ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK FOR FLOOD AND SEDIMENT CONTROL WITH DETENTION BASINS1

ABSTRACT: A framework for combining economic factors and the hydrolo of detention basins is provided. The general development of economic production functions for water quality (sediment) and flood control is discussed. Example production functions are generated to compare water quality (sediment control only) and flood control. For the given example, the design of a detention basin for downstream sediment control is economically unwarranted. When compared to on-site detention facilities, regional detention structures appear to be more practical from an economic standpoint for water quality control. Since sediment was the only water quality parameter assessed, it is entirely possible that the design of a detention basin for water quality control would be justified if the effects of all pollutants of concern could be quantified. Policy aspects of detention facilities that relate to the economics of water quality control are also discussed.     

Poly(hydroxyalkanoates) from fluorescent pseudomonads in retrospect and prospect

Poly[(R)-3-hydroxyalkanoates] (PHAs) are biopolymers stored by bacteria, which are currently receiving much attention because of their potential as renewable and biodegradable plastics. Most well-known representatives are poly[(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate] and its copolymers with 3-hydroxyvalerate, which have been commercialized under the trademark Biopol. In addition to these rigid materials, the elastomeric medium-chain length PHAs (mcl-PHAs) produced by fluorescent Pseudomonads are now emerging. The present review aims to survey the important developments concerning research and application prospects of mcl-PHAs.     

HEDONIC PRICE ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF A FLOODPLAIN ON PROPERTY VALUES1

ABSTRACT: The effect of a floodplain location on the market value for property is controversial, with the conventional wisdom being that buyers are myopic. Previous parametric and nonparametric statistical tests have proven inconclusive in deciding the issue. Herein, a theoretical model, that of hedonic price indexes, is posited and tested, using housing sales characteristics data obtained from a Multi-List Service cooperative. This study suggests that home buyers do adjust the purchase price for houses within a floodplain, and this amounts to, on average, just over 12 percent. The data are from a small midwestern town in which the last severe flooding occurred a decade ago.     

灾害与经济增长关系的定量分析

本文以哈罗德－多马经济增长模型为基础，初步估计了灾害直接损失对经济增长率的影响。并由此导出了一个计算灾害间接经济损失的方法，为从宏观的角度分析灾害损失与经济增长的关系提供了一种思路。     

甘肃省"资源-环境-经济系统"动态仿真研究

立足于生态经济理论,利用系统模型方法。构建了对有关区域发展政策的可能结果进行动态仿真的模拟实验室。对甘肃省“资源-环境-经济”系统运行规律进行探索和实证研究。旨在描述甘肃省“资源-环境-经济系统”可能的运行情景。为甘肃省的可持续发展决策提供参考。模型运行的结果表明：甘肃省目前的发展模式是不可持续的；技术对自然资源表现为弱可替代性；转变经济发展模式是实现甘肃省可持续发展的唯一途径。     

江西省城市化发展与土地利用研究

土地是人类社会赖以生存与发展的重要的自然资源之一。城市化作为当今世界的重要的社会经济现象。是对土地利用目标能否实现构成关键性影响的因素之一。拟从城市化发展角度出发。研究江西省的城市化发展与土地利用之间的内在联系。发现与分析存在的问题。提出解决城市化进程中土地利用的对策。     

Growth of the Decision Tree: Advances in Bottom‐Up Climate Change Risk Management

There has recently been a return in climate change risk management practice to bottom‐up, robustness‐based planning paradigms introduced 40 years ago. The World Bank's decision tree framework (DTF) for “confronting climate uncertainty” is one incarnation of those paradigms. In order to better represent the state of the art in climate change risk assessment and evaluation techniques, this paper proposes: (1) an update to the DTF, replacing its “climate change stress test” with a multidimensional stress test; and (2) the addition of a Bayesian network framework that represents joint probabilistic behavior of uncertain parameters as sensitivity factors to aid in the weighting of scenarios of concern (the combination of conditions under which a water system fails to meet its performance targets). Using the updated DTF, water system planners and project managers would be better able to understand the relative magnitudes of the varied risks they face, and target investments in adaptation measures to best reduce their vulnerabilities to change. Next steps for the DTF include enhancements in: modeling of extreme event risks; coupling of human‐hydrologic systems; integration of surface water and groundwater systems; the generation of tradeoffs between economic, social, and ecological factors; incorporation of water quality considerations; and interactive data visualization.     

Does More Storage Give California More Water?

Increasing reservoir storage is commonly proposed to mitigate increasing water demand and provide drought reserves, especially in semiarid regions such as California. This paper examines the value of expanding surface reservoir capacity in California using hydroeconomic modeling for historical conditions, a future warm‐dry climate, and California's recently adopted policy to end groundwater overdraft. Results show expanding surface storage capacity rarely provides sizable economic value in most of California. On average, expanding facilities north of California's Delta provides some benefit in 92% of 82 years modeled under historical conditions and in 61% of years modeled in a warm‐dry climate. South of California's Delta, expanding storage capacity provides no benefits in 14% of years modeled under historical conditions and 99% of years modeled with a warm‐dry climate. Results vary across facilities between and within regions. The limited benefit of surface storage capacity expansion to statewide water supply should be considered in planning California's water infrastructure.     

Economic performance and carbon intensity of human well-being: empirical evidence from the MENA region

Our paper explores the effect of economic performance variables on the carbon intensity of human well-being (CIWB) for 13 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region over the period (1995–2013). We use a time-series cross-sectional Prais–Winsten regression model with panel-corrected standard errors (PCSEs). We find that economic performance has a statistically significant positive influence on CIWB over the period in question; thus, economic performance harms the environment, but the final effect deviates to a constant level after a while. This finding is not encouraging from the economic sustainability point of view. On the contrary, we find that total health expenditure has a statistically significant negative impact on CIWB by increasing life expectancy, which means less stress on the environment.     

基于VEC模型的呼和浩特市三次产业发展与工业污染排放关系研究

本文通过构建VEC误差修正模型,对呼和浩特市1991-2012年间工业污染排放量与三次产业发展之间的关系分别进行考察。对具有协整关系的两组序列进行VEC模型构建,结果表明,在长期,第一产业、第三产业与工业废水排放存在反向关系,弹性分别为-6.22与-0.23,第二产业与工业废水变动方向相同,弹性为4.98。工业固体废弃物排放与第一产业产值在长期反向变动,弹性为-1.54,第二产业则与其同向运动,弹性为2.13。在短期,滞后一期与滞后二期的第一产业产值与第二产业产值对废水排放的扰动方向相反,而第三产业一阶与二阶后项的扰动方向相同,皆是反向;滞后一期的第一产业产值对固废排放反向扰动,第二产业产值的扰动方向与其相反。