Wilderness and the Media Politics of Place Branding

It is 30 years since the Australian environmental movement enlisted the term “wilderness” to protect Tasmania's remote Franklin River from hydroelectric development. Environmentalists deployed “wilderness” strategically during the conflict to build public support for their no-dam campaign, aided by national and international media who used the term liberally, while Tasmanian news media and pro-development elites acknowledged the term's inherent political qualities by suppressing its use. Our interest is in the political and media framing of “wilderness” since the concept was “branded” by government and industry at the turn of the twenty-first century. Drawing on continuing environmental conflict over Tasmania's remote Tarkine region as a case study, we ask to what extent media portrayals of “wilderness” have changed since the Franklin dam was stopped and the Tasmanian World Heritage Wilderness Area was created in 1982. Using content analysis of related articles in the local media and qualitative analysis of international travel journalism about Tasmania published over an extended period, we find that place branding has contributed to the routinization of “wilderness” and to a shift in the focus of mediated conflict from “wilderness” to “tourism.” The Tasmanian experience demonstrates that while the actions of the environmental movement can valorize place, branding can depoliticize contested natural areas. Yet brands that incorporate or allude to “wilderness” may have the unanticipated consequence of valorizing “wilderness” transnationally, in a manner that the environmental movement would struggle to emulate.     

From Narrative of Promise to Rhetoric of Sustainability: A Genealogy of Oil Sands

Since its conception, “oil sands” has been the name of a pro-development narrative seeking to convince skeptics that bitumen saturating the sandstone of Alberta’s Athabasca region ought to be extracted and chemically altered into Synthetic Crude Oil (SCO). Over the decades, the nature of skepticism has changed, and thus oil sands (along with its meanings and claims) has been continually reproduced so as to placate new criticisms. This paper offers a discursive genealogy of the oil sands narrative, demonstrating how it has been transformed from what was throughout the twentieth century a materially situated “narrative of promise” aiming to prove that SCO production was physically possible and that it could be commercially profitable, into what by 2015 was at its core a largely reactive “rhetoric of sustainability” aiming to convince a new class of critics that, contrary to their claims, SCO was in fact being produced in an environmentally responsible manner.     

武汉城市圈资源集聚能力的空间关联研究

提升武汉城市圈各城市间资源集聚能力的空间关联程度,对于实现该区域的协调发展具有重要意义。基于此,运用修正的引力模型,采用社会网络分析法对1995～2015年武汉城市圈资源集聚能力的空间关联进行分析。研究表明:(1)武汉城市圈资源集聚能力的空间关联特征显著,网络密度呈现倒"U"型,网络等级逐年下降,网络效率呈现"U"型;(2)武汉城市圈资源集聚能力在网络中呈现"中心-边缘"的特征,武汉市的点度中心度最高,在网络中属于中心城市,而其它城市属于边缘城市;(3)板块一(武汉、孝感、天门)属于"双向溢出"板块,板块二(潜江、咸宁)属于"净受益"板块,板块三(仙桃、黄冈)属于"净溢出"板块,板块四(黄石、鄂州)属于"经纪人"板块。鉴于此,从多途径构建资源集聚能力空间关联"通道"、增强中心城市辐射带动功能和推动城市分工协作等3个方面提出了提升武汉城市圈资源集聚能力空间关联程度的政策建议。     

“三生”视角下的城市空间功能变化及调控路径——以长沙市为例

认知快速城镇化背景下城市空间生产、生活和生态功能的变化规律既是人文-经济地理学研究的重要内容，也是城市国土空间开发及其格局优化的内在依据。以长沙都市区为实证区，以遥感影像、城市土地利用调查数据等为主要数据源，选取2000、2009、2016年为研究时间节点，基于土地主体功能的差异构建“三生”功能评价体系，采用空间自相关、冷热点分析和样带分析等方法，探究长沙市“三生”功能的变化特征并提出调控路径。结果表明：（1）长沙都市区整体的生产、生活功能持续强化，但生态功能有所减弱；（2）长沙都市区内部“三生”功能强弱亦发生变化，不同功能空间重组，“三生” 功能的均衡性提高；（3）长沙都市区“三生”综合功能水平持续提升，高水平区域逐渐向城市中心集聚，呈现单核集聚→单核集聚-多核分散→网络均衡化的城市功能空间结构发展模式，但“三生”功能空间单元变化模式各异；（4）应从“三生”功能用地结构的“质”与“量”两方面对长沙都市区空间格局进行综合调控。     

The Spatiotemporal Pattern of Fires in Northern Taiga Larch Forests of Central Siberia

The periodicity of fires in larch forests of Evenkia and their relationship with landscape elements have been studied. Cross-sections with “burns” in them caused by past fires have been analyzed in 72 test plots; the fire chronology encompassed the period from the 15th to the 20th century. The between-fire intervals (BFIs) have been calculated by two methods: (I) on the basis of burns alone and (II) on the basis of burns and the start of growth of the new generation of larch after the earliest fire. The BFI depends on local orographic features; it is 86 ± 11 (105 ± 12), 61 ± 8 (73 ± 8), 139 ± 17 (138 ± 18), and 68 ± 14 (70 ± 13) years for northeastern slopes, southwestern slopes, bogs, and flatlands, respectively. The mean BFIs calculated by methods I and II are 82 ± 7 and 95 ± 7 years, respectively. The permafrost horizon rises at a mean rate of 0.3 cm per year after a forest fire. It has been shown that the number of fires regularly peaks at periods of 36 and 82 years. There is also a temporal trend in fire frequency: the mean BFI was approximately 100 years in the 19th century and 65 years in the 20th century.     

中国环境质量的时空格局及影响因素研究——基于污染和吸收两个视角

提升环境质量是经济高质量发展的重要内涵和必然要求。基于环境污染和环境吸收两个视角，在综合大气、土壤、水体三大环境要素测算环境污染指数和吸收指数的基础上，结合环境质量影响因素的地域差异性，采用SDM模型分析全国及各地区环境质量的影响因素和空间效应。研究表明：（1）环境质量的空间集聚特征明显，地域不平衡问题突出，环境恶化的趋势没有得到根本性扭转；（2）重工业比重偏高是造成环境质量低的最主要原因；（3）东部地区环境质量与经济发展逐渐趋于协调，但人口集聚给环境带来较大负面影响。中、西部地区“高投入、高耗能、高污染、低效率”的发展模式成为提升环境质量的掣肘。最后，针对不同地区发展特点提出“硬治理”与“软治理”融合的差异化环境治理路径。     

Revisiting the “Ozone Hole” Metaphor: From Observational Window to Global Environmental Threat

In 1985, just over 30 years ago, the “ozone hole” made its appearance in the press as a truly global environmental threat. As one of the most important environmental issues of the twentieth century, the “ozone hole” is also a remarkable metaphorical, visual, and imaginary construction. This essay examines the historical trajectory of the famous “ozone hole” from its birth within the astronomical community at the beginning of the twentieth century to its contemporary framing as a global environmental threat. The article provides evidence why metaphors constitute a valuable object of historically informed studies of scientific practice, and shows in particular how metaphorical landscapes shift over time, mapping at the same time larger social and political developments. The essay ends by showing how scientific images and metaphorical framings interact and how they shape scientific and popular discourse on nature, as well as our understanding of the global environment.     

The influence of zeolite type A on heavy metal transfer in the activated sludge process

In areas which are highly urbanised, where water re-use is frequently necessary, the importance of “heavy metal” removal during sewage treatment cannot be overestimated. One critical factor controlling the forms of the metals in the sewage is the chemical matrix of the sewage; as a consequence of their chelating capacity detergent builders are important in modifying the sewage matrix. Laboratory simulations of the activated sludge process have been studied to estimate the impact of the detergent builder zeolite type A on the removal of heavy metals from sewage in this treatment process.Experiments have also been undertaken in which the influent concentrations of the builder were doubled, in an endevour to simulate the effect of a “wash day”. It is apparent from the data presented that under conditions of constant loading, zeolite type A did not significantly affect the concentrations of any of the metals studied with the exception of zinc. However, removal of some of the metals was less than in the presence of a condensed phosphate solution. Under conditions of shock loading the improvement in metal removal which has been observed when condensed phosphates were added under conditions o of variable loading was not observed when zeolite type A was added under similar conditions.     

Climate change,food stress,and security in Russia

Farming in higher latitudes is generally believed to benefit from a warmer climate due to extended growing season, reduced risk of frost, availability of more productive cultivars, and an opening potential of farming in northern locations. We analyzed the impact of climate change on production of cereals in Russia and found that this general perception of beneficiary effect of a warmer climate is unlikely to hold, primarily due to increasing risk of droughts in the most important agricultural areas of the country. Past impacts of droughts on food security throughout the twentieth century suggest that a number of adaptation options are available to mitigate the increasing risks of crop failure. We analyze the effectiveness of these measures in connection with a set of climate change projections, under two contrasting scenarios of interregional grain trade: “Fortress Market” and “Open Market.”     

Role of allochthonous carbon in the energy of terrestrial invertebrate communities at different distances from the Black Sea and a freshwater lake (Isotopic Evidence)

Isotopic analysis has become an important tool in the study of lateral links between ecosystems. The isotopic composition of carbon in terrestrial and aquatic primary producers can differ significantly, which provides an opportunity to identify the “marine” or “freshwater” carbon in the tissues of terrestrial animals. We measured the isotopic composition of C and N in tissues of soil invertebrates and estimated the proportion of “aquatic” carbon in the energy budget of terrestrial food webs at different distances from the Black Sea and a freshwater lake. Terrestrial predators are actively subsidized with carbon from the Black Sea to distance of up to about 50 m. The carbon subsidy from the freshwater lake is significant in the zone extending no farther than the forest border (ca. 15 m). Thus, the effect of allochthonous organic matter on terrestrial communities in both cases manifests itself only in a relatively narrow coastal strip.     

21世纪三峡库区中雨以上日数的情景预估

利用用于IPCC AR4的全球气候模式产品，验证其对三峡库区极端降水指数中雨以上日数（R10）模拟能力的基础上，对模拟能力较好的模式进行组合，同时考虑模式的偏差，预估高（A2）、中(A1B)、低(B1)3种排放情景下未来21世纪三峡库区R10的变化。不同排放情景下未来三峡库区R10的变化存在差异。与目前气候（1980～1999年）相比，未来整个21世纪（2011～2100年），A2情景下三峡库区R10平均减少1.7 d，A1B情景下平均减少0.3 d，B1情景下平均增加0.2 d，3种情景平均将减少0.6 d。21世纪初期（2011～2040年）、中期（2041～2070年）和后期（2071～2100年），A2情景下三峡库区R10减少都最多，分别平均减少2.5、1.5和1.0 d；3种情景平均分别减少1.4、0.2和0.1 d。〖     

后现代旅游理念下的乡村旅游产品开发——以长沙县开慧镇为例

后现代旅游理念源于后现代主义思潮，是一种新型的旅游观。在回顾国内外相关文献基础上，采用实地研究与问卷调查方法，以长沙县开慧镇为例进行了实证研究。研究发现：（1）后现代旅游是对现代旅游的继承性发展，后现代旅游需求是多样、复杂、甚至矛盾的，目前很难统一界定；（2）总体来看，后现代旅游产品开发应该秉持绿色自然、情感体验、个性本我、健康公平等理念；（3）开慧镇乡村旅游资源丰富，但现有产品开发存在游客参与度不高，消费水平偏低，产品认知程度不一，新媒体营销收效甚微等问题；（4）探索性地设立了由13个影响因子组成的指标体系，依据对游客的重要性程度将权重划分为高、中、低3个层级，并以此作为产品开发的参照；（5）提出了加强“大地艺术类”“儿童旅游类”“农家体验类”“户外休闲类”4类后现代乡村旅游产品开发的建议。今后，有必要加强对“后现代”或“跨现代”背景下的乡村旅游研究。     

The Water Regime of Black Saxaul in Various Environmental Conditions of the Central Asian Desert

A water regime, estimated based on transpiration rate, water content of shoots, concentration of cell sap, and water consumption per unit area, was studied for black saxaul. The seasonal course of black saxaul transpiration during the growing season increased by the middle of summer (July) and decreased towards autumn. The highest transpiration rate of black saxaul was found in Karnabchul, where ground waters poorly mineralized, located at a depth of 14–20 m in nonsaline soils. The lowest transpiration rate was detected in the Nishan “steppe,” where ground waters were also located at 14–20 m, however they were highly mineralized, and the soil profile was highly salinated. The Southwestern Kyzylkum, characterized by ground waters at a very deep location (more than 100 m) and low soil salinity, occupied an intermediate position in terms of transpiration rate. The maximal water consumption for transpiration during the vegetation period was observed in Karnabchulat 642.5 mm/ha, then in the Nishan “steppe” at 352.5. The minimal value was detected in the Southwestern Kyzylkum at 171.0.

     

Impacts of climate change on the distribution of species and communities in the Chilean Mediterranean ecosystem

The Mediterranean region of Chile is considered a biodiversity hot spot. An increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation, as projected for the end of this century by global circulation models, would likely change the distribution of the sclerophyllous thorny shrubland and woodland. In order to assess those potential impacts, the MAXENT algorithm was used to project potential changes in the distribution of the Mediterranean ecosystem. Ecological niche models were fitted and used to project the potential distribution of these forest ecosystems by the end of the century. Projections were made using data from the PRECIS model for the A2 and B2 climate change scenarios and two strategies of occupancy: free migration and non-migration. Distribution models of sclerophyllous, woodland and shrubland performed accurately representing current species’ distribution. When we assume non-migration responses under climate change scenarios, results reveal a decrease in the distribution area for all the species. The areas where the highest reduction in a suitable environment was found are located along the coastline, where higher temperature increases have been projected. For native ecosystems from the Andean Range region, such as communities dominated by thorny species, a stable habitat was found, associated with a higher adaptation capability to future climatic projections. Hence, in the future, buffer zones originated by “topo-climatic” conditions might play a key role in protecting Central Chile biodiversity.     

基于环境容量的县域农用地土壤重金属风险概率预警研究

《土壤污染防治法》的正式出台,标志着我国土壤污染防治工作由"现状治理"转向"风险预防",为此开展区域土壤重金属风险预警研究具有一定的理论与现实意义。以太湖沿岸某产粮县为研究对象,以2015年为基准年,运用重金属输入-输出通量模型和土壤环境负载容量法对研究区耕地土壤中的As、Hg、Cr、Cd、Pb 5种重金属15年(2030年)与35年(2050年)后的风险概率进行预警研究。研究结果表明:大气干湿沉降成为除As以外其他4种土壤重金属的主要来源,畜禽粪便、化肥投入与灌溉水也会在一定程度上影响土壤重金属输入;此外,研究区耕层土壤中As、Cr、Pb 3种重金属整体情况较为良好,Hg、Cd污染风险概率较高,主要分布在研究区中部的O镇、P镇。通过GIS技术与区域物质流通量模型的结合能够很好地对不同区域以及不同重金属污染类型的区域进行风险预警,这可以为土壤污染差别化管控策略的制定提供重要思路。     

江西省农用地生态效率时空差异及影响因素分析——基于面源污染、碳排放双重视角

科学剖析农用地生态效率时空差异及影响机制,对实现农用地利用与资源环境协调发展以及制定农业可持续发展政策具有重要的理论与实践意义。将农用地面源污染、碳排放作为非期望产出纳入农用地生态效率评价指标体系,借助SBM-Undesirable模型对1990～2017年江西省农用地生态效率进行测度并对其时空差异特征进行分析,在此基础上运用Tobit模型探讨相关因素的影响机制。结果表明:(1)1990～2017年间江西省农用地生态效率呈现"先下降后上升"的变化趋势,均值为0.749,总体呈现上升的趋势;(2)各设区市农用地生态效率空间格局演变轨迹呈现先下降后上升的扁平"U"型特征,高效率地区由"连片"分布向"点状"分布再向"连片"分布变化,空间格局趋于非均衡化发展;(3)农村居民人均可支配收入、复种指数、农村劳动力文化程度和劳均播种面积对农用地生态效率产生显著正影响,城乡收入差距则产生显著负影响。最后,从优化资源要素配置、加强农业科技创新应用、健全农村土地流转制度、摒弃过度依赖资源要素投入与环境污染的粗放型发展模式、走"精耕细作"和可持续发展的农业生态文明发展道路等方面提出了提高农用地生态效率的政策建议。     

Local Area Quotas for Industrial Emissions along Reaches of the Pearl River in Guangdong

Abstract

There is an obvious departure from the regional equilibrium of developments between the upper and lower reaches of the Pearl River in Guangdong, which resulted in “the effects of contra-geography-grads development”. It is mainly because the upriver mountainous areas have been deeply stuck in industrialization delay and marginalization plights, so that nearly 40 million local people have conceived a dream to get rid of “the vicious circle of poverty” by speeding up industrial development. But the problem is that such industrialization efforts on a large scale in mountainous areas are encountering the bottleneck of environmental capacity that strictly limits industrial emissions along the upper reaches of any water system. As a solution, an institutional arrangement called “the Local Area Quotas for Industrial Emis-sions along the Pearl River” is put forward supposed to give corresponding compensation to the rights of industrial development yielded by some areas with lower environmental capacity through the distribution and trading of IDQs.     

Sporting Nature(s): Wildness,the Primitive,and Naturalizing Imagery in MMA and Sports Advertisements

This essay examines two Nike commercials, a TapOut commercial, and the proliferation of mixed martial arts (MMA) t-shirt visual culture, all of which symbolically link wildness and “nature” as primitivity to their particular sport contexts. MMA in particular, it is argued, is more symbolically available to symbolic discourses of the “natural” and the “primitive” because of the sport's technological minimalism. The MMA t-shirt is posited as a safe, masculine primitive performance, functioning as an expressive personal substitute (or supplement) to the analogous tattoos “worn” by many fighters and fans. Additionally, this paper reviews and connects several disparate bodies of literature, moving from a discussion of eco-critical principles for critiquing the cultural production of nature / the natural, to an assessment of “nature” as primitivity, and finally to highlight how critical analyses of sport and MMA implicate related categories. While environmental communication has addressed the place of “nature” in advertising, little has been written about how discourses of nature, gender, and the environment intersect with the highly mediatized culture of sports. This article adds to the subfield by initiating just such a critical discussion. Finally, I contend that one of the main ideological functions of the employment of nature imagery here is to implicitly authorize notions of wildness or the “primitive” in close association with a male animal ideology, and also to symbolically reinforce existing narratives which naturalize aggression. These advertisements posit, I argue, a metaphysical rather than realist ecological discourse, enabling an unsustainable narrative of the naturalness of human-on-human violence and aggression.     

Determination of the utility of groundwater with respect to the geochemical parameters: a case study from Tuticorin District of Tamil Nadu (India)

In modern living, rapid development has created an increase in demand for groundwater. An endeavor has been made to understand the hydrogeochemical parameters to determine the utility of groundwater. This situation is severe in coastal hard rock aquifers due to the influence of salinity ingression and other anthropogenic influence. A total of 135 groundwater samples were collected from the coastal aquifer of the Tuticorin district and analyzed for major cations and anions during premonsoon (PRM) and postmonsoon (POM). The ions analyzed were used to determine the drinking, agricultural and domestic utility of groundwater. The electrical conductivity (EC) contour shows that the groundwater quality is poor along the coast. The parameters were compared with WHO (Guidelines for drinking water quality recommendations, WHO, Geneva, 2004) standard for drinking purpose. A groundwater classification method has been developed for groundwater in the area using a dynamic water quality index (WQI). On the basis of the WQI so computed, groundwater in the area has been spatially classified into “excellent,” “good,” “poor” and “very poor” to “Unsuitable” water types variation lithologywise. Corrosivity ratio and hardness were noted to be higher and found to be unsuitable in majority of the regions for domestic purpose. Higher fluoride concentration was noted in the central part of the study area represented by complex geology comprising of the hornblende biotite gneiss and charnockite. Sodium percentage (Na%), sodium absorption ratio, residual sodium carbonate, Wilcox (Classification and use of irrigation waters, US Department of Agriculture, Washington, 1955), permeability index, residual sodium bicarbonate, magnesium hazard, Kelly’s ratio and potential salinity also indicate that most of the groundwater samples are not suitable for irrigation purposes.