|
 Hoodia
gordonii kills hunger and thirst. It’s not a medicine, but a
plant that grows wild in the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa.
Priced almost like a narcotic, it is the latest craze of the
dieting industry. But this hot demand, along with rampant
smuggling, is threatening the rare plant — already listed as an
endangered species. The hunger for money may soon kill this
unique hunger-killing plant.
Lake Quinghai,
the biggest lake of China, could disappear within 200 years. The
lake has an area of 4,285 sq km, and is currently about 18 metres (59 ft) deep. But 85 per cent of its tributaries have
dried up since the 1960s. Livestock overgrazing is one of the
major causes of the area’s desertification. It may increase as
the climate warms and glaciers that feed rivers, lakes, and
wetlands in the area melt. Over-fishing has aggravated the
problem, reports Xinhua news agency.
It’s not a weather forecast but
the result of a study conducted in two 500-bed private hospitals
in Delhi, India. The mercury level in their premises was
exceptionally high, which is a serious threat to the hospital
staff and patients. The level far exceeded the minimal risk level for
mercury of 0.2 micro g/m3 (the US Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry).
This happened despite implementing
a mercury management policy and measures like using digital
thermometers instead of the mercury ones. Interestingly, India is the second largest user of mercury after China,
but has no policy to regulate the use of this hazardous metal.
|
|
We are not Earthlings. We are from Mars! According to an
international team of researchers, life may have begun on Earth
after primitive organisms arrived on a meteorite from Mars. To
prove this, the researchers sandwiched some primitive microbes
between slices of Gabbro, a coarse-grained rock similar to that
known to make up Martian meteorites. And then, subjected them to
high-pressure impacts. Surprisingly, most microbes were able to
withstand the pressure. This is the theory of Lithopanspermia,
which suggests life may be spread from one planet to another
aboard lumps of rock that are knocked off the surface, reports
the journal Icarus.
By 2020, China will produce 400 million tonnes of garbage -- equal to the weight of the world's entire load in 1997!
According to the China Council for International Cooperation and
Development (CCICD), millions of rural dwellers would migrate to
more affluent urban areas, and increase the waste burden on the
cities. About 860 million people would be living in cities by
2020, reports the China Daily. This would turn large tracts of
land useless, and cause air, surface and water pollution through
toxic emissions. A better lifestyle always comes with a price
tag. Here, it’s a little too high!
Lake Quinghai, the
biggest lake of China, could disappear within 200 years. The
lake has an area of 4,285 sq km, and is currently about 18 metres (59 ft) deep. But 85 per cent of its tributaries have
dried up since the 1960s. Livestock overgrazing is one of the
major causes of the area’s desertification. It may increase as
the climate warms and glaciers that feed rivers, lakes, and
wetlands in the area melt. Over-fishing has aggravated the
problem, reports Xinhua news agency.
|
