Habitual and value-guided purchase behavior

Society increasingly requests that individuals adopt environmentally benign behavior. Information campaigns purported to change people's attitudes are often regarded as prerequisites to installing such changes. While such information may be a necessary step, it is not sufficient by itself. We argue that many everyday behaviors with environmental consequences are habitual, and that little attention is given to information directed toward changing these habitual behaviors. In other instances, behavior is guided by values in a more reflective process. However, other information besides environmental consequences may draw a person's attention and affect behavioral choice. Using surveys and experimental studies targeting consumer behavior, we studied under what conditions different kinds of information is likely to influence people with varying levels of environmental concern. Based on results from these studies, implications for behavioral change are discussed.     

Understanding the External Pressure and Behavior of Commercial Banks’ Environmental Risk Management: An Empirical Study Undertaken in the Yangtze River Delta of China

The present study employed a quantitative survey to ascertain whether the external pressure of environmental risk management (ERM) on commercial banks was a contributing factor to their ERM behavior. Data was obtained using questionnaires from 204 branches of commercial banks located in the Yangtze River Delta of China. The relationship between external pressure and behavior was tested using a linear structural relations model through path analysis. The results revealed that external pressure of ERM was significantly and positively related to the behavior and that pressure from governmental regulations was the most important contributing factor in the passive feedback behavior and preventive behavior of commercial banks. The pressure from markets was the most important contributing factor in banks’ active participation behavior; the pressure from community and NGOs was the most important contributing factor in their enthusiastic behavior.     

城市规划的环境影响评价研究初探

环境影响评价法的颁布是中国环境影响评价的一个新阶段。中国至今尚无明确的、系统的规划环境影响评价的技术导则和规范,其评价理论仍在探索之中。分析了国内外规划环境影响评价的历史和现状。从区域环境影响评价的实践经验总结出了城市规划环境影响评价应强调城市发展的可持续性。探讨了该层次评价的介入时间、评价原则、环境影响因素识别及评价内容,提出从生态合理性、绿色化程度等方面考虑城市规划的生态环境影响。     

Environmental lead pollution threatens the children living in the Pearl River Delta region, China

Introduction and purpose

The objective of this study is to determine children??s blood lead levels and identify sources of lead exposure. Childhood lead exposure constitutes a major pediatric health problem today in China. A blood lead screening survey program for children in the age group of 2?C12?years residing in Pearl River Delta region, south of China, was carried out from Dec 2007 to Jan 2008.

Methods

Blood lead levels and lead isotope ratios of a total of 761 participants were assessed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy. Measurements of urban environmental samples for source identification of children lead exposure were also performed.

Results and conclusions

The geometric mean value of the children??s blood lead levels was 57.05???g/L, and 9.6% of them were higher than 100???g/L. The blood lead levels were still much higher than those in developed countries. Based on the data of environmental lead source inventories, lead isotopic tracing revealed that there is about 6.7% past used gasoline Pb embedded in Shenzhen residential dust and about 15.6% in Guangzhou dust, respectively.     

Environmental concerns and switching toward electric vehicles: geographic and institutional perspectives

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Smog pollution deteriorates environmental quality and has severe health risks. This affects the daily lives of people in China, particularly in urban...     

The contribution of PM2.5 to cardiovascular disease in China

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - China is experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization with correspondingly high levels of air pollution. Although the harm of PM2.5 has been...     

A rapid evidence assessment of the potential risk to the environment presented by active ingredients in the UK’s most commonly sold companion animal parasiticides

A number of parasiticides are commercially available as companion animal treatments to protect against parasite infestation and are sold in large volumes. These treatments are not intended to enter the wider environment but may be washed off or excreted by treated animals and have ecotoxic impacts. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify the existing evidence for the toxicity of the six most used parasiticides in the UK: imidacloprid, fipronil, fluralaner, afoxolaner, selamectin, and flumethrin. A total of 17,207 published articles were screened, with 690 included in the final evidence synthesis. All parasiticides displayed higher toxicity towards invertebrates than vertebrates, enabling their use as companion animal treatments. Extensive evidence exists of ecotoxicity for imidacloprid and fipronil, but this focuses on exposure via agricultural use and is not representative of environmental exposure that results from use in companion animal treatments, especially in urban greenspace. Little to no evidence exists for the ecotoxicity of the remaining parasiticides. Despite heavy usage, there is currently insufficient evidence to understand the environmental risk posed by these veterinary treatments and further studies are urgently needed to quantify the levels and characterise the routes of environmental exposure, as well as identifying any resulting environmental harm.

     

Participation and environmental assessment in Northern and Southern cities, with examples from Stockholm and Jakarta

Increasing public participation in environmental assessment is a common goal, North and South. Despite a relative lack of formal education and institutionalised democracy, participatory appraisal has become far more popular in low-income areas in the South, where many advocates claim that it is possible to give local residents a large measure of control over both the research process and its follow-up. In the urban context, the potential for participatory environmental assessment is related to the spatial extent of the environmental challenges. The most critical environmental problems in Southern cities tend to be local, while the most critical environmental problems for Northern cities tend to be global. Using examples from Stockholm and Jakarta, this paper illustrates how such differences alter the comparative advantages of expert and lay knowledge, and the forms of participation that can realistically be aspired to.     

A human-centered framework for innovation in conservation incentive programs

The promise of environmental conservation incentive programs that provide direct payments in exchange for conservation outcomes is that they enhance the value of engaging in stewardship behaviors. An insidious but important concern is that a narrow focus on optimizing payment levels can ultimately suppress program participation and subvert participants’ internal motivation to engage in long-term conservation behaviors. Increasing participation and engendering stewardship can be achieved by recognizing that participation is not simply a function of the payment; it is a function of the overall structure and administration of the program. Key to creating innovative and more sustainable programs is fitting them within the existing needs and values of target participants. By focusing on empathy for participants, co-designing program approaches, and learning from the rapid prototyping of program concepts, a human-centered approach to conservation incentive program design enhances the propensity for discovery of novel and innovative solutions to pressing conservation issues.     

高邮市城区污染强度与北澄子河环境容量的相关性

根据2004年度高邮市主要纳污河流北澄子河流经城区后，污染物增加量、城区段河流的自净量及河流剩余环境容量，计算出城区段河流的总环境容量，再通过各年度河流流经城区后污染物增加量及自净量，计算出各年度城区段河流的剩余环境容量，分析城区污染强度与北澄子河环境容量的相关性，得到线性公式，从而可以根据城区污染强度推算环境容量的变化，或根据环境容量的变化推算城区污染强度。     

Payments for Environmental Services in Latin America as a Tool for Restoration and Rural Development

Payments for Environmental Services (PES) can encourage projects that enhance restoration, production, and rural development. When projects promote differentiated systems by paying farmers for the provision of services, the application of PES requires evaluation of the environmental services provided by each system. We present evaluations of carbon stocks and biodiversity in pure and mixed native tree plantations in Costa Rica. To illustrate how monetary values can be assigned, we discuss a project that awarded PES to silvopastoral systems in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Colombia based on carbon stocks and biodiversity. PES can promote positive environmental attitudes in farmers. Currently this project is being scaled up in Colombia based on their positive experiences with PES as a tool to promote adoption. Compared to PES systems that include only one environmental service, systems that incorporate bundling or layering of multiple services can make sustainable land uses more attractive to farmers and reduce perverse incentives.     

Temporal variations of surface water quality in urban, suburban and rural areas during rapid urbanization in Shanghai, China

As the economic and financial center of China, Shanghai has experienced an extensive urban expansion since the early 1980s, with an attendant cost in environmental degradation. We use an integrated pollution index to study the temporal variations of surface water quality in urban, suburban and rural areas between 1982 and 2005. Data on monitored cross-sections were collected from the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center. The results indicated that the spatial pattern of surface water quality was determined by the level of urbanization. Surface water qualities in urban and suburban areas were improved by strengthening the environmental policies and management, but were worsening in rural areas. The relationship between economic growth and surface water quality in Shanghai showed an inversed-U-shaped curve, which reflected a similar pattern in most developed countries. This research suggests that decision makers and city officials should be more aware of the recent pollution increases in Shanghai.     

突发环境污染事件应对措施探讨

随着经济的高速发展,环境安全隐患逐渐显现,中国进入环境污染事故高发期,做好环境污染事件的防范工作刻不容缓。针对突发环境污染事件应对中存在的主要问题,提出了构建预防应急体系、建立有效的环境问责制、合理处置安全事故、建立全民参与机制和建立环境污染责任险制度等应对突发环境污染事件措施。     

免疫粒子群算法优化的环境空气质量评价方法

为了提高免疫算法的收敛速度，将粒子群优化思想引入到免疫算法中，设计了一种免疫粒子群优化算法。采用该算法对大气污染损害公式的参数进行寻优，得到了适用于臭氧、PM2．5等6种大气污染物的环境空气质量评价的污染损害指数公式及环境空气质量评价模型。为了使评价结果更准确，采用了国家环保部最新发布的空气质量标准中给出的大气污染物种类、数目及各级浓度限值。将该评价方法应用于大气质量评价领域，实验结果表明，该方法评价结果准确，具有较好的灵活性、实用性和应用前景。     

中国九十年代城市环境污染控制战略(下)

80年代是我国城市社会经济发展最快的时期,城市化水平由1981年的14.3％提高到1990年的21％,城市规模结构趋向合理,形成了以大城市为中心,中等城市为骨干和小城市为纽带的城市结构。但应该清醒的是,我国绝大部分城市的经济发展水平与工业     

环境监测在环境影响评价中的作用分析

在新时期，环境保护工作的发展面临着新的机遇和挑战。环境监测贯穿于整个环境影响评价体系之中，即环境影响评价中的评价初期、建设期、运行期以及后评价期，均需环境监测数据来支撑，因此，环境监测是环境影响评价的技术基础，同时还具有较强的监督功能。     

Urban atmospheric pollution: personal exposure versus fixed monitoring station measurements

We initiated the PETER (pedestrian environmental traffic pollutant exposure research) project to investigate pedestrians' exposure to traffic related atmospheric pollutants, based on data obtained with the collaboration of selected categories of pedestrian urban workers. We investigated relations between roadside personal exposure levels of volatile aromatic hydrocarbons (including benzene) and particulate matter <10 microm (PM10) among traffic police (n = 126) and parking wardens (n = 50) working in downtown Bologna, Italy. Data were collected from workshifts throughout four 1-week periods in different seasons of 2000-2001. For benzene and PM10, comparisons were made with measurements by fixed monitoring stations, and influence of localized traffic intensity and meteorological parameters was examined. Roadside personal exposure to benzene correlated more strongly with other volatile aromatic hydrocarbons (toluene, xylenes and ethylbenzene) than with PM10. Benzene and PM10 personal exposure levels were higher than fixed monitoring station values (both p<0.0001). At multivariate analysis, benzene and PM10 data from fixed monitoring stations both correlated with meteorological variables, and were also influenced by localized traffic intensity. Plausibly because of the downtown canyon-like streets, weather conditions (during a period of drought) only marginally affected benzene personal exposure, and moderately affected PM10 personal exposure. These findings reinforce the concept that urban atmospheric pollution data from fixed air monitoring stations cannot automatically be taken as indications of roadside exposures.     

Environmental factors affecting the frequency of road traffic accidents: a case study of sub-urban area of Pakistan

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are among the life-threatening issues facing rural as well as sub-/urban communities. Several factors contribute to RTAs ranging from human to technical and natural/environmental impacts. Anthropogenic air pollution and corresponding environmental factors also increase the probability of RTAs. Current study reports the relationship of the weather conditions to RTAs. The study establishes the relevancy of different weather conditions like rainfall, temperature, fog, and wind storm with the incidences of RTAs in rural and urban settings of Vehari, Punjab—Pakistan. The results of the study showed that rainfall, severe coldness, fog, and heat conditions were directly related with the occurrence of RTAs. The percentage of RTAs which occurred due to fog, rainfall, temperature, and other weather-related factors was 34, 25, 21, and 20%, respectively. The age of the driver significantly correlated (R²?=?0.60) with RTAs; the drivers in the age group 40–60 years caused the least RTAs during their drive. Since the smaller vehicles were involved in maximum RTAs, it relates negatively (R²?=?0.82) to vehicles power. Among different vehicles motor bikes were involved in most (42%) of the reported RTAs. Therefore, during severe weather conditions, vehicles with smaller size and young drivers must be dealt with carefully while interacting (crossing, overtaking, and maneuvering) on the roads regardless of rural or urban conditions. Factors including civic sense, traffic education, vehicle size, drivers’ maturity, road conditions, and environmental impacts may be considered while designing traffic rules and traffic aware campaigns specific for developing countries such as Pakistan.

     

Lead contamination and source in Shanghai in the past century using dated sediment cores from urban park lakes

Lead contamination becomes of importance to urban resident health worldwide, especially for child health and growth. Undisturbed lake sediment cores are increasingly employed as a useful tool to backdate environmental contamination history. Five intact sediment cores collected from lakes in five urban parks were dated using (210)Pb and analyzed for total Pb content and isotope ratio to reconstruct the Pb contamination history over the last century in Shanghai, China. Total Pb content in the sediment cores increased by about 2- to 3-fold since 1900s. The profile of Pb flux in each sediment core revealed a remarkable increase of Pb contamination in Shanghai over the past century, especially in the latest three decades when China was experiencing a rapid economic and industrial development. Significant correlations were found between Pb fluxes in sediment cores and Pb emission from coal combustion in Shanghai. Coal combustion emission dominated anthropogenic Pb sources during the past century contributing from 52% to 69% of total Pb in cores, estimated by a three-end member model of Pb isotope ratios. Leaded gasoline emission generally contributed <30% of total Pb, which was banned by 1997 in the Shanghai region. Our results implicate that coal combustion-based energy consumption should be replaced, or at least partially replaced, to reduce health risks of Pb contamination in Shanghai.     

土壤中重金属污染的研究进展

介绍了土壤重金属的污染及其特点，重金属对环境危害和在土壤中的化学行为，最后论述了土壤重金属元素的背景值。