New polymer to purify water in seconds Researchers from Cornell University in USA have developed a porous form of cyclodextrin filter that has displayed uptake of pollutants through adsorption at rates vastly superior to traditional activated urban filters- 200 times greater in some cases . Activated carbons have the advantage of larger surface area than previous polymers made from cyclodexture-but they do not bind pollutants as strongly as cyclodextrin . Whereas activated carbon filters must undergo intense heat- treatment for regeneration , cyclodextrin filters could be wasted at room temperature with methanol or ethanol .
( Source : PTI Dec . 26 , 2015 )
Water Conservation can reduce pollution in India
The recently released urban water Blueprint study by The Nature Conservancy ( TNC ), the largest environmental organization in the world provides an in-depth analysis of more than 2000 watersheds , surviving 530 cities including Indian cities like
Kolkata , Mumbai , Gurgaon , Rajkot and several others that suffer from water pollution at the source by 10 % through practice like water conservation and river bank restoration . The report also says that improving water quality at the source would mean that less than 1000 hector of conservation action would be needed to achieve a 10 % reduction in sediment or unwanted nutrient pollution . ( Source : PTI Dec . 26 , 2015 )
Melting glaciers , rising sea level slow down Earth ’ s rotation
A new study by NASA confirms that the melting of glaciers near the Earth ’ s poles , and the resulting rise in sea level is slowing down the Earth ’ s rotation , and making each day longer . Glaciers contain a huge amount of mass near the poles , close to the Earth ’ s axis of rotation , which runs from pole to pole . When glaciers melt , the meltwater ends up in the oceans , which have most of their volume near the equator , further away from the Earth ’ s axis . As a result , moving mass away from the axis of rotation- would slow the Earth down .
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Integrated River Basin Management Society