No Meat,Less Meat,or Better Meat: Understanding NGO Messaging Choices Intended to Alter Meat Consumption in Light of Climate Change

This paper examines the factors shaping non-governmental organization (NGO) messaging decisions on how meat consumption should be altered in light of climate change. In particular, we sought to understand the relative absence of messages promoting meat-free diets and the decision of some NGOs to pair meat reduction messages with messages encouraging consumers to switch to meat from ruminant grass-fed animals. Interviews were conducted with 27 staff members from environmental, food-focused, and animal protection NGOs from the USA, Canada, and Sweden. While strategic considerations consistently led to the use of modest messages for meat reduction, NGO missions were also key to shaping the specifics of messaging goals. The relatively low personal comfort levels that some NGO staffers held toward meat-free diets also led to the use of more modest requests for meat reduction. Findings highlight the complex nature of the factors underlying the environmental communication messages of NGOs.     

Cross-correlation bias in lag analysis of aquatic time series

Cross-correlation analysis is the most valuable and widely used statistical tool for evaluating the strength and direction of time-lagged relationships between ecological variables. Although it is well understood that temporal autocorrelation can inflate estimates of cross correlations and cause high rates of incorrectly concluding that lags exist among time series (i.e. type I error), in this study we show that a problem we term intra-multiplicity can cause substantial bias in cross-correlation analysis even in the absence of autocorrelation. Intra-multiplicity refers to the numerous time lags examined and cross-correlation coefficients computed within a pair of time series during cross-correlation analysis. We show using Monte Carlo simulations that intra-multiplicity can spuriously inflate estimates of cross correlations by identifying incorrect time lags. Further, unlike autocorrelation, which generally identifies lags close to the true lag, intra-multiplicity can erroneously identify lags anywhere in the time series and commonly results in a direction change of the correlation (i.e. positive or negative). Using Monte Carlo simulations we develop formulas that quantify the bias introduced by intra-multiplicity as a function of sample size, true cross correlation between the series, and the number of time lags examined. A priori these formulas enable researchers to determine the sample size needed to minimize the biases introduced by intra-multiplicity. A posteriori the formulas can be used to predict the expected bias and type I error rate associated with the data at hand, as well as the maximum number of time lags that can be analyzed to minimize the effects of intra-multiplicity. We examine the relationship between commercial catch of chum salmon and surface temperatures of the North Pacific (1925–1992) to illustrate the problems of intra-multiplicity in fisheries studies and the application of our formulas. These analyses provide a more robust framework to assess the temporal relationships between ecological variables. Received: 28 July 2000 / Accepted: 6 December 2000     

Degradation Kinetics of Biodegradable Fiber Composites

In a composite, fast degradable fibers determine the degradation of the slowly degradable matrix. Such biodegradable composites consisting of degummed hemp fibers and a polyester amide matrix were produced with fiber mass fractions between 0 and 0.48. The hot-pressed plates, 1-mm thick, were incubated in a standard soil. The degradation kinetics was quantified by the measurement of CO₂ production. Furthermore, after termination of experiment, the carbon balance was uncovered. The results were fitted to an exponential law taking into account the degradation of fibers. The increased amount of pores realized by high fiber contents induces pronounced degradation. The degradation is fully characterized by the time constant , which is correlated to the fiber mass fraction. The model allows to predict the degradation kinetics of composites with a few well-defined experiments.     

Characteristics of dispersions and water-soluble extracts of crude and refined oils and their toxicity to estuarine crustaceans and fish

The quantitative hydrocarbon composition and behavior in seawater of water-soluble fractions (WSF) and oil-in-water dispersions (OWD) of 4 oils was investigated. Two crude oils, South Louisiana crude and Kuwait crude, and two refined oils, No. 2 fuel oil and bunker C residual oil, were used in these investigations. The WSFs of the crude oils had higher total oil-hydrocarbon concentrations and were richer in light aliphatics and single-ring aromatics than were the WSFs of the refined oils. The WSFs of the refined oils contained significantly higher concentrations of naphthalenes than did those of the crudes. The hydrocarbon composition of the aqueous phase of OWDs closely resembled that of the parent oils. Gentle aeration of the OWDs resulted in a loss of 80 to 90% of the aqueous hydrocarbons in 24 h. Alkanes disappeared from the dispersions more rapidly than aromatics. The WSFs and OWDs of the refined oils were considerably more toxic to the 6 test species than were those of the crude oils. The test species can be ranked according to increasing sensitivity to oil as follows: Cyprinodon variegatus, Menidia beryllina, Fundulus similus, Penaeus aztecus postlarvae, Palaemonetes pugio and Mysidopsis almyra. The results of this investigation are discussed in relation to the potential impacts of oil spills on the marine and estuarine environments.     

Individual effects and interactions of salinity,temperature, and zinc on larval development of the grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio. I. Survival and developmental duration through metamorphosis

Larvae of the estuarine grass shrimp Palaemonetes pugio (Holthuis) were reared from hatch through successful completion of metamorphosis in 80 combinations of salinity (3 to 31%), temperature (20° to 35°C), and zinc (0.00 to 1.00 ppm Zn⁺⁺). Response-surface methodology was employed to depict the individual effects and interactions of the three factors on survival and developmental duration through total larval development. Outside the optimal salinity-temperature conditions of 17 to 27 S and 20° to 27°C, viability of larvae was reduced by both the individual effects of salinity and temperature and interactions between the two factors. Survival capacity of larvae and resistance adaptations to salinity and temperature were progresively reduced by zinc concentrations from 0.25 to 1.00 ppm Zn⁺⁺. Response-surface analysis of the data suggested that the duration of total larval development of P. pugio was least at salinities from 18 to 23 and at temperatures from 30° to 32°C. At both higher and lower salinity-temperature conditions and in increasing zinc concentrations from 0.25 to 1.00 ppm Zn⁺⁺, developmental rates were retarded. A significant zinc-temperature interaction existed, whereby increasing zinc concentrations reduced both survival and developmental rates of larvae more at suboptimal temperatures. Larval resistance to zinc toxicity was least at supraoptimal salinities, indicative of a significant zinc-salinity interaction. The reduced viability, restricted euryplasticity, and retarded developmental rates of P. pugio larvae developing in media with low-level zinc contamination would limit the distributive properties of the pelagic phase in the life cycle of the species and reduce recruitment both into and out of the parent estuarine population.     

A greenhouse gas emissions inventory for Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory presented in this paper provides detailed estimates of emissions and their sources for the six major categories of GHGs. The inventory was compiled using the current U.S. Environment Protection Agency methodology, which applies emissions factors to socioeconomic data, such as fossil energy use, vehicle miles traveled, and industrial production. The paper also contains an assessment of the methodology and suggestions for improving accounting with respect to process, sectoral, and geographic considerations. The study found that Pennsylvania emitted 77.4 million metric tons carbon equivalent of GHGs in 1990 and that this total increased by 3% to 79.8 million metric tons carbon equivalent by 1999. Despite this increase, however, the state's percentage contribution to the United States total declined during the decade. Pennsylvania's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels represented 92.4% of 1990 totals and declined to 90.5% in 1999. Electricity generation was the largest single source of CO2 emissions, being responsible for 38% of fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 1990 and 40% of the total in 1999. Transportation emissions accounted for the largest increases in emissions between 1990 and 1999, whereas industrial emissions accounted for the largest decrease. The overall trend indicates that Pennsylvania has been able to weaken the relationship between GHG emissions and economic growth.     

Long-term changes in fish mercury levels in the historically impacted English-Wabigoon River system (Canada)

The English-Wabigoon River system in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, was one of the most heavily mercury-contaminated waterways in the world due to historical discharges in the 1960s from a chlor-alkali plant. This study examines long-term (1970-2010) monitoring data to assess temporal trends in mercury contamination in Walleye, Northern Pike and Lake Whitefish, three species important for sport and subsistence fishing in this region, using dynamic linear modeling and piecewise regression. For all lakes and species, there is a significant decline (36-94%) in mercury concentrations through time; however, there is evidence that this decline is either slowing down or levelling off. Concentrations in the English-Wabigoon fish are elevated, and may still present a potential health risk to humans consuming fish from this system. Various biotic and abiotic factors are examined as possible explanations to slowing rates of decline in mercury concentrations observed in the mid-1980s.     

Analysis of polychlorobiphenyls from used transformers for polychlorodibenzofurans

The results of analyses for polychlorodibenzofuran (PCDF) content in two samples of polychlorobiphenyl (PCB) from used electrical transformers are presented and discussed. In neither sample was there evidence for enhanced PCDF concentrations even though one of them had been subjected to overheating while in service.     

Polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans in technical pentachlorophenol - results of a collaborative analytical exercise

Results of analyses of eight samples of technical pentachlorophenol conducted by three different analytical methods are presented and discussed.