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Since
time immemorial, there has been an open conflict between two
schools of thoughts: Environmental Determinism versus Environmental
Possibilism. In the epoch of post industrial revolution dating
back to the mid-19th century, geographers around
the world have, on a general consensus, refuted the theory
of Environmental Determinism (in line with the equatoral paradox)
as one that is flawed and not reflective of the social factors.
And
thus, Environmental Possibilism was born. Same goes with life.
Being born in a particular family and brought up with a certain
set of values means that one will have to conform to that.
It just means that you are equipped for the environment you
seem to be made for, but that does not determine the outcome/future.
Nevertheless,
the hegemony of molesting the environment began. In the present
days, men harness the mileu according to the conduciveness
he warrants. The scope and ambit of the study have widened,
encompassing multifarious interactions among physical, chemical
and biological components of the environment.
The
natural environment no longer remained untouched but rather
transformed into an ecumene, the built environment. It is
the basic understanding of this built environment that underlies
environmentalisma broad geopolitical, social, and philosophical
movement that advocates various actions and policies in the
interest of protecting what nature remains in the natural
environment, or restoring or expanding the role of nature
in this environment. While true wilderness is increasingly
rare, wild nature can be found in many locations previously
inhabited by humans.
Goals
commonly expressed by patrons of environmentalism include:
reduction and clean up of pollution, with future goals of
zero pollution; reducing societal consumption of non-renewable
fuels; development of alternative, green, low-carbon or renewable
energy sources; conservation and sustainable use of scarce
resources such as water, land and air; protection of representative
or unique or pristine ecosystems; preservation and expansion
of threatened or endangered species or ecosystems from extinction;
the establishment of nature and biosphere reserves under various
types of protection; and, most generally, the protection of
biodiversity and ecosystems upon which all human and other
life on earth depends.
A
more profound challenge, however, is to identify the natural
environmental dynamics in contrast to environmental changes
not within natural variances. A common solution is to adopt
a static view, neglecting natural variances to exist. Methodologically,
this view could be defended when looking at processes which
change slowly and short time series, while the problem arrives
when fast processes turn essential in the object of the study.
The
journal carries a prudential approach to the environment related
issues. It comprises five articles. Studies pertaining to
both oriental and occidental despotism are discussed in these
articles.
In
the article, "Geochemical Signatures of Large Livestock
Operations on Surface Water", Mark P Oemke and Murray
C Borrello evaluate the specific geochemical impact of livestock
operations on the surface water and fluvial cycle. The study
investigated two streams and measured different geochemical
and biochemical parameters upstream and downstream of two
large livestock facilities in two separate watersheds near
the great lake regions of USA.
In
the article, "Phytoremediation Potential of Eichhornia
crassipes (Mart.) Solms", Upma Narang, Renu Bhardwaj,
S K Garg and A K Thukralreview the propensity of the said
species to absorb and concentrate heavy metal toxic transition
from aquatic systems.
In
the article, "Effect of Landfill Leachate on Groundwater
Quality", Mohd Kamil Yusoff and Ibrahim A
Al-Hawas present a study that is performed to evaluate the
effect of leachate from a landfill in the Seri Petaling (Malaysia).
The objective of the study is to determine the effect of landfill
leachate on the groundwater reservoir and the potential uses
of the groundwater at the landfill site.
In
the article, "An Expert System for Wastewater Treatment
Plant", Nur Ilyana Mohd. Zukki and Latifah Abd Manaf
present the designing and development of an expert system
to assist in the operation of wastewater treatment plant.
The reported expert system is developed for supervising the
control system of the whole plant. The augmentation tool maneuvered
for this system is a Kappa-PC.
In
the last article, "Biodiversity of Methanogenic Archae
in the Various Ecosystems of the Environment: A Review",
A Thulasi, M Chandrasekharaiah and K T Sampath review the
diversity of methanogens observed in various ecosystems.
Hope
the articles in this issue will definitely portray the relevance
of the multifarious conservative environmentalism and will
draw the attention of active researchers to harness the hidden
treasures of environment and come up with the latest findings.
-
G S Brahma
Consulting
Editor
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