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Friday, 20 February 2015
project on IMPACT OF FESTIVALS ON WEATHER AND CLIMATE
IMPACT OF FESTIVALS ON WEATHER AND CLIMATE
SUB THEME:
WEATHER, CLIMATE, SOCIETY AND CULTURE
Team Members: Teachers Incharge:
Amreen Kohli Ms. Jasmit Janeja
Amolika Saini Ms. Kultar Kaur
Shobhita Garg
Javteshwar
Singh
Ansh Bangia
Sat Paul Mittal School
Ludhiana
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Words never can express Our deep sense
of gratitude and indebtedness to Mrs.
Bhupinder Gogia, Principal, Sat Paul Mittal School for her keen interest,
able guidance, constant supervision and ever available help in the preparation
of this Project.
We owe immensely to Dr (Mrs.) Geeta Dua, Head Senior School, Sat Paul Mittal School for
her supporting attitude and polite dealing.
Words are not enough to acknowledge our heartful
thanks to Our Teachers Ms. Jasmit Janeja and Ms. Kultar Kaur, their encouragement, constructive counseling and
detailed suggestions in every phase of planning, working and writing of this
manuscript.
With adnascent pleasure, we reiterate
our gratitude and indebtedness to Dr.
G.S. buttar (Head, Dept. of Agriculture Metereology, pau, Ludhiana) and Dr. S. S. Gosal (Dean, College of
Biotechnology, pau, Ludhiana) for their cooperation and wise counsel, as and
when required.
No words can suffice our feelings of immense
gratitude to Our Parents For their constant support and inspiration.
Amreen kohli
Amolika saini
Shobhita garg
Ansh bangia
Javteshwar singH
Introduction
India
is said to be “The Land of Festivals”. Right after monsoon comes the season of
festivities, bringing a reprieve from daily grind, where different communities
celebrate ritually diverse festivals. Each festival in India has multifaceted
significance and is religiously marked by various practices. While festivals
are an occasion to celebrate with great pomp and show, spare a moment to think
about various eco-friendly means to celebrate these festivals. Some hazards
caused due to these festivals:
- Noise Pollution- Loudspeakers, fire crackers and loud musical instruments, appear to be the biggest culprits of noise pollution during festivals in our country. A study by WHO asserts that noise pollution is not only a nuisance to the environment but it also poses considerable threat to public health.
- Water Pollution- Ganpati celebrations shortly followed by Durga Puja witnesses immersion areas littered with parts of idols. The mess created by bursting of crackers cannot be ignored as well. The materials such as plaster of Paris used in making idols add to water pollution. Paints used for decorating the idols, loaded with high levels of mercury and lead, increase the toxin levels of water bodies after immersion days. This definitely disrupts the water cycle.
- Air Pollution- apart from releasing toxic gases, bursting of crackers also leads to air pollution. Diwali leads to an alarming rise in the level of poisonous gases that are added into the atmosphere. Apart from this it also affects the weather and climate of a region as we can witness the smog right after the Diwali celebrations.
In addition to
Diwali the harvesting festivals also contribute a lot to the deterioration of
the climatic factors. The burning of the husk right after harvesting leads to
the formation of smog and it’s very difficult to breathe in the air
Objectives
- To know about various festivals commonly celebrated in Punjab
- To identify the ways through which these festivals are celebrated.
- To identify the effect of these festivals on weather and climate.
- To formulate practical ways for celebrating these festivals in an eco-friendly manner.
- To generate awareness amongst masses so as to encourage them for practicing these ways.
- To formulate practical ways for neutralizing the harmful effects caused by celebrations of the above mentioned festivals.
Work
Plan
The project was planned as follows:
- Preparation of the list of festivals celebrated in Punjab.
- Collection of data regarding the means of celebrating these festivals.
- Survey regarding the views of people on eco-friendly means of celebrating festivals.
- Remedial steps which can be undertaken to celebrate festivals by eco-friendly ways.
- Educating the masses so as to encourage them for adopting these means for healthy living.
- Suggesting ways to neutralize harmful effects on environment due to celebrations of these festivals.
Impact
of Festivals on Weather and Climate
Fireworks display during festive
celebrations can cause acute short term air pollution. Deepawali –the festival
of light– is celebrated in India, every year during October or November with
great fireworks display. Fireworks contain chemicals such as potassium
nitrates, potassium chlorate, potassium perchlorate, charcoal, sulfur,
manganese, sodium oxalate, aluminum and iron dust powder, strontium nitrate,
and barium nitrate. These firecrackers when burnt can release various gaseous
and particulate air pollutants and toxic metals to significant quantity and
degrades the air quality as a whole. Attri and coworkers reported display of
fireworks could produce ozone (O3), a strong and harmful oxidizing
agent, at the ground level without the participation of NOX. In
Thiruvananthapuram, India a study about the effect of firework display during
Deepawali on the mass concentration of atmospheric black carbon reveals over 3
times increase compared to normal days. Weather and climate are key environmental factors which determine the
state of natural environment, which influences the human being in to a large
extent. In brief, weather and climatic condition determines the state of
natural environment in relation to land, soil, water, flora and fauna, etc.
Natural state of environment creates foundation for human livelihood practices.
The natural environment and associated livelihood practices leads to formation
of different social groups and traits of belief, values, norms and knowledge
system. These together structure the society and form the cultural system at
large and mould human way of life in terms of life style. When this life style
is less energy and material intensive its impact on natural state of
environment is minimum; so pressure of human activities on weather and climate
are less. On the other hand, when it is more energy and material intensive its
negative impact on natural state of environment is more and have more pressure
on weather and climate through its activities. In many cases the social and
cultural practices develop specific knowledge system through which people of
this societal group try to assess the weather and predicting its nature
traditionally to plan their day to day activities. In this sub-theme, it is
planned to review, assess, and validate such social and cultural practices to
know about the inter-woven relationship among weather-climate-society and culture,
and impact of socio-culturally defined lifestyle on weather & climate.
Methodology
In the present project, attempt has been made to get
an idea regarding the awareness of eco-friendly means of celebrating festivals
in our country. We worked specifically on four festivals namely, Holi, Diwali,
Ganesh Puja and Baisakhi. To start with we collected some data regarding the
pollution levels during Diwali (Nov.2011) from Metereology Department of PAU,
Ludhiana.(Appendix II )
Thereafter a survey sheet was designed (Appendix I),
to collect the data on the awareness of people on eco-friendly means of
celebrating festivals. Once the data was collected, the team members did the
data analysis.
Thereafter, following remedial steps were designed
by our team:
- Our team members worked together in preparing an eco-friendly Ganesha idol- To prepare eco-friendly Ganesha we used clay which is a biodegradable material and hence completely dissolves in water, thereby preventing any kind of loss to the environment. It also ensures that the religious sentiments of the people are not hurt and maintains the cultural sanctity of the festival.
- Celebrating Green Lohri- Some eco-friendly measures to minimize the environmental damage due to the burning of woods are, 1. By collective arrangements of bonfires instead of scattered bonfires in small groups by the individual communities. It would not only be a great fun, but eco-friendly. 2. By celebrating Lohri by organizing house hold parties instead of the big bonfires. 3. By simple micro-scaling the celebrations i.e. by using less woods and inflammables in the bonfires. 4. By discouraging people to add more and more logs of woods to the bonfire unnecessarily. 5. By using the dry woods only rather than using dry leaves and fresh branches because burning of dry leaves and fresh branches adds toxic gases to the environment. 6. By not throwing the food items in the bonfire. In fact the food items could be distributed among the poor and needy people. 7. By following the rule of compensation. It means if we are burning some wood obtained from the trees, we should compensate the same by planting at least same amount of saplings.
3.
Formulation of measures to get rid of the harmful gases
emitted from the fire crackers-
Our team worked on the following remedies for getting rid of the harmful gases
emitted by bursting of the fireworks:
(a) Road surface purifies air by removing nitrogen oxides (NOx)- This is a neat idea that helps to solve a real
pollution problem by automobiles. The air purifying concrete (Appendix III)contains
titanium dioxide, a photocatalytic material that removes the nitrogen oxides
from the air and converts them with the aid of sunlight into harmless nitrate.
The nitrate is then rinsed away by rain. These stones also have another
advantage: they break down algae and dirt, so that they always stay clean. Structures made or covered with materials
containing the titanium oxide enable the reduction of various pollutants in the
atmosphere. Among these are particulate matter, polycondensed aromatic
hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and sulfur monoxide which in
urban settings are mainly emitted from cars and air heating units. The cost for the same is around
Rs.77/Kg.
Preparation of Ti containing paint
Titanium(IV)
isopropoxide, TIP, (Aldrich) can be used as the titanium organometallic
precursor. Two liquid solutions are prepared: – Solution 1: 30 ml of TIP can be
mixed with 23.2 ml of absolute ethanol by dropping in an ice bath. – Solution
2: 23.2 ml of ethanol + 2 ml HCl (35 weight%) + 1.8 ml water. The solution can
be mixed in an ice bath. 10 ml of the solution 1 and 1 ml of the solution 2 can
be extensively stirred for 10 minutes, and then 7 ml of ethanol can be added.
Obtained sol can be stored at -6 °C. The sol can be deposited on the ô€‚¿ red brick surfaces by means of painting. The layers
are dried at room temperature during 24 hours, and then calcinated.
(b) SO2 Scrubbers- Sulfur dioxide is a reactive gas – so when it meets
other gases within the earth’s atmosphere, a fine, secondary particle forms.
Emissions from the bursting of fireworks contribute to the formation of fine
particles. An abundance of these fine particles or SO2 within the
atmosphere could impact our health and the environment. An SO2
scrubber system(Appendix IV) is the informal name for flue gas desulfurization
(FGD) technology, which removes, or "scrubs," SO2
emissions from the exhaust of coal-fired power plants. A scrubber works by
spraying wet slurry of limestone into a large chamber where the calcium in the
limestone reacts with the SO2 in the flue gas.This system finds its
applications in various industries, but we suggest that if a similar system is
used for cleansing of the environment, it can be really beneficial. The overall reaction for SO2
removal in the limestone slurry scrubber can be written as:
SO2 + CaCO3 → CaSO3 + CO2
When oxidation is included the reaction becomes:
SO2 +1/2O2
+CaCO3→ CaSO4+ CO2
(c) Certain plants help in reducing
air pollution by absorbing harmful gases from the air around us- Our
team members not only created awareness about these plants, but we also planted
them in our school premises, as well as in different localities of Ludhiana.
The list of these plants and their benefits are as follows:
Name of the Plant
|
Benefits
|
Ghritakumari
Aloe vera
|
Eliminates
emissions from most toxic materials
|
Bottle Brush
(Callistemon lanceolatus)
|
Remove air
pollution primarily by uptake of pollutants via leaf stomata (pores on the
outer “skin” layers of the leaf). Some gaseous pollutants are also removed
via the plant surface.
|
Chandani
(Tabernaemontana
divaricata)
|
Remove air
pollution primarily by uptake of pollutants via leaf stomata (pores on the
outer “skin” layers of the leaf). Some gaseous pollutants are also removed
via the plant surface.
|
Bougainvillea
(Bougainvillea glabra)
|
Sunken
stomata, thick cuticle, small and dense cells and suberised cell walls are in
favor of reducing pollutant entry into leaves and cells
|
Marigold
(Taegetes erecta)
|
Remove air
pollution primarily by uptake of pollutants via leaf stomata (pores on the
outer “skin” layers of the leaf). Some gaseous pollutants are also removed
via the plant surface.
|
- Preparation of eco friendly fireworks- We mixed 3 parts of sodium nitrate and 2 parts of sugar. The mixture was then heated till it caramelizes attaining peanut butter coloration. Thereafter the mixture is placed in a mould and a wick is inserted in it. After drying we get an eco friendly cracker. To make it even better we intend to add smokeless powder in the mixture.
- Preparation of organic holi colours: Organic holi colours help us to prevent environmental degradation (Appendix V)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Analysis of the
survey done by our team revealed the following data (as represented through pie
charts):
Save enegy, Save Future
We
can create a more sustainable, cleaner and safer world by making wiser energy
choices.
-- Robert Alan Silverstein
-- Robert Alan Silverstein
Energy has always been a vital source in
the development of any nation. The prosperity of a nation is measured in terms
of per capita energy consumption. Energy conservation is to measure and monitor
industrial energy consumption and to pin point the sources of wastage in the
present energy scenario and the era of industrialisation. Energy utilisation in
the world is aggravating by leaps and bounds and with speeding urbanisation and
industrialisation, the need of the hour is to formulate practical steps for
sustainable means of energy conservation. With this very aim in our mind, we carried
out this project in order to explore the topic “energy” and its relevance in
today’s society. Focussing on this very aim, we planned our project in various
stages. First of all, to understand various energy consumption issues, we
planned to carry out surveys, in order to collect substantial data for
understanding the energy utilisation ways and problems being faced in energy
conservation by people of urban and rural areas. Results revealed that
(Incorporate the results of survey I). A similar survey was conducted in
Village Jhande and the results revealed (Discuss pie charts of Survey II).
After formulating the energy conservation issues from our data analysis, we
acquainted the masses with various energy saving techniques through the
pamphlets designed by us. Next comes the question how can we reduce energy
wastage? We tackled this problem by figuring out alternate sources of energy
that minimise wastage. The first alternative we came out with was Biodiesel- an
eco- friendly fuel leaving no residue and that can be easily prepared at home.(discuss
the method of preparation of biodiesel). Our next attempt towards energy
conservation was designing of a fuel cell in our school laboratory. (Discuss
its designing in brief). Although we were successful in generating electricity
through this fuel cell, but we still need to work upon its large scale usage.
In an endeavour to conserve energy, our next attempt was to prepare briquettes
using kitchen waste, weeds from the field and our gardens. These briquettes are
a good substitute of the pathis made
by the people in villages from cow dung and this cow dung in turn can be used
to prepare fuel cell. So, we first made these briquettes in our school
laboratory and then we conducted workshops in Jhande village to teach the
villagers how to prepare these briquettes. The response was overwhelming, as
the villagers not only participated actively in the workshop, but some of them
even attempted to make briquettes at home. Overall our project proved to be a
huge success and gave us a chance to learn a lot about energy conservation
methods. We intend to continue working towards our endeavour for energy
conservation and hence we intend to include more people in our quest to
conserve energy. We plan to take our project to a more commercial level by
inducing our efforts to include hospitals and hotels are a part of our project.
In hotels we will teach the staff, how to prepare biodiesel from used oil. We
also plan to conduct a workshop in various schools to make students aware about
the energy conservation methods. We plan to teach them how to prepare
biodiesel, fuel cell and briquettes. With all the efforts of our team, we
intend to conserve energy for our future generations.
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