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Month: January 2022

City of stars, there’s so much that I can’t see (literally)

City of stars, there’s so much that I can’t see (literally)

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Cities and bright lights are synonymous, and stunning nightscape are often an important feature of a vibrant and flourishing city. Indeed, cities are meant to be sparkling, but bright lights have robbed us of other wonders of the world. For example, we know for sure that stars exist above our heads in the sky, but why is it that we see nothing but pitch black when we tilt our head up to the skies at night in the city? In this blog post, we will be looking into the frequently overlooked phenomenon of light pollution.

 

What exactly is light pollution?

Fig 1: A faint glow can be seen in the night sky over the city. This is known as sky glow, when artificial light from the city is reflected on atmospheric particles (photo credit: skyglow project)

 

Throwing back to the definition of pollution I gave in the very first post; pollution is introduction of harmful materials into the environment, in this case, light is our pollutive substance. It is important to note that pollutive light mainly refers to artificial lighting, so no, we will not have to fight the sun when combatting light pollution. Light pollution is a major side effect of urbanisation, and is often an underlying contributor to various health implications and ecosystem disruptions.

 

Sleepless nights in a city that never sleeps

In a city, one is rarely shrouded in darkness. Take Singapore for an example, to ensure safety and visibility at night, almost every corner of neighbourhoods is illuminated by a street lamp. Although light acts as a safety mechanism in the urban setting, as it discourages criminal activity (NCPC, 2003), constant exposure to artificial light can be detrimental to the natural rhythms in living things. Humans have an internal circadian clock that regulate our sleep cycle through roughly 24 hours. Exposure to artificial light at night when the body is supposed to be sleeping causes the clock to delay the production of melatonin, the hormone that triggers drowsiness. Longterm disruption of circadian cycle will eventually result in insomnia and related illnesses such as stress and anxiety from the lack of rest (NIH, 2021). There was even a study that linked circadian disruption to being a carcinogen to humans (IARC, 2007).

 

Dancing in the streetlights?

Fig 2 & 3: Good samaritans helped to pick up the straying turtle hatchlings and bring them back to the coast. Some also parked their bicycles to cordon off the path to prevent more collision with the hatchlings (photo credit: Brendan Goh)

 

City light pollution also affects the wildlife that live close to or within urban environments. Many animals have the natural instinct to follow the sun or the moon for directional guidance, such as turtle hatchlings. Just recently in Singapore at Changi Beach, there was a sea turtle hatching event that caught the attention of the general public. Turns out, instead of moving towards the sea, the hatchlings mistook the park’s street-lamps as the moon, and made its way onto the bike paths, where many were crushed by unsuspecting cyclists. Thankfully, citizens noticed the tiny hatchlings and helped to divert and guide them back to the waters (Lee, 2021).

 

Do we turn off our lights at night then?

Of course it is not plausible to power off an entire metropolis at night time, however, there are still room for improvement in the current lighting structure of a city. For example, making the switch to energy-efficient and lower blue light LED street-lamps can decrease blue light exposure (which prevents melatonin release). Legislations can be established to control outdoor lighting, and sensors can be used for areas with less foot-fall. We can also do our part by installing blinds to prevent light trespassing.

 

 

References

International Agency for Research on Cancer. (2011, July 21). IARC Monographs Programme finds cancer hazards associated with shiftwork, painting and firefighting. https://web.archive.org/web/20110721001355/http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2007/pr180.html

Lee, J. (2021, December 18). Sea turtles hatch near changi coast cycling path, passers-by rescue most of them. Must Share News – Independent News For Singaporeans. https://mustsharenews.com/sea-turtles-hatch-changi/

National Crime Prevention Council. (2003). CPTED Guidebook. https://www.ncpc.org.sg/cpted.html

National Institute of General Medical Science. (2021). Circadian rhythms. https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/circadian-rhythms.aspx#:~:text=Circadian%20rhythms%20are%20physical%2C%20mental,the%20study%20of%20circadian%20rhythms

Asia’s Dirtiest Holy River – Part 2

Asia’s Dirtiest Holy River – Part 2

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In the previous blog post, we looked at how love and devotion, coupled with improper sewage systems and lax regulations, have led to the demise of the river that courses through the world’s largest ancient city. It was clear that the river Ganges was vital to the people who reside near it, but what exactly have the people done to revive the river?

 

Governmental Action

The Holy City of Varanasi, a popular pilgrimage destination

 

 

The Ganges River provides the state with an array of ecosystem services; it is the source of irrigation water for one of the main exports of India: rice. It also possesses great hydroelectric power, and garners economy through tourism, where the holy city of Varanasi alone saw over 300,000 foreign visitors and 5 million domestic tourists annually.

Evidently, the Ganges is an essential nature resource to the state’s economy, which is why there was an attempt to safeguard this resource with the implementation of the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP). This plan was separated into 3 phases. Phase 1, which took place from 1993-2003, aims to eliminate informal sources of waste disposal into the channel through expanding sewage networks and public infrastructures such as toilets. Phase 1 also planned to educate the public on pollutive behaviours. Unfortunately, due to lack of foresight on a population boom, the new infrastructures built were unable to cater to the new 6.7 million, as it was initially planned to support only 3.5 million people. The second phase involves further capacity building, and the start of water testing to check the progress of the action plan. It was found that after a whole 20 years since the plan ensued, dissolved oxygen concentrations remained low and heavy metal percentages are almost the same pre-YAP, indicating meagre success (Singh and Parmar, 2015).

 

Leaving the river alone

It seems that hard engineering methods implemented by the states saw extremely limited improvements, and that perhaps, should not be the direction to look into for a sustainable restorative strategy. To contain the recent outbreak of COVID-19, the Indian government called for a 60-days lockdown, and industries came to a halt. This was when a miracle happened.

Side by side comparison of the Ganges River before and during the COVID-19 lockdown

 

As seen from the above photos, the Ganges River finally ran clear, no longer plagued with phosphate foams that indicated polluted waters. It seemed unbelievable that with just a short 3-month break from constant consumption of industrial waste, the river was able to restore itself to such a healthy state. For this self-restorative function of the river, we will have to thank the various microorganisms that regulated oxidation and reductions of the fecal materials and several metals in the channel. Waters of the Yamuna River saw revivals of dissolved oxygen levels during the lockdown, indicating life in the river (Mohammad et al., 2020).

 

Moving forward

Alas, when the economy is again allowed to run, and industries begin functioning again, the frothy waters return. However, the sight of pure waters of Mother Ganges runs fresh in people’s mind; perhaps seeing the effects of proper pollution control can motivate a stronger urge in mitigating pollution of the river, and return the Ganges back to its initial purifying state that it is revered for.

 

References

Mohammad, A., Kumar, R., & Parveen, S. (2020). Reduction in Water Pollution in Yamuna River due to lockdown under COVID-19 Pandemic.

Singh, V., & Parmar, S. (2015). Water Quality Parameters of River Yamuna in Delhi After 20 Years of the Yamuna Action Plan. International Journal of Science and Nature, 6.

Asia’s Dirtiest Holy River – Part 1

Asia’s Dirtiest Holy River – Part 1

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Humans love water. Aside from the obvious reasons of needing water to survive, humans have an uncanny attraction to water, evident in the high demand for waterfront apartments, and expensive beach vacations. Our desire to be near a water source dates back to the birth of civilisation, where every cradle formed next to a river.

Pollution of the waters that run through ancient cities

We place focus on the Ganges River for our post today. The Ganges River was where the development of the most extensive Neolithic site, the Indus Valley Civilisation, occurred. Today, it flows through most of India, cutting into Bangladesh and emptying out into the Bay of Bengal. River Ganges provides an array of ecosystem services to the 650 million people within its basin, and is worshipped by the Hindus as the goddess Ganga.

Despite being worshipped for its purifying qualities, the River Ganges is ironically the dirtiest river in Asia, specifically at the stretch called Yamuna River. River health indicators such as low dissolved oxygen content and high heavy metal percentage showed the detrimental conditions of Yamuna. At this stage, the Yamuna is a dead river, incapable of sustaining an ecosystem (Rai, 2011).

Sources of pollutants – household and industrial waste

A woman praying amidst the frothy waters in the Ganges. Frothy waters are the result of high levels of phosphates from pollutants

 

The causes of pollution of River Ganges is overbearingly anthropogenic, and links greatly to the lack of providence of formalised drainage system in the many informal settlements flanking the channel. Faecal matter and household wastewater containing chemicals such as detergents, are often flushed into the channel untreated. Industries such as leather tanneries also illegally release large volume of chemicals and acidic compounds choke full of heavy metals into the sewerage system, which flows into the channel untreated (Parthasarathy, 2016).

 

Sources of pollutants – Religious believes

The process of submerging idols of the goddess Durga into the waters of Ma Ganga

 

Due to its holy status, River Ganges plays a vital role in many aspects of the Hindu religion. During the day of Durga Puja, devotees worships the goddess Durga, and conduct rituals that include submerging idols of the goddess into the holy river. These idols are usually made out of cheap paints laden with heavy metals, and are disposed in the river after the celebrations conclude. It was also believed that after death, if one’s remains are to be cremated at the banks of the Ganges, and ashes scattered into its waters, they will obtain a spiritual level deemed as “Moksha”, liberating them from the endless cycle of rebirth. At the holy city of Varanasi, an estimated 32,000 corpses are cremated and offered into the river annually. The sheer amount of human remains adds on to the pollutants entering the channel.

 

Human attempts to re-purify the waters

The water pollution of Ganges drew attention from many. Environmentalists have called for immediate restrictions on sewage entering the channels, and religious leaders preached about how India is slowly “killing its own mother” (Rowlatt, 2016). In the following post, we will look into the attempts by the state and its people in fighting against the poisoning of Ma Ganga.

 

References

Parthasarathy, S. (2016). In Pictures: The toxic cost of Kanpur’s leather industry. India Today. https://www.indiatoday.in/fyi/story/the-toxic-cost-of-kanpurs-leather-industry-329990-2016-07-19

Rai, R. K. (Ed.). (2011). The Yamuna River Basin: Water Resources and Environment. Springer.

Rowlatt, J. (2016). India’s Dying Mother. BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-aad46fca-734a-45f9-8721-61404cc12a39

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of

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Cities are anthropogenic habitats, a place where humans congregate, to live, work and play in. Enticed by the prospect of jobs, education, facilities and in general, a better standard of living, cities draw humans in like fire to moth. In fact, more that half of the world’s population currently reside in a city, with this number projecting to rise to a 60% by 2030 (UN, n.d.).  In order to house this massive amount of people, rapid urbanisation ensued, and cities evolved into mega-cities, while previously rural communities begin adopting features of a city. Although cities are catalysts for economic growth, they also bring an onslaught of social and environmental issues.

 

Amidst the bright lights and hustle of activity, are insidious forms of pollution. Pollution is defined as an introduction of harmful substances into the environment. They can be clustered into the space they occupy, such as air, land and water. Other intangible forms of pollution are light and noise, both extremely commonplace in a city. Through this blog, we will look at how urbanisation and cities contribute to the pollution scene.

 

References

Cities—United Nations Sustainable Development Action 2015. (n.d.). United Nations Sustainable Development. Retrieved January 17, 2022, from https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/

 

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