Challenges of Urban and Regional Carbon Management and the Scientific Response

How urbanization unfolds in the text few decades and which urban development path we choose are potentially critical to the efforts aimed at stabilizing greenhouse gas emissions. However, our understanding of urban, as a unit or system, and its cross-scale linkages in the context of carbon management is at infancy state. In this context, this article outlines, the key challenges and introduces a new scientific initiative - Urban and Regional Carbon Management Initiative of the Global Carbon Project, which has raised key scientific questions with the aim to find reasonable answers. This article mainly showcases key science questions, past activities and future outlook with the aim to reach out to the related scientific and policy communities.     

‘Formiguers’, a historical system of soil fertilization (and biochar production?)

‘Formiguers’ are structures similar to charcoal-kilns that were used to burn piles of biomass with a soil cover in order to produce fertilizers for agricultural plots. Their use was widespread in Spain up to the 1960s and similar structures are still in use in India and Bhutan. Our objective was to study the effects of the ‘formiguer’ on its soil cover in terms of changes in nutrient availability. We built an experimental 0.5-m³ ‘formiguer’ with 68 kg of plant material with a 12% moisture content and 550 kg of soil with a 16% moisture content. The content of organic carbon and mineral nitrogen decreased in the soil cover as a result of burning. After aerobic incubation all samples had a similar content of mineral nitrogen. Exchangeable potassium and total and labile phosphorus increased after burning as a result of the soil cover mixing with the ashes of the biomass as the ‘formiguer’ collapsed during burning in the first two cases, while mineralization of organic compounds produced the increase in labile phosphorus. This input of nutrients for the agricultural plots occurs at a net loss of 0.4–2.5 Mg organic C ha^?1. Very small amounts of charcoal were produced and this may be the reason for their low occurrence in soils today. Burning of ‘formiguers’ required the harvest of vegetation from a considerable forest area (10–25 ha per hectare of agricultural land) and represented a significant disturbance of these systems.     

The moderating effects of political skill on the perceived politics–outcome relationships

Previous research has established that perceptions of organizational politics are associated with negative organizational outcomes. However, this may not hold true for all individuals. We offer subordinate and supervisor political skill, the ability to understand interactions at work and to use that understanding to effectively influence others, as possible moderators. Specifically, this study investigates the impact of both employees' self‐rated political skill and their managers' political skill on job satisfaction, job performance, and manager‐rated commitment. We examined these relationships in an organizational sample of 106 matched dyadic pairs and found mixed support for the joint moderating effect of self and manager political skill on the politics perceptions‐outcome relationships. Strengths, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Levels of PCDD/Fs and trace elements in superficial soils of Pavia Province (Italy)

Trace elements and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were analyzed in soils from rural and light-industrialized sites (n=168) of Province of Pavia (Northern Italy). Most of the trace element values fit in typical ranges of concentrations in soils and are similar to the ones reported for rural sites in Italy or sites with no direct anthropogenic impact. Total concentrations of 2,3,7,8 chlorine substituted PCDD/Fs in superficial soils ranged between 24.4 and 1287 pg g(-1) dw (0.5-28.9 pg WHO(98)-TEQ g(-1) dw). The North Eastern part of the Province presented significantly higher levels (p<0.001) than the rest of the Province for As, Cd, Hg, Pb, Zn and PCDD/Fs. While the existence of a defined heavy metal polluting source for this specific site has been suggested, in the case of PCDD/Fs, profiles were not linked to any specific emission source fingerprint. In the whole extension of Pavia Province, OCDD/F dominated the 2,3,7,8 chlorine substituted congener soil pattern, followed by the 1,2,3,4,6,7,8 hepta-CDD/F congener. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed that this profile could not be associated to any described PCDD/F emission source fingerprint and was relatively similar to the baseline deposition of sites with no direct impact of PCDD/F emission sources independently of land use.     

Bench‐ and pilot‐scale applications of electrochemical peroxidation: A new remedial concept

Electrochemical peroxidation (ECP) is a proprietary process that utilizes sacrificial iron electrodes and stochiometrically balanced applications of hydrogen peroxide to efficiently destroy aqueous phase contaminants. In laboratory trials it has been successful in reducing, often to non‐detectable levels, BTEX, fuel additives, chlorinated solvents, and polychlorinated biphenyls in ground waters. The process has also been found effective in reducing the chemical and biological oxygen demand of industrial waste water. Agency‐approved pilot tests will be conducted at two gasoline spill sites during 2000 where traditional pump and treat methods have proven ineffectual because of ground water chemistry or subsurface hydrologic conditions. The ECP process utilizes a tripartite treatment strategy consisting of 1) ex situ chemical oxidation; 2) in situ oxidation by reinjection of treated water with residual oxidants at the head of the plume; and 3) reestablishment of aerobic biodegradation by alteration of subsurface redox conditions. In contrast to other in situ oxidation treatment methods, dissolved iron is derived electrochemically, negating the need for ferrous salt addition. Dilute hydrogen peroxide (3 percent) is incrementally added to maximize oxidation efficiency and eliminate safety and environmental concerns accompanying the use of highly concentrated solutions. Results of laboratory trials and the geological and geochemical considerations of upcoming pilot‐scale applications are presented. Other potential applications currently under investigation include combination with other remedial processes (e.g. permeable barriers and hydrogen release compounds) to insure complete and rapid contaminant mineralization.     

Multivariate tools to investigate the spatial contaminant distribution in a highly anthropized area (Gulf of Naples,Italy)

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The Gulf of Naples located in a high anthropized coastal area is subjected to an infrastructural intervention for the installation of a submarine...     

Competing feedback in an idealized tide-influenced delta network

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - The morphodynamic evolution of river deltas is intimately tied to flow and sediment partitioning at bifurcations. In this work, the long-term equilibrium...