AGRICULTURAL IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

Given that crops and livestock thrive in a relatively narrow set of environmental parameters, it makes sense to explore how climate change will affect agricultural productivity. Factors considered include the impacts of rising temperatures, increased production of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, water supply fluctuations, soil quality variations, sea-level increases, and the introduction of new pests, diseases, and weeds, which could hurt agricultural output. These changes can have different impacts depending on the geographic scale of analysis. Climatic change will have different manifestations at local, regional, and global scales. Impacts will also vary according to the agricultural products under consideration. Some plant or animal species may be very resilient to environmental changes. Others may not adapt so well to change.

PEMISAHAN KATION GOLONGAN I, II, III, IV, DAN V

    1.      Proses pemisahan kation antar golongan

Pemisahan kation-kation antar golongan dapat dilakukan dengan memberikan variasi reagensia yang digunakan. Variasi reagensia yang digunakan didasarkan atas kelarutan yang selektif dari kation-kation. Dengan pemvariasian reagensia maka kita akan dapat menggolongkan kation-kation berdasarkan kesamaan sifat selektifitas kation tersebut terhadap reagensia.

 Untuk dapat memisahkan kation golongan I dari kation golongan lainnya dapat dilakukan dengan jalan penambahan HCl encer. Penambahan HCl encer ini bertujuan untuk mengendapkan kation-kation golongan I, sehingga kation golongan I terpisah dari kation-kation lain yang tidak terendapkan ketika ditambahkan HCl encer.

PROSES PENCEMARAN

Interaksi toksikan/pencemar dengan organisme dapat dinyatakan sebagai proses toksikokinetik, yaitu proses uptake toksikan/pencemar, dilanjutkan proses distribusi, metabolisme, dan penyimpanan dalam tubuh organisme serta ekskresi dari tubuh organisme tersebut. Proses tersebut menarik untuk dipelajari karena menentukan tingkat safety dan risk suatu toksikan/pencemar. Sedangkan interaksi polutan dengan sel, jaringan atau organ, dalam bentuk respon toksik dinyatakan sebagai toksikodinamik.

Secara umum, proses pencemaran dapat terjadi secara langsung maupun tidak langsung. Secara langsung yaitu bahan pencemar tersebut langsung berdampak meracuni sehingga mengganggu kesehatan manusia, hewan dan tumbuhan atau mengganggu keseimbangan ekologis baik air, udara maupun tanah. Proses tidak langsung, yaitu beberapa zat kimia bereaksi di udara, air maupun tanah, sehingga menyebabkan pencemaran.

TEKNIK PENGOLAHAN LIMBAH DENGAN WET SCRUBBING

Wet scrubber adalah peralatan pengendali pencemar udara yang berfungsi untuk mengumpulkan partikel-partikel halus yang terbawa dalam gas buang suatu proses dengan menggunakan titik-titik air.

Pada pengolahan ini cairan umumnya air digunakan untuk menangkap partikel debu atau untuk meningkatkan ukuran aerosol. Partikel halus berukuran 0,1 sampai 20 mikron dapat disisihkan secara efektif dari gas pembawa menggunakan wet collector. Nama lain dari filter basah adalah Scrubbers atau Wet Collectors. Prinsip kerja filter basah adalah membersihkan udara yang kotor dengan cara menyemprotkan air dari bagian atas alt, sedangkan udara yang kotor dari bagian bawah alat. Pada saat udara yang berdebu kontak dengan air, maka debu akan ikut disemprotkan air turun ke bawah. Venturi Scrubber menghilangkan partikel debu dan kontaminan gas tertentu dari gas aliran dengan memaksanya melewati aliran cair, menghasilkan cairan yang teratomisasi. Tinggi kecepatan diferensial di antara gas kotor dan cairan droplets menyebabkan partikel bertumbukan, kemudian akan berkelompok untuk membentuk tetesan yang lebih besar. Terakhir, tetesan cair tersebut dilemparkan pada dinding alat pemisah dan gas bersih pun dikeluarkan melalui puncak scrubber.

TEKNIK PENGOLAHAN LIMBAH B3 DENGAN FLOTASI

Flotation (flotasi) berasal dari kata float yang berarti mengapung atau mengambang. Flotasi dapat diartikan sebagai suatu pemisahan suatu zat dari zat lainnya pada suatu cairan/larutan berdasarkan perbedaan sifat permukaan dari zat yang akan dipisahkan, dimana zat yang bersifat hidrofilik tetap berada fasa air sedangkan zat yang bersifat hidrofobik akan terikat pada gelembung udara dan akan terbawa ke permukaan larutan dan membentuk buih yang kemudian dapat dipisahkan dari cairan tersebut. Secara umum flotation melibatkan 3 fase yaitu cair (sebagai media), padat (partikel yang terkandung dalam cairan) dan gas (gelembung udara).

ZAT-ZAT YANG DAPAT TERBAKAR DAN MELEDAK

Dalam pengertian luas zat yang dapat terbakar adalah sesuatu yang siap terbakar, sedangkan zat yang dapat meledak relative memerlukan rangsangan untuk terbakar. Sebelum mencoba mecermati definisi-definisi ini perlulah kiranya menetapkan beberapa terminology lain. Kebanyakan zat kimia yang cenderung terbakar tak sengaja adalah berupa cairan. Cairan menimbulkan uap, yang biasanya lebih pekat dari pada udara, dan karenanya bertendensi untuk terbakar. Tendensi dari pada suatu cairan untuk terbakar dapat diukur dengan sebuah pengujian dengan cairan dipanaskan dan secara priodik diekspose terhadap nyala api hingga campuran uap dan udara menyala pada permukaan cairan. Temperatur yang terjadi ini dinamakan titik nyala/flash point.

A NEW NATURE-HUMAN RELATIONSHIP

A critical environmental education consists of developing, not only among youth, but the population in general, the capacities to analyze educational propositions regarding the environment and dominant environmental discourses to decode hidden ideological orientations, the beliefs and interests that direct them, and which implicitly tend to reproduce the practices that are nevertheless the ones that would be necessary to shift to a different kind of relationship between nature and human beings. The reference to science and technological transfers as the main answer to defining and correcting the problem is insufficient to correct a situation that requires that humans also question the philosophic foundations, sociological, political, and economic dimensions of the regulation of climate. To reproduce the same economic logic is denounced by many as incapable of correcting the shameless exploitation of nature and human beings that are at the heart of the environmental crisis.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND SUSTAINABILITY

The fourth report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in February 2007, confirms the reality of global climate change. Some scientists have pointed to the uncertainties and the inevitable limits of the climatic modeling, and other researchers question the ascendancy of scientist’s analyses of the question in the public sphere. They assert that sociopolitical analyses should lead scholars to question the neo-liberal model of society, with its faith in technical progress, as well as the inequitable sharing of the wealth which ensues from it, according to Scott Lash, et al. The consensus of the IPCC experts has strengthened over the years, and concludes that the production of greenhouse gas of human origin is an important cause of global warming.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHEMMISTRY

Environmental chemistry is the study of the sources, reactions, transport, effects, and fates of chemical species in the water, air, terrestrial, and living environments and the effects of human activities thereon. Some idea of the complexity of environmental chemistry as a discipline may be realized by examining, which indicates the interchange of chemical species among various environmental spheres. Throughout an environmental system there are variations in temperature, mixing, intensity of solar radiation, input of materials, and various other factors that strongly influence chemical conditions and behavior. Because of its complexity, environmental chemistry must be approached with simplified models. This chapter presents an overview of environmental chemistry

TAR SANDS

Alberta’s tar sands (also known as oil sands) are the world’s third-largest reserves of recoverable crude oil.60 Though it is expensive to extract, this oil fetches a much lower price than other heavy oils due to the difculty in getting the landlocked tar sands to the United States and other potential markets. Thus, tar sands companies are desperate to promote new and expanded pipelines. The need for new pipeline capacity is particularly acute as companies ramp up production at projects that were started several years ago, while still planning new projects, such as Teck Resources’ massive Frontier Mine.

THE BEGINNING OF THE END

2017 may go down in history as the year when it frst became clear that the fossil fuel era was fnally starting to sputter to an end. The cost of new solar and wind power started to fall below the price of new coal and gas plants in a growing number of regions. The CEO of NextEra Energy, one of the largest electricity producers in the US, now predicts that “early in the next decade” — just a few years from now — power will be cheaper from unsubsidized new wind and solar plants in the US than from existing coal and nuclear plants. It’s still far from game over for the fossil fuel industry, but the game hasdrastically changed.

SCHOOL CHEMISTRY LABORATORY SAFETY GUIDE

Recognition of laboratory safety and health problems has crystallized since the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. This Act requires that certain precautions be observed to protect the safety and health of employees on the job. The employee designation includes all teachers employed by private and public school systems in States that have occupational safety and health plans accepted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). OSHA rules and regulations are provided to protect the employees and the facilities.

BEST PRACTICES OF PEATLAND MANAGEMENT

BEST PRACTICES OF PEATLAND MANAGEMENT

Indonesia’s peatlands have been utilized since the end of 19th Century. Prior to 1920, Dayak rural communities in South Kalimantan have begun to manage shallow peatlands in the area behind the river bank (back swamp) which they call the lawau and manage it for rain-fed rice fields (Suwardi et al., 2005). The river area is a fertile area because it is influenced by sediment runoff from rivers. Basically Dayak people are very environmentally friendly. In managing the land, they have a rotating farming system that always maintains a balance with the utilization process following a natural cycle (Suwardi et al., 2005). They divide the lands into zones comprising settlement, bushes, harvested paddy field (jurungan), dry paddy field (pahumaan), plantations, sacred zones, and protected zones (kayuan). Sacred zones are customary protected zones that should not be cleared for agricultural land. When the agricultural land has become infertile, they will move to look for similar land in other places. After being left for 1-7 years the former fields will become bush and after 7-12 years the bush will become a forest. They will reopen the former field after 30 years, when it has become a forest again. This is done continuously and sustainably.

PEATLAND RESTORATION AGENCY: A SMART WAY TO OBTAIN A QUICK WIN

The Jokowi Administration have seen that improving forest and land governance may take times. Thus, it needs an acceleration and simultaneous actions to have results in a relatively short period. In terms of fire prevention strategy, the Government of Indonesia then established Peatland Restoration Agency (Badan Restorasi Gambut/BRG) in January 2016, after the big fire incident of 2015. The Agency is tasked to rehabilitate 2 million hectares by 2019, and the current program is to carry out 2.49 million hectares restoration, which include 1.1 million ha to be performed by the Government and partners, while 1.39 million hectares by relevant private companies. This agency focuses on rehabilitating and restoring heavily degraded peatlands in fire-prone areas. Thus, this agency supports the grand strategy for peatland management developed by Directorate of Peatland Degradation Control, Directorate General for Pollutant and Environmental Degradation Control, Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

PEATLAND MANAGEMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS (SDGS)

The ultimate goal of the sustainable development goals is to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. Hence, managing peatlands should also comply with the goals. However, managing peatlands to provide livelihoods for local communities as well as to conduct intensive agriculture and forestry may contradict with the protection of the environment. The options are whether peatlands should be drained or to be sustainably managed.

MANAGING PEATLANDS, TO COPE WITH CLIMATE CHANGE: INDONESIA’S EXPERIENCES

Indonesia has over 15 million ha of peatlands, which is over 12% of its forest land spreading across islands of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua. This is the largest tropical peat land in the world, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo, with the peatland area reaches 9 million ha, and the Republic of Congo with the area reaches about 5.5 million ha (Miles et al., 2017).

Peatland can be defined as soil formed from the accumulation of organic matters such as the remnants of plant tissue that lasted for a long time (Kelompok Kerja Pengelolaan Lahan Gambut Nasional, 2006). According to Government Regulation (GR) No. 71 of 2014 that has been amended by GR No. 57 of 2016 on the Protection and Management of Peat Ecosystem, peatland is defined as a naturally occurring organic material of plant residues that decomposes imperfectly and accumulates in swamps. Furthermore, the regulation also defines peat ecosystem as the order of peatland components that forms an integrated system affecting one another and forming a balance, stability, and productivity.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOR MANAGING PEATLAND

As indicated in the previous section, Indonesia does not only work by itself to mitigate problems in relation to peat management and peat fires. We also communicate and collaborate with other countries and international agencies to stop peat degradation and prevent peat fires. In the Southeast Asia Region, as the ASEAN member, Indonesia has ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Hazard Pollution (AATHP) through Law No. 26 of 2014 on AATHP Endorsement, dated 14 October 2014. AATHP aims to prevent and control cross-border smoke pollution as a result of land and/or forest fires particularly in peatlands that must be implemented through intensive national, regional and international efforts based on commitment, a spirit of partnership, and a tradition of solidarity to achieve peace, progress and prosperity among ASEAN countries.

INDONESIA’S PEATLAND GOVERNANCE

A huge task. In the past, Indonesia experienced unsustainable peatland management leading to the degradation of peatland and peat fires. Thinking over the negative impacts resulted from peat degradation and fires, the government of Indonesia has prioritized the protection and sustainable management of peatlands, including the restoration of heavily degraded peatlands. Presidential Instruction No. 8 of 2015 on the Suspension of New Licenses and the Improvement of Primary Forest and Peatland Governance or commonly referred to as Inpres Moratorium is a monumental decision reflecting the commitment of Indonesian government to reform its peatland and forest management. It has targeted the postponement of formal licenses for companies. The coverage of peatlands and primary forests affected by this policy has been mapped and update every six months. This political will has been supported or followed up by other regulations, including:

PEATLAND MANAGEMENT AND NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION (NDC)

Peatland is a storage of huge amount of carbon. It is estimated that peat can contain about 6 tonnes per hectare of 1 cm depth. Overall, Indonesian peatlands stores about 46 Giga tons, or about 8-14% of the carbon stored in the world peatlands. It is this carbon content that has become source of problems due to its emission when burnt, and at the same time also become a potential solution if well managed, in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation. In our First National Determined Contribution submitted to the UNFCCC, 17% or over half of the 29% of the emission reduction target, comes from land based sector, which are mainly forest and peatlands.

EARTH’S CLIMATE HISTORY

Climate is not a static set of weather conditions, constant over eons; rather it varies, sometimes in dramatic ways, over time. The hot climate of the newlyformed Earth gave way to glaciers in a little more than a billion years, an immense time by human reckoning, but not nearly so long by geological standards. Earth’s climate has alternated many times between hot and cold periods of varying magnitudes. Radiation from the Sun, the ocean currents, rainfall, wind, continental drift, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, volcanic activity, radioactivity in the Earth’s core, the eccentricity of Earth’s orbit around the sun, the tilt of Earth’s axis, and photosynthesis all affect climate. Climate has not one, but, rather, myriad causes. Disentangling these causes is not easy, but it is necessary to understanding why climate changes over time. The current climate is warming. The culprit, carbon dioxide, has been increasing in the atmosphere, driving up temperature, and prompting speculation over Earth’s future climate.