Unfortunately, everything people like most can cause cancer!

Mantra should be - Prevention is better than Cure. 

Living longer is not a big deal?

It is reported that average life expectancy in India is up by 4.6 years in the decade ending 2008. Life expectancy of women in now 67.7 years and that of men is 64.6 years. This increase can be broadly attributed to the improvement in the healthcare and the overall feel-good situation amongst the population, financially or otherwise.

There are also undesirable incidences of senior citizens, most of them with nothing much to do and suffering from depression, caused by over-ambitious, career-minded children not treating them well resulting in them loosing mental balance and feeling utterly help-less. The numbers of senior citizen suicide rates in mega cities are increasing!   

The government should wake up to this reality and should have a national policy to utilize the treasury of experience and knowledge accumulated over the years, in the fields of education / training and involve them in societal welfare projects. 

Climate change deaths

Any delay in actions for controlling climate change is likely to cause over 100 million deaths by 2030 says a report commissioned 20 governments on climate change (Montreal gazette). Green House Gas (GHG) emissions by burning of fossil fuel like coal contributes maximum to the climate change.  The all-visible effects of the climate change are: melting of ice caps, extreme weather, water shortage, crop failure, rising sea levels, etc. More than 90 per cent of those deaths will occur in developing countries, said the report that calculated the human and economic impact of climate change on 184 countries in 2010 and 2030.

The world average temperature is rising and the countries have agreed in 2010 to restrict the temperature rise below 2 degree Centigrade to avoid dangerous impacts of the climate change. Temperatures have already risen by about 0.8 degrees Centigrade above pre-industrial times.

The developing countries like China and India continue to burn fossil fuel for their much needed industrial development. Every country, developed and developing, should ensure that the GHG emissions, mainly carbon dioxide, are controlled in equitable-basis to avoid watery grave for every one of us. United efforts are called for.

Ban on gutka

The Mumbai High Court upheld the ban imposed on the sale of the gutka in the state of Maharashtra by the Commissioner, Foods and drugs Administration (FDA) under the Food Safety and Standards Act. It is reported that close to 30% of the state’s population is consuming gutka and related tobacco products before the ban. Even in schools, teachers, non-teaching staff and students consume gutka and the percentage is only increasing by the day.

The essential ingredients used in gutka are betal nuts, catechu, tobacco, lime and “permitted flavours”. Chemical analyses reveal that gutkha contains both nicotine (1.6–4.5 mg/gm) and arecoline (1.4-2.5 mg/gm). Significant levels of trace metals such as phosphorus, calcium, copper, magnesium, zinc and iron have been detected in these products. Some of the organics in tobacco and betal nuts are well known carcinogens.

Cancer index quantifies potency of a particular product to cause cancer and some gutkhas had a potency of 13.75, which is enough to ban the product in Europe and America.

It is high time that everyone cooperates and supports this legal sanction fully. Let us kick out this habit of mass public health concern.  

Alcohol in soft drinks

Some of the manufacturers of soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola seems to have admitted that the so-called soft drinks contain traces of alcohol (0.001%). They admitted that the traces of alcohol can come from the process. However, the government has approved the drinks as Soft”, probably because the concentration is very low.

This information needs further clarification from the concerned Indian government departments and analysis of Indian brand of the colas and other soft drinks should be taken up to confirm or allay the concern of soft drinks contain alcohol. One would like to know also the specifications for alcohol content in the soft drinks.      

World is thirsty – World Water Day (March 22, 2012)

There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and there are one billion people in the world without access to safe drinking water, while only about 15% of the world's population have enough (and sometimes more than enough) drinkable water!

It is said that each one of us needs to drink about 2 to 4 litres of water every day. Good amount of water is consumed in production of the food we eat. For example: producing 1 kilo of beef consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat needs 1,500 litres of water. Unfortunately, 30% of the food produced worldwide is never eaten and the water used to produce it is definitively lost! In addition to the need of water for drinking, water is essential for socio-economic development and for maintaining healthy eco systems. Suggested minimum requirement is 20 litres/day of clean water, while average water use in Europe and the United States of America ranges between 200 and 600 litres/day!

There is scarcity of water. The growth in population, rapid development of urban areas and demand for clean water contribute significantly for the scarcity of water. The scarcity is due to imbalances between availability and demand, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, competition/fight between the states in a country, inter-regional and international conflicts, all contributes to water scarcity.

Some of the solutions:
1. Integrations of rainwater into water management strategies, in addition to
focus exclusively on surface water and groundwater.
2. Consume less water-intensive products
3. Reduce the scandalous food wastage
4. Develop techniques to produce more food, of better quality, with
less water
5. Follow a healthier, sustainable diet
6. Connect the rivers within regions
7. Distribute resources equitably among people.