Ok, now here’s something I’ve not heard in any documentaries, or printed media, that I need to talk about. If nothing external comes along and makes the earth uninhabitable by humans, then our gene pool will eventually deteriorate, and we will be gone. The “Gene pool will deteriorate?”, you ask. Well, yes, this is common knowledge and is proven by every instance of incest that occurs in the world as we know it. There are certain areas of our planet that were and/or have been isolated for so many years that the local population either disappeared or was severely damaged. At some point we will all be marrying our cousins, brothers, and sisters, it’s inevitable. It is, of course, possible that before that time comes, the planet will be rendered uninhabitable by life as we know it – by some external force – a giant asteroid, a freak explosion on the sun, or even the human race having polluted the planet to the point where life can no longer exist, or, the earth raging against and destroying the virus known as the human race.

It’s also possible that a new, more intelligent life form may appear. If so, being that it is not possible for a human to mate with an ape and reproduce, it stands to reason that if there are any humans still in existence if or when a new life form appears, that it will not be possible for us to mate with that life form either – in fact, we probably won’t even be able to communicate with it – that’s again of course, if any humans even still exist.

What is this stuff about the universe constantly expanding? There’s also the theory that the galaxies are closing in on each other? So, which is it, and how can anyone know these things? I guess they don’t, they are nothing more than unproven theories. I don’t know that there is an end to the universe – either timewise or spacewise. We’re too puny to know such a thing, or to even venture a guess. This brings me back to the human ego, which again, causes many of us want to live forever, some to pass on their genes in hopes that their family line can be perpetuated till infinity, and to have the need to control anybody and anything in its line of sight. Many of us think that we should defy nature, alter our genes, invade other worlds, carry on in our current state till the end of time (that’s of course, a figure of speech). Lucky for the universe that it has the built in atomic map, where the elements feel the need to spread out and do other things – build other worlds, become other forms of life. Maybe they do the same as we do – they simply get bored after a few million years or so, and need to move on. Whatever the case, nothing stays as it is indefinitely, there will come a time when human, earth, and sun will disintegrate, and its building blocks will be blasted into deep space. It will land somewhere, congregate somewhere, and new worlds and life forms will be created.

When it’s my time to contribute my little atomic legos to the universe, so that they may become something else, I will welcome it; I mean hell, I’m 56, and I’m bored now, I can’t imagine what I’ll be like when I’m 70 or beyond.

So, folks, if I have any advice to offer, it’s to get over yourselves. We are just passing through, we are nothing more than atoms arranged in a particular way to make us what we are, and at some point in time, the giant atomic transporter will break us down and rearrange our particles somewhere else. That’s not to say we shouldn’t value our lives, and make the best of the time that we are here, I’m only saying we need to be reasonable, and not be so damn selfish.

See y’all on the next plane (of existence).

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It may be that you’ve gotten so used to doing things a certain way that you don’t even realize that you are contributing to the contamination in our water systems. Tips for doing your part to clean up the water include:

* Make it a habit to use less water. Take showers instead of tub baths, wear clothing more than once before tossing it into the laundry, or forget about watering your lawn. Make sure that there are no dripping faucets or toilets running in your home to cut down on water waste. The less water you use, the smaller the quantity that you are sending into our reclamation systems.

* We all need to be very careful with our use of chemicals. Everything from the cleaners you use in your home to the fertilizer you put on your lawn can infiltrate the water systems. Any time you pour a bucket of caustic materials down the storm sewer near your home, you’re just as guilty of pollution as big industry. Such things as soaps and shampoos that contain phosphates are also big culprits when it comes to water contamination. Read the ingredients a product contains before you buy.

* There are simple tasks we can all do that will help clean up the environment and, thereby, keep harmful materials out of our water. Cleaning up waste after your pet can keep it from washing into the waterways as can properly depositing your cigarette butts instead of throwing them on the ground. Many people think it’s okay to flush almost anything down their toilets, and so they dump in chemicals, unwanted drugs, and dirty water they’d rather not put down their sinks. Next time you start thinking about doing this, think about where that stuff is going to end up.

* You may have heard that recently 240,000 fish were discovered along a Tennessee riverbank in Alabama. The cause of their demise? Nothing but water pollution. Freshwater fish are those most often affected by our contamination of their habitat.

Our water is a precious commodity which all living things need to sustain life. It isn’t the plentiful and sustainable resource that many people seem to think it is, and people who aren’t working to save it are adding to the problem. It’s easy to make a difference, so you should think about how you can make yours.

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The amount of waste that is infiltrating our water is growing proportionately with the increasing population. The Water World Assessment Program estimates that people worldwide dump 2 million tons of waste into our water each day. At least 70% of industrial wastes are drained into the water in developing nations where they don’t yet have anti-pollution precautions and laws in place. Here in the United States, we have a major problem in that agricultural waste products, from such things as fertilizer run-offs and hog confinements, and the wastes we pump into our water are being carried into the lakes, rivers, and oceans. In the 1970s, the United States banned the use of DDT, yet 40 years later, traces of the substance are still being found in our oceans.

We live in a country filled with plenty, and there are those who believe that our water can never run out; however, 20% of the people in the world have no access to clean, safe drinking water. When you hear 20%, do you know how many people are being affected by water shortages? That’s a whopping 1,200 million. The problem is so drastic in some areas that it has become the major cause of death for children under the age of five in some areas of the world, and scientists are saying that within the next few decades this same thing could happen to us unless we initiate measures as soon as possible.

Obviously, we don’t want this to happen to us. Imagine watching your child wither and die of dehydration because they can’t get adequate water to drink, and there’s nothing at all you can do about it. Don’t depend on laws passed by the government to take care of the problem, because that alone can’t begin to conquer the crisis. If we all do our part, together we can make a difference.

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A conference organized by the Hudson River Environmental Society was held at Vassar College to discuss the contamination problems. During this seminar, various speakers emphasized the causes and effects of our water crisis as well as ideas for ways we can solve them. Participants were taught to recognize what pollution actually is, how it’s getting into our water systems, ways in which it is effecting the ecosystems, and strategies for correcting the different situations.

Most of us give no thought to how water pollution affects anyone but humans. Examples were provided to conference attendees based on extensive research done by such research facilities as the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. A study was done there that involved ways that Tagamet, a antihistamine that controls stomach acid, affects invertebrates. The study found that invertebrates use histamines as neurotransmitters, utilizing them for such things as olfactory and photo reception. If lobsters ingest the drug, their neurological pathways are disrupted and fail to perform properly.

Combined sewer overflows are the major culprits in this scenario. Although they are responsible for only 10% of all of our treated or untreated wastewater discharge, they contain around 90% of the discharged compounds. These overflows introduce the built-up contamination into a variety of ecosystems. To combat the problem, cities are instituting measures, such as grey and green infrastructure. Gray infrastructure includes such additions as holding tanks which keep excessive stormwater under control until it can be processed. Although steps like this are effective, they are also very expensive. New York City, for example, paid $400 million for a 50 million gallon tank.

Green infrastructure is done in smaller steps, such as encouraging landowners to collect and divert stormwater before it can run into the sewers. A renovation on Vassar’s own campus was given as an example. It involved the redesign of a parking area near one of the college’s townhouse complexes. The project involved bioengineering depressions, known as swales, to catch runoff and direct it to specially-created holding areas. In those areas, plants and special soil mixtures break down pollutants such as gas, salt, and oil, before the water can mingle with with that in the storm sewers.

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As a matter of fact pollution can’t be defined as enthusiastically as it can be condemned and censured. Why? Because pollution definition is not as much important as its remedial measures are of utmost importance to save human life from its hazards. Anyway, whatever disturbs the natural composition of any thing is called pollution.

The definition of pollution can rightly be found at a place either at land or water which has been impaired by its hazards. A densely populated commercial hub of backward metropolis, a village at the coastal belt of Asia or Africa or an agriculture land damaged by undue spray of chemical fertilizer and pesticide can unequivocally tells the sorry state of harms of pollution.

In slums of huge city the harms of pollution are visible in its standard of living. Squalid streets, unhygienic food, smelly restaurants, footpaths with heaps of garbage and dirty urchins are enough to tell the fortune of people who lives in such underdeveloped areas. It shows the nexus of pollution and poverty. More the pollution, higher the poverty level and it is proved in poverty-ridden areas of the world.

In the process of pollution it does not evince what is affected most but results are same of all kinds of pollution. Either it is air pollution, water pollution or land pollution; they directly impact the human life apart from marring the natural beauty of environment. We breathe in air but can not feel the level of pollution in it. It dawn upon us when after some times we face problems in breathing. We don’t know how land pollution is contaminating the food we eat but when it becomes hard to digest even softer kind of food we come to know that our digestive system has totally been disturbed.

Therefore, definition of pollution is definitely important to understand how pollution is made but more important is to realize the harms of pollution wherever we observe that pollution is directly or indirectly affecting the natural fabric of our lives. In this way we would be able to take precautionary measures to protect ourselves from its harm and to make efforts to contain it to the lower possible level.

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Although many small rivers assimilated with river Ganges, the six sacred rivers like Alakananda, Dhauliganga, Nandakini, Pindar, Mandakini and Bharirathi were met with her at different locations giving also separate sacred names like Vishnuprayag, Nandaprayag, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, and Devaprayag. Ganga has the seven stream, The seven streams of Ganga are Bhagirathi, Janhvi, Bhilangana, Mandakini, Rishiganga, Saraswati and Alakananda which merge into Ganga at Devaprayag. These five places conjointly called Panch Prayag.

The Ganges is considered as mother and Hindus worship her as Ganga Mata (mother). There is a story in the Indian mythology on how river Ganges was brought to earth from heaven by Dilip’s son Bhagirath after several years of meditation.

This article is not intended to introduce Ganga (the river Ganges) and if I do so will be a stupidity, since entire population of India knows what is Ganga and are well aware from where it begins and end its journey. My purpose of this writing is to how many of us are really concerned about its pollution.

Ganga basin is one of the most fertile and densely populated area in the world and its flows through more than 100 cities and towns across India. Since from the independence of India in 1947 until 1985 no central or local level administration took any measure in stopping polluting it. Only in April 1985 under the Premiership of Late Rajiv Gandhi ‘Ganga Action Plan’ (GAP) was launched. While several million Rupees were spent, but lack of proper supervision and poor coordination among various states and local bodies said programme failed to meet reducing pollution level in the river Ganga and unfortunately said programme declared closed in the year 2000. However, a second phase by the name National Ganga River Basin Authority (NRGBA) has launched on 20th February 2009 with a massive number of funds for achieving the desired goal under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister of India and Chief Minister of various states through which Ganga flows.

In the conclusion it is pertinent to mention, that while many social activists as well as many organizations urging immediate solution of the problem but it cannot be achieved unless a massive public awareness created by the way of mass publicity and take all corrective measures learned and experienced while the first Ganga Action Plan was in operative. We should accept that it is we, our tradition, our wrong beliefs, non-cooperation from the various religious authorities and the industries those were being set-up on the river sides are responsible for this catastrophe. While Varanasi is worshiping Mother Ganga (Ganges) every evening, it is the highest polluting place throughout its 2500 km journey.

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Anyone might conclude that the Department of Health was overjoyed to finally know the reason behind the higher-than-acceptable levels of fecal coliform and enterococcus bacteria. The fact that there had been no rain yet the worst of the pollution had been concentrated near two pipes which were used to drain storm water into the gulf had them stymied. Then they discovered that the water flow into the area was caused by homeowners watering their lawns since there was no rain. This clean water was particularly appealing to thirsty wildlife who congregated at the mouth of these pipes in order to drink during dry periods of time.

The good news here was the fact that human swimmers are less likely to contract diseases from animal feces. However, the problem in general wasn’t good, and engineers had to come up with ways to cut down on the contamination. A common misconception is that screens can be used to stop wildlife getting into pipes such as these. True, it’s a solution that could work except for the fact that screens clog with debris which, during heavy rainfall, could cause the sewers to back up.

The solution that seems to be working best so far is keeping watch of the amounts of contamination in these areas. If a problem build-up of bacteria is found, city workers can be assigned the task of cleaning out the pipes. Unfortunately, operating this aggressive maintenance procedure has escalated costs to unacceptable levels. A permanent fix would be far less costly, that is provided a viable one can be found.

Starting in August, the city plans to try revamping the way the sewer system runs in order to stop the accumulation of bacteria. By rerouting two of the worst water runs so as to detour them through a shallow swale, the water will percolate into the sand, the ultraviolet rays of the sun will help to break down the colonies of bacteria. Two other water systems will be connected to vaults where the water will be filtered and UV treated before being pumped offshore.

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As more and more people inhabit onto this already crowded planet and as the resources we use each and everyday began to become more scarce those who know how to collect and recycle materials will be able to make a very good living. Not only will you be doing something that is good for the environment and future generations but you can be your own boss at the same time. It is the best of both worlds.

But it takes some knowledge and understanding about how the recycling business works to make money at it. By avoiding the common mistake most beginners make you can be putting cash into your pocket quickly and grow your business into a full time income that provides you with everything you need.

Here are a few pointers to get you started. These will not teach you everything you need to know but will get you pointed in the right direction. Visit the link at the bottom of the page for a more detailed plan about how to make some serious money with your own recycling and salvage business.

Understand what are the most valuable things to look for. Sure you can collect aluminum cans and turn them in for a few pennies a pound. But the real money is made in finding old lumber, auto parts, brass and copper fittings, electric motors and many other things that you can recycle or sell for very good money.

Offer to clean up or tear down old buildings and haul away the “junk”. You don’t necessarily have to do this for free. Many times you will be able to get a small fee for doing this work as long as you charge less than the more expensive demolition companies are charging.

Make connections with local small business’s and offer you services to them. Also make sure to ask them what they need. At times you may be able to supply them with items and make a tidy profit on the side.

These are just a few tips to get you started. Much more information on how to make very good money in the salvage and recycling business can be found at Recycling Secrets

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There are worries that in some years’ time, the earth will no longer be able to support human habitation, thanks to the damage that has been done to the environment. What most people forget, however, is that already, there are some inhabitants of the planet going through the agony of losing their habitats and their ability to feed. These are the unlucky animals that have found themselves at the receiving end of climate change.

But, what does global warming have to do with animals, you may ask? The fact that global temperatures have risen and continue to rise means that polar ice caps are melting at an alarming rate. If you remember correctly, polar bears, seals and penguins live in the Arctic. If the polar ice caps are melting, it means these animals are losing their habitats. Since these animals cannot adapt to higher temperatures, losing their natural habitats means they will also lose their lives. It is estimated that in the near future, if nothing is done to remedy the climate change crisis, a lot of animal species will be facing extinction. It will be unfortunate if the earth loses these beautiful creatures on account of irresponsible human activity.

It is not just the polar bears and the seals that are feeling the threat to their natural environment. When human beings embark on the irresponsible act of deforestation, it destroys the natural habitat of animals such as birds and primates. Deforestation causes global warming, which now causes harmful effects to the very same animals whose habitat was destroyed.

Climate change also means the animals have to change their mating habits in order to be in sync with the climatic seasons. By extension, it also means that these animals have to migrate further and further away from the equator in search of more favorable conditions. As climate change occurs, birds are migrating later and later in the season.

When it comes to the animals that live in water, climate change has not shown any boundaries either. Underwater animals such as fish have global warming to blame for the changes that are taking place in their natural environment. With the oceans getting warmer and warmer, the coral reefs and the natural habitat of the fish is facing destruction. Also, with rising levels of carbon dioxide, there is increased acidity and this poses a direct threat to the fish. The acidity also damages the food chain and leads to death of fish.

It is unfortunate that animals have to suffer a fate that is not their making. Human beings should take considerable measures to ensure that the animal kingdom is not wiped out by climate change.

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We have such amazing intellectual gifts that we are able to harness nearly everything the Earth has to offer and use it to our benefit. The Earth, all this while, sees us as her child, and like any mother, expects no thanks from us.

For most of history, we have held the Earth in much reverence. Ancient cultures held the Earth in very high esteem for the bounties which it provided, and were very mindful of wasting and harming the Earth.

We have reached a stage now where some of us seem to have adapted the policy of “all take and no give.” Our current consumption of the Earth’s resources is rather alarming.

To give you an idea, let’s go back 100,000,000 years. Plankton and other life-forms that sunk into the sea bed back then are acted upon by pressure and temperature, and gradually begin to change into fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas. After undergoing the processes of 100,000,000 years, come back to the present day, where millions of barrels of oil are being consumed without second thought. Oil was only discovered in the late 19th/early 20th century. Some predictions state that the world’s oil supply will only last another 50 years. Imagine: what took 100,000,000 years to create will probably be used up in only 150 years! In percentage terms, that’s less than.002% of the entire time it took!

Thankfully, there is a growing awareness about the environment and protecting it today. Many governments are mandating green initiatives, and alternative energy sources are being explored. We must make sure that our future generations are also able to enjoy the bounties of the Earth as we do today.

It is important that the effort start from the home. We cannot continue to wait for government mandates to pass through bureaucracy. Time is running out. Imagine, there are about 300,000,000 people in the United States alone. If each one of those people takes even a small step, collectively, we will be making a great difference. It is with this unity and awareness that we can successfully bring about the needed change.

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