Dear Readers I am pleased to present before you this issue of Current World Environment. I thank all the contributors of this issue. It is timely completed with the all support from the reviewers, authors and the office staff. This issue has a variety of papers covering atmospheric ammonia, water quality, zero waste method of sustainability, remote sensing use in environmental monitoring and air quality etc. Air pollution and poor urban air quality have been the major concerns of everyone

Introduction Clothing is an integral part of human society. It not only maintains the basic need of protecting humans from outside environment to maintain essential conditions for survival but also a means of expressing identity, wealth, power etc. In addition, clothing has been an important commodity traded globally over centuries.1 Fashion is a popular aesthetic expression in clothing at a particular time. Earlier, most of the clothing was made to order according to the requirements of t

Introduction Rapid urbanisation has increased energy and food demands of humans which significantly affected the N cycle in the past few decades. Inert N2 gas is converted to its reactive forms through anthropogenic processes e.g. fossil fuel combustion, fertiliser manufacturing, sewage treatment, biomass burning etc. According to several studies, increase in reactive nitrogen can cause imbalance in the nitrogen cycle,1 soil acidification,2 loss of biodiversity,3-4 eutrophication of ecosystem

Introduction Ficus semicordata -Ham. ex Sm. (syn. Ficus cunia Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb.) is a multipurpose tree species belonging to the family Moraceae commonly known as Drooping fig, which is a small to medium sized tree up to 15 m tall, with an uneven crown. The leaf blade is frequently elliptic to lance-shaped and leaf margin is entire or coarsely toothed.1 F. semicordata usually evergreen tree. Sometimes leafless in the dry season.2 Flowering occurs between in the month of May-June.

Introduction In recent past, groundwater has become a foremost source of fresh water in India as evidenced by 61% of net irrigation and 60% of the irrigated crop production by ground water in the country in addition to 80% of the rural, and 50% of the urban and industrial requirements in India.1 Hence, the increased dependency of ground water and unobstructed withdrawal of ground water for irrigation purpose in arid and semi-arid regions in India has utterly curtailed the aquifers during the

Introduction Approximately 27 million rural population rely on biomass for cooking.1 Fuelwood, Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and biomass wastes are being used for community cooking. Traditional fuels being used, release hazardous smoke. Use of traditional inefficient biomass burning cookstove causes poor air quality, affecting human health, deteriorating forest eco system, global warming and climate change. According to WHO, 1.5 million people die annually worldwide due to indoor air pollution.2

Introduction Water pollution is the key reason of various water-borne diseases all over the world, predominantly in the developing countries. Polluted water influences the life of present generation as well as it affects the upcoming generations because of its continuing effects.1 In India around 60% population is not accessible to safe drinking water. Especially in India the incidence of birth defects, cancers and diseases related to skin, lungs, brain, kidneys and liver are several

Introduction Rivers are a perennial source of water for drinking, domestic purposes, irrigation, electricity generation, etc. Presently, most of the water resources are being polluted mainly by population explosion, urbanization, industrialization and other anthropogenic activities. Subsequently the entry of industrial wastes, effluents, sewage, pesticides from agricultural run-off and other contaminants into the water bodies both from point and non-point sources of pollution, deteriorating t

Introduction In the past few years, a significant enhancement in the process of prevention and management of air pollution was seen, instead of this advancement, air pollution has continued to be foremost environmental health vulnerability to humans. In many third world countries, the intensity of air pollution goes beyond the maximum boundary as set by the guidelines of the World Health Organization.1 Due to the rapid urbanization and industrialization, air pollution has become the foremost

Introduction Evapotranspiration is defined as the loss of surface water from field and water bodies in the form of both evaporation and transpiration. Studies has revealed the underground freshwater storage is quickly getting exhausted.1 Also due to different types of contamination, like Arsenic and other heavy metals, the natural salinity and pH are getting altered.2 Due to the high salinity content, the evaporation rate is getting influenced and it is causing a change in the hydrological cy

Introduction Water is considered as most essential and important natural resources for human beings, animals and plants. It is difficult to imagine an environment without water. Man can live only three or four days without water. The available total water quantity remains constant globally and is sufficient to meet demands of world living beings, its quality and improper management poses concerns of water crises. Although our planet has nearly 71 per cent of water, only 3 per cent of it is fr

Introduction Uttarakhand state is highly enriched with its vegetation including wild edible fruits due to its varied eco-geographical and eco-climatic conditions (Saklani et al; 2011). Central Himalaya is an important source of wild edible fruit species. These wild edible fruits species grow abundantly across an altitudinal gradient of Himalaya and the majority of them bear fruits during summer (Maikhuri et al; 2009). Wild edible plants refer to species that are harvested or collected from th

Introduction The discovery of residues of xenobiotic compounds in tissues of fish and other aquatic organisms since the early 1960s caused increased attention of the scientific fraternity towards their bioaccumulation in living organisms. It is possible to predict what happens to such substances in the environment by comparing the extent to which they accumulate in living systems in comparison with the medium in which they exist. It is also possible to determine and compare the extent of conc

Introduction Soil is a crucial element of several terrestrial ecosystems by itself, it hosts enormous biodiversity, both in terms of species abundance and functionality. The soil is a biological medium for plant growth (Ghorade, 2013). It is crucial fact that water covers approximately 71% of total surface of Earth and about 3% of water is fresh. Out of these approximately 3% of water, 2.5% water is available in Antarctica in the solid form i.e. ice (Bhadra et al., 2014). Water plays an impe

Introduction A greater part of the natural aquatic environment is faced with the risk of a shrinking genetic base and biodiversity due to the haphazard use of pesticides.1 Pesticides have been used for centuries in agriculture for increased food production by destroying undesirable bugs and to control disease vectors.2 Pesticides that reach the water frame can accumulate in fish and molluscs which might be dangerous to humans whilst ingested.3 Fishes are vulnerable to toxic substances and t

Introduction Natural capital embraces the living and nonliving components of ecosystems that contribute to the generation of goods and services for people but excludes human beings and articles made by them. Natural capital refers to the natural environment around us that provides the goods and services to sustain life on this globe.1,2,3,4,&5 It includes soil, air, water, plant and animal biomass, forests, fish populations, mineral deposits, etc. Natural capital stock can be classifi

Introduction Evaluation of LULC change is an essential aspect of planning and management activities. Information on LULC change is significant for the preparation and execution of land management. Change Detection is an important procedure and necessary for updating LULC for management of the land environment. The significance of this study area as Patna is the capital city of Bihar situated along the confluence of River Ganges. The City Patna (PMC) is a fast-growing city and emerging trade

Introduction Sun-bathing or basking is a behaviour seen in birds for many kinds of reasons (Kennedy, 1969).Thermoregulation phenomenon is observed in a wide variety of avian species including large falconiformes, King Vulture (Sacoramphus papa), White-backed vulture (Gyps africanus), Indian King vulture (Sarcogyps calvus) and Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus); various species of Psittaciformes, Piciformes, Coracciformes, Columbiformes, Ciconiiformes, Corvidae and passerine birds. The ther

Introduction A vertebrate has notochord during its embryonic development which is replaced by a cartilaginous or bony vertebral column or backbone in adults. The subphylum Vertebrata comprises seven classes of living animals namely Cyclostomata, Chondrichthyes, Osteichthyes, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves and Mammalia. First four are popularly known as Anamniota and last three as Amniota (Verma and Praksh, 2020a). The angiosperms are well developed and highly evolved group of plants in which there

Introduction The approach of Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographical Information System (GIS) for the preparation of land use land cover (LULC) mapping is an essential aspect of planning and development activities for land resource management. The study City Patna (PMC) is a fast developing city and emerging economic epicentre in Bihar. The population of the city (PMC) is growing day by day, and rapid migration from the different parts of the Bihar resulted from rapid urbanization.1 So, these p