When The Earth Lost its Biodiversity!!

It came into my mind that all of us has encountered some major events in our lives. Similarly, our Earth would have also gone through the events of same kind. Mass-extinction is one of those events. Have a Read!

Mass-extinction is also known as biotic crisis or extinction-level event. It is characterized by major loss of biodiversity. When the extinction rate of organisms outweighs the speciation rate of organisms, mass- extinction occurs. Till now, Earth has witnessed a total of five mass-extinction.

Reasons Behind Mass Extinction

1. Global cooling i.e. the time period of the ice age characterised by colder temperatures and glaciation.

2. Global warming i.e. rise in average temperature because of enormous emission of greenhouse gases.

3. Glaciation i.e. formation of glaciers or freezing of water bodies this, leading to destruction of aquatic life.

4. Fluctuations in Sea Level– In case of global warming the sea level rises while that in case of global cooling the sea level lowers down thus, adversely affecting the aquatic habitats.

5. Global Anoxia i.e. decrease in oxygen concentration in atmosphere may have caused extinction as organisms could not survive in absence of oxygen.

6. Volcanic Eruptions i.e. release of lava and a large amount of gases from a volcanic vent.

7. Entry of asteroid, comets, and Meteors on Earth.

8. Gamma Rays released from supernova event may be a reason for mass extinction as these rays can penetrate through cells and destroy them.

9. Disease– Genome to genome transmission of pathogenic diseases would have lead to extinction of a specific species. About 12% of species extinction has been caused by diseases.

The Five Mass Extinctions

1. Ordovician-Silurian Extinction
2. Late Devonian Extinction
3. Permian-Triassic Extinction
4. Triassic-Jurassic Extinction
5. Cretaceous Extinction

#	Mass Extinction	Time Period	Percentage loss of Biodiversity	Major Reason
1	Ordovician-Silurian	444 mya	85%	Global Cooling
2	Late Devonian	383-359 mya	75%	Volcanic Eruption
3	Permian-Triassic	252 mya	96%	Volcanic Eruption
4	Triassic-Jurassic	201 mya	80%	Global Warming
5	Cretaceous-Paleogene	66 mya	76%	Asteroid Impact

A Brief of the Mass Extinctions (mya-million years ago )

This was all about the five mass extinctions. But, let me remind you that, we are moving towards the sixth mass extinction and the reason would be us, the Homo sapiens.

There is a immediate need of environmental conservation to avoid such events in future.

Earlier the mass extinctions were due to the natural changes but, for the sixth mass extinction, our fatal activities such as deforestation, environmental pollution, burning of fossil fuels and many more are enough to welcome another one in 240 to 540 years.

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Versatile Plant

Tulsi Leaves

Flowers of Tulsi

The picture shows leaves of a shrub, Tulsi, scientifically known as Ocimum tenuiflorum.

It is a perennial aromatic plant belonging to the family Lamiaceae.

It is also called Holy basil as it is believed to be sacred in Hindu belief and there are lot of mythological stories about it.

It is thought to bring positivity and peace so, it is planted in homes all over India.

It originated in north central region of India but, it is also grown in Australia, West Africa and middle eastern countries.

It has amazing medicinal properties and it is an essential medicine in Indian Ayurveda system (The medicinal system which is being practised all over the world these days as it includes treatment in natural environment through natural ingredients only).

It has antioxidant, antiseptic and antiviral properties, rich in Vitamin C and enhances the immunity of body.

P.S.- We can call this plant versatile as it has many different properties and abilities.

A random click!

Save Rivers!!

This post is all about the plight of most sacred and holiest river of the world “The Holy Ganges”.

The water resources are non-renewable, and we won’t get them again once we have totally degraded it.

Ganga: Overview

📌It occupies about 26% of the landmass of the country.

📌It’s course is about 2,525 km from Gangotri to the Bay of Bengal.

📌It is the sixth most polluted river of the world.

Here’s a timeline for showing steps were taken (However, I don’t see the results) for cleaning Ganga:

📌National Green Tribunal has many times questioned the authorities regarding insubstantial improvement in quality of Ganga water in the past six years since the beginning of Namami Gange.

📌According to the Central Pollution Control Board A large portion of Ganga river is not suitable for drinking.

Major Sources of Pollution

1. Domestic and Industrial Waste

About 3 billion litres of sewage and 260 million litres of industrial waste is daily disposed in river everyday.
(We use the rivers for water and after using it we pour down various kinds of wastes into it. Rivers don’t need to feed these people).

2. Agricultural Runoff

Use of fatal pesticides and herbicides in crop fields for agricultural purposes contribute in degrading quality of drinking water.

So, first we use water bodies to fulfill our daily needs and then, discharge harmful products into it. Did we forget the fact that again we would need that pure water, which we degraded by our actions.

3. Animal carcasses, half- burned and unburned human corpses.

So, the ashes of deads are emptied into holy river for peace of their souls. I don’t think doing will bring peace but, it will definitely put the future lives in danger when river water can no more be used for daily activities.

4. Mass bathing and ritualistic practices

In rivers large amount of garlands, worship ingredients are disposed into the rivers as a part of some rituals. Moreover, people go into those bodies to take bath in order to wash off their wrong deeds (as per a belief). These activities completely compromise the purity of water.

Effects of River Pollution

Some of the effects are given below:
1. Transmission of many water borne diseases like cholera, hepatitis, typhoid and amoebic dysentery.

2. River pollution is reason for about 80% of all health problems in India.

3. Loss of habitat of aquatic animals.

4. River water has lost its purification ability due to decreasing dissolved oxygen and.

5. Decreases light penetration into river puts the deep water organisms life into danger.

Solutions

I think that changing mindset is one of the best solutions for any problem. We are first considering a river Holy and as a way towards God (I believe that God is a feeling of goodness not someone for whom we build statues) and then, degrading that holiness through our activities. Isn’t this ironical?

1. Strict rules for the industries regarding waste disposal. Those who don’t follow should be imposed with high penalties.
2. An organization should be made to keep an eye on sewage disposal.
3. Initiating vigilance programs to make people, especially in the rural areas regarding cleanliness activities.
4. People should avoid the rituals compromising the purity of water.

However, many of the reserachers say that the river has lost its restoring ability, that’s worst for retrieval of the river.

Decode Proxy is all about addressing a environmental issue of your area and few solutions to eliminate the issue. I hope you will also contribute to it.

Have a Great Day Ahead.

Always love your life.

P.S.- Just attempted to raise a voice regarding environment degradation.. kindly suggest correction or improvement, if any.

Things to Learn from Nature

Adaptation

Nature teaches us to adopt some changes to survive in different circumstances.

For example, the insects have distasteful chemicals to distract the predators. Animals move in groups for protection.

Feelings of Being Blessed

The tree branches laden with fruits bow down. They show gratitude for whatever they have. They possess a tendency of sharing and feeding several many creatures but, a dried tree never bows.

This simply means that the good people are grateful for the goodness they posses and they share it too. They help others.

Silence

Nature generally remains silent, it listens to everyone and it has it’s own rhythm that pleases everyone.

Aware of Limits

Nature is helping and nurturing but, if we over exploit it, we are damaging ourselves. So, it means that it is good be anything but, it should be in limit.

Hope

Every giant creature that is present in nature was once a tiny particle.

A small plant grows in the crevices of walls even when there is no soil.

So, it is the hope that drives the life.

Growth

Each and every part of the nature is moving ahead with progress that means that as time passes we should always work towards our progress with better deeds and actions.

Punctuality

Has there been any day when the sun forgot to rise or when it didn’t set before night?

Everything has a fixed time at which it should be done and we should be always on time.

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Indoor Air Pollution

We mostly think the carbon emissions and the wastes from industries as the source of air pollution. But, most of our daily needs items are a cause of air pollution as they release many harmful chemicals into the air, belonging to a class of compounds called volatile organic compounds or VOCs.

VOCs are the vapors or gases released from certain solids or gases, mainly the derivatives of petroleum and other fossil products. It has been found out that the concentration of VOCs in indoor air is much higher than that in outdoor air. These compounds easily evaporate and so, they remain suspended in the air, react with other gases like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide etc forming many lung irritating fine particulates in air. They also form ozone. The same ozone layer of stratosphere which protects us from UV rays becomes poisonous at ground level as it reacts with other particulates and gives rise to harmful chemical smog. Thus, in all these ways VOCs come out to be deadly.

VOC’s major sources are petroleum and other fossil products but, they are also released by a wide number of daily household products, briefly discussed as follows:

The chemical vapors of formaldehyde (mutagen and carcinogen), benzene (which is carcinogen) and trichloroethylene are released by household cleaners and paints.

The sweet smelling perfumes and deodorants also emit many lung irritating particulates.

The newly formed furnitures and cabinet.

Combustion of fuel, woods and coals produce major of VOCs.

Some other sources are shampoo, hairspray, air fresheners, cleaning sprays, laundry detergent, disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer.

So, want a clean indoor air?? Say Yes to Plants!!! Here’s how they help!!!

Plants purify the indoor air through a mechanism called phytoremediation, in which the VOC’s are utilized by the plant tissues and roots and transported to the microorganisms present in the soil and in association with plant roots to be metabolized.
Plants also remove harmful ozone from the ground air.
These plants have greater ability to use the sunlight for their metabolism as they belong to the tropical rainforest, where they have to compete for the sunlight among the forest canopy.

Although all the plants have ability of air purification but the few plants, mostly herbs very effective in purification of indoor air are listed below with their scientific names:

Dwarf banana- Musa cavendishii.
Chrysanthemum- Chrysantheium morifolium

Bamboo palm- Chamaedorea seifrizii.
Weeping fig- Ficus benjamina.
English ivy- Hedera helix.
Peace lily- Spathiphyllum.
Species of philodendron- Philodendron sp.
Aloe vera- Aloe barbadensis.

The research of NASA scientists suggested that about 15-18 medium size plants for a house of 1800 to 2000 square ft is efficient for removing indoor air pollutants. Moreover, if the lower leaves of plants are removed, making the soil more exposed to air improve the purification process.

Besides these herbs, we can also opt for the herbal environment friendly and chemicals free products for daily needs. Now a days herbal products are much preferred.

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Coexistence of Humans and Nature

Today I am with an amazing article on the relation between nature and human beings instead of some pictures…

When I randomly ask you about the most fascinating thing of your life, it will not be a social media post or any movie (I am not against them I mean to say reality is more amazing than the virtual world) but, it will surely be something related to nature like, when you first hiked a mountain, when you first saw a waterfall, snow-covered peaks, the beautiful sea waves and many more…so, we all have felt close to nature atleast a time or several many times or everytime…

Even the psychological studies have proved that human beings are really close to nature and the natural environment in which they live has a lot to do with human psychology.

So, they called the branch dealing with this as environmental psychology or ecopsychology…

This branch was introduced on the basis of a research publication by Proshansky and group in 1958 at the University of New York.

As per the need of time when nature’s extreme exploitation by humans has led to change in climatic conditions, loss of habitats of rare and extinct animals, ecosystem imbalance, ecopsychology can be a medium towards sustainable development. It will lead to a healthy relationship between nature and human.

📌 When we will step out of our homes and see the wonders of nature, we will desire to protect them too…

📌 We will appreciate the beautiful things nature has to give…

📌 When we will look at the trees, we will develop a lot of gratitude as they keep our surroundings so peaceful…

📌 When it rains, we all love that pleasant petrichor smell and the sounds of raindrops falling around that will urge us to be more environment friendly to keep favourable climatic conditions…

📌 When we spend time outside, we are more aware of what we see, what we hear, what we smell and what we feel thus, enhancing our senses…

📌 A study of cognitive benefits of nature concluded that the people walking in a natural environment had a better memory than that of those in urban areas (Berman, Jonides, Kaplan, 2008).

📌 Research has shown that people who practice forest bathing have optimum nervous system functions, well-balanced heart conditions and reduced bowel disorders.

📌 Engaging oneself in outdoor areas reduces eyesight disorders such as hypermetropia and myopia…

📌 The greenery around gives freshness and calmness.

📌 Even many of the hospitals treat patients in a natural environment for better recovery rates.

📌 When the chemically prepared medicines have failed to treat a disease, Indian Ayurveda system has discovered the cure to many ailments, which is totally based on natural products and meditation.

Lastly, I would like to say that nature has a lot to give, we should learn to conserve.

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