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