World
As Thailand Gasps Through Another Haze Season, Researchers Hope A Fire-Charting App Can Help
Samoeng, Thailand — When the hazy season arrives, village chief Nanthawat Tiengtrongsakun and his tribesmen prepare the land for fires.
They chop bushes and trees on their little plots of land, then conduct controlled burns to clear their fields for planting – resulting in smoke clouds contributing to some of the world’s worst air. It’s a pleasant grey haze that reduces the mountains in this region of northern Thailand to a faint outline, makes the air feel solid, and makes breathing and swallowing difficult for some.
The Pakanyo, who have been practicing it for as long as they have lived in these hills around 90 minutes from Chiang Mai, a popular tourist destination, claim they are accused by city inhabitants of polluting the air and ruining forest land.
“We are the ethnic group that preserves the forest, but other people have the concern that we are destroying the forest,” stated Tiengtrongsakun. “My argument to them is that we’ve lived here for generations. If we are the ones who caused the devastation, the forest around us must be completely destroyed.”
The Pakanyo is just one example of several reasons demonstrating how deeply fire is embedded in local behaviors and why Thailand’s air pollution problem is so intractable.
During the haze season, which lasts from February to April, Chiang Mai is consistently ranked as one of the world’s most polluted cities. In March and April, the levels of fine particulate matter — dust, dirt, soot, and smoke that enter the lungs and even bloodstreams — are almost 20 times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit for exposure.
As Thailand Gasps Through Another Haze Season, Researchers Hope A Fire-Charting App Can Help
The city is in the vanguard of Thailand’s fight against air pollution, not only because of its deadly air quality index readings but also because it has a strong civil society and a significant local government effort to address the issue. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has reinforced this endeavor, having visited Chiang Mai four times since entering office last summer. He has referred to Chiang Mai as a “model” that other Thai cities should follow, and he promised last autumn to push through clean air legislation to “ensure that access to clean air is a basic human right for all.”
Air pollution in northern Thailand has typically been blamed on farmers who grow maize and sell it to large agro-food corporations such as CP Foods for animal feed. There are alternative ways to deal with stubble, such as biochar, which includes burning in a low-oxygen atmosphere, resulting in lesser particle emissions. However, this needs a large amount of labor in highland locations. Even if most subsistence farmers had the necessary tools, tilling the stubble into the soil would be difficult due to the mountainous terrain.
CP announced in March that it has implemented a traceability system to prevent the purchase of maize grown on deforested or burned land. The same month, Srettha stated that he intends to ban the import of maize cultivated on land cleared by burning.
However, the problem extends beyond northern Thailand. According to researchers, corn planting has transferred primarily to neighboring Myanmar and Laos, where stubble burning is also practiced. Srettha has formed a working group with those countries to reduce the practice and urged Cambodia to join.
Chiang Mai University researchers investigated the origins of the city’s air pollution and found in April in the journal Atmospheric Environment that biomass burning accounted for more than 51% of the haze. According to the report, long-range pollution from other nations, most likely India, accounted for the second-largest percentage, almost 23%.
Fire is an important component of northern Thai culture, with local sayings predicting a period of development and rejuvenation. In everyday life, it is used to clean the forest floor to manage wildfires, to open space for an expensive fungus to develop that will bring in more money, and to remove the ground of loud leaves as part of hunting techniques.
As Thailand Gasps Through Another Haze Season, Researchers Hope A Fire-Charting App Can Help
According to Olivier Evrard, a senior researcher at the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) headquartered in Thailand, fire is also frequently used as a protest method. A national issue emerged in 2018 when residents found that a judiciary branch had erected a dwelling and residential complex on protected forest property at the base of a sacred mountain outside Chiang Mai. They subsequently left the property due to the outrage, although fires are still set around the spot each year, most likely in protest.
There has been no shortage of policies aiming to control burning. Beginning in 2013, Thailand implemented a national zero-burning directive, with different provinces enforcing a blanket ban on burning at different times.
However, residents responded by burning before and after the zero-burn time, extending the haze season, according to Mary Mostafanezhad, a University of Hawaii professor researching air pollution in Chiang Mai. After determining that the zero-burning policy was ineffective, Chiang Mai province implemented a different policy: fires could be started as long as they were pre-approved.
The fires will be reported through FireD, an app Chiang Mai University professor Chakrit Chotamonsak created. The program utilizes weather and satellite data to anticipate if a fire on a specific day will increase pollution or if conditions will clear the smoke and pollutants.
The researchers estimate that up to half of the fires in the province are not registered, but they still see the app as a significant start. Even the decision to use FireD, a transliteration of “good fire” in Thai, in 2021 was significant, according to Chaya Vaddhanaphuti, an independent researcher who cooperated with the FireD team.
“This changes the perspective that fire was seen as a bad image, as savage,” he added, pointing out that many people in rural northern Thailand rely on fire.
As Thailand Gasps Through Another Haze Season, Researchers Hope A Fire-Charting App Can Help
However, the villagers find it weird that they are being asked to fill out papers for permission to do something they already know how to do: set a planned burn in favorable weather to clear a section of land for the future year’s crops.
This year, Tiengtrongsakun, the Pakanyo chief in the village of Ban Mae Lan Kham, completed documentation for 100 households that needed to start a fire to clear fields. Only some people in the area speak Thai or know current government policy.
“If we hand them the document or registration form, they don’t know what to do with it,” he stated. “Often they just throw the papers away.”
According to researchers, officials must evaluate people’s living conditions and the specifics of where land is being burned and why. However, it is tough due to politics and economics. Many people who live in the hills around Chiang Mai belong to tribal tribes that the Thai government does not officially recognise. Others need help with obtaining a solid education and finding work. For now, burning remains the most efficient and cost-effective means for people to accomplish their tasks, whether farming, hunting, or clearing the forest floor.
“If burning is the easiest and most cost-efficient way to grow your crops, or to make a living, until that is not true, it’s going to continue to happen,” stated Mostafanezhad.
SOURCE – (AP)
World
Do Microplastics in the Atmosphere Endanger Your Fertility?
(VOR News) – It is quite possible that the presence of small microplastic particles in the air may be a contributing factor to a wide variety of health problems, including malignancies of the lungs and colon.
This is something that needs additional research to be determined. There is one more item to take into consideration, and that is the potential that this is the exact circumstance.
A recent study found that tires and debris that are decomposing shed minute fragments of plastic that go airborne, so creating a form of air pollution that is not particularly widely known. This type of pollution is caused by the degradation of plastic. An example of this type of pollution is that which is discharged into the atmosphere.
The industry refers to microplastic as “air pollution.”
According to the findings of a researcher named Tracey Woodruff, who is a professor of obstetrics, gynaecology, and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, “These microplastics are basically particulate matter from air pollution,” and it is common knowledge that this particular type of air pollution is particularly hazardous.
The researchers who supplied background notes stated that the size of microplastics is less than 5 millimetres, which is smaller than a grain of rice.
This information was provided, according to researchers. These details were supplied by the researchers who conducted the study. These particulars were provided by researchers who were responsible for carrying out the study.
The amount of plastic that is created on a yearly basis by enterprises all over the world is roughly 460 million tonnes, as indicated by the data that were provided by academics all over the world. The forecasts indicate that by the year 2050, this quantity is anticipated to have increased to 1.1 billion tonnes.
Driving is a substantial contributor to the amount of plastic that is floating around in the atmosphere, according to the conclusions of the experts who conducted the study about the phenomenon. When tires are worn down to the point where they scrape against the surface of the road, they allow microplastics to be released into the environment.
As a result of the tires wearing down, this occurs. This impact is brought about as a consequence of the inevitable amount of wear and tear that tires are subjected to.
A study that was published on December 18 in the journal Environmental Science & Technology was the result of researchers conducting an examination of data collected from over 3,000 previous investigations.
The paper was published as a consequence of this procedure. The review was constructed with the help of this analysis that was carried out.
Microplastic used this analysis to put together the review.
A number of diseases, such as cancer, lung problems, and infertility, may be influenced by the presence of microplastics in the air, according to the data, which led to the conclusion that this may be the case.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of the studies that were incorporated into the study were carried out on animals, the researchers claimed that it is very certainly plausible that the findings can also be applied to people. The fact that the majority of investigations were conducted on animals does not change the reality that this is the case.
“We urge regulatory agencies and policy leaders to consider the growing evidence of health harms from microplastics, including colon and lung cancer,” stated Nicholas Chartres, the principal investigator and senior research fellow at the University of Sydney.
The organisation reported this comment. The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) issued a press release on behalf of the organisation that contained this statement. The news release was disseminated to the public. We are convinced that state officials will act quickly to make sure that no leaks of this kind occur, which is of the highest importance.
SOURCE: USN
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World
Russian Oil Ships In The Kerch Strait Are Undergoing Rescue Operations.
(VOR News) – Following Sunday’s powerful storm, a Russian oil tanker carrying hundreds of tonnes of oil products ultimately broke apart, causing an oil spill into the Kerch Strait below. Additionally, Russian officials reported that the damage was causing problems for another vessel.
Sunday, Russian authorities announced an emergency rescue operation.
According to the Russian state news agency TASS, which claimed the Emergency Situations Ministry as its source, the Volgoneft-212 tanker, carrying fuel oil and carrying thirteen crew members, ran aground and suffered damage to its bow. A shipment of fuel oil was being transported by the tanker.
Authorities have told the public that the damage was brought on by the extreme weather conditions that are currently occurring.
A second tanker, the Volgoneft-239, was damaged during the storm and is currently stranded in the same area with 14 crew members on board, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. The tanker was discovered abandoned and alone in the same spot.
Additional tankers also suffered damage. The 132-meter-long cruiser, which was constructed in 1973, hangs the Russian flag around its neck.
The footage posted by state media showed the 136-meter Volgoneft-212 tanker, which was cut in two with its bow underwater, and waves crashing over its deck. At least one person lost his life as a result of this tragedy. This led to the opening of two distinct criminal investigations by the Russian authorities to look into potential violations of certain safety regulations.
Having flown the Russian flag since 1969, the yacht was finished.
Rosmorrechflot, the Russian government agency in charge of water transportation, reported a petroleum product spill.
It is believed that the cargo capacity of each tanker is around 4,200 tonnes of oil products.
The magnitude of the leak and the cause of the substantial damage one of the tankers received were not specified in the official remarks. This is in accordance with the official remarks.
Several news sites cited Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov as saying that President Vladimir Putin directed the formation of a working committee to handle the rescue effort and lessen the effects of the oil disaster.
Peskov recommended that the government appoint the working committee’s members. This comment was made public right after Putin met with the ministries responsible for ecology and disaster management.
The Russian government has said that it will be sending more than fifty individuals and pieces of equipment to the area in response to the current crisis. Mi-8 helicopters and rescue tugboats are examples of these people and tools.
The news that experts are presently investigating the damage at the event site was announced by Svetlana Radionova, who is in charge of Rosprirodnadzor, Russia’s natural resources regulating entity.
Kommersant reports that Volgoneft-212 used 4,300 tonnes of fuel oil.
The footage, which showed a partially submerged ship and murky water on rough seas, was posted to Telegram without the owner’s consent.
The warships were located in the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from the Russian mainland, when the distress signals were sent out.
The Kerch Strait is a crucial international marine passage that connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, allowing for easier traffic between the two bodies of water. It also acts as a border between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which is under Russian occupation. The Kerch Strait is located in the centre of the two nations.
The peninsula has remained a major source of contention between the two national governments ever since Russia annexed it from Ukraine in 2014. Russia was the one who seized the peninsula. Ukraine brought legal action against Russia before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016.
Specifically, the lawsuit claimed that Russia intended to illegally take over a location. The argument was supported by evidence pertaining to Russia’s conduct in the region. In 2021, the Russian Federation closed the strait for several consecutive months
SOURCE: VN
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World
Japan List Cannabis as Narcotic Criminalizes Recreational Use
TOKYO – Japan updated its cannabis and narcotics control legislation on Thursday, criminalizing cannabis (Marijuana) use and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), imposing a maximum seven-year prison sentence.
While the possession, transmission, and cultivation of cannabis and THC were already prohibited in Japan, the new rules will classify them as narcotics and criminalize their use as well, with a prison sentence of up to seven years for violations.
The amended regulations also legalize medical items containing cannabis-derived compounds that are beneficial and safe.
In 2019, 1.8 percent of the Japanese population had used cannabis at least once, making it the country’s second most popular illicit substance behind methamphetamine.
In 2023, a record 6,703 people were probed in cannabis-related criminal cases in Japan, topping methamphetamine cases for the first time, according to the Health, Labour, and Welfare Ministry. Seventy percent of instances involved people under the age of thirty.
A nationwide poll performed the same year by the ministry’s research group estimated that approximately 200,000 people had consumed marijuana within the previous year.
Japan previously did not penalize cannabis usage, apparently taking into account farmers who may have accidentally ingested the drug while producing cannabis plants for use in hemp products.
The amendments will also lift a restriction on cannabis-derived medicines, putting them under a licensing system similar to other drugs used for pain relief and other purposes.
Drugs derived from cannabis plants were only allowed in clinical studies in Japan, but patient groups have been advocating for access to cannabis-derived cannabidiol treatments already licensed in Europe and the United States for illnesses like severe epilepsy.
Cannabis cultivation dates back to the Jōmon period of Japanese prehistory, roughly six to ten thousand years ago (source: Wikipedia).
Cannabis hemp, as one of Japan’s first cultivated plants, provided an essential supply of plant fibre for clothing, cordage, and Shinto ritual goods, among other uses.
For much of Japanese history, hemp was common for fabric and food before cotton emerged as the country’s dominant fibre crop during industrialization during the Meiji period.
Following the end of World War II and the occupation of Japan, the Cannabis Control Law prohibited cannabis possession and manufacturing.
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