Improved air quality during COVID-19 at an urban megacity over the Indo-Gangetic Basin: From stringent to relaxed lockdown phases
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Srivastava A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7946354 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:The Indo-Gangetic aquifer is one of the world's most important transboundary water resources, and the most heavily exploited aquifer in the world. To better understand the aquifer system, typologies have been characterized for the aquifer, which integrate existing datasets across the Indo-Gangetic catchment basin at a transboundary scale for the first time, and provide an alternative conceptualization of this aquifer system. Traditionally considered and mapped as a single homogenous aquifer of comparable aquifer properties and groundwater resource at a transboundary scale, the typologies illuminate significant spatial differences in recharge, permeability, storage, and groundwater chemistry across the aquifer system at this transboundary scale. These changes are shown to be systematic, concurrent with large-scale changes in sedimentology of the Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial aquifer, climate, and recent irrigation practices. Seven typologies of the aquifer are presented, each having a distinct set of challenges and opportunities for groundwater development and a different resilience to abstraction and climate change. The seven typologies are: (1) the piedmont margin, (2) the Upper Indus and Upper-Mid Ganges, (3) the Lower Ganges and Mid Brahmaputra, (4) the fluvially influenced deltaic area of the Bengal Basin, (5) the Middle Indus and Upper Ganges, (6) the Lower Indus, and (7) the marine-influenced deltaic areas.
| S-EPMC6979522 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The climate change impacts of South Asia (SA) are inextricably linked with increased monsoon variability and a clearly deteriorating trend with more frequent deficit monsoons. One of the most climate-vulnerable nations in the eastern and central Indo-Gangetic Basin is Bangladesh. There have been numerous studies on the effects of climate change in Bangladesh; however, most of them tended to just look at a small fraction of the impact elements or were climatic projections without accounting for the effects on agriculture. Additionally, simulation studies using the CERES-Rice and CERES-Wheat models were conducted for rice and wheat to evaluate the effects of climate change on Bangladeshi agriculture. However, up to now, Bangladesh has not implemented farming system ideas by integrating cropping systems with other income-generating activities. This study was conducted as part of the Indo-Gangetic Basin (IGB) regional evaluations using the protocols and integrated assessment processes of the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP). It was also done to calibrate crop models (APSIM and DSSAT) using rice and wheat. To assist policymakers in creating national and regional plans for anticipated future agricultural systems, our work on the integrated evaluation of climate change impacts on agricultural systems produced realistic predictions. The outcome of this research prescribes a holistic assessment of climate change on future production systems by including all the relevant enterprises in the agriculture sector. The findings of the study suggested two major strategies to minimize the yield and increase the profitability in a rice-wheat cropping system. Using a short-term HYV (High Yielding Variety) of rice can shift the sowing time of wheat by 7 days in advance compared to the traditional sowing days of mid-November. In addition, increasing the irrigation amount by 50 mm for wheat showed a better yield by 1.5-32.2% in different scenarios. These climate change adaptation measures could increase the per capita income by as high as 3.6% on the farm level.
| S-EPMC9738293 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Is the impact of city-scale lockdown in response to 2nd surge of COVID-19, behavioural changes in people owing to yearlong cohabitation with COVID-19, and partial vaccination on air quality different from the impact of nationwide lockdown during COVID-19's 1st surge in March 2020? Targeting this objective, the present work has selected four phases pre-lockdown and lockdown of 1st and 2nd cycles of lockdown taking average air quality index (NAQI) from Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The results clearly show that both the nationwide lockdown and the city-scale restriction are responsible for improving air quality in India's megacity Delhi, but the rate of improvement was higher (39%) during the first cycle of lockdown (nationwide) than during the second cycle of lockdown (city-scale). During city-scale lockdown, the disparity in NAQI between the core and the periphery is obvious. Due to the effect of economic activities surrounding Delhi, around 10 km of the city's interior has experienced high NAQI. The reason for the lower NAQI improvement during the second lockdown cycle is likely due to relief from initial fear following a year of cohabitation with COVID-19, partial vaccination, and partial relaxation in industrial sectors to avoid the economic hardships experienced during the first lockdown cycle.
| S-EPMC8733282 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a deep global impact, not only from a social and economic perspective, but also with regard to human health and the environment. To restrict transmission of the virus, the Indian government enforced a complete nationwide lockdown except for essential services and supplies in phases from 25 March to 31 May 2020. Ambient air quality in and around New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities of world, was also impacted during this period.ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to assess and understand the impact of four different lockdown phases (LD1, LD2, LD3 and LD4) on five air pollutants (particulate matter (PM) PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen oxide (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ozone (O3)) compared to before lockdown (BLD) at 13 air monitoring stations in and around New Delhi.MethodsSecondary data on five criteria pollutants for 13 monitoring stations in and around New Delhi for the period 1 March to 31 May 2020 was accessed from the Central Pollution Control Bard, New Delhi. Data were statistically analyzed across lockdown phases, meteorological variables, and prevailing air sources around the monitoring stations.ResultsPollutant concentrations decreased during LD1 compared to BLD except for O3 at all stations. PM2.5 and PM10 remained either close to or higher than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) due to prevailing high-speed winds. During lockdown phases, NO2 decreased, whereas O3 consistently increased at all stations. This was a paradoxical situation as O3 is formed via photochemical reactions among NOx and volatile organic compounds. Principal component analysis (PCA) extracted two principal components (PC1 and PC2) which explained up to 80% of cumulative variance in data. PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 were associated with PC1, whereas PC2 had loadings of either O3 only or O3 and SO2 depending upon monitoring station.ConclusionsThe present study found that air pollutants decreased during lockdown phases, but these decreases were specific to the site(s) and pollutant(s). The decrease in pollutant concentrations during lockdown could not be attributed completely to lockdown conditions as the planetary boundary layer increased two-fold during lockdown compared to the BLD phase. Such restrictions could be applied in the future to control air pollution but should be approached with caution.Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing financial interests.
| S-EPMC8276728 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This paper analyses air quality data from megacity Delhi, India, during different periods related to the COVID-19, including pre-lockdown, lockdown and unlocked (post-lockdown) (2018-2020) to determine what baseline levels of air pollutants might be and the level of impact that could be anticipated under the COVID-19 lockdown emission scenario. The results show that air quality improved significantly during the lockdown phases, with the most significant changes occurring in the transportation and industrially dominated areas. A pronounced decline in PM2.5 and PM10 up to 63% and 58%, respectively, was observed during the lockdown compared to the pre-lockdown period in 2020. When compared to 2018 and 2019, they were lower by up to 51% and 61%, respectively, dropping by 56% during unlock. Some pollutants (NOx and CO) dropped significantly during lockdown, while SO2 and O3 declined only slightly. Moreover, when compared between the different phases of lockdown, the maximum decline for most of the pollutants and air quality index occurred during the lockdown phase 1; thus, this period was used to report the COVID-19 baseline threshold values (CBT; threshold value is the upper limit of baseline variation). Of the various statistical methods used median + 2 median absolute deviation (mMAD) was most suitable, indicating CBT values of 143 and 75 ug/m3 for PM10 and PM2.5, respectively. This results although preliminary, but it gives a positive indication that temporary lockdown can be considered as a boon to mitigate the damage we have done to the environment. Also, this baseline levels can be helpful as a first line of information to set future target limits or to develop effiective management policies for achieving better air quality in urban centres like Delhi.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13762-021-03142-3.
| S-EPMC7899058 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) of South Asia have supported bulk of human and bovine population in the region since ages, and a spectacular progress has been made in food production. However, malnutrition, diminishing total factor productivity, and natural resource degradation continue to plague this cereal-dominated region, which is also vulnerable to climate change. Addressing these challenges would require a transition towards diversifying cereal rotations with agroecological cropping systems. A study was, therefore, conducted at the experimental farm of ICAR-CSSRI, Karnal on crop diversification and sustainable intensification options using agro-ecological approaches such as Conservation Agriculture (CA) and diversified cropping systems to ensure food and nutritional security while sustaining the natural resources. On 2 years mean basis, CA-based cropping system management scenarios (mean of Sc2-Sc7) using diversified crop rotations; increased the system yield by 15.4%, net return by 28.7%, protein yield by 29.7%, while using 53.0% less irrigation water compared to conventional tillage (CT)-based rice-wheat system (Sc1). Maize-mustard-mungbean on permanent beds (PBs) (Sc4) recorded the highest productivity (+ 40.7%), profitability (+ 60.1%), and saved 81.8% irrigation water compared to Sc1 (11.8 Mg ha-1; 2190 USD ha-1; 2514 mm ha-1). Similarly, Sc5 (maize-wheat-mungbean on PBs) improved productivity (+ 32.2%), profitability (+ 57.4%) and saved irrigation water (75.5%) compared to Sc1. In terms of nutritional value, Sc5 was more balanced than other scenarios, and produced 43.8, 27.5 and 259.8% higher protein, carbohydrate and fat yields, respectively, compared to Sc1 (0.93, 8.55 and 0.14 Mg ha-1). Scenario 5 was able to meet the nutrient demand of 19, 23 and 32 additional persons ha-1 year-1 with respect to protein, carbohydrate and fat, respectively, compared to Sc1. The highest protein water productivity (~ 0.31 kg protein m-3 water) was recorded with CA-based soybean-wheat-mungbean (Sc6) system followed by maize-mustard-mungbean on PBs (Sc4) system (~ 0.29 kg protein m-3) and lowest under Sc1. Integration of short duration legume (mungbean) improved the system productivity by 17.2% and profitability by 32.1%, while triple gains in irrigation water productivity compared to CT-based systems. In western IGP, maize-wheat-mungbean on PBs was found most productive, profitable and nutritionally rich and efficient system compared to other systems. Therefore, diversification of water intensive cereal rotations with inclusion of legumes and CA-based management optimization can be potential option to ensure nutritious food for the dwelling communities and sustainability of natural resources in the region.
| S-EPMC9399183 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveFood security is an important policy issue in India. As India recently ranked 107th out of 121 countries in the 2022 Global Hunger Index, there is an urgent need to dissect, and gain insights into, such a major decline at the national level. However, the existing surveys, due to small sample sizes, cannot be used directly to produce reliable estimates at local administrative levels such as districts.DesignThe latest round of available data from the Household Consumer Expenditure Survey (HCES 2011-12) done by the National Sample Survey Office of India used stratified multi-stage random sampling with districts as strata, villages as first stage and households as second stage units.SettingOur Small Area Estimation approach estimated food insecurity prevalence, gap, and severity of each rural district of the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plain (EIGP) region by modeling the HCES data, guided by local covariates from the 2011 Indian Population Census.ParticipantsIn HCES, 5915 (34429), 3310 (17534) and 3566 (15223) households (persons) were surveyed from the 71, 38 and 18 districts of the EIGP states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal respectively.ResultsWe estimated the district-specific food insecurity indicators, and mapped their local disparities over the EIGP region. By comparing food insecurity with indicators of climate vulnerability, poverty and crop diversity, we shortlisted the vulnerable districts in EIGP.ConclusionsOur district-level estimates and maps can be effective for informed policy-making to build local resiliency and address systemic vulnerabilities where they matter most in the post-pandemic era.AdvancesOur study computed, for the Indian states in the EIGP region, the first area-level small area estimates of food insecurity as well as poverty over the past decade, and generated a ranked list of districts upon combining these data with measures of crop diversity and climatic vulnerability.
| S-EPMC9815573 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In Indo-Gangetic plains (IGP) of India, natural resources (soil, water, and environment) are degrading under the conventional-till (CT)-based management practices in rice-wheat cropping system. A long-term field experiment was conducted to understand the soil bacterial diversity and abundance under different sets of management scenarios (Sc). The study comprised of four scenarios, namely, -Sc.I CT-based rice-wheat system (farmers' practice); Sc.II, partial conservation agriculture (CA) based in which rice is under CT-wheat and mungbean under zero-tillage (ZT); Sc.III, full CA-based in which rice-wheat-mungbean are under ZT and Sc.IV, where maize-wheat-mungbean are under ZT. These scenarios varied in cropping system, tillage, and crop residue management practices. Using Illumina MiSeq sequencing technology, the variable regions V3-V4 of 16S rRNA were sequenced and the obtained reads were analyzed to study the diversity patterns in the scenarios. Results showed the presence of 53 bacterial phyla across scenarios. The predominant phyla in all scenarios were Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes which accounted for more than 70% of the identified phyla. However, the rice-based systems (Sc.I, Sc.II, and Sc.III) were dominated by phylum Proteobacteria; however, maize-based system (Sc.IV) was dominated by Acidobacteria. The class DA052 and Acidobacteriia of Acidobacteria and Bacteroidetes of Bacteroidia were exceptionally higher in Sc.IV. Shannon diversity index was 8.8% higher in Sc.I, 7.5% in Sc.II, and 2.7% in Sc.III compared to Sc.IV. The findings revealed that soil bacterial diversity and abundance are influenced by agricultural management practices as bacterial diversity under full CA-based management systems (Sc.III and Sc.IV) was lower when compared to farmer's practice (Sc.I) and partial CA (Sc.II) scenarios.
| S-EPMC6031527 | biostudies-literature
Project description:A large discrepancy between simulated and observed black carbon (BC) surface concentrations over the densely populated Indo-Gangetic plain (IGP) has so far limited our ability to assess the magnitude of BC health impacts in terms of population exposure, morbidity, and mortality. We evaluate these impacts using an integrated modeling framework, including successfully predicted BC concentrations. Population exposure to BC is notable, with more than 60 million people identified as living in hotspots of BC concentration (wintertime mean, >20 μg m-3). The attributable fraction of the total cardiovascular disease mortality (CVM) burden to BC exposures is 62% for the megacity. The semiurban area comprised about 49% of the total BC-attributable CVM burden over the IGP. More than 400,000 lives can potentially be saved from CVM annually by implementing prioritized emission reduction from the combustion of domestic biofuel in the semiurban area, diesel oil in transportation, and coal in thermal power plant and brick kiln industries in megacities.
| S-EPMC9355355 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) experiences persistent and widespread rise of fog and haze during the winter season. This has been attributed to the rise in pollution levels and water vapor, but the reason for enhancement in latter is not clear yet. We detect moisture incursion from Arabian Sea, a phenomenon called atmospheric rivers (AR), land-falling intermittently along 12-25° N corridor of the west-coast of India during winter; using satellite and reanalysis data. The total vertically integrated horizontal water vapor transport in AR-landfalls ranging from 0.7 × 108 to 2.2 × 108 kg/s; nearly five-orders of magnitude larger than the average discharge of liquid water from Indus River into Arabian Sea. These AR events are playing prominent role in enhancing water vapor over IGP region by 19 ± 5%; in turn fueling the intensification of fog and haze through aerosol-water vapor interaction. We found that AR events enhanced aerosol optical depths over IGP by about 29 ± 13%. The progression of moist-laden winds in ARs onto Himalayan Mountains contributes to the precipitation that explains the observed rise in the extreme flow of western Himalayan Rivers in winter. We conclude that these ARs likely contribute to the decline of snow albedo as pollution-mixed-ARs encounter Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalayan mountain region.
| S-EPMC8948212 | biostudies-literature