Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1037114.stm
India's global warming fears: Floods in West Bengal
Was this caused by global warming?
By Jill McGivering in Delhi
In India, weather-related natural disasters already cause annual chaos.
Two months ago, whole regions of West Bengal disappeared under water - rescue workers had to use boats to give emergency help to more than 16 million affected people.
These were the worst floods for more than 20 years.
One of the problems is that these models are sometimes converted into scary stories which is something we shouldn't fall for
Dr RR Kelkar
Several factors were blamed - from silted riverbeds to mismanagement of resources. But could global warming also have played a part?
Journalist Nirmal Ghosh firmly believes global warming is going to cause far more chaos across India in the future.
"Global warming is going to make other small local environmental issues... seem like peanuts, because it is the big one which is going to come and completely change the face of the Earth.
"We're talking about mass migrations because of changing weather. That will have implications on politics. There are states in India which are fighting court cases over water," Mr Ghosh says.
Shrinking glaciers
As well as floods, India also suffers acute water shortages - earlier this year the western state of Rajasthan was struck by drought.
Nirmal Ghosh says the steady shrinking of Himalayan glaciers means the entire water system is being disrupted - global warming, he says, will cause even greater extremes.
Himalayas
The Himalayan glaciers are said to be shrinking
"Statistically, it is proven that the Himalayan glaciers are actually shrinking, and within 50 to 60 years they will virtually run out of producing the water levels that we are seeing now.
"This will cut down drastically the water available downstream, and in agricultural economies like the plains of UP (Uttar Pradesh) and Bihar, which are poor places to begin with. This is probably going to, over a short period of time, cause tremendous social upheaval," he says.
Not everyone agrees. Some scientists say the glaciers have been shrinking for decades and other factors are to blame.
Certainly, India has a long history of extreme weather patterns - and extremes of temperature across the continent. So is it too simplistic to blame global warming just because recent floods and droughts have been acute?
West blamed
Dr RR Kelkar, the director general of the Indian meteorological department, says it is too early for accurate data to be available yet.
"India is a tropical country, we must remember that. We are used to hot environments, we are used to heavy rains, we are used to cyclones, and really there is no clear statistically significant trend that things are going to change drastically.
Drought-hit Rajasthan
India suffers acute water shortages
"There is a need now for scientists to probe into them and find out how they will be affecting us - but one of the problems is that these models are sometimes converted into scary stories which is something we shouldn't fall for," Dr Kelkar says.
Scary stories or not, there are also concerns that knowledge being gathered about the impact of global warming is controlled by the West.
Scientists in the subcontinent do not always have the resources available to challenge data being compiled by developed countries.
Professor SK Sinha is a specialist at the water technology centre at the Pusa Institute. He accuses the West, and in particular the United States, of manipulating the debate.
"They make the rules. In fact, they even lure people from the developing countries to substantiate or to confirm that data, not necessarily always with very valid equipments and arguments," he says.
Cyclones, floods and droughts aren't in themselves new - but how much is global warming likely to worsen them, and how far will countries like India be able to influence the global debate?
Friday, October 15, 2010
BBC Reports that Beer Technology Used to Monitor Water Quality in Water Treatment Plants.
From the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3753162.stm
Beer Technology used to check for diluted beer in kegs returned to breweries could soon be used to monitor water quality in water treatment plants.
A new technique developed by an Irish firm determines how "dirty" water is by analysing the colours in the light reflected from it.
The AquaPod could save money by cutting the chemicals needed to clean up water.
A similar device used in breweries is important because returned beer kegs can result in refunds for publicans.
It is put in a box, acts like a web server and can be controlled from an operator's desk
Eon O'Mongáin, Spectral Signatures
Breweries do not want to pay out for tap water that some unscrupulous landlord might have added to a barrel just to make its contents look greater than they really are.
In and out
Previously, examining if the beer inside was diluted or not would have required a painstaking chemical analysis of each sample.
But the Spectral Signatures instrument provided a quicker alternative that simply involved shining light on the dregs and measuring its spectral profile to decipher the contents.
Recently, the firm applied for a patent for a device it calls AquaPod, which is designed specifically to monitor water quality.
Its uses range from checking the incoming water quality at drinking water plants to examining the content of sewerage inflows or outflows.
The main advantage of having a remote instrument is that, regardless of how dirty the water is, the instrument will not be fouled up - a problem that can befall analytical instruments that need to be immersed in fluids.
Lower costs
The AquaPod is mounted above the water. It determines what is in the water by measuring the colour spectrum of light reflected.
Water molecules, H2O, show a peak in the spectrum in the infrared, just past where the eye can see.
This never changes, so the instrument is calibrated by the water molecules themselves. The change in the light due to other dissolved materials is seen by comparison with the water.
These materials include organic molecules, such as phosphates, nitrates and proteins.
They all produce the same colour, which is why many liquids look brown. It is these dissolved materials that give, for example, beer and urine their brownish colour.
Aquapod also looks for suspended matter in the water, which can be anything from sand and dirt to faeces. This material scatters the light and makes the water appear cloudy.
Measuring just how much dissolved and suspended material there is determines how dirty the water is and how much processing is required.
In water treatment plants, dirty water clogs up filters if there is too much suspended matter. Excess dissolved matter means the colour of the water will be brown and this colour needs to be removed to make it palatable.
This is done by adding chemicals such as aluminium or iron salts. Minimising the use of chemicals is better for the water drinkers and also for company costs. And knowing the colour of the incoming water and therefore the amount of dissolved material should cut these costs.
On trial
"AquaPod is essentially a laboratory spectrometer brought out into the open and made robust enough to keep working in all weathers," said Spectral Signatures director Dr Eon O'Mongáin.
"It is put in a box, acts like a web server and can be controlled from an operator's desk."
The company previously developed and patented a product called ChlorFlow which is used by the UK's Environment Agency for monitoring chlorophyll levels in English coastal waters.
A build-up of chlorophyll in the water, which is caused by too much nitrogen coming off the land, can kill off fish by depleting the oxygen in the water they need to breathe.
It can also lead to large, smelly algal blooms being deposited on beaches. It has been known for bulldozers to be called in to remove large piles of horrible gunge from a beach.
The accuracy of the AquaPod is now being tested against traditional sampling methods at a water treatment plant in Dublin.
Beer Technology used to check for diluted beer in kegs returned to breweries could soon be used to monitor water quality in water treatment plants.
A new technique developed by an Irish firm determines how "dirty" water is by analysing the colours in the light reflected from it.
The AquaPod could save money by cutting the chemicals needed to clean up water.
A similar device used in breweries is important because returned beer kegs can result in refunds for publicans.
It is put in a box, acts like a web server and can be controlled from an operator's desk
Eon O'Mongáin, Spectral Signatures
Breweries do not want to pay out for tap water that some unscrupulous landlord might have added to a barrel just to make its contents look greater than they really are.
In and out
Previously, examining if the beer inside was diluted or not would have required a painstaking chemical analysis of each sample.
But the Spectral Signatures instrument provided a quicker alternative that simply involved shining light on the dregs and measuring its spectral profile to decipher the contents.
Recently, the firm applied for a patent for a device it calls AquaPod, which is designed specifically to monitor water quality.
Its uses range from checking the incoming water quality at drinking water plants to examining the content of sewerage inflows or outflows.
The main advantage of having a remote instrument is that, regardless of how dirty the water is, the instrument will not be fouled up - a problem that can befall analytical instruments that need to be immersed in fluids.
Lower costs
The AquaPod is mounted above the water. It determines what is in the water by measuring the colour spectrum of light reflected.
Water molecules, H2O, show a peak in the spectrum in the infrared, just past where the eye can see.
This never changes, so the instrument is calibrated by the water molecules themselves. The change in the light due to other dissolved materials is seen by comparison with the water.
These materials include organic molecules, such as phosphates, nitrates and proteins.
They all produce the same colour, which is why many liquids look brown. It is these dissolved materials that give, for example, beer and urine their brownish colour.
Aquapod also looks for suspended matter in the water, which can be anything from sand and dirt to faeces. This material scatters the light and makes the water appear cloudy.
Measuring just how much dissolved and suspended material there is determines how dirty the water is and how much processing is required.
In water treatment plants, dirty water clogs up filters if there is too much suspended matter. Excess dissolved matter means the colour of the water will be brown and this colour needs to be removed to make it palatable.
This is done by adding chemicals such as aluminium or iron salts. Minimising the use of chemicals is better for the water drinkers and also for company costs. And knowing the colour of the incoming water and therefore the amount of dissolved material should cut these costs.
On trial
"AquaPod is essentially a laboratory spectrometer brought out into the open and made robust enough to keep working in all weathers," said Spectral Signatures director Dr Eon O'Mongáin.
"It is put in a box, acts like a web server and can be controlled from an operator's desk."
The company previously developed and patented a product called ChlorFlow which is used by the UK's Environment Agency for monitoring chlorophyll levels in English coastal waters.
A build-up of chlorophyll in the water, which is caused by too much nitrogen coming off the land, can kill off fish by depleting the oxygen in the water they need to breathe.
It can also lead to large, smelly algal blooms being deposited on beaches. It has been known for bulldozers to be called in to remove large piles of horrible gunge from a beach.
The accuracy of the AquaPod is now being tested against traditional sampling methods at a water treatment plant in Dublin.
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