Advancing climate compatible development: lessons from southern Africa

Climate compatible development (CCD) has emerged as a new concept that bridges climate change adaptation, mitigation and community-based development. Progress towards CCD requires multi-stakeholder, multi-sector working and the development of partnerships between actors who may not otherwise have worked together. This creates challenges and opportunities that require careful examination at project and institutional levels and necessitates the sharing of experiences between different settings. In this paper, we draw on the outcomes from a multi-stakeholder workshop held in Mozambique in 2012, the final in a series of activities in a regional project assessing emerging CCD partnerships across southern Africa. The workshop involved policymakers, researchers and representatives from NGOs and the private sector. We employ a content analysis of workshop notes and presentations to identify the progress and challenges in moving four case study countries (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe) towards CCD pathways, by exploring experiences from both project and policy levels. To advance institutional support for the development of successful CCD policies, practices and partnerships, we conclude that there is a need for: (a) institutional development at the national level to strengthen coordination and more clearly define roles and responsibilities across sectors, based on the identification of capacity and knowledge gaps; (b) partnership development, drawing on key strengths and competences of different stakeholders and emphasising the roles of the private sector and traditional authorities; (c) learning and knowledge-sharing through national and regional fora; and (d) development of mechanisms that permit more equitable and transparent distribution of costs and benefits. These factors can facilitate development of multi-stakeholder, multi-level partnerships that are grounded in community engagement from the outset, helping to translate CCD policy statements into on-the-ground action.     

Spatial mapping of city-wide PBDE levels using an exponential decay model

Passive air samplers (PAS) consisting of polyurethane foam (PUF) disks were deployed at 6 outdoor air monitoring stations in different land use categories (commercial, industrial, residential and semi-rural) to assess the spatial distribution of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in the Brisbane airshed. Air monitoring sites covered an area of ~1143 km(2) and PAS were allowed to accumulate PBDEs in the city's airshed over three consecutive seasons commencing in the winter of 2008. The average sum of five (∑(5)) PBDEs (BDEs 28, 47, 99, 100 and 209) levels were highest at the commercial and industrial sites (12.7 ± 5.2 ng PUF(-1)), which were relatively close to the city center and were a factor of 8 times higher than residential and semi-rural sites located in outer Brisbane. To estimate the magnitude of the urban 'plume' an empirical exponential decay model was used to fit PAS data vs. distance from the CBD, with the best correlation observed when the particulate bound BDE-209 was not included (∑(5)-209) (r(2) = 0.99), rather than ∑(5) (r(2) = 0.84). At 95% confidence intervals the model predicts that regardless of site characterization, ∑(5)-209 concentrations in a PAS sample taken between 4-10 km from the city centre would be half that from a sample taken from the city centre and reach a baseline or plateau (0.6 to 1.3 ng PUF(-1)), approximately 30 km from the CBD. The observed exponential decay in ∑(5)-209 levels over distance corresponded with Brisbane's decreasing population density (persons/km(2)) from the city center. The residual error associated with the model increased significantly when including BDE-209 levels, primarily due to the highest level (11.4 ± 1.8 ng PUF(-1)) being consistently detected at the industrial site, indicating a potential primary source at this site. Active air samples collected alongside the PAS at the industrial air monitoring site (B) indicated BDE-209 dominated congener composition and was entirely associated with the particulate phase. This study demonstrates that PAS are effective tools for monitoring citywide regional differences however, interpretation of spatial trends for POPs which are predominantly associated with the particulate phase such as BDE-209, may be restricted to identifying 'hotspots' rather than broad spatial trends.     

Modeling tensile strength of materials processed by accumulative roll bonding

Nanostructured materials are a relatively new class of materials that exhibit advanced mechanical properties, thus improving performance and capabilities of products, with potential applications in the automotive, aerospace and defense industries. Among the severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods currently used for achieving nanoscale structures, accumulative roll bonding (ARB) is the most favorable method to produce grain refinement for continuous production of metallic sheets at a bulk scale.In this article, a model that describes the evolution of material strength due to processing via accumulative roll bonding was developed. ARB experiments were conducted on CP-Ti Grade 2 at a selected set of conditions. The results showed significant grain refinement in the microstructure (down to ～120 nm) and a two-fold increase in tensile strength as compared to the as-received material. The developed model was validated using the experimental data, and exhibited a good fit over the entire range of ARB processing cycles. To further validate the model and ensure its robustness for a wider array of materials (beyond CP-Ti), a review of efforts on ARB processing was carried out for five other materials with different initial microstructures, mechanical properties, and even crystalline structures. The model was still able to capture the strengthening trends in all considered materials.     

Adolescents’ environmental worldview and personality: An explorative study

There is a growing interest among scholars in instruments based on environmental worldview. Several studies have used instruments of this kind to compare groups of children or to assess the impact of environmental education initiatives (EEIs) on children’s environmental worldview. When using scales of this nature, it is important to control for factors that might blur the true impact of EEIs. One such factor - and which may have been neglected - is personality. This study (n = 957) examines the link between environmental worldview of Belgian adolescents (as measured by the New Environmental Paradigm scale for children - NEP) and their personality (as measured by the Hierarchical Personality Inventory for Children - HiPIC). The results show that adolescents who are willing to take responsibility for their actions and who feel in control over the outcomes of their decisions are more likely to have an ecocentric worldview. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that, for Belgian adolescents, egocentrism and ecocentrism are opposite conceptions. All correlations were, however, small and showed no deterministic pattern in the relationship between adolescents’ environmental worldview and personality, indicating that worldviews are not stable or innate characteristics within individuals, but can be influenced by interactions between the individual and its context. Personality traits explained only a very small part of the variation in adolescents’ environmental worldview (.7%), suggesting that they are unlikely to blur the impact of EEIs in worldview-based assessment. This is an important finding as it indicates that the results of studies showing differences in the environmental worldview of different groups of respondents or changes in their environmental worldview as a result of taking part in an EEI are not artefacts of non-control for personality and that they may, therefore, reflect genuine differences, changes or impacts.     

Evaluation of carbon dioxide storage potential for the Bohai Basin,north-east China

The storage potential of selected sites within the Bohai Basin was assessed for the COACH project. The Gangdong oilfield is considered to have a small potential storage capacity (23 Mt) and to be possibly suitable for an enhanced oil recovery or small-scale storage pilot rather than large-scale storage. The Shengli oilfield province is considered to have a great potential storage capacity (472 Mt in eight selected fields), however, these fields, like those of the Gangdong oilfield province, are compartmentalised by faulting and stratigraphy and likely to be quite challenging for injection. Unmineable coal seams in the Kailuan mining area were also considered for storage, the estimated capacity is 504 Gt adsorbed onto the coal and 38,100 Mt void storage capacity. However, the coals have low porosity and permeability, so they would be expected to have poor injectivity. This is also an active mining area and so any storage site would have to be chosen carefully to avoid affecting future energy resources. The Huimin sub-basin within the Jiyang Depression was identified for consideration as an aquifer storage site; the Guantao Formation has good porosity and permeability in this region, and the regional-level storage capacity of these areas was estimated to be 0.7 Gt. The aquifers in the Huimin sub-basin appear promising for storage, however, less data are available than for the oilfields and the sealing formations are not directly proven to trap buoyant fluids, though in adjacent oilfield in the Shengli oilfield province, the Minghuazhen Formation forms a regional seal for the Guantao Formation.     

Co-assessment of biomass and soil organic carbon stocks in a future reservoir area located in Southeast Asia

An assessment of the organic carbon stock present in living or dead vegetation and in the soil on the 450 km² of the future Nam Theun 2 hydroelectric reservoir in Lao People??s Democratic Republic was made. Nine land cover types were defined on the studied area: dense, medium, light, degraded, and riparian forests; agricultural soil; swamps; water; and others (roads, construction sites, and so on). Their geographical distribution was assessed by remote sensing using two 2008 SPOT 5 images. The area is mainly covered by dense and light forests (59%), while agricultural soil and swamps account for 11% and 2%, respectively. For each of these cover types, except water, organic carbon density was measured in the five pools defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: aboveground biomass, litter, deadwood, belowground biomass, and soil organic carbon. The area-weighted mean carbon densities for these pools were estimated at 45.4, 2.0, 2.2, 3.4, and 62.2 tC/ha, respectively, i.e., a total of about 115 ± 15 tC/ha for a soil thickness of 30 cm, corresponding to a total flooded organic carbon stock of 5.1 ± 0.7 MtC. This value is much lower than the carbon density for some South American reservoirs for example where total organic carbon stocks range from 251 to 326 tC/ha. It can be mainly explained by (1) the higher biomass density of South American tropical primary rainforest than of forests in this study and (2) the high proportion of areas with low carbon density, such as agricultural or slash-and-burn zones, in the studied area.     

Identifying Reference Conditions and Quantifying Biological Variability Within Benthic Macroinvertebrate Communities in Perennial and Non-perennial Northern California Streams

Identification of minimally disturbed reference sites is a critical step in developing precise and informative ecological indicators. We tested procedures to select reference sites, and quantified natural variation (inter-site and -annual variability) among reference conditions using a macroinvertebrate data set collected from 429 mediterranean-climate stream reaches in the San Francisco Bay Area, California (USA). We determined that a landscape GIS-based stressor screen followed by a local field-based stressor screen effectively identified least-disturbed reference sites that, based on NMS ordination results, supported different biological communities than sites identified with only landscape (GIS) or local (field) stressors. An examination of least-disturbed reference sites indicated that inter-site variability was strongly associated with stream hydrology (i.e., perennial vs. non-perennial flow) and annual precipitation, which highlights the need to control for such variation when developing biological indicators through natural gradient modeling or using unique biological indicators for both non-perennial and perennial streams. Metrics were more variable among non-perennial streams, indicating that additional modeling may be needed to develop precise biological indicators for non-perennial streams. Among 192 sites sampled two to six times over the 8-year study period, the biological community showed moderate inter-annual variability, with the 100 point index of biotic integrity scores varying from 0 to 51 points (mean = 11.5). Variance components analysis indicated that inter-annual variability explained only a fraction (5–18 %) of the total variation when compared against site-level variation; thus efforts to understand causes of natural variation between sites will produce more precise and accurate biological indicators.     

Testing personal inhalable aerosol samplers: a suggested improved protocol based on new scientific knowledge

In 2002 the Comité Européen Normalisation (CEN) published its document Workplace atmospheres-assessment of performance of instruments for measurement of airborne particle concentrations (EN 13205) that describes a standard protocol by which to carry out the testing and validation of personal aerosol samplers of the type widely used for occupational aerosol exposure assessment. It emerged from more than a decade of discussion and a large body of research experience involving several laboratories. The protocol that is described, however, still poses significant technical and economic challenges, not least because it involves laborious-and hence costly-procedures in large, specialized wind tunnel facilities. More recent research has identified a number of areas by which the protocol may be improved and made more accessible to testing laboratories, including a set of validated aerosol sampler scaling laws, a better understanding of the reduced role of the bluff body of the wearer on sampler performance, and the availability of new options for rapid sampler testing methods. Taking these into account, a dummy new protocol is offered for discussion.     

Risk of Myxobolus cerebralis infection to rainbow trout in the Madison River, Montana, USA.

Myxobolus cerebralis, the parasite that causes salmonid whirling disease, has had detrimental effects on several salmonid populations in the Intermountain West, including the rainbow trout in the Madison River, Montana, USA. The goal of this study was to examine relationships among characteristics of the environment, Tubifex tubifex (the alternate host) populations, and rainbow trout whirling disease risk in the Madison River. Environmental characteristics were measured in side channels of the Madison River, and differences were described with a principal components analysis. The density of T. tubifex, the prevalence of infection in T. tubifex, and the density of infected T. tubifex were determined for the side channels using benthic core samples and examination of live tubificids for infection. The site-specific contribution to whirling disease risk in the side channels was determined using in situ exposures of sentinel rainbow trout. Regression analyses were used to determine correlations among these characteristics. Side channels differed in site-specific contribution to rainbow trout whirling disease risk, which was positively correlated to the density of infected T. tubifex. Side channels with fine sediments and lower water temperatures made greater site-specific contribution to whirling disease risk and had higher densities of infected T. tubifex than side channels with coarser sediments and higher temperatures. The ability to characterize areas of high whirling disease risk is essential for improving our understanding of the dynamics of M. cerebralis such that appropriate management strategies can be implemented. In addition, this study provides a model of how the disease ecology of complex aquatic parasites can be examined when the influential processes operate on different spatial scales.