The asteroid and comet impact hazard: risk assessment and mitigation options

The impact of extraterrestrial matter onto Earth is a continuous process. On average, some 50,000 tons of dust are delivered to our planet every year. While objects smaller than about 30 m mainly disintegrate in the Earth’s atmosphere, larger ones can penetrate through it and cause damage on the ground. When an object of hundreds of meters in diameter impacts an ocean, a tsunami is created that can devastate coastal cities. Further, if a km-sized object hit the Earth it would cause a global catastrophe due to the transport of enormous amounts of dust and vapour into the atmosphere resulting in a change in the Earth’s climate. This article gives an overview of the near-Earth asteroid and comet (near-Earth object-NEO) impact hazard and the NEO search programmes which are gathering important data on these objects. It also points out options for impact hazard mitigation by using deflection systems. It further discusses the critical constraints for NEO deflection strategies and systems as well as mitigation and evacuation costs and benefits. Recommendations are given for future activities to solve the NEO impact hazard problem.     

Climate change and its consequences for water and wastewater management

Life, in combination with solar radiation and abiotic processes, is most probably the reason why liquid water has existed on Earth for over billions of years, and the global mean temperature has remained in a lifeenabling range. Efforts to limit or even reverse global warming must be derived from the knowledge of the Earth’s complex life-support system. In this context, the balance between liquid and gaseous water plays a crucial role, and water management becomes an important field of innovation and action, globally, on the scale of watersheds but also on the very local level. Cascading use, reuse, and temporary storage of water in urban settings must be considered to limit over-extraction of water from natural resources, and to maintain the life supporting function of ecosystems. At the same time, public health requirements, cost efficiency, and reliability demands are to be met.     

The prebiotic synthesis of pyrimidines in frozen solution

Most prebiotic syntheses depend on the reaction of concentrated precursor compounds to produce bio-organic molecules. It is now believed that the early Earth’s atmosphere was not reducing enough to have permitted copious synthesis of precursor molecules. Freezing allows reaction to occur even from dilute solution. This reaction has been demonstrated for the purines but not for the pyrimidines. It is shown here that dilute solutions of simple prebiotic molecules produce the biological pyrimidines cytosine and uracil upon freezing. Cold environments may have allowed synthesis of all of the RNA bases even from low organic yielding atmospheres, such as those of the early Earth, Mars, Titan and Europa.     

A novel concept of Fe-mineral-based magnetoreception: histological and physicochemical data from the upper beak of homing pigeons

Animals make use of the Earth’s magnetic field for navigation and regulation of vegetative functions; however, the anatomical and physiological basis for the magnetic sense has not been elucidated yet. Our recent results from histology and X-ray analyses support the hypothesis that delicate iron-containing structures in the skin of the upper beak of homing pigeons might serve as a biological magnetometer. Histology has revealed various iron sites within dendrites of the trigeminal nerve, their arrangement along strands of axons, the existence of three dendritic fields in each side of the beak with specific 3D-orientations, and the bilateral symmetry of the whole system. Element mapping by micro-synchrotron X-ray fluorescence analysis has shown the distribution of iron and its quantities. Micro-synchrotron X-ray absorption near-edge-structure spectroscopy has allowed us to unambiguously identify maghemite as the predominating iron mineral (90 vs 10% magnetite). In this paper, we show that iron-based magnetoreception needs the presence of both of these iron minerals, their specific dimensions, shapes, and arrangements in three different subcellular compartments. We suggest that an inherent magnetic enhancement process via an iron-crusted vesicle and the attached chains of iron platelets might be sufficient to account for the sensitivity and specificity required by such a magnetoreceptor. The appropriate alignment between the Earth’s magnetic field and the maghemite bands would induce a multiple attraction of the magnetite bullets perpendicular to the membrane, thus, triggering strain-sensitive membrane channels and a primary receptor potential. Due to its 3D architecture and physicochemical nature, the dendritic system should be able to separately sense the three vector components of the Earth’s local field, simultaneously—allowing birds to detect their geographic position by the magnetic vector, i.e., amplitude and direction of the local magnetic field, irrespective of the animal’s posture or movement and photoreception.     

铅大气污染物环境保护标准限值研究

铅因其对公众健康的影响,其大气污染物标准限值的合理性倍受关注.论文对比分析了国内外铅大气污染物环境质量与排放标准,通过计算提出基于保护环境空气质量的排放标准理论限值及建议限值.分析发现,目前国际上铅环境空气质量标准浓度限值为0.00015～0.0015 mg·m~(-3),但多采用世界卫生组织(WHO)的年均浓度限值0.0005 mg·m~(-3);建议我国今后修订标准时对铅年均浓度和季均浓度限值进一步加严.与发达国家相比,我国铅环境空气质量季均浓度限值水平已显落后;国际上目前各类排放源铅大气污染物排放浓度限值在0.04～2 mg·m~(-3)之间,金属冶炼源等主要源的排放浓度限值在1～2 mg·m~(-3),其他排放源均在0.5 mg·m~(-3)以下;我国铅、锌熔炼源正在执行的排放浓度限值(8 mg·m~(-3))较为宽松,而其他源的铅大气排放浓度限值与国际上的限值基本一致.通过计算认为,保护公众健康的铅大气污染物的理论排放限值为1.2～2.4 mg·m~(-3).考虑到我国的经济技术水平,建议铅、锌熔炼源的铅大气污染物新建企业排放浓度限值为2 mg·m~(-3);其他源的新建企业排放浓度建议限值为0.5 mg·m~(-3).经过过渡期,现有企业应达到新建企业的排放控制要求.铅的企业边界浓度排放限值是保护企业边界附近公众健康的有效屏障,但鉴于铅的污染特性,对于具体建设项目应加强环评力度,提出更具体明确的排放控制要求,并加强对企业周边环境敏感点的环境监测等,采取综合措施保护公众健康.     

大气颗粒态有机硝酸酯的转化机制、测量技术及应用

大气中的颗粒态有机硝酸酯是连接挥发性有机物（VOCs）、氮氧化物（NO_x）、二次有机气溶胶（SOA）及臭氧的关键物质,总结了近10年国内外对颗粒态有机硝酸酯来源、形成机制、测量分析方法、浓度水平等方面的研究,描述了现有大气化学框架下有机硝酸酯的大气转化机制,梳理了测量有机硝酸酯的离线、在线方法及其优缺点,总结了应用不同测量技术对环境大气中颗粒态有机硝酸酯的实测结果,提出了当前有机硝酸酯研究在测量技术、机理研究和观测尺度等方面的薄弱环节,并对其未来研究方向进行了展望.     

冠状病毒气溶胶传播及环境影响因素

当前,新型冠状病毒肺炎正在全球大范围流行,严重影响了人类健康和生产生活.目前已明确的新型冠状病毒的传播途径包括飞沫传播和接触传播,一些传播感染事件的研究间接证明新型冠状病毒可以通过空气传播,然而对于新型冠状病毒通过气溶胶传播机制的认识仍然不足,其对疾病传播的相对贡献等还在研究和论证中.本文分析了引起重症急性呼吸综合征、中东呼吸综合征和新型冠状病毒肺炎的不同冠状病毒通过气溶胶传播的研究结果,评述了病毒气溶胶的产生机制、病毒气溶胶的空气动力学特征、冠状病毒在气溶胶中的存活规律及环境因素的影响、以及冠状病毒在室内外环境气溶胶中的赋存和传播情况,探讨了当前对于明确新型冠状病毒的气溶胶传播研究的不足以及跨学科研究的展望.     

Characterization of aerosol optical properties, chemical composition and mixing states in the winter season in Shanghai, China

Physical and chemical properties of ambient aerosols at the single particle level were studied in Shanghai from December 22 to 28, 2009. A Cavity-Ring-Down Aerosol Extinction Spectrometer（CRD-AES） and a nephelometer were deployed to measure aerosol light extinction and scattering properties, respectively. An Aerosol Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer（ATOFMS）was used to detect single particle sizes and chemical composition. Seven particle types were detected. Air parcels arrived at the sampling site from the vicinity of Shanghai until mid-day of December 25, when they started to originate from North China. The aerosol extinction,scattering, and absorption coefficients all dropped sharply when this cold, clean air arrived.Aerosol particles changed from a highly aged type before this meteorological shift to a relatively fresh type afterwards. The aerosol optical properties were dependent on the wind direction.Aerosols with high extinction coefficient and scattering Angstrom exponent（SAE） were observed when the wind blew from the west and northwest, indicating that they were predominantly fine particles. Nitrate and ammonium correlated most strongly with the change in aerosol optical properties. In the elemental carbon/organic carbon（ECOC） particle type, the diurnal trends of single scattering albedo（SSA） and elemental carbon（EC） signal intensity had a negative correlation. We also found a negative correlation（r =-0.87） between high mass-OC particle number fraction and the SSA in a relatively clean period, suggesting that particulate aromatic components might play an important role in light absorption in urban areas.     

Review on environmental policies in China:Evolvement,features,and evaluation

This article reviews the development of current environmental policies in China and the great progress made during 1979–2006. Applying lessons learned from industrialized countries to its own situation, China’s environmental policies have the following main features: (1) to explore command and control measures to their fullest extent, (2) to strive to raise funding for environmental protection, (3) to identify who should take accountability for environmental protection; (4) to encourage strategies of “combination of prevention and control” and “integrated utilization”, (5) to embrace openness in the field of environmental policy and early international cooperation. During the past 30 years, China’s environmental policies have evolved and deepened: status expanded the national basic policies of environmental protection by adding a sustainable development strategy, focus changed from pollution control to a combination of pollution control and ecological protection, method changed from end control to source control, scope changed form point source control to watershed and territory pollution control, and management style changed from primarily using executive power to using legal and economic measures. This article introduces how they are evaluated by the international community and provides the prospects of the policies.     

A new post-Kyoto climate regime based on per-capita cumulative CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-emission rights—rationale,architecture and quantitative assessment of the implication for the CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>-emissions from China,India and the Annex-I countries by 2050

Climate change is one of the most severe global problems in the 21st century. Main drivers are the combustion of fossil fuels, the emissions of industrial gases, emissions from agricultural sites and animal husbandry as well as deforestation. A new cooperative climate regime is necessary to meet the World’s energy and environmental problems against the background of China’s and India’s energy consumption growth. For the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol after 2012, a successor regime has to be agreed on. The current approaches, however, have a common weakness. They at the same time (a) do not acknowledge the historical responsibilities of the industrialized countries for the historical greenhouse gas emissions and the responsibility of developing countries for a large fraction of the current future emissions, and (b) do not provide for a fair distribution of emission rights. Against this background, this article aims at forecasting China’s and India's CO₂-emissions up to 2050 and developing a new suggestion for a post Kyoto climate regime based on a cumulated per capita CO₂-emission rights taking the weaknesses of the currently discussed post Kyoto approaches into account.     

Getting ready for the manned mission to Mars: the astronauts’ risk from space radiation

Space programmes are shifting towards planetary exploration and, in particular, towards missions by human beings to the Moon and to Mars. Radiation is considered to be one of the major hazards for personnel in space and has emerged as the most critical issue to be resolved for long-term missions both orbital and interplanetary. The two cosmic sources of radiation that could impact a mission outside the Earth’s magnetic field are solar particle events (SPE) and galactic cosmic rays (GCR). Exposure to the types of ionizing radiation encountered during space travel may cause a number of health-related problems, but the primary concern is related to the increased risk of cancer induction in astronauts. Predictions of cancer risk and acceptable radiation exposure in space are extrapolated from minimal data and are subject to many uncertainties. The paper describes present-day estimates of equivalent doses from GCR and solar cosmic radiation behind various shields and radiation risks for astronauts on a mission to Mars.     

灰霾天气的形成与演化

由于经济规模迅速扩大和城市化进程加快,大气气溶胶污染日趋严重,由气溶胶造成的能见度恶化事件越来越多,这些人类活动排放的污染物,包括直接排放的气溶胶和气态污染物通过化学转化与光化学转化形成的细粒子二次气溶胶,可形成灰霾(特指人类活动源排放的大气污染物诱发的低能见度事件),致使能见度下降。我国东部地区灰霾天气迅速增加,灰霾天气的本质是细粒子气溶胶污染,与光化学烟雾相关联,形成灰霾天气的气溶胶组成非常复杂。近年来由于灰霾天气日趋严重引发的环境效应问题和气溶胶辐射强迫引发的气候效应问题,广泛地引起科学界、政府部门和社会公众的关注,而成为热门话题。文章讨论了目前对灰霾天气的认识,灰霾的定义与判别标准,灰霾天气与光化学烟雾、气象条件的关系,也涉及灰霾天气对人体健康的影响。展望了灰霾研究的前景与主要研究方向和内容。     

Climate change and human health—what influences the adoption of adaptation programming in the United States public health system?

With growing evidence on how climate change impacts human health, public health agencies should develop adaptation programs focused on the impacts predicted to affect their jurisdictions. However, recent research indicates that public health agencies in the United States have done little to prepare the public for predicted climate change impacts, largely due in response to a lack of resources and priority. This study surveyed Environmental Health (EH) Directors across the United States to determine the extent to which individual level attitudes and beliefs influence the adoption of climate change adaptation programming in a department. The results indicate that an EH Director’s perception of the health risk posed by climate change explained 27% of the variance in the number of climate change impacts being addressed. Furthermore, the study found that environmental attitude and political views made strong, unique contributions in explaining the variance in risk perception. The results provide evidence that individual-level attitudes and beliefs, as well as organizational-level barriers influence the adoption of climate change adaptation programs in public health agencies. As a result, increasing EH Directors’ perception of risk by highlighting the likelihood and severity of localized impacts may increase the adoption of adaptation programming despite existing organizational barriers (e.g., lack of resources). Given the fact that risk perception has been shown to influence behavior across cultures, these findings are also useful for understanding the influence of individual decision makers on public health programming around the world.     

Addressing human security in the Arctic in the context of climate change through science and technology

Human security, particularly in the Arctic, is being stressed by climate change and other factors. Science and technology provide one instrument for the development of strategies that will protect those living in the Arctic from threats to environmental, social and economic conditions, namely human security, incurred by climate change. This paper explores a public good approach to Canada’s Science and Technology (S&T) strategy. Investigated in particular is the role of science and technology in addressing Arctic human security needs, using evolving Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) quality-of-life indicators to measure the ability of Canada’s S&T strategy to meet these needs.     

中国地区气溶胶类型变化及其辐射效应研究

利用AERONET网站中国地区各区域多个站点长期的观测数据,通过各类气溶胶光学特性的差异（Extinction Angstrom Exponent,EAE;Single Scattering Albedo,SSA）将中国地区华北区域北京、香河站点,华东区域太湖站点,华南区域香港站点,西北区域SACOL站点气溶胶进行分类分析其气溶胶占比特征及年际变化,并进一步研究不同地区各类气溶胶光学及辐射特性差异.研究结果表明,不同地区各类气溶胶占比特征显著,华北区域北京、香河站点混合吸收型气溶胶Type5占比最多,分别占比35%、31%;其次为城市/工业型气溶胶Type3和Type4;华东区域以Type3、Type4和Type5三类气溶胶为主,分别占比32%、26%、25%;华南区域Type3、Type4气溶胶占比最为突出,占比分别达到46%、21%.西北区域Type5占比高达45%,出现高达34%的沙尘型气溶胶Type7.以不同地区各类气溶胶占比特征为基础,不同气溶胶的年际变化趋势差异较大.不同地区各类气溶胶光学特性参数（AOD（Aerosol Optical Depth）、EAE、SSA）年变化特征表明,华北、华东区域AOD减少、EAE变化小、SSA增大;华南区域整体AOD增大,但近年来AOD显著减少、EAE变化小、SSA增大;西北区域AOD增大、EAE增大、SSA减少,即除了西北区域外,其余区域环境空气质量逐渐好转,粒子尺度变化较小,吸收能力下降.地表气溶胶直接辐射强迫效率（ARFE-BOA）结果显示,除华东区域太湖站点外,Type1对地表的降温冷却作用最大,绝对值均大于210 W·m^-2,其次为Type2,即吸收型粒子对地表的贡献大于散射型粒子;关于ARFE-TOA的平均特征,Type4或Type7对大气顶的降温冷却作用最强,而各类气溶胶对大气层的加热作用与ARFE-BOA的平均特征类似,吸收型细粒子对大气层的加热作用较强.     

化学电离技术在大气气溶胶质谱分析中的应用与展望

化学电离技术在大气气溶胶质谱分析中的应用已较为广泛.本文对化学电离质谱的结构与工作原理进行了简介,重点归纳总结了近年来化学电离质谱技术对大气自由基和痕量气体的测量、在有机气溶胶的外场观测和实验室研究中的应用与进展情况,探讨了目前研究中尚待解决的难点问题,并对化学电离质谱未来的研究工作及发展趋势进行了展望.     

基于GOCI数据的霾天气气溶胶辐射强迫的日内变化——以长江三角洲为例

以长江三角洲（以下简称长三角）为研究区,基于2017年10~12月内共16d 94景的晴空静止卫星GOCI L1B图像和6S模型,采用深蓝算法反演长三角地区气溶胶光学厚度（AOD）,并利用2个实测站数据进行验证.再通过反演得到的AOD结果进一步模拟计算该区域地表和大气层顶的气溶胶直接辐射效应（ADRE）,并结合典型的雾霾天气进行分析.结果表明：利用GOCI数据反演的AOD具有较高拟合精度,北辰楼站点拟合相关性R²为0.68,太湖站点为0.67.空间上,由于气溶胶存在制冷效应,AOD和地表面、大气层顶气溶胶直接辐射强度均呈现出显著的线性关系.时间上,由于气溶胶扩散和风向等因素,早上和下午辐射效应强度较高,中午较低.其中10：00和11：00影像可以较好地模拟日均ADRE的特征,利用ADRE日内变化成功捕捉到一次雾霾爆发并消失的现象,对气象部门监测近地表气温和分析灰霾的形成等具有重要意义.     

A review of the contributions of Albert Einstein to Earth Sciences—in commemoration of the World Year of Physics

The World Year of Physics (2005) is an international celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s “Annus Mirabilis.” The United Nations has officially declared 2005 as the International Year of Physics. However, the impact of Einstein’s ideas was not restricted to physics. Among numerous other disciplines, Einstein also made significant and specific contributions to Earth Sciences. His geosciences-related letters, comments, and scientific articles are dispersed, not easily accessible, and are poorly known. The present review attempts to integrate them as a tribute to Einstein in commemoration of this centenary. These contributions can be classified into three basic areas: geodynamics, geological (planetary) catastrophism, and fluvial geomorphology. Regarding geodynamics, Einstein essentially supported Hapgood’s very controversial theory called Earth Crust Displacement. With respect to geological (planetary) catastrophism, it is shown how the ideas of Einstein about Velikovsky’s proposals evolved from 1946 to 1955. Finally, in relation to fluvial geodynamics, the review incorporates the elegant work in which Einstein explains the formation of meandering rivers. A general analysis of his contributions is also carried out from today’s perspective. Given the interdisciplinarity and implications of Einstein’s achievements to multiple fields of knowledge, we propose that the year 2005 serve, rather than to confine his universal figure within a specific scientific area, to broaden it for a better appreciation of this brilliant scientist in all of his dimensions.     

Framing adaptation to climate-related extreme events

Whilst mitigation has dominated policy and research agendas in recent years there is an increasing recognition that communities also need to be preparing for change that is unavoidable, partially a consequence of anthropogenic greenhouse gases already emitted to the atmosphere. The perceived need for adaptation has also received additional impetus through the high public profile now given to the impacts of current day weather variability, particularly the significant economic and social costs associated with recent extreme events. However, being a relatively new focus for both research and policy communities; practical evidence of the extent, feasibility, efficiency, and cost effectiveness of potential adaptation options remains largely lacking. In response, this paper seeks to make a contribution to this embryonic but evolving knowledge base by considering the theoretical underpinnings of adaptation and ultimately how this translates into practice ‘in the real world’. The analytical commentary, based on a bottom-up approach involving iterative engagement with key stakeholders and experts, reflects on the identification of measures that are either innovative or examples of good practice in reducing or transferring climate risks, as well as considering those ‘enabling’ institutional structures and processes that act to support implementation on the ground. The paper concludes by synthesising the key findings to date in order to highlight some of the opportunities for, and barriers to, adaptation activity.     

Changes in earth’s dipole

The dipole moment of Earth’s magnetic field has decreased by nearly over the past 150 years and by about 30% over the past 2,000 years according to archeomagnetic measurements. Here, we explore the causes and the implications of this rapid change. Maps of the geomagnetic field on the core–mantle boundary derived from ground-based and satellite measurements reveal that most of the present episode of dipole moment decrease originates in the southern hemisphere. Weakening and equatorward advection of normal polarity magnetic field by the core flow, combined with proliferation and growth of regions where the magnetic polarity is reversed, are reducing the dipole moment on the core–mantle boundary. Growth of these reversed flux regions has occurred over the past century or longer and is associated with the expansion of the South Atlantic Anomaly, a low-intensity region in the geomagnetic field that presents a radiation hazard at satellite altitudes. We address the speculation that the present episode of dipole moment decrease is a precursor to the next geomagnetic polarity reversal. The paleomagnetic record contains a broad spectrum of dipole moment fluctuations with polarity reversals typically occurring during dipole moment lows. However, the dipole moment is stronger today than its long time average, indicating that polarity reversal is not likely unless the current episode of moment decrease continues for a thousand years or more.