NUMERICALLY YOURS

 In the digital world everything big and small, including living things as well as non-living things are represented in numbers. We shall start with the Universe first.

THE UNIVERSE IN NUMBERS

• 14 billion years ago the universe materialized out of nothing.
• It took 400,000 years for the particles to cool down to form atoms.
• Took another 300 million years to form planets, stars and galaxies.
• Expansion of the  universe began 13.8 billion years ago.
• The diameter of the observable universe is 570 thousand million million million miles.
• 200 billion stars in the milky way.
• Once in every 200 million years our solar system orbits the centre of the galaxy.
• 7 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.
• 6000 years are required to count the Milky way's stars at a rate of one a second.
• In 4 billion years our galaxy will collide with the Andromeda galaxy.
• The brightest stars emit  6 million times more light than the sun.
• 13 billion years is the age of the oldest star.
• A handful of 5000 stars make up the Pleiades cluster which can be seen with the naked eye.
• In 250 million years time, the stars will have disappeared and the cluster will no longer exist.

SUN

• The diameter of the sun is 13,93,684 kilometres.
• Distance from Earth150 million kilometres
• Surface temperature 5,500 degree Celsius
• The sun is large enough by volume to swallow 1.3 million Earths.
• It contains 98.8% of all the matter in the solar system.
• In the core region the temperature soars to 15 million degree Celsius.
• The gaseous matter in the sun  is 150 times more dense than water.
• The energy out put from the sun is 385 million billion giga watts per second.
• It takes only 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach Earth.
• It takes 100, 000years for energy released in the sun's core to travel to the surface and emerge as light. (It takes such a long time  because the energy is absorbed and re-emitted by trillions of atoms as it passes through the dense radiative zone.)
• The equator takes 25 Earth days to rotate once, but polar regions take 34 days.

PLANET EARTH

• Earth formed 4.5 billion years ago
• 250 million years ago earth's continents all joined together an enormous super continent known as Pangaea.
• One fifth of earth's landscape is mountains
• Solid surface of the earth below sea level is 10,900 meter deep.(The Mariana trench)
• The highest solid surface or point above sea level is 8848 meter high Everest summit
• The surface of most land areas is less than 500 meter above sea level
• Earth's elevation over 4000 meter
• Sea depth below 4000 meter
• 130 million years ago India escaped from the southern land mass, and is moving north, towards Asia.
• 70 million years ago South America split from Africa, while in the north , North America is splitting from Europe
• Continental plates move at a rate of 2.5 centimeter in a year. That is as fast as your finger nails grow. Some move faster, up to 10 centimeter in a year
• Earth's surface and atmosphere contain 1.39 billion cubic kilometer of water
• During ice ages sea level was 120 meter lower than it is today, exposing the continental shelves as dry land
• Temperature of earth's inner core is 5500 degree Celsius
• 1.5 million species of plants and animals live in tropical rainforests
• The length of under water mountain chains formed by mid ocean ridges is 65000 kilometers
• 55 million years ago the Indian and Asian plates crashed together  creating the Himalayas 
• Deepest point on Earth is 10911 metre below sea level.
• Most of the Mid Atlantic Ridge (2500 metres) is under water. Iceland is the only part of it above sea level
• 60 volcanoes erupt in an average year the world over
• Ash cloud from a large volcanic eruption can be up to 60 kilometres high
• 75% of the world's active  volcanoes are under water
• Southern California experiences 30 small earthquakes everyday
• The distance that the whole planet vibrates back and forth in space during the very largest earthquake is one centimetre
• The largest earthquake ever occurred off the coast of Chile in 1960 caused devastating tsunami.
• The length of the rupture under the sea floor that caused the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was 1600 kilometres

ANTIOXIDANTS

 Antioxidants affect free radicals, which are atoms that have many or too few electrons. They roam the body and damage cells by collecting or dropping off electrons. Free radicals can be formed by exercise, by sun light, or during metabolic processes(all of the above).

What are antioxidants?

Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or slow damage to cells caused by free radicals.

What are free radicals?

Free radicals are unstable molecules produced in the body as a reaction to environmental and other pressures. The sources of free radicals can be natural or artificial. Free radicals are unpaired electrons.

How many free radicals are produced in a day in  our body?

Over 20 billion free radicals are formed by each of our body's cells every day.

What do they do in our body?

Free radicals annihilate vital cellular components , including our cell membranes  and our all important DNA. A prominent theory of aging blames the unpleasant process on free radicals. Eventually enough damage accumulates from these relentless molecules that we simply fall apart.

INFLUENCE OF MICROBES ON HUMANS

•  Trillions of microbes affect every stage of life of humans from birth to old age. Our health and well-being are really driven by the bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa that live in our intestines, in our lungs, in our skin, and even on our eye balls. The bugs are essential for establishing the basic nature of who we are. 

Escherichia coli 

• Escherichia coli is a bacteria which inhabit the human gut and perform essential functions.
• They make vitamins K  and B12 .
• They also repel disease causing bacteria.

The effects of microbiomes can be profound.

• A child's temperament might be related to whether the bacteria in an infant's gut are predominantly from one genus : the more Bifidobacterium bugs , the sunnier the baby.
• There are 38 trillion microbes for a typical young adult male, slightly more than the number of actual human cells.

EPIDEMICS AND PADEMICS

• Diseases spread  throughout populations are considered epidemics when more than 400 people out of every 100,000 are affected.
• Pandemics are those that sweep across wide geographic areas, such as the influenza pandemic that followed  the World War 1.,killing more people than had died during the war.

WHY DO WE NEED CLEAN AIR

 Air Pollution causes one in three deaths from stroke, chronic respiratory disease and lung cancer. 1 in 4 deaths from heart attack is caused by air pollution. Ground level Ozone produced by interaction of pollutants in sunlight causes asthma and chronic respiratory disease . Air pollution is one of the most critical health threats today.

seven million people die prematurely. Ozone air pollution alone is responsible for 52 million tons of global crop losses annually. Air pollution drives climate change crisis.Economic costs are mounting - through health care bills, lost productivity, reduced crop yields , eroded competitiveness of cities. We must lift the smog of air pollution .If we do we can save millions of lives and billions of dollars each year. LAST YEAR FLIGHTS WERE CANCELLED IN DELHI. PEOPLE WERE ADVISED TO STAY INDOORS OR WEAR MASKS JUAT AS WE DO NOW IN THE PANDEMIC. 

VEHICULAR EMISSIONS

The effects of long term exposure to fine particulate matter , nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, air toxics, and other pollutants contained in vehicular exhaust include 

cancer, heart disease, stroke, asthma, and stunted lung growth in children.

INDIAN SCENARIO

Indoor air pollution in India causes 300,000 to 400,000 deaths 

• Air pollution linked diseases and infections kill 600,000 children under 5 years 
• 102 cities in India are most polluted with particulate matter.
• 2.2 millions school children in Delhi are growing up with irreversible lung damage which will never recover. 
• Smog caused by smoke from burning waste has compelled authorities to close schools for 4 days in a season.
• Premature deaths due to pollution increased 50% from particulate matter between 1990 and 2015.
• Smoke from fires contributed one-fourth of dangerous air pollution in Indian capital.
• According to Lancet Planetary Health India’s toxic air killed 1.24 million people in 2017.
• According to EPI 2016 half of world’s population  including 75% Indians are exposed to unsafe air quality.
• 50% in India is exposed to PM 2.5 concentration beyond 40 micrograms per cubic metre.(40 microgram is the safe limit)
• Festival of Deepavali contributes to hazardous levels of air pollution.
• Severity of air pollution is such that LIFE EXPECTANCY IN INDIA ON AN AVERAGE REDUCES BY 3.4 YEARS  WHILE in DELHII IT REDUCES BY 6.3 YEARS.(Hansala Aman, A Comprehensive study of Air Pollution in India.)
• 64% of Indians use solid fuels with high PM 2.5 production.
• In Andhrapradesh solid fuel sourced PM 2.5 level found to be between 73 and 732.
• If we compare 2016 Environmental Performance Index India ranks 141st globally.

(worse than Iraq, Nigeria, Liberia, Ukraine, Egypt, Syria and several other less peaceful countries)

VEHICULAR EMISSIONS

• The effects of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter ,oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, air toxics, and other pollutants contained in vehicle exhaust include, lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, asthma, stunted lung growth in children.
• Exposure to these pollutants from childhood affects them life long.
•  Children being at the developmental stage get the size of their  of lungs smaller, become victims of asthma and respiratory diseases.

Planet Earth's atmosphere is common to all. The total mass of the atmosphere is about 5.5 quadrillion tons. And it is all in motion. 30 % of pollution is not taking place on its territory. The breeze on your cheek right now might include atoms that 2 days ago were crazily distant. The newest plant cell formed in your garden might have been built from molecules that only a day or two earlier had been in exotically different places from a decaying log in the Amazon or from a car on a distant freeway. Or from a hornbill exhaling somewhere in the Silent Valley in Kerala or from a baboon exhaling through its magnificent pipe- like nose in Africa. And there they still stay there for 100 to 150 years surrounded by more plucked atoms , stuck in place . Every plant breathes in the whole planet. A single wood cell contains 2 trillion sugar molecules. One cell would add 7, 71, 600 units of sugar molecules every second. Plants are harvesting raw carbon straight out of the air, building carbon molecules. A little sapling in your garden is champing down 4.6 million CO2 molecules every second.

HEALTH IMPACTS  DUE TO AIR POLLUTION

• Lower respiratory infections account for 16.5%of deaths in 2012 in children under 5years
• In 2015 15.5% of deaths of children under 5 .
• Household air pollution from smoke from cook stoves and secondhand tobacco smoke most important of environmental risks.
• Pollution from use of solid fuels for cooling and ambient air pollution together cause 50% of lower respiratory infections in children under 5 years.

HUMAN WELL-BEING

 Human well being is dependent upon not one, but multiple and often inter related ecosystem services.Basic material for good life is largely based on provisioning services- yet other income generation such as recession agriculture depend more on soil moisture and sediment deposited during flooding - which are part of both regulating and provisioning services.Security from natural hazards has a strong link with regulation services. Human health can relate to purification and waste processing that are part of regulating services.Health also is linked to provisioning services of drinking water and food, and to cultural services that are important for mutual well being. 

Presence of water also regulates local climate and prevent dust. Almost 17 tons per hectare a year of dust polluted with pesticide are blown off the dried portion of the Aral Sea in Eastern Turkmenistan.(O'Hara et al 2000,Benneon et al 2007)In Sistan Inland Delta of Iran people suffer from both physical and mental health problems due to the hot dusty  climate and constant sandstorms that took place when the wetland area was dry for almost 7 years.When the wetland area was inundated , the same wind brought comfort in the form of refreshing water droplets blown over the villages (Meijer & Hajiamiri,2007)

In many parts of the world dam building promotes the propagation of pulmonate snails,the intermediate host of Schistosomiasis, a debilitating disease more than 200 million people suffer from. 

Global economic value of water for drinking,washing , to grow food and for energy and industry is around 7.5 trillion dollar a year as on 2008.It is 15% of  total value of world ecosystem services(Costanza et al 1997).

In US alone 4 to 33 million waterborne gastrointestinal diseases occur  each year. More severe storms and floods can lead to  -  drownings,injuries and outbreaks of infectious diseases.Storms also damage basic infrastructure, with moisture leading to mould growth that can exacerbate allergy and respiratory illnesses.  

More than 77 million tons of nitrogen is used in world agriculture each year costing 38.5 billion dollar (valued in 1995). Soil nitrogen is increased not only by commercial fertilizers but also by adding animal wastes  and the retention of crop residues. Best source of nitrogen for crop and plants are " Nitrogen -fixing plants and obligate endophytic diazotroph bacteria(Dobereiner,1995)

More than 100 million Americans currently live in counties with Ozone levels above national EPA standards.Rising temperatures will increase ozone smog in many areas ,especially in cities.Increased ground-level ozone are associated with increased hospital admissions for people with asthma and will worsen the health of people suffering from cardiac or pulmonary disease.

A NEW PAIN KILLER FROM NATURE

Tiny fanged fish called blennies swimming in the coral reefs have unusual venom that could inspire new pain medications."The fish injects opioid peptides that act like heroine or morphine, inhibiting painrather than causing it." said Brian Fry( Associate professor of university of Queensland). Venom causes bitten fish to become slower in movement and dizzy by the action of opioid receptors.It could be a next blockbuster  pain-killing drug.

Planetary health is the health of human civilization and 

the state of the natural systems on which it depends.

The continuing degradation of natural systems threatens to reverse the health gains over the last century. We have mortgaged the health of future generations to realise economic and development gains in the present. "We have lived our lives that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. What is good for the world is good for us. That requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it. "Wendell Berry.

The risks we face lie within ourselves and societies we have created. Human beings live within a safe operating space of planetary existence. If the boundaries are breached ; conditions for the survival will be diminished. Currently natural systems are degraded to an extent unprecedented in history. Example; Casualty between environmental change through deforestation and Ebola virus disease outbreaks, loss of forest land has brought people and wildlife into closer contact with inherent risks of zoonotic diseases. Do no further harm and to create the systems to allow future generations to thrive and prosper - mentally, physically and materially.

Many ecosystem changes can alter the habitats and even populations of disease - transmitting vectors. Such changes may include  : 

Forest clearance ; construction of dams ; or irrigation ; and  canal works; and deliberate or inadvertent water collection ( eg; in debris) . However the transmission of major infectious vector borne diseases such as malaria and yellow fever can never be described as entirely ecosystem - dependent but rather as a function of human interactions  and ecosystem services. Along with improved management of ecosystem services other actions (eg; public education, medical and chemical interventions, and poverty alleviation) , all play a role in reducing and in some cases eliminating disease transmissions.

COST OF BIODIVERSITY & ECOSYSTEM DAMAGE

Ecosystem valuation is not an easy process.It is an impractical effort.Scientists have tried to attempt to do this.Global economic output from ecosystem services is estimated to a range between 2 and 6 trillion dollars.

• If ecologically intact the boreal forests contribution to global ecosystem services is estimated to be 3.7 trillion dollars. The boreal forest ecosystem is one of the planet's most atmospheric regulators and it stores more carbon than any other biome on the planet.
• Intact ecosystems will help us reduce the prevalence of some of illnesses like COVID-19.
• So the way we farm,the way we use soils,the way we treat our forests will either wreck the future or help us live longer.
• According to estimates ecosystems and biodiversity have an economic value that is between 10 & 100 times greater than the costs associated with conservation.Cumulative welfare losses could amount to 70% of annual consumption in 2050.
• UN report warns  of economic of biodiversity loss. The alarming rate of nature loss could harm food sources and industry and exacerbate climate change.
• 75% of the 100,000 chemicals released  into the environment can be degraded by biological organisms and are potential targets of both bioremediation and biotreatment.
• Remediation of chemical pollution worldwide give annual benefit of 135 billion dollar (a 1997 calculation).
• Maintaining biodiversity in soils and water is imperative to the continued and improved effectiveness of bioremediation and biotreatment.
• Biodiversity provides 2928 billion dollar in annual benefit worldwide and 319 billion dollars to US alone.
• Environmental degradation and GDP are closely interlinked.
• Environmental degradation has caused a drop of 8% of GDP in China.

Air and water pollution damages54 billion dollar a year (1995).Some have estimated burden of pollution to be 5% of GDP.Loss due to deforestation alone comes to 12% of GDP.

• Loss due to environmental degradation in India is estimated to 4.5 to 8% of GDP

Annual economic costsof air pollution ,soil degradation and deforestation were estimated to be 8% by Tata Energy Resourse Institute (TERI).World Bank had quantified in 2001 that India's economic losses due to unsafe domestic water supplies and unsanitary excreta disposal caused 60% of environmental damage.And another 20%from soil degradation.

WHAT HAVE WE DONE TO THE ENVIRONMENT

1. 75% of terrestrial environment "severely altered" by human activity.Marine environment altered by 66%. Reduction in global indicators of ecosystems extent and condition against their estimated natural baselines,with many continuing to decline  by 4% per decade.
2. The alarming rate of nature loss could harm and exacerbate climate change UN warns.
3. 75% by weight of the 100,000 chemicals released into the environment can degrade biological organisms and more potential targets of both  bioremediation and biotreatment .

SAVINGS GAINED

• Physical, chemical and thermal 
• To remediate chemical pollution worldwide give annual benefit of 135 billion dollar(1997 calculation)
• Maintaining biodiversity in soils and water is imperative to the continued and improved effectiveness of bioremediation and biotreatment.
• Biodiversity provides 2928 billion dollar in annual benefit worldwide .
• US alone gets an annual benefit of 319 billion dollar from biodiversity services.
• Twenty billion dollar is spent on pesticides a year. Yet parasites and predators existing in natural ecosystems provide 5 to 10 times this amount of the pest control.
• A diverse group of microbes fix nitrogen from atmosphere for use by crops and forests.
• An estimated 7 billion dollar benefit on account of nitrogen is supplied to US agriculture each year by nitrogen fixing microbes.
• Worldwide  90 million tons of nitrogen a year for use by agriculture with a value of 50 billion dollar is provided.
• An annual economic and environmental benefits of biodiversity in the US is estimated to 300 billion dollar.
• Earth's biota contains 10 million species of plants,animals and microbes.
• In the US there are 750,000 species of which small organisms such as arthropods and microbes make up 95%.
• 65% of world's food supply comes from rice,wheat and corn as many  as 20,000 other plant sp. have been used by humans as food.
• Food production relies on biodiversity for a variety of food plants,pollination,pest control, nutrient provision, genetic diversity , disease prevention and control.
• Both medicinal plants and manufactured pharmaceuticals rely on biodiversity.
• One square metre of soil supports 200,000 arthropods and enchytraeids and billions of microbes.
• One hectare of high quality soil contains 1300 kg of earth worms,1000 kg of bacteria, 4000 kg of fungi and many other plants and animals( Pimental et al 1992)
• Earthworms bring 10 and 500 ton per hectare of soil to the surface where as insects bring between 1 and 10 tons per hectare a year(Pimental 1995).
• Earthworms  may ingest 500 ton per ha a year of soil churning and mixing the soil .
• Snails,earthworms and other organisms redistribute top soil formation , and increase rates of water infiltration ,enhancing plant productivity(Pimental 1995).
• Under agricultural conditions it takes 500 years to form 25 mm of soil. Where as under forest conditions it takes 1000 years to form the same amount of soil.
• 70,000 species of pests attack agricultural crops(Pimental 1991). 30% to 80% of pests are native species.
• 99% of pests are controlled by natural enemy species and host plant resistance (De Bach & Rosch 1991)
• The value of activity of soil microbiota per ton of soil is estimated to be 25 dollar. According to this assumption US agricultural land (400 million hectare) is 5 billion dollar per year . 
• Global value of microbiome activity for 4.5 billion hectare of agricultural land is 25 billion dollar per year.
• Pitsburgh's (US)29641 publicly managed street trees provide cumulative benefits to the community valued 81 dollar per tree annually. Gross total value estimated to 2.4 miilion dollar annually. City's annual tree related expenses 8,16,400 dollar and net annual benefit to the community/ city is 1.6 million dollar or 53 dollar per tree per year.

INDIAN SCENARIO

Over the last century India has lost more than 50% of it's lakes and wetlands. Majority of the remaining are degraded and heavily polluted. As the country experiences one of the fastest urban migrations in hiatory, it's natural spaces are disappearing under rapidly expanding cities. The south Indian city of Chennai is no exception. Over the last decade , Chennai has lost more than 85% of  wetlands due to unplanned urbanisation. This is severely impacting the quality of life of it's residents as they grapple with issues of water security,flooding,and droughts , as well as the city's environment and urban biodiversity. Extreme situations of streets and homes submerged under water, or people lining up around tankers to fill up a day's worth of water have become a common phenomenon.

India is a region of extreme climatic conditions .More than 70% of its area is classified as dry land and is prone to droughts which occurs due to natural climate vulnerability,climate change and human interferences.