Identification of hot spot and safe zones of ambient air quality in North Maharashtra region,India

The continuous infrastructural and economic development exerted pressure on the environmental conditions of the North Maharashtra region. The air quality of North Maharashtra region was analysed for the identification of hot spots and safe zones of ambient air quality. The result shows air pollution at some part of North Maharashtra region. The levels of particulate matter were above the prescribed limits especially at Bhusawal, Dhule and Jalgaon Urban centres. The traces of polyaromatic hydrocarbons were also observed in the urban centres of study area. The binary ratios of the persistent prevailing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)'s show great correlation with the vehicular exhaust in the study region. The higher levels of pollutants in the study region were recorded in the post-monsoon season. The present study is first of its kind in the North Maharashtra region and an attempt has been made to analyse the anthropogenic sources and concentration of air pollutants in the area. The air pollutants reduce the defence system of human body and lead into severe health consequences like damage of lung tissues with escalation in the existing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.     

Total waste-load control and allocation based on input-output analysis for Shenzhen, south China

The general objective for this paper is to reveal the dynamic relationships between the rapid economic development, water pollution and the subsequent waste-load allocation in different economic sectors through a case-study in Shenzhen City, South China. Two-objective analysis model was employed based on the input-output table for Shenzhen with the full consideration of various constraints in local area. The improved Tchebycheff procedure was used for obtaining the solutions. The predictions were made on economic development and pollutants from wastewater in different sectors and different planning years. The present study allows for the consideration of the economic structural adjustment. It is found that the current situation of economic structure is generally good and is subject to further adjustment in Shenzhen, although it has undergone the rapid development in the past 18 years. When the maximum Gross Domestic Production and the minimum Chemical Oxygen Demand are chosen as the two objectives subject to other constraints, the harmonized results indicated a scheme that claims substantial reduction of polluting effluences in Shenzhen while closely keeping the economic growth rate as planned.     

Effects of acid depositions on forests and soils

Summary It is unnecessary to emphasize that this subject is both important and emotive. Concern about damage from acid depositions — polluted air and rainwater — has been increasing with the realization that damage to forests in Central Europe is spreading and intensifying and has also appeared in southern Sweden. There is naturally concern as to whether this phenomenon will appear in Britain — indeed there have been allegations that British forests are already suffering from acid deposition damage. Our difficulty is in arriving at an understanding not only of the mechanisms by which pollutants and other stressing factors may affect forests, but also how much of the damage seen is due to pollutants and ow much would have occurred in their absence. The paper also considers secondary pollutants, such as ozone, which are not strictly part of the acid depositions.A forestry graduate of Aberdeen University, Dr Binns worked for seven years at the Macaulay Institute for Soil Research before joining the UK Forestry Commission Research and Development Division in 1963, where he is now Head of the Site Studies (South) Branch. In addition to responsibilities for soil chemistry and physics, forest ecology and reclamation research, he is currently concerned personally mainly with problems of hydrology and acid rain.This paper was one of a number first delivered at the Institution of Environmental Sciences Seminar;An Update on Acid Rain, held in London, in November 1984.     

Ecological and economic impacts of green roofs and permeable pavements at the city level: the case of Corvallis,Oregon

A city's spatial footprint is covered by extensive impervious building roofs and paved surfaces, which contribute to greater storm-water runoff, more surface pollutants, and less carbon sequestration, hence, worse ecosystem services. This research conducts an empirical study on the ecological and economic impacts of a citywide adoption of green roofs and permeable pavements in Corvallis, OR. The effects on ecosystem services of using green roofs and pervious pavements for a low impact development are modelled using Integrated Value of Ecosystem Services Trade-offs and compared to those from the City's current conventional development without green roofs and pervious pavements. The differences are analysed for ecological impact by storm-water yield, storm-water purification, and carbon sequestration and economic impact by a cost-benefit comparison. The results indicate that low impact development, especially intensive green roofs on commercial/industrial buildings and permeable pavements for parking lots, plays a significant role, even with a higher initial implementation cost, for long-term urban sustainability.     

Multiple Interactive Pollutants in Water Quality Trading

Efficient environmental management calls for the consideration of multiple pollutants, for which two main types of transferable discharge permit (TDP) program have been described: separate permits that manage each pollutant individually in separate markets, with each permit based on the quantity of the pollutant or its environmental effects, and weighted-sum permits that aggregate several pollutants as a single commodity to be traded in a single market. In this paper, we perform a mathematical analysis of TDP programs for multiple pollutants that jointly affect the environment (i.e., interactive pollutants) and demonstrate the practicality of this approach for cost-efficient maintenance of river water quality. For interactive pollutants, the relative weighting factors are functions of the water quality impacts, marginal damage function, and marginal treatment costs at optimality. We derive the optimal set of weighting factors required by this approach for important scenarios for multiple interactive pollutants and propose using an analytical elasticity of substitution function to estimate damage functions for these scenarios. We evaluate the applicability of this approach using a hypothetical example that considers two interactive pollutants. We compare the weighted-sum permit approach for interactive pollutants with individual permit systems and TDP programs for multiple additive pollutants. We conclude by discussing practical considerations and implementation issues that result from the application of weighted-sum permit programs.     

The impact of some specific air pollutants on agricultural productivity

Summary Unplanned discharges of atmospheric pollutants influenced by intense industrialisation, the population explosion and urbanisation result in injury and damage. The intensity and nature of the damage is a function of the concentration of the pollutant and the duration of exposure (dose). This has immediate (acute) and long (chronic) effects on the quantity and quality of agricultural products.Based on the properties of these pollutants, the resulting effects on the receptor may cause biochemical and physiological modifications at the cellular level as well as whole plant, animal and ecosystem alterations. These may cause significant changes in agricultural output.Mr E.M. Shaibu—Imodagbe is Vice—Principal and a lecturer at the Samaru College of Agriculture, of Ahmadu Bello University. He holds a Master's degree in Pollution and Environmental Control from the University of Manchester, UK, and his research special interests are in pollution damage and environmental quality.     

Aquaculture and environmental stewardship: Milford shellfish biology seminar—1991

For the past 11 years the annual Shellfish Biology Seminar at Milford CT has provided a unique forum for aquaculture scientists and industry officials to exchange information about estuaries facing increased pollution problems, especially Long Island Sound and the Great South Bay. Because these two areas are so rich in productivity and diversity, fish and shellfish farmers utilize their waters, shellfish beds, and shore land for hatcheries and grow-out facilities. These individuals seek better management of the coastal estuarine environment and its resources, providing a working example of environmental stewardship. In aquaculture, good science is required to understand the complex variables and interaction of estuarine currents, tides, temperature, and cycles of reproduction. Aquaculturists are beginning to understand the need for specific nutrients and how the wastes of one species can be utilized for enhanced production of another species. Over the years, this meeting has formed an amalgam of both the aquaculture industry and research scientists where both groups foster mutual environmental concern. Science is able to focus on the theoretical aspects of pollutant damage. while the aquaculture industry is able to define the problem and need for assistance to eliminate pollutants from their crops—shellfish and finfish. Overfishing is not an issue at these meetings, as the group accepts the damage already done to wild resources and seeks new technologies to grow food sources under controlled and stable market conditions. Therefore, it could be said that the seminar serves as a meeting ground where the theoretical knowledge of scientific study finds practical application in the industry and is fueled by the needs of that industry. This ideal blend of the two groups produces better management of the resource and a safer environment—the goal of stewardship.     

Policy formulation for the management of hazardous pollutants

Hazardous pollutants pose a number of distinct problems for the public policy maker, most notably because of the uncertainty surrounding the effects of such pollutants and the potentially serious or irreversible outcomes of hazardous pollution damage. Policy approaches to the problem have generally used some kind of balancing approach—between costs and benefits, or between risks and benefits. Direct controls such as standards or bans are the most commonly used policy instruments in dealing with hazardous pollutants due to the certainty of outcome which they provide. However, many more regulatory options are available to the public policy maker, for example, economic incentives and legal procedures.     

空气污染物的时空演化及社会经济驱动因素研究——以长江三角洲地区为例

本文以2006—2015年长江三角洲城市群为研究对象,分析该地区不同部门因能源消费而产生的典型污染物排放量,然后利用LMDI模型,对空气污染进行社会经济驱动因素分析。结果表明:该地区CO_2、SO_2、PM_(2.5)与PM_(10)等空气污染物排放量均呈现先快速增长后缓慢减少的趋势,排放的峰值多出现在了2013年,而NO_x则一直保持增长的趋势。其中,电力与工业部门是空气污染物的主要排放源,但对排放量贡献呈减少趋势,生活部门与交通部门污染物排放量则逐步增长,尤其是对PM_(2.5)与PM_(10)排放量的贡献不可忽视。人口与经济增长对污染物排放量起到了正向拉动作用,经济因素的驱动作用最为明显,其效应值呈现先小幅增加后大幅下降的趋势,能源效率与能源结构有抑制作用,其对污染物排放的效应值仅次于经济因素,而能源结构变化的效应很小。     

基于产业链分析的长三角地区CO2与大气污染物排放研究

长三角地区作为我国大气污染较为严重区域之一,如何在保持经济增长的同时减少CO₂与大气污染物的排放已成为一个重要挑战。本研究基于2007年与2012年长三角区域间投入产出表,定量分析了长三角地区省市间贸易引致的二氧化碳和大气污染物排放转移特征和变化趋势。同时,运用产业关联系数法,从前向关联与后向关联双重视角分析了长三角地区减缓CO₂和大气污染物排放的关键行业。研究结果表明,长三角的SO₂、PM_2.5排放总量表现为消费端大于生产端,CO₂、NO_x排放总量表现为生产端大于消费端。安徽省总体呈现为长三角地区贸易的SO₂、NO_x与PM_2.5排放净调出地,而上海与浙江表现为多数污染物排放净调入地。CO₂与大气污染物协同前向减排的关键行业为江苏省、浙江省和安徽省的电力、热力的生产和供应业,安徽省的煤炭开采和洗选业等,可以通过生产端技术革新和能源结构优化来促进减排;CO₂与大气污染物后向协同减排的关键行业为江苏省、浙江省和安徽省的建筑业等,对于这些行业,调整消费结构是有效的减排措施。为更好地制定长三角地区减排与污染防治政策,应当综合考虑行业减排、协同减排等,以确保经济持续增长的同时达到减排目标。     

A strategy for integrated monitoring

Administrative machinery has been set up to regulate and control most of the emissions that are known to have severe local consequences, such as the discharge of raw sewage into rivers and lakes and the smokestack emission of air pollutants. Now, the nature of environmental degradation is usually different. We are faced with pollutants and effects with more subtle cause-effect relationships, often characterized by larger geographic areas of interest and longer term potential damage; the potential risk is now more chronic than acute. Acid rain and climate change are good examples, in that they are associated with a variety of pollutants from a number of sources and damage to ecosystems occurs over many years. It is argued that monitoring programs should evolve to reflect the changing nature of the environmental problems they are addressing. It is now necessary to consider interactions among many pollutants, mixing among the various media, and potentially affecting many components of the ecosystem in both indirect and direct ways. Here, integrated monitoring and analysis is presented as a unifying strategy to bring together different measurement methodologies in different disciplines, addressing environmental questions of complexity beyond the scope of many existing activites that have a classical narrower focus. The underlying concept is of nested networks, each tier being composed of sites selected for specific purposes but arranged to maximize the number of common sites where more multidisciplinary questions can be addressed.     

污染物总量控制目标的确定

污染物总量控制是我国环境管理工作的一大进步。本文从其涵义入手,简要介绍了污染物总量控制指标体系的建立及污染物总量控制目标的确定方法。     

THE USE OF BIOLOGICAL CRITERIA IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY1

ABSTRACT: The hypothesis of this paper is that regulatory systems for the control of effluent released to the environment can be, if improperly designed, inadequate for both the establishment of effective pollution control policy and the assessment of the biological significance of violations. This inadequacy may stem from several factors: first, the use of single point standards which delineate the boundary between legally acceptable and unacceptable pollutant discharges; and second, the existence of significant weaknesses in the frequency and design of monitoring programs. In order to be effective, pollution standards must reflect the impact of pollutants on the ecosystem. To achieve this goal, three critical pieces of information are required: measurement of ambient levels of released pollutants, frequency distributions derived from these data, and estimates of biological damage functions. Illustrating the above three requirements with data drawn from research in British Columbia, the authors recommended a restructuring of environmental policy to provide regulatory agencies with an effective mechanism for the analysis and control of environmental degradation.     

Assessing the Cost of an Invasive Forest Pathogen: A Case Study with Oak Wilt

Economic assessment of damage caused by invasive alien species provides useful information to consider when determining whether management programs should be established, modified, or discontinued. We estimate the baseline economic damage from an invasive alien pathogen, Ceratocystis fagacearum, a fungus that causes oak wilt, which is a significant disease of oaks (Quercus spp.) in the central United States. We focus on Anoka County, Minnesota, a 1,156 km² mostly urban county in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan region. We develop a landscape-level model of oak wilt spread that accounts for underground and overland pathogen transmission. We predict the economic damage of tree mortality from oak wilt spread in the absence of management during the period 2007–2016. Our metric of economic damage is removal cost, which is one component of the total economic loss from tree mortality. We estimate that Anoka County has 5.92 million oak trees and 885 active oak wilt pockets covering 5.47 km² in 2007. The likelihood that landowners remove infected oaks varies by land use and ranges from 86% on developed land to 57% on forest land. Over the next decade, depending on the rates of oak wilt pocket establishment and expansion, 76–266 thousand trees will be infected with discounted removal cost of $18–60 million. Although our predictions of removal costs are substantial, they are lower bounds on the total economic loss from tree mortality because we do not estimate economic losses from reduced services and increased hazards. Our predictions suggest that there are significant economic benefits, in terms of damage reduction, from preventing new pocket establishment or slowing the radial growth of existing pockets.     

Protected areas, agricultural pests and economic damage: conflicts with elephants and pests in Yunnan, China

Protected areas are often the source of agricultural pests and Xishuangbanna State Nature Reserve in Yunnan is no exception. The main pest associated with the reserve is the Asian elephant Elephas maximus which causes damage outside the reserve to agriculture and also within the reserve. These elephants are an important attraction for tourists visiting Xishuangbanna. Xishuangbanna prefecture contains the only remaining wild elephants in China. The present direct economic value of tourism within the reserve is much less than the loss resulting from the economic damage caused by the elephants and other species protected by it. Whether the net economic value of protecting this species in Xishuangbanna is positive depends on other factors or future tourism prospects. Methods of controlling pests from the reserve are discussed, as is the scheme for compensating agriculturalists for the damage caused by these pests. The problem of achieving an equitable solution to the pest problem is given considerable attention. The economics of reconciling the conflicting interests of those who either regard a species as a pest or as an asset are considered.     

煤烟型复合污染物相互作用与转移过程及其特点

粉尘,ＳＯ２,ＮＯｘ等的煤烟型复合污染是我国尤其是南方我的主要类型。本文根据实验观测,详细分析了主要污染物间的相互作用过程及其复污染物从产生,转移至植物界面的运动过程及其特点。     

AGRICULTURAL LEGISLATION'S POTENTIAL IN REDUCING DISCHARGE OF POLLUTANTS1

ABSTRACT: Agricultural lands (including most forest lands) make up almost four-fifths of the total land area of the United States and include, or are traversed by, perhaps an equal proportion of our ground and surface waters. Therefore, a very large part of our environment is directly “agriculture-related” in any consideration of the discharge of pollutants. Several important Federal and State laws relate to the control or abatement of agriculture-related pollution. Existing legislation generally mandates the control or abatement of pollution (from point or nonpoint sources) or authorizes the use use of public funds or other resources for such purposes. Some of these laws can be effective instruments in keeping pollutants from being discharged into surface or ground waters or into the air, but the degree to which some pollutants originating from agricultural lands and operations constitute a serious environmental hazard in waters remains controversial. Although most of the technology exists to reduce greatly the movement of these pollutants, investments are often required which benefit the nonfarm public without economic returns to the farmer. Whether a zero discharge is either an environmentally or economically feasible alternative to more limited or selective control, is explored. However, if the public is willing to bear its reasonable share of the cost for clean air and water, the needed basic legislation already largely exists. Under it, agricultural land holders may apply program standards and use their own and available program resources to bring about effective control or abatement of pollutants.     

南昌市环境空气质量分析和控制

利用多年的环境监测数据,分析南昌市环境空气中主要污染物尘类、二氧化硫和氮氧化物产生的原因,并提出有效控制上述污染物的具体措施。     

Noble goals and challenging terrain: organic and fair trade coffee movements in the global marketplace

Social relations associated with conventional agricultural exports find their origins in long term associations based on business, family, and class alliances. Working outside these boundaries presents a host of challenges, especially where small producers with little economic or political power are concerned. Yet, in many developing countries, alternative trade organizations (ATOs) based on philosophies of social justice and/or environmental well-being are carving out spaces alongside traditional agricultural export sectors by establishing new channels of trade and marketing. Coffee provides a case in point, with the fair trade and certified organic movements making inroads into the market place. In their own ways, these movements represent a type of economic and social restructuring from below, drawing upon and developing linkages beyond the traditional boundaries of how coffee is produced and traded. An examination of the philosophies of the fair trade and organic coffee movements reveal that the philosophical underpinnings of both certified organic and fair-trade coffee run counter to the historical concerns of coffee production and trade. Associations of small producers involved in these coffees face stiff challenges – both internal and external to their groups. More work, especially in situ fieldwork aimed at uncovering the challenges, benefits, tensions, and successes, is needed to understand better the ways these networks operate in the dynamic agro-food complex.     

International trade and air pollution: estimating the economic costs of air emissions from waterborne commerce vessels in the United States

Although there is a burgeoning literature on the effects of international trade on the environment, relatively little work has been done on where trade most directly effects the environment: the transportation sector. This article shows how international trade is affecting air pollution emissions in the United States' shipping sector. Recent work has shown that cargo ships have been long overlooked regarding their contribution to air pollution. Indeed, ship emissions have recently been deemed "the last unregulated source of traditional air pollutants". Air pollution from ships has a number of significant local, national, and global environmental effects. Building on past studies, we examine the economic costs of this increasing and unregulated form of environmental damage. We find that total emissions from ships are largely increasing due to the increase in foreign commerce (or international trade). The economic costs of SO2 pollution range from dollars 697 million to dollars 3.9 billion during the period examined, or dollars 77 to dollars 435 million on an annual basis. The bulk of the cost is from foreign commerce, where the annual costs average to dollars 42 to dollars 241 million. For NOx emissions the costs are dollars 3.7 billion over the entire period or dollars 412 million per year. Because foreign trade is driving the growth in US shipping, we also estimate the effect of the Uruguay Round on emissions. Separating out the effects of global trade agreements reveals that the trade agreement-led emissions amounted to dollars 96 to dollars 542 million for SO2 between 1993 and 2001, or dollars 10 to dollars 60 million per year. For NOx they were dollars 745 million for the whole period or dollars 82 million per year. Without adequate policy responses, we predict that these trends and costs will continue into the future.