The cumulative dimensions of impact in resource regions

The development of mineral and energy resources worldwide has placed pressure on regional environments, economies and communities. The cumulative impacts, or cumulative effects, arising from overlapping development have stretched political systems that have traditionally been geared toward the regulation and management of individual resource developments, presenting challenges for policy makers, resource developers and civil society actors. An equally challenging task has been realisation of the potential development dividends of mineral and energy resources in the areas of business development, infrastructure, human development or the management of resource revenues. This paper introduces a special issue on ‘Understanding and Managing Cumulative Impacts in Resource Regions’. The special issue interrogates the effectiveness of new and traditional policy responses, explores methods and strategies to better respond to cumulative impacts, and details practical examples of collaborative and coordinated approaches. Papers cover a range of environmental, economic and social issues, geographical regions, commodities, and conceptual approaches. This introductory paper introduces the cumulative impact issues that have manifest in resource regions, critically appraises current conceptions of cumulative impacts, and details management and policy responses to address the cumulative dimensions of impact.     

Using the multiple capitals framework to connect indicators of regional cumulative impacts of mining and pastoralism in the Murray Darling Basin,Australia

It is commonly recognized that there are constraints to successful regional-scale assessment and monitoring of cumulative impacts because of challenges in the selection of coherent and measurable indicators of the effects. It has also been sensibly declared that the connections between components in a region are as important as the state of the elements themselves. These have previously been termed “linked” cumulative impacts/effects. These connections can be difficult to discern because of a complicated set of interactions and unexpected linkages. In this paper we diagnose that a significant cause of these constraints is the selection of indicators without due regard for their inter-relationships in the formulation of the indicator set. The paper examines whether the common “forms of capital”, i.e., natural (renewable and non-renewable), manufactured, social, human and financial capitals, framework is a potential organizing structure. We examine a large region in western NSW Australia where the predominant production systems are mining and grazing for production of wool, beef and lamb. Production in both is driven by consumption of a non-renewable resource, i.e., ore for mining and topsoil for grazing, the latter on the basis that loss rate estimates far exceed soil formation rates. We propose that the challenge of identifying connections of components within and between capital stores can be approached by explicitly separating stores of capital and the flows of capital between stores and between elements within stores, so-called capital fluxes. We attempt to acquire data from public sources for both capital stores and fluxes. The question of whether these data are a sufficient base for regional assessment, with particular reference to connections, is discussed. The well-described challenge of a comparative common currency for stores and fluxes is also discussed. We conclude that the data acquisition is relatively successful for stores and fluxes. A number of linked impacts are identified and discussed. The potential use of money as the common currency for stores and fluxes of capital is considered. The basic proposition is that replacement or preservation costs be used for this. We conclude that the study is sufficiently positive to consider further research in fully-coupled models of capital stores and fluxes.     

高含硫天然气净化厂工程运营期生态环境负效应研究——以川渝地区某高含硫天然气净化厂为例

高含硫天然气净化厂工程的运营将不可避免地引起一系列的生态环境负效应.本文在借鉴国内外生态评价相关研究成果的基础上,提出了高含硫天然气净化厂工程运营期生态环境负效应评价指标体系,并采用德尔菲法与层次分析法确定了各指标的权重.经用于川渝地区某高含硫天然气净化厂实例研究,通过模糊综合评价法得出该净化厂运营初期产生的环境负效应为Ⅲ级(中等)的结论,这与工程影响区实际调查结果较为一致,表明文中建立的评价指标体系和采用的评价方法较合理,可为类似净化厂工程生态环境负效应研究与评价提供实用参考.     

Occurrence and formation of disinfection by-products in the swimming pool environment: A critical review

Disinfection of water for human use is essential to protect against microbial disease; however, disinfection also leads to formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs), some of which are of health concern. From a chemical perspective, swimming pools are a complex matrix, with continual addition of a wide range of natural and anthropogenic chemicals via filling waters, disinfectant addition, pharmaceuticals and personal care products and human body excretions. Natural organic matter, trace amounts of DBPs and chlorine or chloramines may be introduced by the filling water, which is commonly disinfected distributed drinking water. Chlorine and/or bromine is continually introduced via the addition of chemical disinfectants to the pool. Human body excretions (sweat, urine and saliva) and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (sunscreens, cosmetics, hair products and lotions) are introduced by swimmers. High addition of disinfectant leads to a high formation of DBPs from reaction of some of the chemicals with the disinfectant. Swimming pool air is also of concern as volatile DBPs partition into the air above the pool. The presence of bromine leads to the formation of a wide range of bromo- and bromo/chloro-DBPs, and Br-DBPs are more toxic than their chlorinated analogues. This is particularly important for seawater-filled pools or pools using a bromine-based disinfectant. This review summarises chemical contaminants and DBPs in swimming pool waters, as well as in the air above pools. Factors that have been found to affect DBP formation in pools are discussed. The impact of the swimming pool environment on human health is reviewed.     

Nutrient Dynamics in Jiaozhou Bay

Three cruises were carried out in Jiaozhou Bay (JZB) in the neap tide in October 2002 (fall) and in both neap and spring tides in May 2003 (spring) to understand the relative importance of external nutrient inputs versus physical transport and internal biogeochemical processes. Nutrients (, , , , silicic acid, total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) and phosphorus (TDP), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and phosphorus (DOP)) were measured. The concentrations of nutrients were higher in the northern part than in the southern part. High concentrations of and DON in JZB demonstrated the anthropogenic input. Ambient nutrient ratios indicated that the potential limiting nutrients for phytoplankton growth were silicon, and then phosphorus. Nutrients showed an obvious tidal effect with low values at flood tide and high values at ebb tide. Nutrient elements were transported into JZB in the north and output in the south (i.e., into the Yellow Sea), which varied with season, tidal cycle and investigation sites. Water exchange between JZB and the Yellow Sea exports , and DON out of JZB, while it inputs , silicic acid and DOP into JZB. Nutrient budgets demonstrate that riverine input and wastewater discharge are major sources of nutrients, while residual flow is of minor importance in JZB ecosystem. JZB is a sink for the nutrient elements we studied except for DON. Stoichiometric calculations demonstrate that JZB is a net autotrophic system.     

征税,还是补贴--对当前环境经济政策的反思

现行环境经济政策的目标在于纠正经济主体的外部不经济性，具体是通过税收或产权交易使外部成本内部化，本文称其为环境经济政策的“不对称性”。因为外部效应除了外部不经济以外，还有外部经济，现行的环境经济政策只考虑了前者却完全忽视了后者，只强调了外部成本的内部化却忽视了外部收益也应该内部化。以此为出发点，文章从现行政策的对立面出发，探讨了围绕外部收益内部化制定环境经济政策的必要性和可行性。最后作者分析了目前排污权交易存在的严重问题，并给出了解决问题的方法。     

稀土离子对超氧阴离子自由基生成的抑制作用

利用肾上腺素在碱性条件下自氧化产生超氧阴离子自由基（O^.-2）的性质，研究了稀土硝酸盐对生成O^.-2的抑制作用。稀土硝酸盐与超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）具有相似的性质，对肾上腺素自氧化生成的O^.-2有明显的抑制作用。抑制率在16．3％－78．4％之间，而且体系中稀土硝酸盐的浓度与其对O^.-2的抑制率之间有明显的剂量效应关系。     

A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Urban Growth:A Case Study for Jinan Municipality,China

China is experiencing a process of rapid industrialization and urbanization at the cost of agricultural land and environment,particularly in the costal areas. This study takes Jinan as a case presenting a time-series analysis of urban land expansion from 313 to 2003. The results show that the urban expansion of Jinan city mainly took place in the last 100 years, especially after the economic reform in 1978. Social development and economic growth,urban population growth and migration policies were factors driving the urban land expansion. Urban sprawl resulted in a disappearance of wetlands and a great loss of agricultural land, and over-pumping of ground water that led to disappearance of the city‘s feature,namely “the city of springs“.     

化学制造业上市公司环境绩效与财务绩效关系研究

选取沪深两市2011年-2014年化学原料和化学制品制造业88家上市公司为研究样本,采用实证分析方法研究两者之间的关系.环境绩效用单位营业收入排污费来衡量,财务绩效用总资产净利率来衡量.考虑到财务绩效的影响因素不仅有环境绩效,所以加入了公司规模等控制变量.分析结果显示,环境绩效与财务绩效并不是相互矛盾的关系,环境绩效的改善可以帮助公司获得更多的经济利润,企业可以在生产经营的同时主动地去履行环境保护的责任,实现环境与经济绩效的共赢.     

Being watched over by a conversation robot may enhance safety in simulated driving

IntroductionIn an aging society that is more and more information-oriented, being able to replace human passengers’ protective effects on vehicle drivers with those of social robots is both essential and promising. However, the effects of a social robot’s presence on drivers have not yet been fully explored. Thus, using a driving simulator and a conversation robot, this experimental study had two main goals: (a) to find out whether social robots’ anthropomorphic qualities (i.e., not the practical information the robot provides drivers) have protective effects by promoting attentive driving and alleviating crash risks; and (b) by what psychological processes such effects emerge. Method: Participants were recruited from young (n = 38), the middle-aged (n = 39), and the elderly (n = 49) age groups. They were assigned to either the treatment group (simulated driving in a conversation robot’s presence) or the control group (simulated driving alone), and their driving performance was measured. Mental states (peaceful, concentrating, and reflective) also were assessed in a post-driving questionnaire using our original scales. Results: Although the group of older participants did not experience protective effects (perhaps due to motion sickness), the young participants drove attentively, with the robot enhancing peace of mind. The protective effect was also observed among the middle-aged participants, and the verbal data analysis ascribed this to the robot’s role of expressing sympathy, especially when the middle-aged drivers nearly had not-at-fault crashes, which caused them to be stressed. In conclusion, we discuss the practical implications of the results.