Current Issue : April-June Volume : 2023 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 5 Articles
Pakistan is vulnerable and most affected by adverse impacts of climate change. The study examines the impact of climate change on Pakistan during the year 2022, resulting into unprecedented heatwave and drought in summers followed by the abnormal rains and floods during monsoon season. Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan’s economy, which has been devastated by both drought and floods. While the flood water is gradually receding, the stagnant contaminated water is causing several health risks for the inhabitants. This research argues that water security is the emerging national security challenge for Pakistan. The article investigates the status of water availability vis-a-vis the burgeoning population, agriculture, and other uses of water. Impact of abnormal melting of glaciers, nonavailability of dams for storage of rainwater, and lack of smart means for agriculture water have been examined to empirically validate the arguments....
Textile wastewater is widely produced and its discharge without treatment contributes to environmental pollution. The adsorption process is a suitable and eco-friendly process due to its low initial cost, no formation of degradation products, operation simplicity, insensitivity to toxic compounds, and the possibility of removal from greatly diluted solutions. Orange seed (OS) powder, from which lipids were removed by hexane extraction, was evaluated as a bio-adsorbent to remove dyes from real textile wastewater. In the screening step, pH was a more significant variable (p-value < 0.05) than bio-adsorbent dosage, temperature, stirring speed, and process time. Moreover, under optimized conditions (pH = 2.6, 0.58 g/L from OS powder and 26 ◦C), more than 95% of the dye was removed from real textile wastewater. Additionally, the dye removal percentage was reduced by only 4% when the volume of textile wastewater was increased from 0.05 L to 10 L. Then, 96% turbidity was removed using a 3 μm tubular ceramic membrane at a pH of 11. Furthermore, the permeate flux through the membrane was kept constant for longer than was observed at low pH (<11). Therefore, the proposed process is an interesting option, due to the fact that orange seeds are currently not valorized and, combined with the membrane process, this could prove a suitable option for the treatment of real textile wastewater....
Cement industrial emissions account for 32% of air pollution in Cambodia. With that in mind, we examined the environmental impact of Cambodia’s cement industry and identified ways that it could reduce air pollution. The study focused on raw material extraction and preparation, calcination, and cement preparation. Data for the life-cycle inventory were provided by the Kampot Cement Plant. Air emissions were assessed using EMEP/EEA and IPCC criteria, and the impact assessment used ReCiPe (2016). The baseline analysis revealed that calcination contributed the most air pollutants, so mitigation scenarios focused on alternative fuels only during the calcination stage of cement production: 1) 100% coal (S1); 2) 93% coal and 7% biomass (S2); 3) 85% coal and 15% biomass (S3); 4) 70% coal and 30% biomass (S4); and 5) 50% coal and 50% biomass (S5). The results demonstrated that certain mitigation measures reduced major emissions and environmental damage. S5 had the best results, reducing CO2 by 49.97, NOx by 2.233, and SO2 by 49.333%; however, it increased PM2.5 by 19.60% and total heavy metal (Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Se, Zn) output by 28.113%. The results of the study showed reductions in serious health and environmental effects associated with climate change of 48.83%, ozone generation of 9.62%, and particulate matter formation of 28.80%. However, carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic human toxicity increased by 35.66%. Therefore, such mitigation effect would be benefit to carbon reduction target in Cambodia....
A series of treaties between Lebanon and Syria on the use of the Orontes (‘Assi) River’s flows emerged in the mid-1990s, being reformed twice to result in a finalized 2002 agreement allocating Lebanon 96 million cubic meters (MCM) out of 403 MCM as measured at the Hermel Bridge gauge. Focusing on the area south of Ar-Rastan, Syria, this article seeks to explore these treaties’ treatment of groundwater, ultimately demonstrating that it is not sufficiently accounted for. This allows for intensive groundwater abstractions—which may be beyond the aquifer’s recharge rate—to be undertaken in Syria. The paper concludes with recommendations to better manage the basin’s groundwater resources, which include improving groundwater data, using these data to calibrate improved hydrologic models, and a renegotiation of the treaty to better account for groundwater use....
The selection of adequate plant species is a prerequisite for cleaning-up trace metal contaminated-soils by phytoaccumulation which is a cost-effective and environmentally-friendly technology. The potential of Panicum maximum, Eleusine indica and Cynodon dactylon to uptake trace metals from the soil of the Akouedo landfill was investigated. The concentrations of trace metals in soil were also considered. Moreover, the accumulation of Zn, Ni, Cu, Pb and Cd was assessed based on bioconcentration factor, translocation factor. The results showed high concentration values in the soil of the abandoned and the operation site of the landfill compare to the control site. The highest concentrations of trace metals in the plant shoot were observed with P. maximum for Ni. In root biomass, Zn, Cu and Cd showed high concentrations with P. maximum, E. indica and C. dactylon . Furthermore, the highest values of bioconcentration factor (BCF) and the translocation factor (TF) for Ni, were respectively 111.98 ± 82.45 and 4.26 ± 1.75 and were recorded with P. maximum. P. maximum, suggesting that it can be considered as a Ni hyperaccumulator....
Loading....