Effectiveness of Africa's tropical protected areas for maintaining forest cover

The effectiveness of parks for forest conservation is widely debated in Africa, where increasing human pressure, insufficient funding, and lack of management capacity frequently place significant demands on forests. Tropical forests house a substantial portion of the world's remaining biodiversity and are heavily affected by anthropogenic activity. We analyzed park effectiveness at the individual (224 parks) and national (23 countries) level across Africa by comparing the extent of forest loss (as a proxy for deforestation) inside parks to matched unprotected control sites. Although significant geographical variation existed among parks, the majority of African parks had significantly less forest loss within their boundaries (e.g., Mahale Park had 34 times less forest loss within its boundary) than control sites. Accessibility was a significant driver of forest loss. Relatively inaccessible areas had a higher probability (odds ratio >1, p < 0.001) of forest loss but only in ineffective parks, and relatively accessible areas had a higher probability of forest loss but only in effective parks. Smaller parks less effectively prevented forest loss inside park boundaries than larger parks (T = ?2.32, p < 0.05), and older parks less effectively prevented forest loss inside park boundaries than younger parks (F_2,154 = ?4.11, p < 0.001). Our analyses, the first individual and national assessment of park effectiveness across Africa, demonstrated the complexity of factors (such as geographical variation, accessibility, and park size and age) influencing the ability of a park to curb forest loss within its boundaries.     

A Comprehensive Python Toolkit for Accessing High‐Throughput Computing to Support Large Hydrologic Modeling Tasks

The National Flood Interoperability Experiment (NFIE) was an undertaking that initiated a transformation in national hydrologic forecasting by providing streamflow forecasts at high spatial resolution over the whole country. This type of large‐scale, high‐resolution hydrologic modeling requires flexible and scalable tools to handle the resulting computational loads. While high‐throughput computing (HTC) and cloud computing provide an ideal resource for large‐scale modeling because they are cost‐effective and highly scalable, nevertheless, using these tools requires specialized training that is not always common for hydrologists and engineers. In an effort to facilitate the use of HTC resources the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project, CI‐WATER, has developed a set of Python tools that can automate the tasks of provisioning and configuring an HTC environment in the cloud, and creating and submitting jobs to that environment. These tools are packaged into two Python libraries: CondorPy and TethysCluster. Together these libraries provide a comprehensive toolkit for accessing HTC to support hydrologic modeling. Two use cases are described to demonstrate the use of the toolkit, including a web app that was used to support the NFIE national‐scale modeling.     

Best Practices in Environmental Communication: A Case Study of Louisiana's Coastal Crisis

This mixed-method case study of environmental communication best practices in Louisiana, USA, identifies trends and approaches as informed by environmental psychology. The results provide key insights for environmental communicators, especially communicators in coastal regions. In-depth interviews with both environmental psychologists and environmental communicators showed that both groups emphasized knowing the audience, telling local stories, building relationships with target audiences and targeted messaging. Both psychologists and communicators also frequently mentioned general messaging concerns of source credibility, avoiding controversial terms and talking about issues, impacts and solutions to which the target audience can relate. A representative survey revealed that Louisiana residents are most interested in hearing about how environmental issues such as climate change, coastal land loss and flooding are affecting their own communities. This finding supports the idea that environmental communicators could do a better job tapping into strong place attachment and sense of community among coastal residents to promote action.     

Development of heat transfer and evaporation model of LNG covered by Hi-Ex foam

Natural gas is a kind of clean, efficient green energy source, which is used widely. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is produced by cooling natural gas to −161 °C, at which it becomes the liquid. Once LNG was released, fire or explosion would happen when ignition source existed nearby. The high expansion foam (Hi-Ex foam) is believed to quickly blanket on the top of LNG spillage pool and warm the LNG vapor to lower the vapor cloud density at the ground level and raising vapor buoyancy. To identify the physical structure after it contacted with LN₂ and to develop heat transfer model, the small-scale field test with liquid nitrogen (LN₂) was designed. In experiment, three layers including frozen ice layer, frozen Hi-Ex layer and soft layer of Hi-Ex foam were observed at the steady state. By characterizing physical structure of the foam, formulas for calculating the surface of single foam bubble and counting foam film thickness were deduced. The micro heat transfer and evaporation model between cryogenic liquid and Hi-Ex foam was established. Indicating the physical structure of the frozen ice layer, there were a certain number of icicles below it. The heat transfer and evaporation mathematical model between the frozen ice layer and LNG was derived. Combining models above with the heat transfer between LNG, ground and cofferdam, the heat transfer and evaporation mathematical model of LNG covered by Hi-Ex foam was developed eventually. Finally, LN₂ evaporation rate calculated by this model was compared with the measured evaporation rate. The calculated results are 1.2–2.1 times of experimental results, which were acceptable in engineering and proved the model was reliable.     

基于数值模式的环境空气质量预报影响因素和改进方法

数值预报是各地开展环境空气质量业务预报的主流预报方法之一。模式预报产品、基础输入资料、外部技术支持、主客观预报偏差和预报命中概率等诸多因素均会不同程度地影响数值模式预报效果,研究探讨了上述因素对数值模式预报效果的影响及其针对性的改进方法,以期降低预报偏差,改善业务预报整体效果,为各地提高业务预报质量提供方法思路和技术参考。     

A methodology for identifying and addressing dead-legs and corrosion issues in a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA)

Identifying dead-legs and related corrosion issues continues to be a challenge in the process industry. Pipeline corrosion has been a factor in several recent incidents involving releases and fires. A review of incident reports and citations over the past ten years indicates that Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) revalidations have been noted for not addressing the hazards of a process including corrosion mechanisms and dead-legs. In order for the hazards to be addressed, they must first be accurately identified in a PHA and documented along with any recommended actions for preventive maintenance. This paper describes a methodology for identifying and addressing dead-legs and related corrosion issues in a PHA that can be used to update corporate PHA procedures to be more robust in preventing corrosion related incidents.     

The multifunctionality of urban farming: perceived benefits for neighbourhood improvement

Urban farming – a type of urban agriculture focused on entrepreneurial food production – serves multiple functions in neighbourhoods; yet these are not well delineated. Expectations for urban farming often centre on traditional measures of economic development, potentially overlooking other benefits. Through a qualitative case study conducted in Baltimore, Maryland, we sought to understand community perceptions regarding the ways in which urban farms can benefit cities. Interviews with residents, neighbourhood leaders, and urban farmers in three residential neighbourhoods with urban farms revealed the pathways by which community members view farms as improving neighbourhoods. Benefits stemmed from four primary changes urban farms made to study neighbourhoods: creation of public projects welcoming involvement, physical improvement of degraded space, production of local food, and creation of new businesses. These changes led to multiple perceived benefits including increased social connectedness, a transformed physical landscape, improved neighbourhood reputation, increased access to fresh produce, and educational, youth development, and employment opportunities. Our findings demonstrate the importance of a multifunctional paradigm that accounts for social and educational functions in assessing the value of urban farming and bring empirical evidence to the concept of multifunctional agriculture. Urban farms with strong social aims may appear to contribute little to economic development if measured using traditional indicators of success such as job creation or fiscal impacts, but provide numerous other benefits for community development.     

丹江口水库表层沉积物不同形态氮的赋存特征及其生物有效性

为了揭示丹江口水库沉积物氮空间分布特征及其生物有效性,采用连续分级提取法研究了表层沉积物中可交换态氮(Exchangeable nitrogen,EN)、酸解态氮(Acid hydrolysable nitrogen,HN)及残渣态氮(Residue nitrogen,RN)的赋存特征,同时结合生物可利用态氮的含量,探讨了各形态氮对生物可利用态氮的贡献。结果表明,丹江口水库沉积物中总氮(Total nitrogen,TN)在425~5796 mg/kg之间,平均为1 319.32 mg/kg,其中EN、HN和RN的平均值相对比例为2.15∶1.95∶1,且各形态氮含量的空间分布呈入库河流大于库区开阔区域的特征,尤其在丹江、老灌河以及犟河-堵河入库口的含量较大。潜在矿化氮(Potential mineralized nitrogen,PMN)含量在40.20~1 468.95 mg/kg之间,平均为275.06 mg/kg,其中EN对丹江口水库沉积物PMN的贡献较大,比例在19.85%~90.80%之间,平均为63.47%。各形态氮在不同的水环境条件下发生迁移转化,保持着水-沉积物界面氮的动态平衡。     

基于主成分分析-多元线性回归的松花江水体中多环芳烃源解析

对松花江全流域14个监测断面的16种美国环保局优先控制的多环芳烃(PAHs)的主要来源及其贡献率应用主成分因子分析-多元线性回归模型(PCA-MLR)进行了来源解析。结果表明:松花江全流域为化石和石油燃料的复合PAHs污染,水体环境中PAHs首要污染源为化石燃料燃烧和交通污染,合计贡献率为63.1%,第二大污染源为工业和民用燃煤污染,合计贡献率为36.9%,沿江的石化、石油基地、大型焦化厂、电厂都是PAHs的主要来源。     

环境决策技术评价方法研究述评

针对环境决策分析过程中存在的问题,介绍了对环境决策技术评价的意义和现状,探讨了在环境决策中几种技术评价的方法,目前有关技术评价的方法与观点众多,总体上可归纳为层次分析法、模糊综合评价法、灰色综合评判法、费用效益分析法。这些分析法的应用能够促进环境决策管理从粗放型向精细化转变。为环境投资效益分析和环境决策提供了科学、合理、高效的技术支撑。本文介绍了几种技术评价方法的概念和发展历程,分析了各种方法的适用范围和优缺点。