Staff Reporter :
Indian scientists in cooperation with Oceanography Department of Dhaka University starts looking at rivers flowing through Bangladesh from today (Wednesday) to collect data of oxygen depletion and study the “dead zones” in Bay of Bengal where oxygen level is nearly zero.
Earlier, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India and Oceanography Department of DU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them for joint research on oceanography of the Bay of Bengal. The agreement includes sampling of water from rivers in Bangladesh that eventually flow into the Bay of Bengal.
The Indian scientists team are: Dr Damodar M Shenoy, Dr Hema Naik, Dr Mangesh Gauns and Hanamant Dalvi. Led by Professor Dr Md Kawser Ahmed, Chairman of Oceanography Department of DU, the team will work at six different points in the rivers from August 5 to 15.
The team will collect river sample for Oxygen Depletion in the Bay of Bengal from the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna, Mongla Port and upstream of the Sundarbans.
Professor Dr Md Kawser Ahmed on Tuesday told The New Nation that, “The increasing runoff of nitrogen from agricultural fields in
Bangladesh into the rivers, which eventually meet the Bay of Bengal, results in depletion of oxygen in the ocean.
“Fertilizers are being continuously added to the system and creates further depletion of oxygen. It will have an impact on environment as well as the ecology. That is why, we are interested in looking at the fate of nitrogen,” he added.
“Sampling of water will help quantify how much nitrogen is washed in the water, said Professor Ahmed.
According to a research, there are more than 600 sites in the world where coastal water has lost oxygen. Fertilizer runoff from farms can trigger sudden explosions of marine algae capable of disrupting ocean ecosystems and even producing “dead zones” in the sea.
Indian scientists in cooperation with Oceanography Department of Dhaka University starts looking at rivers flowing through Bangladesh from today (Wednesday) to collect data of oxygen depletion and study the “dead zones” in Bay of Bengal where oxygen level is nearly zero.
Earlier, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of India and Oceanography Department of DU signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them for joint research on oceanography of the Bay of Bengal. The agreement includes sampling of water from rivers in Bangladesh that eventually flow into the Bay of Bengal.
The Indian scientists team are: Dr Damodar M Shenoy, Dr Hema Naik, Dr Mangesh Gauns and Hanamant Dalvi. Led by Professor Dr Md Kawser Ahmed, Chairman of Oceanography Department of DU, the team will work at six different points in the rivers from August 5 to 15.
The team will collect river sample for Oxygen Depletion in the Bay of Bengal from the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna, Mongla Port and upstream of the Sundarbans.
Professor Dr Md Kawser Ahmed on Tuesday told The New Nation that, “The increasing runoff of nitrogen from agricultural fields in
Bangladesh into the rivers, which eventually meet the Bay of Bengal, results in depletion of oxygen in the ocean.
“Fertilizers are being continuously added to the system and creates further depletion of oxygen. It will have an impact on environment as well as the ecology. That is why, we are interested in looking at the fate of nitrogen,” he added.
“Sampling of water will help quantify how much nitrogen is washed in the water, said Professor Ahmed.
According to a research, there are more than 600 sites in the world where coastal water has lost oxygen. Fertilizer runoff from farms can trigger sudden explosions of marine algae capable of disrupting ocean ecosystems and even producing “dead zones” in the sea.
