Restoring ecosystems,restoring community: socioeconomic and cultural dimensions of a community-based coral reef restoration project

Environmental restoration projects are commonly touted for their ecological positives, but such projects can also provide significant socioeconomic and cultural benefits to local communities. We assessed the social dimensions of a large-scale coral reef restoration project in Maunalua Bay, O‘ahu, where >1.32 million kg of invasive marine macroalgae was removed from 11 hectares (90,000 m²; 23 acres) of impacted coral reef in an urbanized setting. We interviewed 131 community stakeholders and analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data to assess human uses of the environment, assess perceptions of environmental health, and characterize social dimensions (+/?) associated with the invasive algae removal effort. Results indicate substantial direct economic benefits, including the creation of more than 60+ jobs, benefiting more than 250 individuals and 81 households. The project helped develop a skilled workforce in a local business dedicated to environmental restoration and increased the capacity of community organizations to address other threats to reefs and watersheds. Other major benefits include revitalization of Native Hawaiian cultural practices and traditions and the successful use of harvested invasive algae as compost by local farmers. Our results show the project heightened community awareness and a broader sense of stewardship in the area, creating enabling conditions for collective community action. Our findings show that restoration projects that explicitly incorporate efforts to build community awareness, involvement, and a shared responsibility for a site may ultimately create the long-term capacity for sustainable stewardship programs. We conclude by discussing lessons learned for engaging productively with communities in environmental restoration and stewardship, which remains a central focus in conservation worldwide.     

Flammability of heat transfer fluid aerosols produced by electrospray measured by laser diffraction analysis

Accidental release of pressurized high flash point heat transfer fluids can result in fire and explosion hazard scenarios in the process industry. An experimental investigation on ignition of aerosols of a heat transfer fluid is carried out, and characterization of aerosol and its ignition process by non-intrusive laser diffraction technique is reported. Propagation speed of the aerosol combustion flame front as analyzed from the laser diffraction measurement agrees with high-speed visual camera observation. Flammability of the aerosol, which is based on the chances of the global flame appearance in the aerosol, is mainly controlled by aerosol droplet size and the droplet volume concentration.     

Chemical characterization and factor analysis of PM2.5 in two sites of Monterrey, Mexico

The Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA) has shown a high concentration of PM2.5 in its atmosphere since 2003. The contribution of possible sources of primary PM2.5 and its precursors is not known. In this paper we present the results of analyzing the chemical composition of sixty 24-hr samples of PM2.5 to determine possible sources of PM2.5 in the MMA. The samples were collected at the northeast and southeast of the MMA between November 22 and December 12, 2007, using low-volume devices. Teflon and quartz filters were used to collect the samples. The concentrations of 16 airborne trace elements were determined using x-ray fluorescence (XRF). Anions and cations were determined using ion chromatography. Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) were determined by thermal optical analysis. The results show that Ca had the maximum mean concentration of all elements studied, followed by S. Enrichment factors above 50 were calculated for S, Cl, Cu, Zn, Br and Pb. This indicates that these elements may come from anthropogenic sources. Overall, the major average components of PM2.5 were OC (41.7%), SO4(2-) (22.9%), EC (7.4%), crustal material (11.4%), and NO3- (12.6%), which altogether accounted for 96% of the mass. Statistically, we did not find any difference in SO4(2-) concentrations between the two sites. The fraction of secondary organic carbon was between 24% and 34%. The results of the factor analysis performed over 10 metals and OC and EC show that there are three main sources of PM2.5: crustal material and vehicle exhaust; industrial activity; and fuel oil burning. The results show that SO4(2-), OC, and crustal material are important components of PM2.5 in MMA. Further work is necessary to evaluate the proportion of secondary inorganic and organic aerosol in order to have a better understanding of the sources and precursors of aerosols in the MMA.     

城乡居民食材消耗的多尺度地域差异及政策启示——基于烟台、兰州、新乡、九江家庭食谱的实证分析

近年中国粮食国际依赖程度持续上升,降低损耗、避免浪费成为解决粮食安全体系韧性问题的重要途径。然而由于不同地域城乡居民的饮食结构明显不同,实施开源节流的食品供应保障政策法规必须重视居民食材消耗的地域差异性,因此基于全球化视角解析居民食材的本地供应比例及其地域差异成为有待补阙的课题。为此,以烟台、兰州、新乡、九江4个城市为例,采用问卷调查的方式,探究4个城市食材消耗和对应生产土地需求量的差异性。结果显示：（1）不同食材与对应消耗的土地资源存在显著的地域差异,且这一差异与城市自然本底和居民饮食习俗密切关联;（2）4个城市居民食谱的全球化、本土化和本地化具有明显区别,虽然不同食材的本地化程度差异相对较小,但全球化程度差异显著。基于分析结果,探讨了粮食安全与反食品浪费的政策建议：一是反食品浪费的政策法规实施,需充分结合居民食材消耗的地域性特征,建立针对性的食材消耗标准与动态监测系统;二是在全球波动、强调粮食安全的背景下,地方政府应结合国土空间规划,讨论城市预留本地食材供应的战略性产地的可能性,以减少运输过程中的损耗。     

Water Footprint of 65 Mid‐ to Large‐Sized U.S. Cities and Their Metropolitan Areas

Conventional indicators of water use for urban areas account primarily for direct water use. In contrast, our objective here is to employ the water footprint (WF) concept and methodology to include the virtual or indirect water use to assess the production‐side and consumption‐side WF of 65 United States (U.S.) cities. The 65 cities include the largest metropolitan areas and some of the major mid‐sized cities in the U.S. We use metropolitan areas to define our city boundaries as this is the native spatial resolution of the main datasets used. To estimate the urban WFs, we integrated large and disparate datasets, including commodity flow (agricultural, livestock, and industrial commodities), water use, and socioeconomic data. By analyzing the estimated WF values, we found indirect water use accounts on average for 66% of the WF of consumption. We found some cities are net virtual water exporters (11 of 65) because they rely heavily on direct water uses or are heavy producers of industrial commodities. Also, WF patterns vary widely across the U.S. but regional patterns seem to emerge. For example, the dense cities of the U.S. northeast megaregion have a significantly low per capita WF relative to the other cities, while cities in the Gulf Coast megaregion have a significantly higher industrial WF of production and consumption. Furthermore, there is inequality in the WF of consumption where a few cities account for a disproportionate share of the total U.S. urban water uses.     

Evaluation of Operational National Weather Service Gridded Flash Flood Guidance over the Arkansas Red River Basin

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service (NWS) flash flood warnings are issued by Weather Forecast Offices and are underpinned by information from the Flash Flood Guidance (FFG) system operated by the River Forecast Centers (RFCs). This study focuses on the quantitative evaluation and limitations of the FFG system using reported flash flood cases in 2010 and 2011. The flash flood reports were obtained from the NWS Storm Event database for the Arkansas‐Red Basin RFC (ABRFC). The current FFG system at the ABRFC provides gridded flash flood guidance (GFFG) system using the NWS Hydrology Laboratory‐Research Distributed Hydrologic Model to translate the upper zone soil moisture to estimates of Soil Conservation Service Curve Numbers. Comparisons of the GFFG and real‐time Multisensor Precipitation Estimator‐derived Quantitative Precipitation Estimate for the same duration and location were used to analyze the success of the system. Typically, the six‐hour duration was characterized by higher probability of detection values than the three‐hour duration, which highlights the difficulty of hydrologic process estimation for shorter time scales. The current system does not take into account physical characteristics such as land use, including irrigated agricultural farm and urban areas, hence, overly dry soil moisture estimates over these areas can lower the success rate of the GFFG product.     

A Hydraulic MultiModel Ensemble Framework for Visualizing Flood Inundation Uncertainty

While deterministic forecasts provide a single realization of potential inundation, the inherent uncertainty associated with forecasts also needs to be conveyed for improved decision support. The objective of this study was to develop an ensemble framework for the quantification and visualization of uncertainty associated with flood inundation forecast maps. An 11‐member ensemble streamflow forecast at lead times from 0 to 48 hr was used to force two hydraulic models to produce a multimodel ensemble. The hydraulic models used are (1) the International River Interface Cooperative along with Flow and Sediment Transport with Morphological Evolution of Channels solver and (2) the two‐dimensional Hydrologic Engineering Center‐River Analysis System. Uncertainty was quantified and augmented onto flood inundation maps by calculating statistical spread among the ensemble members. For visualization, a series of probability flood maps conveying the uncertainty in forecasted water extent, water depth, and flow velocity was disseminated through a web‐based decision support tool. The results from this study offer a framework for quantifying and visualizing model uncertainty in forecasted flood inundation maps.