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It isn’t unusual to find greenery in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. However, some 80 kilometres away from Abu Dhabi city just off the highway to Dubai, lies a patch of verdure that is indeed remarkable.
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It is a little settlement created exclusively for birds and other creatures of the wild. If there are humans present on the site, it is only to care for them and their habitat. This is Al Ajban, developed following the wishes of President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, representing yet another symbol of his deep, abiding love for nature and wildlife conservation.
Managed by the Environment and Wildlife Management section of His Highness’s private department, Al Ajban is a 1653-hectare area of lakes and plantations fenced in for the protection of wildlife that it supports. Friday visits this amazing place
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with Dr. Neelofer Ali Masoodi, ecologist in the department, who was on a regular monitoring mission to the lakes. We stand atop one of the two hillocks contained in the premises, and look down upon stretches of vegetation encircling blue waters and, beyond the sanctuary, an unbroken spread of desert. Al Ajban is a man made oasis.
While the development of plantations – forests, orchards and crops – began way back in 1981 and currently includes over 500,000 trees, excavation of the four lakes that are fed by ground water, was initiated in 1991 and completed by 1994. Mechanical aerators constantly churn the lakes that are interconnected with a network of channels and
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interspersed with islands.
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Today, Al Ajban is a most hospitable habitat for wildlife. It affords food, good breeding conditions and shelter for many species of bird, mammal, reptile and insect. Some have been introduced; others have sought the site out and stayed there or become regular visitors; and still more have survived and proliferated because of the sanctuary-like setting.
The waters teem with the tropical fish, Nile tilapia that was introduced and has readily adapted to the prevailing high salinity and temperatures. These fish dig nests for themselves in the sandy lake bottom and can even survive periodic and temporary desiccation and other adverse environmental situations by burying themselves in mud. A shaded canopy has been erected on a channel to protect the young fry from direct sunlight.
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But it is the birds that draw the visitor’s greatest attention as they are all over the place, the air rent with their calls, flapping wings and splashing water. The migratory ducks - mallards, pintails and teals - are found in huge flocks because enclosures have been provided for breeding them, and supplying them with freshwater, food and shelter. The purpose is to enhance their wild populations. The chicks are, therefore, let free after they are reared. Some may migrate with wild ducks; the rest remain as they have adopted Al Ajban as their home having adapted reasonably well to its saline environment.
There are many other bird species that have taken up residence, and breed here as well. Among these are: Socotra cormorant, a species endemic to Arabia; black winged stilt found nesting on an island; Egyptian goose,
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native to Africa, but released here and spotted around the lakes feeding on grasses, sedges and grain crops; grey frankolin and partridge scuttling about in the plantations; collared dove; and house sparrows found twittering in the bushes. Red wattled lapwings have been ringed and released, demoiselle cranes have been introduced, herons are found in
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large numbers but migrate in summer, and greater flamingos are a familiar sight. An osprey, it seems, has taken up residence at Al Ajban because of abundant fish supply, its main diet. Saker falcons are known to visit here.
But there’s more than birds. Proliferating in the woodlands are Arabian mountain gazelles and sand gazelles that were introduced in Al Ajban in1997. The herds are now self-sustaining and thriving without human intervention. Also benefiting from the sanctity of this oasis are desert hares, spiny tailed lizards, horned vipers, wild cats, red foxes, sand skinks….it’s fantastic what a wee bit of protection can achieve.
SO LONG OIL AND SMOG, HELLO HYDROGEN!
What will we use to power our cars, industries and buildings when oil is gone? But even before this happens, what fuel (as an alternative to oil, coal and gas) do we use to contend with global warming? What will run our motor vehicles, the exhaust fumes of which account for some 25 per cent of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas?
It is believed that hydrogen gas is the fuel of the future. It is renewable if produced using solar energy (or other clean, nonpolluting, renewable sources such as hydropower or wind energy). It is virtually emission free. Has zero emission of carbon dioxide. And is non toxic. The problem is that there isn’t too much hydrogen gas floating around. It can, however, be derived from water.
Water can be split by electricity into gaseous hydrogen and oxygen.
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And as long as that electricity is not generated using fossil fuels or nuclear power, scientists say, we can make a successful transition to a clean, energy-efficient solar-hydrogen age. In doing so, we can bid adieu to smog, oil spills, acid rain, nuclear energy, and reduce the threat of global warming by sharply cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions. The reason is simple – when hydrogen burns in the air, it combines with oxygen gas and produces nonpolluting water vapour and some nitrogen oxides, thus eliminating most of the air pollution problems we face today.
The solar-hydrogen revolution has already started. Iceland for instance launched a pioneering effort to harness its geothermal and hydropower to produce hydrogen, which will be used to fuel its automobiles and fishing boats - an effort that is attracting investments from major oil and car companies.
And right here, Dubai got an introduction to this new energy source when, on 1st February, ten hydrogen-powered BMW 750hL cars rolled out of the city to kick off their ‘clean energy world tour 2001’ that will take them to Tokyo, Los Angeles, Brussels, and Milan. In Dubai, BMW’s focus was on the production of hydrogen aided by the UAE’s unlimited supply of solar energy for which a feasibility study is underway. Zayed International Prize for the Environment is encouraging the venture. In Tokyo and LA, the emissions-free operation of hydrogen vehicles will be the main theme. In Brussels the tour will deal with the norms, standards, political framework, and legal structures necessary to help hydrogen technology achieve a market breakthrough. And in Milan, reportedly, a hydrogen filling station is planned. Munich airport already has a liquid hydrogen filling station operational since 1999.
The BMW 750hL is powered by liquid hydrogen extracted from water using solar energy. Solar energy generates an electric current that breaks down water (H2O) into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen is then liquefied and filled into tanks to drive the car. Effectively, the BMW 750hL is a water- fueled car that runs on virtually zero emissions. The only gas that comes out of its exhaust pipe is steam.
And that’s not all. It will use a fuel cell (in this, hydrogen and oxygen gas combine to produce electrical current), not to propel the car, but to power the on-board electrical system to operate, among other devices, the air-conditioning. Since the fuel cell will work independently from the engine, it would be possible to have air-conditioning even when the engine is switched off; with no emissions to boot! This is a great advantage because we know how much pollution is caused when we constantly run the engine even when the car is stationary, just so that we can keep the air-conditioning operating.
There are, however, difficulties that must be addressed before hydrogen becomes a primary energy source. Problems like - the requirement of a much larger fuel tank; absence of a hydrogen distribution system in place (which is why the world tour vehicles are designed to switch to petrol at will); and the currently high cost, because hydrogen produced in an environmentally clean manner is significantly more expensive than petrol or diesel.
Whatever the current difficulties, one thing is for sure – water as fuel is no longer a pipe dream.
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Raising public awareness about climate change – The Dutch Experience
How does one instill public consciousness about invisible greenhouse gases that create an imperceptible greenhouse effect, which causes an abstract global warming resulting in climate change? To convince people that this is really their own problem; that they themselves are responsible for their actions; and that their own lifestyles have repercussions on the climate? It’s particularly difficult when one has to do such things as try and wean motor loving populations away from driving their cars and, instead, getting them cycle or walk!
One would have thought that for a country like the Netherlands,
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large parts of which are below sea level, it would be easy to impress upon people the severity of the threat of global warming and sea level rise. But it hasn’t been easy. It has taken a decade of sustained campaigning not only by the Dutch environment ministry, but also that of other ministries such as economic affairs, and even power companies to bring about this awareness. Television, the print media, radio, posters, billboards and even music videos (one on carbon dioxide emissions was in the Dutch music top 40s for six weeks!) have been used to get the message across. The support of non-governmental organisations – environmental groups, housewives associations, unions and churches was enlisted. Every campaign was followed up by the environment ministry’s communications department with a thorough assessment of its impact – how many people viewed a particular advertisement, what they learned from it and how it influenced their behaviour. Summarised are their public education experiences.
‘Fear appeals’ and ‘scare tactics’ don’t seem to work with the Dutch. Most don’t want to hear about ‘gloom and doom’ because it makes them feel that they couldn’t possibly make a difference. Instead, showing people what has been achieved makes them feel that each one can make a positive contribution. There is a lesson to be learnt here! Telling them, for example, that
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businesses in Rotterdam, save as much energy as 300,000 households would normally use. One radio advertisement informs listeners that the average household now has two energy-saving light bulbs and the amount of energy the city saves equals the energy used by another city with a population exceeding 200,000.
A paternalistic approach of telling people what they should do also doesn’t sell. It is more effective to suggest a range of alternative ways to conserve energy and let people choose for themselves whether to cycle to work or use low-energy light bulbs at home.
A purely environmental message does not make people change their ways; but opportunities to save money on fuel and electricity, or making one’s home more comfortable, do. Take this full-page advertisement in a newsmagazine, for instance. a tiny, red light shines in the corner of a large black triangle. The black triangle represents a TV screen, and the red light its standby indicator. The slogan used is “turn off the greenhouse effect.” A study had shown that ten per cent of the energy used by an average household went to devices on standby (not completely switched off). By turning them off, a household could save not just energy, but also around a hundred guilders a year. The ad came after the introduction of a new energy tax.
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Another advert – a layer of insulating bank notes between a wall and the window with snow outside. The slogan says, “If you don’t do it to save money, do it to save the environment.” This is likely to draw a response – “I want to save money too.”
Today, the average Dutchman is fully aware of the connection between energy consumption and the greenhouse effect. But the climate campaign continues unabated. The message: our climate is irreplaceable and we must not destroy it. The public are being fed all kinds of useful information – about steps they can take to counter climate change, what the government is doing about it, what the rest of the world is doing…In addition there are a whole package of incentives to influence purchasing decisions. Those who buy energy-saving products such as washing machines or insulation get money back and new cars will soon carry labels indicating their level of fuel efficiency.
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WHAT ON EARTH CAN WE DO?
BUY THE MOST ENERGY-EFFICIENT LIGHTS, CARS AND APPLIANCES AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET. EVALUATE THEM IN TERMS OF INITIAL COST PLUS LIFETIME OPERATING COSTS.
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Copyright © 1998-2002 [Earthsense from Rashmi De Roy]
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