Steam Center Blog

The Septic Drain T hose who live in developed countries may be surprised to learn that a large part of the human population lives without a toilet. Put crudely they simply piss and shit out in the open. In India it is estimated that half the population does that. This is all the more tragic in a country that invented toilets, bathrooms and covered drains five thousand years ago in the Indus Valley civilization ( http://alienaccount.blogspot.in/2013/09/indus-valley-and-atlantis.html ). Since then though, a lot of piss and water has passed under the bridge with a slide into poverty and decay. Aside from the inconvenience of having to run out into the fields every now and then, the phenomenon of open defecation poses some serious issues that have only increased with an increase of population density on the planet. First are health issues. When it rains the waste is washed into drains, rivulets, rivers, ponds and lakes. Water sources are then charged with disease causing bac...

This note is useful for developed as well as progressive developing countries How to take farm lands to town and generate sustainable green employment and create shelters for the homeless, unaccompanied minors, employment for the unemployed and a resort for the aged too. A Postmodern designer Village S everal developed and even some of the developing economies are undergoing a change, leading to a loss in manufacturing jobs and employment opportunities. It has been proposed that some new jobs in future could come from a return to land and undertaking modern agricultural activities on it. Certainly a rural setting does offer a much healthier and greener environment compared to traffic and concrete filled modern cities. However in the traditional rural setting other difficulties arise that can make life and living difficult especially for those who have not been used to that from childhood. Traditional rural agricultural areas are primarily of two types. On...

  Damage mitigation measures for forest fires W hile several earlier posts in this blog have advocated the creation of more forests and planting more trees as a measure to mitigate adverse climate changes, forests pose a danger too. This danger arises when forest fires occur and engulf a human habitation. The ensuing damage can be tragic. Some areas such as those in California and Australia are more prone to such damages than others and preventive measures need to be put in place in order to avert tragedies especially in areas prone to this danger. Recent climate extremes have made matters worse. One possible preventive measure is the creation of an agricultural strip or body of water such as a lake between the human habitation and the forest as shown in the adjoining schematic. If such a strip is being newly created an excellent design for the surrounding agricultural land is the use of AM strip farms. This type of farm was proposed in an earlier post as a job c...

Dark Clouds over Syria, oil on canvas by Ashok Do we need more carbon dioxide or less on the planet? In order to answer that question properly, it would  be useful to ascertain  what is the best level of this gas in the atmosphere is as regards the long term well being of all life on the planet - plants, animals, and humans. The present level in the atmosphere is around 400 ppm. Studies have shown that a level of around 1000 ppm is best for plants. Therefore it seems that at least from the point of view of the green side of life, we need around two and a half times our present levels. At a time when most evolution of life took place on the planet, the carbon dioxide levels were much higher.  During the Cambrian period that saw an explosion of new life forms, it was around fifteen times as high. Most of that evolution took place in the oceans that prospered hugely by the increased dissolved carbon dioxide . The higher ph levels were a breeding ground for ...

W ith atmospheric CO2 concentrations reaching the 400 ppm level, the media and a number of scientists have set off the alarm bells, claiming “record high levels” of CO2 had been reached, and that the planet is on the verge of an overdose. Is this really true? It appears that some 200 million years ago when CO2 levels were 4-5 times present levels, the period that saw the rise of giant fern forests--and then continued a slow decline until recent pre-industrial time. http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/climatechange2/07_1.shtml Also to quote another readily available online source, “Note that at high CO2 concentrations, such as 800 ppm, plants thrive. But as CO2 levels fall off, growth rates really start to plummet once they fall below 500 ppm. History shows that the Earth sustains much more life, i.e. is much greener and fruitful, when CO2 levels are higher, i.e. in the vicinity of 1000 ppm,”   which is two and a half times the present levels ...

The author with his adopted son and Grandson in Nainital Himalays   W hile a lot of humans are crying hoarse over burning of fossil fuels and the resulting increase of carbon emissions, here is a different view that concludes carbon emissions could be good for the planet. It seems a scientific fact that trees grow faster and healthier as the level of carbon dioxide increases in the atmosphere. Around 1000 ppm seems great for plants and it is still around 400ppm. Presently it is still too low for their best possible health.   Over the past century while human population has been increasing by leaps and bounds tree population has gone down drastically due to human activity. There is a desperate need to increase tree population. Much wild life depends on it. The carbon in our fossil fuels belong to trees that were buried under the ground a long time ago. By burning fossil fuels we help return that carbon to trees but some cruel and thoughtless humans try trapping th...

C an much sex be behind global climate change? At least that is what very many persons including some scientists are saying. One could argue that has been going on ever since Eve ate the apple of the forbidden tree but then in those days antibiotics and vaccines were not around. The current action combined with reduced mortality rates have led to the planet's population rising to around seven Billion. Collect a bunch of persons in a room and see how it warms up! Each body generates heat continuously. Could that be happening on a planet wide scale? However that is not what the scientists are saying. Instead what happens is that as humans develop they begin using things like cars and electricity. All those require burning fossil fuels and that adds direct heat to the planet as well as carbon emissions that are greenhouse gases. As long as it was only a few hundred million Americans and Europeans doing that it was OK, but now we have a few billion Indians and Chinese beg...