Rashid's Blog: A Place for Inquisitive Souls

Guest Post by Afzal Zaheer

It is indeed a herculean task to predict tsunami on the lines of Earthquake.  However, efforts are being made towards minimizing death and destruction.

There have been earthquakes in the past and who can forget 9.1magnitude of earthquake which struck off the coast of northern Sumatra in Indonesia.

The Tsunami which followed later on was the worst. It resulted in huge death and destruction as 230,000 people lost their lives while many got injured and still others turned homeless.

However, it made the concerned authorities aware about the impending danger of Tsunami after the earthquake.

However, on the other hand, 8.6 magnitude of earthquake which struck off the coast of Sumatra, luckily did not cause any death and destruction. Thus, it signals the complexity of predicting Tsunami for sure. Isn’t it?

How tsunami is generated?

When the Earth’s crust beneath the sea is disrupted on…

To read Part One first, click here.

The threat to the dolphins in India goes back much further though.  In a very tragic turn of events, in 1998, a dolphinarium, Dolphin City, actually was set up in Chennai. CPREEC, Dr. Nanditha Krishna’s organization, and Blue Cross of India, of which Dr. Chinny Krishna was the Co-Founder and, at that time also the Vice Chairman, worked tirelessly to oppose it.

Very sadly, the three dolphins who had been imported from Bulgaria and brought to the Chennai dolphinarium, died within a few short months.  The dolphinarium denied that they had died, and the show went on with only sea lions.

In reply to all questions, their story was that the dolphins were okay, and would soon be performing “when they were alright.”  Dr. Chinny Krishna, of Blue Cross, persisted in telling the truth about the fate…

“The sun was shining. The dolphins were like silver and gold streaks, jumping up out of the ocean, near the boat. They have synchronized movements, and they jumped together, making great arcs in the shape of a bow.  Their sheer beauty was amazing.  It was beautiful.  They’re so innocent.  How could anyone mistreat them?”

Dr. Nanditha Krishna recalled seeing dolphins in the wild, in the Andaman Sea, when she was traveling by ship from Singapore back to Chennai, India. She was captivated by them, and it is a memory that has stayed with her.  Dr. Nanditha Krishna is the Honorary Director of the CPR Environmental and Education Centre (CPREEC). Dr. Chinny Krishna, who has devoted his life to the wellbeing of animals, serves as the Vice-Chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India.

Just this month, in an outstanding victory for dolphins, India has banned dolphinariums from being set…

From ENN Deforestation may lead to electricity shortages in tropical rainforest regions that rely heavily on hydropower, as fewer trees mean less rainfall for hydropower generation, a study shows.

For example, if deforestation continues, one of the world’s largest dam projects in Brazil will deliver around a third less energy than is currently estimated, according to the research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) last week (13 May).
Researchers had presumed that cutting down trees near dams increases the flow of water and hence energy production. This is because crops and pastures that replace trees take less water from the ground and lose less moisture by evaporation.

But trees also release water vapour into the atmosphere, which turns into rain and feeds hydroelectric power stations, and this new research suggests that wider deforestation can reduce overall rainfall and therefore energy production. This should be…