Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology

Air pollution is considered one of the most important factors that affect the surrounding environment and the human health. This study investigated seasonal variation in air pollutants parameters (CO, NO₂, O₃, SO₂ and PM₁₀) in Damietta Port (DP), Egypt using the archive data, from the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA) branch in DP, for the period from 2015 to 2017. Statistical results showed that the mean concentration of CO was 2.7, 6.2 and 3.2 mg/m₃ in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively. Mean concentration of NO₂ was 27.9, 28.5, and 16.5 µg/m₃ in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Ozone mean concentration was 27.7, 25.1, and 16.5 µg/m₃ in 2015, 2016 and 2017. PM₁₀ mean concentration was 83.5, 111, and 74.4 µg/m₃ in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Mean concentration of SO₂ was 17.5, 22.3, and 11.9 µg/m₃ in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The CO concentration increased from 2015 to 2017, due to increasing port activities from vessels, cargo handling equipment, and heavy-duty vehicles. On the other hand, ozone decreased from 2015 to 2017, and this may be related to the improvement and application of safety and environmental rules, and systems in the port. From the collected results, it was observed that some pollutant concentrations were exceeded, beyond the threshold limit for CO and PM₁₀, according to Environmental Law no. 4/1994. Finally, we recommend to monitor and measure the concentration of different air pollutants in the port regularly, to assess, analyze, and control the environmental risks to achieve health in the surrounding environment for the port man-power.

Introduction: Paris Agreement, aiming to limit global warming to 2°C, has stipulated a global discussion regarding allocating a fair share of world’s cumulative carbon emissions to countries. Thereafter, different theories proposing various sharing principles are being proposed. The present study estimates the future cumulative carbon budget allocation to India using these sharing principles.

Aims: The aim is to explore India’s share in the world’s carbon budget for different budgeting periods using different sharing principles, and find out which sharing principle is in the best interest of the country.

Methodology: Using the four different sharing principles (equity, inertia, blended and inclusion) proposed in previous studies, India’s share in carbon budget has been calculated. Calculations are done for three budgeting periods (1970-2012; 1990-2012; 2005-2012) in order to find a concrete result. Observations are made to find the different conditions in which various budgets may allocate a high carbon budget to India.

Results: Inclusion sharing principle has been found to allocate the highest carbon budget to India in all the three budgeting periods. It has been found that the higher the number of historical emissions years taken into calculations, the higher is the budget allocation to India. Historical accountability factor is deduced to be the reason. A new sharing disparity trend has also been observed in which the inclusion principle is allocating a higher budget to India in stricter warming limits while a lower budget is allocated in case of less strict warming limits.

We have also found that the principles of inertia, equity and blended sharing allocate high budget to India when lesser number of years and more recent years are taken into calculations.

Conclusion: We argue that for a developing country like India, historical accountability is an important factor for budget sharing decisions and inclusion sharing principle has been claimed to be in the best interest of the country.

The concentrations of As, Pb, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, V, Sr, Y, Nb, Zr, Cl, TS, TiO₂, MnO, CaO and P₂O₅ in the mangrove sediments relative to concentrations in R. racemosa and A. germinans samples from Ogbogoro and Isaka in Niger Delta, Nigeria were assessed. A total of 4 core sediment, 6 R. racemosa and 4 A. germinans samples were collected through simple random sampling. Two core sediment samples of 10 cm depth and three R. racemosa leave, stem and root samples were collected from each of the sampled locations. However, one and three A. germinans leave, stem and root samples were collected from Ogbogoro and Isaka respectively. All the samples were oven dried, powdered, made into briquettes and analyzed using XRF. The results indicated contrasting heavy metal concentrations in the sediments, R. racemosa and A. germinans samples. Sr, Zr and CaO had higher concentrations in R. racemosa relative to A. germinans while Zn, Cu, Ni, Nb, Cl and TS are comparatively more concentrated in A. germinans than in R. racemosa. However, As, Pb, Y and P₂O₅ have similar concentrations in both mangrove species. Cr, V and TiO₂ were not detected in both R. racemosa and A. germinans while MnO was detected in R. racemosa but not detected in A. germinans. Similarity was observed in metal concentrations in the leaves, stems and roots of R. racemosa and A. germinans. The ecological risks of metal concentrations in both plants were determined using Contamination Factor (CF) and Pollution Load Index (PLI) while the phytoremediation potentials of the plants were assessed using Bio-concentration Factor (BCF) and Bio-translocation Factor (BTF). R. racemosa and A. germinans were found to be moderately contaminated though the PLI indicated that they are unpolluted. R. racemosa and A. germinans were found to have phytoremediation capacities in Cu, Ni, Sr, Zr, Cl, TS, MnO, CaO, P₂O₅ and Zn, Cu, Sr, Zr, CaO, P₂O₅ respectively.

The role of coral reef architecture on species richness and the internal structuration of the associated fish communities has already been addressed several times. The reported results, however, usually remain controversial, possibly because they are based upon incomplete field data issued from partial inventories. Indeed, incomplete samplings are almost unavoidable in practice with such species-rich communities having very uneven distribution of abundances. In this context, the numerical extrapolation of incompletely sampled communities may serve as a reliable surrogate. Accordingly, numerical extrapolations were implemented, here, to compare two fish-communities respectively associated to coral reefs that sharply differ from each-other by their topographic architectures. Both a higher total species richness and a sharper unevenness of species abundances were found to characterize the fish community associated to the more tormented reef habitat exhibiting the more complex architecture. Yet, paradoxically, the true intensity of the underlying process of hierarchical structuring of abundances proves being insensitive to the architecture of coral habitats. This apparent opposition between the unevenness pattern and the underlying structuring process results, in fact, from the additional negative dependence of abundance unevenness upon species richness.

The high spate of illegal mining activities in the Atiwa forest in the Eastern Region of Ghana has caused lots of damage to water bodies and its surrounding environment including soil and air pollution. This anthropogenic activity has resulted in elevated amounts of heavy metals pollution of the affected water bodies and its adjacent environment. This calls for the needs for the investigation into the analysis of the total coliform, E. coli and heavy metals for drinking and irrigation water accessibility is highly recommended. These are dangerous bacterial and pollutants which have health implications. A total of 20 water samples were collected from the five (5) major rivers, namely Ayensu, Birim, Ewusu, Wankobiri and Suhyen in the Anum Apapam, Kyebi Apapam, Kwabeng, Asikam and Kobriso Atiwa forest which serve at irrigation and drinking purposes for these communities. The water samples were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved solids (TDS), turbidity, colour, total calcium (Ca), magnesium (mg), total hardness (TH), sodium (Na), sodium (Na), Bicarbonate (HCO₃^-), Carbonate (CO₃^2-), Sulphate (SO₄^2-) and Chloride (Cl^-). The results obtained were compared with permissible values of WHO and FAO Guidelines for drinking water and irrigation. The results obtained shows that the water samples from all the rivers; Ayensu, Birim, Ewusu, Wankobir and Suhyen are not suitable for drinking even though all the water quality parameters are within the range of acceptability except the colour and turbidity levels of the water samples which exceeded its acceptable limit thereby making the water unsafe for drinking. Also, all the water quality parameters for irrigation suitability are within the acceptable limit except HCO₃^- and CO₃^2-.