Research Papers/Topics in Environmental Science

ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF AN OPERATING TAILINGS STORAGE FACILITY ON CATCHMENT SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER QUALITY: A CASE STUDY OF ADAMUS RESOURCES LIMITED (NZEMA GOLD MINE) IN THE ELLEMBELE DISTRI

ABSTRACT The study assessed the impact of an operating Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) of Adamus Resources Limited (Nzema Gold Mine) in the Ellembele District, Western Ghana, on catchment surface and groundwater quality. Water samples were collected between June and December 2014 from seventeen (17) sampling sites including the TSF decant water (TSF-DW), three (3) streams, a water storage dam, a pond and eleven (11) groundwater monitoring boreholes within 500m radius of the mine’s Tailings ...

EVALUATION OF LOCAL FEEDSTOCKS FOR BIOCHAR PRODUCTION AND POTENTIAL USE OF IT AS SOIL AMENDMENT FOR LETTUCE (Lactuca sativa.L) PRODUCTION

ABSTRACT Agricultural waste can be processed under pyrolysis to generate energy for cooking, resulting in a byproduct called biochar. Biochar has the potential to be used as a soil amendment but this facility has not been explored by researchers. Unpelletized corn cob and oil palm press were subjected to water boiling test, burning duration test, biomass consumption rate, biochar yield, pH of residual water and flame characteristics using Lucia stove. The results generally indicated that corn...

LAND-USE/LAND COVER CHANGE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO CHANGING CLIMATE AND CROP PRODUCTION IN THE LOWER VOLTA BASIN, GHANA

ABSTRACT The construction of the Akosombo and Kpong dams have led to a change in the watershed ecology which has in turn contributed to the change in land use and land cover of the Lower Volta Basin (LVB). Inevitable changing global climate has also played a role in the alteration of land cover and crop production which have affected livelihoods. In this study, a post-classification comparison change detection algorithm was used to determine changes in land use and land cover that have taken ...

TOWARDS AN ECOSYSTEM-BASED DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (Eco-DRR) FOR FLOODS IN SOME DOWNSTREAM COMMUNITIES OF THE LOWER VOLTA, GHANA

ABSTRACT Changes in river flows for hydro-electric power generation, agricultural purposes and water conservation, and other land use changes have had major ecological, social and economic consequences, which include but are not limited to disasters. The poor who mainly live in rural areas directly depend on most of these ecosystems and the services they provide for their livelihood, and so are more vulnerable to changes in ecosystems. This study was carried out to identify communities in the...

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON THE HYDROLOGICAL PROCESSES OF DENSU RIVER BASIN (DRB) USING THE SWAT MODEL

ABSTRACT The impact of climate change is now posing a greater threat on the hydrological cycle leading to drought and water stress in small basins. Matters of climate change have now become a primary concern to most nations due to the implication on society and humanity. The study used 17 ensemble climate model from the Coupled Model Intercompersion Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) to estimate the future climatic condition for the 2050s (2035 to 2065) under Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) ...

ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS AND HEAVY METALS CONTAMINATION IN KORLE AND KPESHIE LAGOONS

ABSTRACT Lagoons are highly productive coastal systems that provide natural services to the ecosystem, however, their pollutions cause adverse changes to the natural environment. Korle and Kpeshie Lagoons in Ghana, both receive wastes from industries and municipal sewage. Controlling and monitoring of contaminants in these systems is very important to environmental protection. The study examined the presence of heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and zinc) in sediments, cra...

MICROBIAL QUALITY AND SAFETY OF COOKED FOOD SOLD IN SELECTED SCHOOL CANTEENS IN THE AKUAPEM NORTH MUNICIPALITY

ABSTRACT Improving the microbial quality and safety of cooked food in the school canteen is an effective means of reducing the burden of diarrhoeal diseases among school children. Studies across Africa have highlighted that foods sold on streets pose a great health hazard and contribute significantly to morbidity and even mortality among children. The main objective of this study was to determine the microbiological quality and safety of cooked food sold in canteens in some selected schools t...

DNA BARCODING IN SUSTAINABLE HARVESTING OF TREE SPECIES AND SAFETY OF HERBAL MEDICINES USED IN THE TREATMENT OF MALARIA IN SOUTHERN GHANA

ABSTRACT Herbal medicines continue to be used in every country around the world in healthcare delivery, however, due to poverty and high doctor to patient ratio; about 75% of the population of the developing world solely rely on herbal medicine for their primary health care. It is thus imperative to develop measures to maximize the medicinal potentials of indigenous plants to reduce the number of lives lost through diseases. However, most herbal products sold in public places lack scientific ...

Influence of Human Activities on Insect Diversity and Abundance in the Wetland Environment

ABSTRACT The Wetland environment is a unique with unique biota, including insects. Insects serve as indicators of environmental health. However, the recent spate of human encroachment on wetlands would affect this unique biota structure. This phenomenon could pose a threat to the wetland environment. The physical and chemical quality of these habitats would provide background information for comparison against established quality standard of the wetland environment. Information gathered could...

ASSESSMENT OF THE LEVEL OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION DUE TO LEACHATE MIGRATION FROM THE CLOSED MALLAM SCC WASTE DISPOSAL SITE, ACCRA - GHANA

ABSTRACT The closed Mallam State Construction Corporation (SCC) waste disposal site is one of the many unengineered and improperly decommissioned municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills in Accra, Ghana. The site served as a landfill site for the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (A.M.A) for 7 years and received variety of solid waste from the A.M.A and other neighbouring municipal assemblies. Leachate management plans were, however, not implemented. Untreated leachate from the waste disposal site flo...

ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING OF EFFLUENT FROM BARIMA FUEL SERVICE CENTER (MALLAM-ACCRA) AND ENVIRONMENTAL AUDIT OF SOME FUEL SERVICE STATIONS IN ACCRA-TEMA METROPOLITAN AREAS OF GHANA

ABSTRACT City authorities the world over are lamenting on the ever increasing liquid and solid waste management problems, and are in continuous search for inexpensive and easy solutions to these waste problems. Ghana, like many other developing countries, in its effort to controlling these problems enacted an Act (Act 490) through Parliament in 1994, which charged the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to demand for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on all developmental projects which ...

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF SEWAGE POLLUTION AND WASTEWATER EFFLUENT QUALITY ASSESSMENT: A CASE STUDY OF TEMA METROPOLIS, GHANA

ABSTRACT The environmental effects of sewage pollution and wastewater effluent quality management in the Tema Metropolis, Ghana was assessed over a three month period. Effluent samples were collected from main manholes comprising raw wastewater from domestic, central business area (CBA), industrial and the outfall point at sea, sakumono beach. The Physico-chemical and bacteriological analysis were determined using standard methods. The results of the Physico-chemical parameters values were; p...

CLIMATE CHANGE AND BLUE CARBON: ABOVE-GROUND CARBON STOCK OF MANGROVES IN THE LOWER VOLTA AREA

ABSTRACT Mangroves and other blue carbon systems are under high pressure due to population pressure and coastal development. The continuous degradation of mangroves leads to the loss of the carbon stocks stored in the mangrove ecosystem. In this study, GIS based analysis using Landsat images and allometric equations were used to estimate the above-ground carbon stock of mangroves in the Lower Volta area in Ghana. The Landsat images were classified to obtain the mangrove area. An ASTER GDEM co...

Behavioural and Cultural Factors That Influence Open Defaecation Among First Cycle School Pupils in the Eastern and Volta Regions of Ghana

ABSTRACT The influence of human behaviour and culture on open defaecation has attracted global concern in recent times. As a way of placing the behavioural and cultural factors influencing open defaecation behaviour in Ghana on the public agenda, a school-basedcross-sectional study was conducted in eight first cycle schools selected from eight communities within the Eastern and Volta regions of the country. The objective of the study was to explore the behavioural and cultural factors inf...

PUBLIC EXPOSURE TO HAZARDS ASSOCIATED WITH NATURALLY OCCURRING RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS IN MINING: DOSE ASSESSMENT AND CANCER RISK ESTIMATION

ABSTRACT Human beings are always exposed to background radiation that comes both from natural and man-made sources. Natural radioactivity is widespread in the earth environment and it exists in various geological formations such as earth’s crust, rocks, soils, plants, water and air. Mining has been identified as one of the potential sources of exposure to naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). However, mining activities are not being monitored and regulated for NORM in Ghana. Mos...


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