Public environmental information: access or excess?

Amongst the mass of academic papers and policy reports it is easy to forget that scientists and regulators are not the only ones concerned about the environment. The public has an interest too. Aided by modern technology and increasing legal rights, the man in the street has access to environmental information as never before. In this article we review recent developments in public assess and what these mean for 'the experts'.     

Statistical approaches to environmental monitoring: Did we teach the wrong things?

Two statistical topics that are frequently missed at the level of an applied statistics course or workshop are presented here, along with examples of their use in natural resource monitoring. The first topic deals with use of correlated observations in calculations of variance estimates for a regional mean, required sample size determination, and confidence intervals. Even if correlation values are known only approximately, one can still obtain information on the effect of correlation on the aforementioned computations. The second topic concerns the use of Bayesian techniques in hypothesis testing. Although many authors have advocated its use, Bayesian analysis can be quite complex. Some Bayesian techniques are translated into graphical form that can be readily used by the reader. Both topics represent areas of statistical expertise that can be explored at a very theoretical level; however, there is enough applied material that merits translation for use by those in natural resource monitoring.     

Has central environmental protection inspection improved air quality? Evidence from 291 Chinese cities

In recent years, central environmental protection inspection (CEPI) has been a major policy innovation in the field of Chinese environmental governance. Based on panel data on the daily air quality of Chinese cities, this paper mainly uses a difference-in-differences (DID) approach to conduct an empirical analysis of the relationship between CEPI and the air quality governance performance of Chinese local governments. There are large differences in the impact of CEPI on different air quality indicators. Controlling for a series of variables, we found that CEPI significantly reduced the air quality index (AQI) and concentrations of pollutants including PM_2.5, PM₁₀, SO₂ and NO₂ and that it significantly increased the concentration of O₃; however, it had no significant effect on the concentration of CO. Furthermore, we complemented the quantitative analyses with qualitative evidence gathered from an in-depth interview. Based on the qualitative evidence collected, CEPI indeed plays a role in improving the environmental protection performance of regular environmental governance. Notably, CEPI achieved better and sustainable results in improving air quality through the underlying mechanism of promoting regular governance by campaign-oriented governance in the internal hierarchical system. This article not only provides a marginal empirical contribution by providing new quantitative evidence but also helps reveal the underlying mechanism of promoting regular governance.     

Analysis of the environmental impact on a stream: is only tannery to blame?

The contribution of wastewater from a tannery industry to the pollution of a stream was investigated. The main parameters studied were biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, chromium, dissolved oxygen, fecal and total coliforms, nitrogen, oils and greases, pH, phosphorous, sulfides, suspended solids, turbidity, and volatile solids. Three sampling points were located: (1) at the discharge point of tannery wastewater, (2) 50 m upstream, and (3) 80 m downstream of discharge point. Also was investigated the pollution at the stream source.     

Informing global environmental policy‐making: A plea for new methods of assessment and synthesis

Practice and research in assessment of global environmental change are dominated by two conventional assessment methods, formal models and expert panels. Models construct a representation of biophysical and socioeconomic components of a policy issue, to project future trends or consequences of interventions. Panels articulate consensus views of policyrelevant knowledge through deliberations among selected experts. These methods make valuable contributions, but are weak in addressing certain kinds of knowledge needs that are typical of globalchange issues. To address these needs, a set of novel assessment methods is proposed that combine elements of representation and deliberation. These methods, of which policy exercises, simulationgaming, and scenario exercises are examples, involve human participants in structured relevant decision and task settings. Relative to models and panels, these methods can more readily incorporate diverse perspectives, can integrate across broader collections of knowledge domains, and can both encourage creative insights and innovations, and provide tests of their relevance and practicality. Risks of bias, and of overconfident generalization from unique experiences, are effectively mitigated by critical debriefings, and appear no more severe than corresponding risks in conventional assessment methods, or in policymakers generalizations from historical experience. While serious development and implementation challenges remain, early experience suggests that these methods can offer useful ideas and insights for policymaking that are not available through other means.     

Cadmium in moose kidney and liver – age and gender dependency, and standardisation for environmental monitoring

In the northern hemisphere moose has been found to be suitable as a monitoring animal for the presence of cadmium in the environment. The metal accumulates mainly in the kidney and the liver, with the rate of accumulation dependent on age and possibly also on gender. Collection of tissue material often results in sample selections with disparate age and gender composition, which makes comparison between different regions and different studies difficult. A previous large scale investigation of metals in kidney and liver from moose in Sweden provided Cd data (n = 3,817 and 3,802, respectively) to further explore the relation between Cd accumulation and age/gender. Based on local averages, the individual deviations were analysed with respect to the factors age and gender resulting in an 'ageing function' for each gender and organ. In addition, estimates of the pure individual variations were obtained; the standard deviations correspond to a factor 1.7-1.9 for the Cd concentration, which indicates that 25-30 samples are needed to give a representative mean value (with RSD approximately 10%). In order to be able to compare results from different studies, all individual results can be transformed to represent a 'standard moose' with respect to age and gender. A comparison along these lines was undertaken between Cd levels in Alaska and Sweden. Finally, a relationship between the Cd levels in kidney and liver was derived, providing at least rough estimates for kidney from liver values (or vice versa).     

Correlation between environmental parameters and leaf injury in Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. ‘Bel-W 3’

Tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Bel-W3) were exposed to ambient air for 25 weeks during the 1987 growing season next to an air pollution monitoring station in Brera (Milan, Italy). The research objective was to study the influence of selected environmental parameters on leaf damage in this plant, which is widely used as an ozone indicator. A multiple linear correlation model was estimated between leaf damage and available meteorological and air pollution data. Leaf injury was positively correlated with ozone integrated exposure and temperature, but negatively with vapour pressure deficit. A linear correlation model was used to estimate ozone integrated exposure from the leaf injury indexWork carried out as part of the research programme: ENEL's contribution to the knowledge of important environmental issues, research line: Effects of atmospheric pollution on the land.     

Evaluation of environmental impacts of Integrated Industrial Estate��Pantnagar through application of air and water quality indices

Large-scale industrialization, population inflow, and rapid urbanization coupled with unfavorable meteorological conditions often induce significant degradation of urban environment. In order to assess the extent of environmental impacts due to establishment of the Integrated Industrial Estate??Pantnagar (IIE-Pantnagar), ambient air and groundwater were monitored from June 2007 to May 2008. Collected baseline information was normalized and interpreted with the application of air (AQI) and water quality indices (WQI). Among the pre-identified air pollutants, suspended particulate matter was found to be the principal culprit to deteriorate ambient air quality, with a maximum annual concentration of 418.5 ??g/m³. Monthly average concentrations of respirable particulate matter (aerodynamic diameter < 10 ??m) also persist at a critical level with an annual maximum of 207.3 ??g/m³. A segmented linear function with maximum operator concept was used to compute AQI, and the developed index was found well suitable to demonstrate temporal variations of ambient air quality. The computed AQI value for the selected study region varied from moderate (97.0) to very poor pollution level (309.2) in respect to developed air quality standards. Furthermore, an integrated WQI was developed comprising 9 parameters, and among all the 10 pre-identified locations, the average groundwater quality was found acceptable in terms of Indian drinking water standards. The maximum WQI (70.6) was found at the Kichha Railway Station during summer months, revealing moderate pollution load. Industrial discharge from IIE-Pantnagar coupled with other industrial setup may hold responsible for such kind of degradation of water quality. In contrast, WQI computed at Rudrapur City demonstrate minimum (15.0?C22.1) pollution load. For 95% of the monitoring period, the computed WQI was found acceptable for all selected locations with few exceptions. The application of WQI to assess temporal variations in groundwater quality was therefore found satisfactory.     

An environmental impact assessment of economic complexity and energy consumption: Does institutional quality make a difference?

The relationship between ecological footprint and economic complexity has important policy implications for environmental sustainability. Furthermore, institutional quality can be an imperative tool to ensure environmental sustainability, and it may also moderate the nexus between economic complexity and ecological footprint. Therefore, this study investigates the linkage between economic complexity, institutional quality, disaggregated energy consumption, and economic growth on environmental degradation in emerging countries from 1984 to 2017. In addition, it also probes the moderating effect of institutional quality in the nexus between economic complexity and footprint. To do so, the study applies an advanced econometric approach, cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lags (CS-ARDL) estimator, for short-run and long-run estimation, that allows heterogeneity in the slope parameters and dependencies across countries. The analytical outcomes demonstrate that economic complexity increases environmental degradation by exacerbating ecological footprint, while a high level of economic complexity mitigates ecological footprint. The findings of the study unfold that institutional quality supports environmental sustainability by reducing the ecological footprint. The outcomes also indicated that institutional quality promotes environmental sustainability by moderating the nexus between economic complexity and ecological degradation. Moreover, renewable energy is found to decrease ecological footprint, whereas non-renewable energy use leads to intensifying the ecological footprint. It was also found that there is an inverted u-shaped association between ecological footprint and economic growth. Based on the results, the study suggests that emerging countries should accelerate economic complexity along with a stronger institutional framework to combat environmental issues without compromising sustainable economic growth.     

Bird skins in museum collections: are they suitable as indicators of environmental metal load after conservation procedures?

To find out whether modern conservation treatments alter thelevel of metals in feathers, we analysed the content of 10metals in feathers before and after skins were washed withdetergent and treated with Eulan U-33 (a commonly usedpreservative at museums). Feathers of 31 birds of Goshawk Accipiter gentilis, Eagle Owl Bubo bubo, Feral PigeonColumba livia domest. and Common Eider Somateriamollissima were analysed. We found that in most cases metalswere partly washed out of the feathers, but the effects wererelated to species and type of feather. The value of bird skinsas indicators of environmental metal load is therefore affectedby this treatment. It is recommended that the conservationtechniques used at museums should be reconsidered if skins areintended for specimen banking for future reference inenvironmental monitoring schemes and research.     

Vegetation monitoring in South-Varanger, Norway – species composition of ground vegetation and its relation to environmental variables and pollution impact

The area along the Norwegian-Russian border is threatened by air pollution from emission sources on the Kola Peninsula. A permanent network of 78 systematically chosen monitoring sites has been established in eastern Finnmark, Norway. Species abundance data from the ground vegetation have been recorded from 1320 systematically chosen permanent plots inside 66 of these sites, using frequency in subplots and visual estimates of percentage cover. Environmental variables were obtained for the whole site. Multivariate data analysis has been used to describe the variation in the species composition and to study its relation to environmental variables and pollution impact. The analyses show that much of the variation in the species composition, based on average species abundance at the sites, is well explained by different soil and climatic conditions. However, estimated SO₂ deposition, Ni, and Cu in the soil, and Ni in Cladina tissue have also been found to be statistically significantly correlated with the variation in the species data, but they explain only a minor part of the variation. The pollution impact over several years may have lead to a reduced lichen cover in the bottom-layer vegetation. Further development in an either negative or positive direction can be detected by re-investigations of the monitoring sites.     

A methodology for rapid assessment of the environmental status of the shallow aquifer of ��Tavoliere di Puglia�� (Southern Italy)

Anticipating the European Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), the Italian Government issued Legislative Decree n.152/99 which sets out rules for classifying the environmental status of national water bodies in order to achieve specific qualitative objectives by 2016. The most recent European Groundwater Directive (2006/118/EC), which was only recognized by Italy in early 2009 (Legislative Decree 30/09), requires such resources to be characterized from a qualitative standpoint and the risk of their being polluted by individual pollutants or groups of pollutants to be evaluated. This paper reports a simple methodology, based on easy-to-apply rules, for the rapid classification of groundwater, and the results of its application to the shallow aquifer of the plain of Tavoliere delle Puglie located in south Italy. Data collected during well-water monitoring campaigns carried out from 2002 to 2003 made it possible to assess the environmental status of the Tavoliere which, unfortunately, was found to be characterized by ??significant anthropic pressures on quality and/or quantity of groundwater and necessitating specific improvement actions??.     

Is PM10 mass measurement a reliable index for air quality assessment? An environmental study in a geographical area of north-eastern Italy

The aim of this study was to measure the concentration of some metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Ti) in PM(10) samples collected in one urban and one industrial site and to assess that PM(10) total mass measurement may be not sufficient as air quality index due to its complex composition. Metals were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) and differential pulsed anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV). The measured concentrations were used to calculate the content of metals in the PM(10) total mass, and to estimate the enrichment factors and the correlations between PM(10), metal concentrations and meteorological data for the two sites. The mean PM10 concentration during the sampling period in the urban site exceeded the annual European Union (EU) standard (40 microg/m(3)) and, for some sampling days, the daily EU standard (50 microg/m(3)) was also exceeded. In opposite, both EU standards were never exceeded in the industrial site. The overall metal content was nearly double in the industrial site compared to the urban one, and the mean Ni concentration exceeded the EU annual limit value (10 ng/m(3)). The metals with the highest enrichment factor were Cd, Cu, Ni and Pb for both sites, suggesting a dominant anthropogenic source for these metals. Metal concentrations were very low and typical of rural background during Christmas holidays, when factories were closed. PM(10) total mass measurement is not a sufficient air quality index since the metal content of PM(10) is not related to its total mass, especially in sites with industrial activities. This measurement should be associated with the analysis of toxic metals.     

PFOS or PreFOS? Are perfluorooctane sulfonate precursors (PreFOS) important determinants of human and environmental perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) exposure?

The extent to which perfluorooctanesulfonate precursors (PreFOS) play a role in human or environmental exposure to perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) is not well characterized. The diversity of manufactured PreFOS and its degradation products (e.g. C(8)F(17)SO(2)R and C(8)F(17)SO(2)NR'R', where R is H or F, and R' and R' are various) has made it difficult to track their fate. Temporal trends of PFOS in both humans and wildlife are discrepant, thus it is difficult to predict future exposure, and hypotheses about the role of PreFOS have been raised. Although abiotic degradation of commercially important PreFOS materials requires further research, current data suggest that the yield of PFOS is negligible or minor. On the other hand, in vivo biotransformation of PreFOS yields PFOS as the major metabolite, and >32% yields have been observed. In Canadians, exposure to PreFOS was equivalent or greater than direct PFOS exposure prior to 2002. In most ocean water, PFOS is dominant to PreFOS, but in the oceans east of Greenland there may be more PreFOS than PFOS, consistent with the fact that whales and humans in this region also show evidence of substantial PreFOS exposure. Quantitative assessments of PFOS body-burdens coming from PreFOS are complicated by the fact that PreFOS partitions to the cellular fraction of blood, thus biomonitoring in serum under predicts PreFOS relative to PFOS. Many unknowns exist that prevent accurate modelling, thus analytical methods that can distinguish directly manufactured PFOS, from PFOS that has been biotransformed from PreFOS, should be applied in future human and environmental monitoring. Two new source tracking principles are presented and applied to human serum.     

Geoprocessing applied to the assessment of environmental noise: a case study in the city of Sorocaba, S?o Paulo, Brazil

Noise mapping has been used as an instrument for assessment of environmental noise, helping to support decision making on urban planning. In Brazil, urban noise is not yet recognized as a major environmental problem by the government. Besides, cities that have databases to drive acoustic simulations, making use of advanced noise mapping systems, are rare. This study sought an alternative method of noise mapping through the use of geoprocessing, which is feasible for the Brazilian reality and for other developing countries. The area chosen for the study was the central zone of the city of Sorocaba, located in São Paulo State, Brazil. The proposed method was effective in the spatial evaluation of equivalent sound pressure level. The results showed an urban area with high noise levels that exceed the legal standard, posing a threat to the welfare of the population.     

Mycorrhizal colonisation of mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) along three environmental gradients: does life in harsh environments alter plant-fungal relationships?

Environmental stress affects ectomycorrhizal communities (ECM), but it is not known how general the detected ECM responses are. We investigated ECM fungi on roots of mountain birch, Betula pubescens subsp. czerepanovii (Orlova) H?met-Ahti, along three environmental gradients, two natural (altitude, seashore) and one human-induced (pollution), within the Kola Peninsula, NW Russia. Chlorophyll fluorescence of birch leaves indicated no environmental stress even in the conditions that were presumed most stressful in terms of abiotic environment, where the biomass and population density of birches were strongly reduced. Although neither overall ECM colonisation nor root fungal biomass showed stress-related patterns, colonisation by Cenococcum geophilum tended to decrease with abiotic stress. ECM morphotype diversity declined with abiotic stress, and along altitudinal gradient this decline was related to an increase in proportion of morphotypes with high fungal biomass. Polycormic birches had higher ECM colonisation than monocormic birches at high stress sites only. ECM morphotype diversity increased with foliar nitrogen concentration at low stress sites, but not at high stress sites. Birches with higher chlorophyll fluorescence had lower chitin concentration in their roots (indicating lower proportion of fungal structures) at high stress sites only. Our results suggest that at high stress sites (1) mechanical shelter created by polycormic trees may favour ECM fungi and (2) mountain birches maintain lower ECM diversity than at low stress sites.     

Variations in seasonal phytoplankton assemblages as a response to environmental changes in the surface waters of a hypo saline coastal station along the Bhagirathi�CHooghly estuary

Due to the close proximity of the Bay of Bengal and the freshwater inflow of Bhagirathi-Hooghly, Diamond Harbour appeared as an important coastal station of the Bhagirathi-Hooghly estuary. The spatial and temporal composition and abundance of microphytoplankton species was examined in relation to physical and chemical surface water variables (i.e., salinity, nutrient, and temperature).The primary objective of the study was to observe the variations in phytoplankton species assemblages as a response to environmental variables. Hierarchical cluster analysis and non-metric multidimensional scaling were used to find out distinct seasonal groups based on the composition of phytoplankton. The results indicate that several key environmental factors like temperature, DIN content, and molar ratio of nutrients like DIN-DIP and DIN-DSi influenced seasonal phytoplankton assemblages within the estuary. The distribution of phytoplankton population showed two main groups where the blue-green and green algal populations favored the warmer conditions of summer and monsoon months, whereas the diatom population primarily flourished in the cooler months of autumn and winter.     

Techniques of remote sensing applied to the environmental analysis of part of an aquifer located in the São José dos Campos Region sp,Brazil

The anthropogenic activity on the surface can modify and introduce new mechanisms of recharging the groundwatersystem, modifying the tax, the frequency and the quality ofrecharge of underground waters. The understanding of thesemechanisms and the correct evaluation of such modifications arefundamental in determining the vulnerability of groundwatercontamination. The groundwater flow of the South ParaíbaCompartment, in the region of São José dos Campos, São Paulo, is directly related to structural features of theTaubaté Basin and, therefore, the analysis of its behaviourenhances the understanding of tectonic structure. The methodologyadopted for this work consists in pre-processing and processing of the satellite images, visual interpretation of HSI products, field work and data integration. The derivation of the main structural features was based on visual analysis of the textureelements of drainage, and the relief in sedimentary and crystalline rocks. Statistical analysis of the feature densitiesand the metric-geometric relations between the analysed elementshave been conducted. The crystalline rocks, on which the sediments were laying, conditions and controls the structural arrangement of sedimentary formations. The formation of the SouthParaíba Grabén is associated with Cenozoic distensive movement which reactivated old features of crust weakness and generated previous cycles with normal characteristics. The environmental analysis is based on the integration of the existing methodology to characterise vulnerability of an universal pollutant and density fracture zone. The digital integration was processed using GIS (Geographic Information System) to delineate five defined vulnerability classes. The hydrogeological settings were analysed in each thematic map and,using fuzzy logic, an index for each different vulnerability class was compiled. Evidence maps could be combined in a seriesof steps using map algebra.     

Optimization and determination of Cd (II) in different environmental water samples with dispersive liquid�Cliquid microextraction preconcentration combined with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry

Dispersive liquid?Cliquid microextraction followed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry has been investigated for determination of Cd(II) ions in water samples. Ammonium pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate was used as chelating agent. Several factors influencing the microextraction efficiency of Cd (II) ions such as extracting and dispersing solvent type and their volumes, pH, sample volume, and salting effect were optimized. The optimization was performed both via one variable at a time, and central composite design methods and the optimum conditions were selected. Both optimization methods showed nearly the same results: sample size 5 mL; dispersive solvent ethanol; dispersive solvent volume 2 mL; extracting solvent chloroform; extracting solvent volume 200  $\upmu $ L; pH and salt amount do not affect significantly the microextraction efficiency. The limits of detection and quantification were 0.8 and 2.5 ng L^???1, respectively. The relative standard deviation for five replicate measurements of 0.50 mg L^???1 of Cd (II) was 4.4%. The recoveries for the spiked real samples from tap, mineral, river, dam, and sea waters samples ranged from 92.2% to 104.5%.