Water Quality Changes as a Result of Coalbed Methane Development in a Rocky mountain Watershed1

Abstract: Coalbed methane (CBM) development raises serious environmental concerns. In response, concerted efforts have been made to collect chemistry, salinity, and sodicity data on CBM produced water. However, little information on changes of stream water quality resulting from directly and/or indirectly received CBM produced water is available in the literature. The objective of this study was to examine changes instream water quality, particularly sodicity and salinity, due to CBM development in the Powder River watershed, which is located in the Rocky Mountain Region and traverses the states of Wyoming and Montana. To this end, a retrospective analysis of water quality trends and patterns was conducted using data collected from as early as 1946 up to and including 2002 at four U.S. Geological Survey gauging stations along the Powder River. Trend analysis was conducted using linear regression and Seasonal Kendall tests, whereas, Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons was used to detect changes in the spatial pattern. The results indicated that the CBM development adversely affected the water quality in the Powder River. First, the development elevated the stream sodicity, as indicated by a significant increase trend of the sodium adsorption ratio. Second, the development tended to shrink the water quality differences among the three downstream stations but to widen the differences between these stations and the farthest upstream station. In contrast, the development had only a minor influence on stream salinity, as indicated by that the stream electrical conductivity exhibited either no trend or a marginally significant positive trend. Hence, the CBM development is likely an important factor that can be managed to lower the stream sodicity. The management may need to take into account that the effects of the CBM development were different from one location to another along the Powder River.     

郊野公园作为城市自然保留地的价值分析

城市自然保留地（urban natural reserved area）是指城市地区范围内具有一定面积的自然或近自然区域,具有保持生物多样性、乡土物种保护和保存复杂基因库等重要的生态功能。郊野公园作为城市自然保留地的重要组成,在生态、游憩、乡土植物、研究教育等方面具有重要的价值。本文分析了郊野公园在这些方面的价值,并介绍了香港的郊野公园建设,最后对郊野公园的建设提出了建议。     

Can natural behavior be cultivated? The farm as local human/animal culture

Although the notion of natural behavior occurs in many policy-making and legal documents on animal welfare, no consensus has been reached concerning its definition. This paper argues that one reason why the notion resists unanimously accepted definition is that natural behavior is not properly a biological concept, although it aspires to be one, but rather a philosophical tendency to perceive animal behavior in accordance with certain dichotomies between nature and culture, animal and human, original orders and invented artifacts. The paper scrutinizes the philosophy of natural behavior as it developed in the organic movement in response to a perceived contrast between industrialized and traditional agriculture. There are two reasons for focusing on the organic movement: (i) the emphasis on “the natural” is most accentuated there and has a long history, (ii) everyday life on organic farms presupposes human/animal interplay, which conflicts with the philosophical tendency to separate nature from culture. This mismatch between theory and practice helps us see why, and how, the philosophy of natural behavior needs to be reconsidered. The paper proposes that we understand farms as local human/animal cultures, and asks what we can mean my natural behavior in such contexts. Since domestic animals adapt to agricultural environments via interaction with caretakers, such interplay is analyzed as “hub” in these animals’ natural behavior.     

CNG汽车加气站火灾爆炸危险分析与预防

对压缩天然气（CNG）汽车加气站的危险因素进行了辨识，并且用事故树法对加气站的火灾爆炸危险进行了分析，从技术、教育、管理3个方面提出了预防控制措施。     

重庆开县"3.25"天然气井泄漏事故原因及影响分析

本文对重庆开县"3.25"井漏事故进行了纵向剖析,并与"12.23"事故的横向原因作了对比,并分析了对自然环境和社会环境的影响。从安全技术和安全管理的角度提出了降低本地区石油天然气开发事故发生率的防范措施。"3.25"事故主要原因是物的不安全状态、人的不安全行为以及地质条件复杂、地层孔隙发育、套管破裂引起的;同时对自然环境的影响主要是甲烷对温室效应的作用,对社会环境的影响主要是担心事故"经常化"以及对当地群众的心理上的影响。     

模糊数学在成都市水资源评价中的应用

水资源价值是一个复杂的体系,主要由三方面要素构成,即:自然因素、经济因素、社会因素。以成都市为例,选取水质、水资源量、人口密度、国民收入作为评价要素,采用模糊综合评价方法对该市水资源价值进行了评价,结果表明:成都市水资源价格为2.93元/m3,明显高于目前的成都市平均水价。因此,应通过优化产业结构、扩大生产规模、提高用水效率和技术水平、加强环境保护与文化教育、合理控制人口等措施来提高水资源价值。     

浅谈地价评估和管理中的几个问题

土地价格是土地价值和权益的具体表现，是调节土地利用的重要手段。地价管理在推进土地有偿使用、优化配置土地资源、促进土地市场建设等方面发挥着重要作用。而现行地价体系比较成熟的只有作为国有土地使用权出让标准的一种基准地价，为适应其它土地权利流转的需要，应建立以土地权利为核心的新型地价体系。     

Human Dignity and the Dignity of Creatures

In their report for the Swiss government onthe notion of the dignity of creatures, PhilippBalzer, Klaus-Peter Rippe, and Peter Schaber analyzethe relationship between human dignity and the dignityof creatures, taking them as two categoricallydifferent concepts. Human dignity is defined as the``moral right not to be humiliated,' whereas thedignity of creatures is taken to be ``the inherentvalue of nonhuman living beings.' To my mind there isno need to draw a categorical distinction between thetwo concepts. Both notions could be brought togetherunder an all-encompassing concept of the inherentvalue of living beings, humans and non-humans alike,a concept one could name ``the dignity of livingbeings.' Indeed, this very notion underlies theposition taken in the report, although this is notmade explicit by the authors themselves.As the aim of the paper is only to clarify theconcepts used, I do not go beyond this ``internal'critique of their position, i.e., I don't assess howthe claims articulated via these concepts – theclaim that humans and/or creatures have an inherentvalue consisting in a supposed intrinsic good – areto be justified, although I myself would be ratherskeptical that this might be successfully done.     

Genetic Engineering and the Dignity of Creatures

The Swiss expert report suggests thatthe inherent dignity of a living being be identifiedwith its inherent value. But the phrase ``inherentvalue of a living being' seems to connote two conceptsof inherent value. One has a morally obligatingcharacter but is counterintuitive because of itsegalitarianism. The other is one of non-moral value.It is more compatible with considered intuitions butinsufficient for substantiating the expert report'sclaim that human beings have moral duties towardsanimals and plants. The paper discusses theseconcepts. Consideration is then given to the problemof how discursive support can be generated for theexpert report's claim that human beings have the moralduty to abstain from impairing those functions andabilities of a nonuman being that members of itsspecies as a rule can practice.     

Physical and Economic Sustainability of Water: New Approach Using the Case of the Big Lost River,Idaho

A new approach for evaluating water sustainability is introduced by comparing physical and economic sustainability. To achieve physical sustainability, water should be available in sufficient quantity and of good quality and used efficiently. The economic sustainability can be achieved by balancing between costs and values of water. The objectives of this study were to estimate the physical and economic sustainability of surface water in the Big Lost River, south–central Idaho. The study used a Bayesian network by building a graphical diagram of nodes representing all significant variables related with the sustainability, such as water demand, water quality, and the different costs and values of water. The study showed that the likelihood of the physical sustainability is less than that of the economic sustainability, which is attributed to the scarcity of water in the Big Lost River. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.