Fate, behavior and effects of surfactants and their degradation products in the environment

Surfactants are widely used in household and industrial products. After use, surfactants as well as their products are mainly discharged into sewage treatment plants and then dispersed into the environment through effluent discharge into surface waters and sludge disposal on lands. Surfactants have different behavior and fate in the environment. Nonionic and cationic surfactants had much higher sorption on soil and sediment than anionic surfactants such as LAS. Most surfactants can be degraded by microbes in the environment although some surfactants such as LAS and DTDMAC as well as alkylphenols may be persistent under anaerobic conditions. LAS were found to degrade in sludge amended soils with a half-lives of 7 to 33 days. Most surfactants are not acutely toxic to organisms at environmental concentrations and aquatic chronic toxicity of surfactants occurred at concentrations usually greater than 0.1 mg/L. However, alkylphenols have shown to be capable of inducing the production of vitellogenin in male fish at a concentration as low as 5 microg/L. More toxicity data are needed to assess the effects on terrestrial organisms such as plants.     

论公共文化环境建设的资源管理机制

通过对相关文献资料的梳理和分析,以安徽省财政支持公共文化服务体系建设为例,运用定量和定性研究相结合的方法,在充分的问卷调查及实地调研的基础上,总结了我国公共文化建设资源投入机制的实践与制度经验,指出了公共文化建设在资源投入及管理方面所存在的主要问题:财政投入的实际效益低下、资源保障机制不科学、公共文化服务软件投入不足、公共文化服务资源管理体制的结构性矛盾等.有鉴于此,文章分别从宏观与微观层面探讨了如何构建公共文化服务良性运行的资源管理机制,基于宏观政策与制度设计层面提出:创新公共文化建设资源管理的政策支持方式,建立基层公共文化服务的长效机制,构筑公共文化环境建设的资源分级保障机制,完善公共文化建设的人才环境,创设公共文化环境建设的资源整合机制,实施公共文化服务的运行评估与绩效评价机制.基于微观对策与措施层面提出:科学地确定现阶段公共文化建设的资源保障重点并明确各级财政的投入范围和基本保障的支出责任,转变公共文化财政资金的投入方式,改变公共文化环境建设的资源投入结构,完善公共文化建设的资金管理方式,等等.     

Accelerator mass spectrometry at Arizona: geochronology of the climate record and connections with the ocean

There are many diverse uses of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Carbon-14 studies at our laboratory include much research related to paleoclimate, both with 14C as a tracer of past changes in environmental conditions as observed in corals, marine sediments and many terrestrial records. Terrestrial records such as forest fires can also show the influence of oceanic oscillations, whether they are short-term such as ENSO, or on the millennial time scale. In tracer applications, we have developed the use of 129I as well as 14C as tracers for nuclear pollution studies around radioactive waste dump sites, in collaboration with IAEA. We discuss some applications carried out in Tucson for several of these fields and hope to give some idea of the breadth of these studies.     

三峡地区农业自然资源特点及开发利用策略

在调查研究的基础上，对三峡地区的土地，气候，水，生物等农业自然的特点进行了剖析，针对区域特点，提出了农业自然资源开发利用的策略。     

上海人口变化与资源环境效应分析

作为特大型城市,上海2008年常住人口总量已达1 888万,城市化水平也以87%高居全国首位.通过分析上海1978-2008年30年来人口变化特征及其资源环境效应表明,伴随着人口规模不断扩大和城市化水平快速提升,2008年上海居民生活电耗和水耗分别是1978年的17倍和5倍,占资源消费总量的比例也逐年快速攀升;生活废水排放量已取代工业废水成为最大贡献源,占废水排放总量的比例高达80%;生活废气排放总量相对稳定.针对上海实现可持续发展所面临的人口难题,从依据人口发展规律调整城市发展战略,通过产业结构调整带动经济增长方式转变,切实加大环保投入力度促进治污防污,进一步提高公众环保意识和企业环保责任等几个方面提出了破解这一难题的对策与建议.     

Sustainability: new strategic thinking for business

Some researchers insist that sustainability should be represented as a continuous quest, doubting that there is the ‘right’ way to be sustainable. Acknowledging the immensity of sustainability challenges, this article takes a different perspective, arguing that without understanding of concrete barriers and seeking solutions, the challenge of addressing unsustainable practices becomes unsurmountable. This article will summarize research in sustainability literature that indicates that sustainability requires a constant human population, as well as ecologically benign method of production. This article will survey a number of helpful frameworks that address the key obstacles to sustainability, namely population growth, and unsustainable production and consumption. These frameworks are discussed in the context of business-level solutions and production systems. As illustrated by examples of best practices as well as potential pitfalls associated with each system, these systems have the potential to move the quest for sustainability beyond ‘business as usual.’     

Analysis of Environmental and Socio-economic Determinants Affecting Population Longevity Level at County Level in China

INTRODUCTIONIn recent thirty years, due to the decreasing fertility andincreasing life expectancy, China's population is aging ata very rapid pace and the elderly population size is keepingon growing. During the dramatic aging progress, the oldestold group in China is catching our eyes. More and moreold people of China are becoming the oldest old. Theextremely old population (aged 80 and above) is increasingat 5.1% annually, while the old population above 65 isincreasing at 2.9%, and the…     

Theorizing stakeholders of sustainability in the digital age

Stakeholder theory, originally introduced in 1984 by philosopher Edward Freeman, is among the most influential theories today addressing the complex interplay of societal actors. It underwent several transformations and expansions, but the original Freeman model as well as the latest approaches places the corporation at the center positioning the theory as management driven. In this article—from a sustainability science perspective—we argue that sustainability could also be considered as the center, around which societal actors are grouped, because everyone, individuals as well as stakeholders, have a stake in a ‘common future’ that is built on the transformative concept of sustainability. Next to this shift of perspective from corporation to sustainability at the center, we advance the concept of sustainability stakeholders with the new paradigm of the digital age we (are about to) live in: the proposed sustainability-centered stakeholder theory is developed to incorporate novel parameters as brought about by digitalization (such as big data, real-time transparency, algorithmic correlations, predictive analytics, or changing privacy standards). Hence, we classify the stakeholders of sustainability according to their roles as “big data stakeholders:” collectors, generators, and utilizers of big data. This digital sustainability stakeholder model operationalizes the complex interplay between stakeholders focused on their ‘stake’ in sustainability and a common future and illustrates their roles in the digital age. Thus, it offers a normative framework to analyze stakeholders’ responsibility to contribute to, advance, promote, and achieve sustainability.     

关于建立资源与环境快速反应系统的探讨

本文阐述了国家快速反应系统的概念及其作用。以建立资源与环境快速反应系统为例,说明建立系统的必要性、系统的内容、组成及技术指示。     

我国区域规划的编制与实施的若干问题

区域规划是协调人口、经济、资源、环境之间的关系以及地区关系的区域开发与国土整治方案，是市场经济下政府进行宏观调控的重大举措，目前我国的区域规划编制和实施还存在一定问题，主要是各层次规划衔接不力，从而了区域规划的实施和应用。借鉴国外的规划体系、内容和实施途径，针对我国区域规划的实施问题，提出如下建议：（１）建立完善的区域规划体系、协调区域规划与经济计划的相互关系，以及与土地利用规划和城市规划的关系。     

Geographical variation in relative risks associated with heat: Update of Spain's Heat Wave Prevention Plan

A decade after the implementation of prevention plans designed to minimise the impact of high temperatures on health, some countries have decided to update these plans in order to improve the weakness detected in these ten years of operation.In the case of Spain, this update has fundamentally consisted of changing the so-called “threshold” or “trigger” temperatures used to activate the plan, by switching from temperature values based on climatological criteria to others obtained by epidemiological studies conducted on a provincial scale.This study reports the results of these “trigger” temperatures for each of Spain's 52 provincial capitals, as well as the impact of heat on mortality by reference to the relative risks (RRs) and attributable risks (ARs) calculated for natural as well as circulatory and respiratory causes.The results obtained for threshold temperatures and RRs show a more uniform behaviour pattern than those obtained using temperature values based on climatological criteria; plus a clear decrease in RRs of heat-associated mortality due to the three causes considered, at both a provincial and regional level as well as for Spain as a whole.The updating of prevention plans is regarded as crucial for optimising the operation of these plans in terms of reducing the effect of high temperatures on population health.     

中国东南沿海地区耕地资源保护与可持续利用

我国东南沿海地区具有优越的地理区位和气候条件,加上地区开发历史悠久,已成为中国经济最发达的地区之一。然而,近十多年来,由于经济以超常规速度发展,第二,三产业的发展速度,第二,三产业的发展速度大幅度加快,人多地少的矛盾日益突出,导致耕地面积不断萎缩,耕地质量不断下降。利用率和产出率显著滑坡,滥占耕地,占而不用及闲置浪费的现象相当普遍。以浙江省乐清市为例,近年来耕地以平均每年１．２％的速率在减少,目前     

Comparison of Pu and (137)Cs as tracers of soil and sediment transport in a terrestrial environment

Following atmospheric nuclear weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s significant quantities of (137)Cs and (239+240)Pu were deposited worldwide. In recent decades, (137)Cs has been commonly used as a tracer of soil erosion and sedimentation, particularly in the Northern Hemisphere where atomic deposition was three times as great as in the Southern Hemisphere. The relatively short 30-year half-life of this isotope means that its sensitivity as a tracer is rapidly decreasing. In contrast, with half-lives of 24,110 and 6561 years, the sensitivity of the two plutonium isotopes remains essentially the same as when it was deposited. Here we use the technique of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry to demonstrate the potential of anthropogenic Pu as an alternative to (137)Cs as a tracer of soil transport in Australia. We measure an average (137)Cs/(239+240)Pu activity ratio of 27.3+/-1.5 and an average (240)Pu/(239)Pu atom ratio of 0.149+/-0.003, both slightly lower than the global average.     

Climate Change Reporting in Great Lakes Region Newspapers: A Comparative Study of the Use of Expert Sources

This study focuses on the use of science sources as experts in news stories about climate change coverage in the Great Lakes region of the US and Canada. We examine, using the hierarchy of influences model, whether the use of scientific sources in climate change coverage may be related to factors such as geographic location, reporting frequency, and authorship, in the prestige press as well as regional and local media. The study found that as many or more non-scientists than scientists are selected as sources regardless of geographic location, reporting frequency, or authorship. However, the study also found that the more stories reporters produce on this topic, the more likely their stories are to use and give prominence to science sources. In addition, the articles included few denier sources, but denier views are more likely to appear in a more prominent location in the articles than supporters when stories are framed as conflict over global warming. These results highlight the need for additional research examining the expertise of climate scientists in news stories to better understand news decision-making in the context of complex scientific reporting.     

“You spoil everything!” Indigenous peoples and the consequences of industrial development in British Columbia

This article discusses the perspectives of two First Nations of Canada, northeastern British Columbia’s West Moberly First Nations, Halfway River First Nation, and Treaty 8 Tribal Council, regarding the impacts of industrial resource extraction in lands critical to their traditional cultures and subsistence activities. This collaborative project interviewed First Nation government officials and staff as well as community members and Elders, which created a complex picture of physical impacts of industrial development as well as psychological and cultural concerns. In addition, we briefly explore the impacts of First Nations being required to constantly participate in consultative processes, such as environmental assessment, designed to predict potential impacts. We conclude that recognizing and meaningfully addressing all types of impacts that First Nations experience is critical, both for ensuring environmental justice for indigenous peoples and for recognizing that some land and resources must remain for indigenous peoples to continue to practice their traditional culture. We note, as well, that if there is no room amidst industrial resource extraction activities for indigenous peoples, there is also no room for other environmentally critical values such as healthy ecosystems.     

Human Population Numbers as a Function of Food Supply

Human population growth has typically been seen as the primary causative factor of other ecologically destructive phenomena. Current human disease epidemics are explored as a function of population size. That human population growth is itself a phenomenon with clearly identifiable ecological/biological causes has been overlooked. Here, human population growth is discussed as being subject to the same dynamic processes as the population growth of other species. Contrary to the widely held belief that food production must be increased to feed the growing population, experimental and correlational data indicate that human population growth varies as a function of food availability. By increasing food production for humans, at the expense of other species, the biologically determined effect has been, and continues to be, an increase in the human population. Understanding the relationship between food increases and population increases is proposed as a necessary first step in addressing this global problem. Resistance to this perspective is briefly discussed in terms of cultural bias in science.     

油气资源开发生态补偿标准模型研究

油气资源开发生态补偿是对开发过程中损减的生态环境功能,以及由于生态环境恶化所引起的资源富集区域丧失的发展机会损失进行的补偿.生态破坏损失包括直接损失、间接损失以及生态资源恢复费用,利用市场价值法或机会成本法计算;采用恢复成本法,将治理和防护环境污染的工程费用视同环境污染损失进行核算;发展机会损失指油气资源开发给当代以及后代人的生存环境造成破坏,使得地方居民身心健康受到影响或放弃资源地的生存发展权而造成的损失,采用机会成本法和市场价值法进行计量.以陕北为例,对补偿标准进行实证研究,结果表明:陕北油气资源开发生态补偿标准若为销售收入的2%,相当予每吨石油提取120元,每立方米天然气提取0.02元.通过里昂惕夫投入产出模型进行可行性分析:这样的补偿标准在补偿主体的经济承受范围之内,对其它相关行业的价格波动也较小,在当前技术和经济条件下实施该标准的可操作性较高.     

Decentralised water systems: Emotional influences on resource decision making

The study of emotion has gathered momentum in the field of environmental science, specifically in the context of community resource decision-making. Of particular interest in this review is the potential influence of emotion, risk and threat perception on individuals' decisions to acceptance and adopt decentralised water systems, such as rainwater tanks and greywater systems. The role of message framing is also considered in detail, as well as the influences that different types of framing can have on decision making. These factors are considered as possible predictors for analysing community acceptance of decentralised water in urban environments. Concepts believed to be influenced by emotion, such as trust and framing, are also discussed as potentially meaningful contributors to an overall model of community acceptance of decentralised water. Recommendations are made for how emotion-based concepts, such as risk and threat, can be targeted to facilitate widespread adoption of decentralised systems and how researchers can explore different types of emotions that influence decision making in distinct ways. This review is an important theoretical step in advancing the psycho-social understanding of acceptance and adoption of on-site water sources. Avenues for future research are recommended, including the need for greater theoretical development to encourage future social science research on decentralised systems.     

基于城市空间溢出的远郊型乡镇开发模式研究

在城市空间溢出理论的指导下,以我国在2007年设立的国家级统筹城乡综合配套改革试验区重庆市为例,选取重庆市的远郊型城镇江北区五宝镇为研究区域,探讨旨在促进大城市周边的远郊型城镇与城区功能协调、互惠多赢的开发模式。首先,以鲜菜类和休闲度假类消费需求为例,对重庆市主城区城市居民消费需求的空间溢出展开调研;然后,从区位交通、资源基础、生态环境和开发现状等方面分析和判断五宝镇是否具备承接主城区溢出消费需求的条件,并设计了基于城市空间溢出的开发模式;最后,从经济效益、社会效益和生态效益等方面,对远郊型乡镇的传统开发模式和基于城市空间溢出的开发模式进行了综合效益比较。主要结论为:①重庆市主城区对其外部空间的土地、生物、景观和环境等要素存在着显著的溢出消费需求;②以城市溢出消费需求为导向,以协调城乡功能为目标,发挥自身的资源优势,将绿色农业与休闲经济有机结合是此类远郊型乡镇开发的最佳模式。     

Characterising the nature of household vulnerability to climate variability: empirical evidence from two regions of Ghana

This paper builds on national- and regional-level vulnerability assessments by developing and applying a livelihood vulnerability index at the community and household scales to explore the nature of climate vulnerability. It provides innovative methodological steps in relation to livelihood assessment to identify the vulnerability of households and communities to drought. This will help to improve drought vulnerability assessments in Ghana and more widely as it shows extra information can be obtained from local-level vulnerability assessment that may be lacking in national- and regional-level analysis. The research employs quantitative and qualitative data collected through participatory methods, key informant interviews and a questionnaire survey with 270 households across 6 communities in two regions in Ghana. Results show that within the same agroecological zone, households and communities experience different degrees of climate vulnerability. These differences can be largely explained by socioeconomic characteristics such as wealth and gender, as well as access to capital assets. Results identify vulnerable households within resilient communities as well as more resilient households within vulnerable communities. These outliers are studied in detail. It is found that outlier households in vulnerable communities have an array of alternative livelihood options and tend to be socially well connected, enabling them to take advantage of opportunities associated with environmental and economic changes. To sustain and enhance the livelihoods of vulnerable households and communities, policymakers need to identify and facilitate appropriate interventions that foster asset building, improve institutional capacity as well as build social capital.