Mani Raj Paul - What is Water??

What is Water??

Water is largely discussed from a physical or a normative perspective. From a physical perspective,
discussions are usually limited only to the terrestrial part of the hydraulic cycle, comprised of blue water,green water and gray water1 Much of the discussion focuses on blue water, differentiating between surface water and groundwater These conflicting normative views of water have practical ramifications, as each is associated with a different management approach. Thus, the often acrid arguments between these views are closely intertwined with conflicts over concrete policy measures (Bakker, 2007). A common feature in these normative discussions is their view of water as a unitary substance. That is, participants refer to all the (usually blue) water as ‘water’. Yet, this has not always been the case. The view that water is a single substance, due to its chemical composition, is modern (Linton, 2010). In the past, water was viewed in the plural term, ‘waters’, constituting a variety of wet cool substances such as light water, standing water, clear water etc. (Hamlin, 2000). While the fact that water has a common chemical composition is not contested, it is possible to ask whether all the liquids composed of H2O should indeed be treated equally. If the answer is negative, as I propose here, then it is possible perhaps to resolve some of the differences in normative views of water by suggesting that attitudes towards water need not subscribe to one normative view, as different views may pertain to different waters.The relationship between humanity and natural systems is discussed in the Bible, in the book of. Genesis However, different views are expressed within Genesis (Cohen, 1985). In the first chapter,  Manis viewed as supreme, and thereby allowed to subdue the earth, and to dominate the fauna and  florafor his benefit (particularly, Genesis 1:28). In the second chapter, a different normative approach
is advanced, whereby Man is a steward of nature, who should take care of it (Genesis 2:15). This second  normativeposition is the basis for the evolving ethic whereby humans have a moral obligation to sustain
natural ecosystems and hence to retain water in streams, rivers, aquifers and lakes for this purpose (an obligationrecognized in Chapter 18, Part C of Agenda 21). This ethic may be couched in the language  ofstewardship, such as Postel’s (1997) water ethic, or Falkenmark & Folke’s (2010) ecohydrosolidarity;ina bio-centric ethic, whereby humans are only the first among equals (Merchant, 1997; Breckenbridge,2 005); or in a view of sustainability and inter-generational ethics, whereby the environmental rights are partof a human right for a green future (Hiskes, 2009).


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mani Raj Paul - Quantization

Image
Quantization The digitization of analog signals in which it involves the rounding off of the values which are approximately equal to the analog values.  sampling chooses a few points on the analog signal and then these points are joined to round off the value to a near stabilized value. Such a process is called as  Quantization . Types of Quantization There are two types of Quantization - Uniform Quantization and Non-uniform Quantization. The type of quantization in which the quantization levels are uniformly spaced is termed as a  Uniform Quantization . The type of quantization in which the quantization levels are unequal and mostly the relation between them is logarithmic, is termed as a  Non-uniform Quantization . There are two types of uniform quantization. They are Mid-Rise type and Mid-Tread type. The following figures represent the two types of uniform quantization. In this the origin lies in the middle of a raising part of the stair-case lik...
Read more

Mani Raj Paul - DPCM

Image
For the samples that are highly correlated, when encoded by PCM technique, leave redundant information behind. To process this redundant information and to have a better output, it is a wise decision to take a predicted sampled value, assumed from its previous output and summarize them with the quantized values. Such a process is called as  Differential PCM (DPCM) technique. DPCM Transmitter The DPCM Transmitter consists of Quantizer and Predictor with two summer circuits. Following is the block diagram of DPCM transmitter. DPCM Receiver The block diagram of DPCM Receiver consists of a decoder, a predictor, and a summer circuit. Following is the diagram of DPCM Receiver. The notation of the signals is the same as the previous ones. In the absence of noise, the encoded receiver input will be the same as the encoded transmitter output. As mentioned before, the predictor assumes a value, based on the previous outputs. The input given to the decoder is...
Read more

Mani Raj Paul - FSK

Image
Frequency Shift Keying (FSK)  is a digital modulation technique in which  thr carrier signal varies according to the digital signal changes. FSK Modulator The FSK modulator block diagram has two oscillators with a clock and the input sequence. FSK Demodulator The main methods of FSK detection are  asynchronous detector  and  synchronous detector . Asynchronous FSK Detector The block diagram of Asynchronous FSK detector consists has two band pass filters,2 envelop detectors, and a decision circuit. Synchronous FSK Detector The block diagram of Synchronous FSK detector consists has two mixers with local oscillator circuits, two band pass filters and a decision circuit.
Read more