Household ecological footprinting using a new diary-based data-gathering approach

Although the household level is recognized as a potentially important area for the application of ecological footprint (EF) analysis, almost no work has been reported in the academic literature on EF analysis at this level. This paper describes the application of a new, diary-based data acquisition methodology used in a component approach to estimate the EF of a small number of households in Aberdeen, Scotland. Feedback from householders indicated that the diary proved useful in educating participants about their environmental impacts and made EF findings convincing. The methodology was, however, time consuming for both participants and researchers, and it is concluded that future household level applications of EF analysis might combine a simplified diary with other forms of data acquisition. Findings also suggest that the presentation of EF results alone is unlikely to promote more environmentally conscious attitudes amongst householders unless specific EF components are identified for the householder to act upon.     

Elite cues,media coverage,and public concern: an integrated path analysis of public opinion on climate change, 2001–2013

To analyze the factors affecting US public concern about the threat of climate change between January 2002 and December 2013, data from 74 separate surveys are used to construct quarterly measures of public concern over global climate change. Five factors should account for changes in levels of concern: extreme weather events, public access to accurate scientific information, media coverage, elite cues, and movement/countermovement advocacy. Structural equation modeling indicates that elite cues, movement advocacy efforts, weather, and structural economic factors influence the level of public concern about climate change. While media coverage exerts an important influence, it is itself largely a function of elite cues and economic factors. Promulgation to the public of scientific information on climate change has no effect. Information-based science advocacy has had only a minor effect on public concern, while political mobilization by elites and advocacy groups is critical in influencing climate change concern.     

Downscaling and visioning of mountain snow packs and other climate change implications in North Vancouver, British Columbia

This paper provides an overview of a collaborative study on visualizing climate change at the local scale. A conceptual framework has been developed, in which local scenarios and visualizations of climate change impacts and response were created to facilitate local dialogue on incorporating climate change into long-term planning and implementation of community development decisions. As part of a larger effort to generate a new integrated participatory visioning process, this paper describes a case study of the District of North Vancouver which created visualizations of changing mountain snow and landscape conditions, and provides new insights on issues and dilemmas in using realistic landscape visualizations to depict scientific modelling projections, local responses to climate change, and uncertainty. Results from this study suggest that the visualizations, and subsequent dialogue sessions, did influence emotional response to climate change as well as self-assessed understanding of adaptation and mitigation response options. However, there is a need to test this visioning process with larger heterogeneous groups of participants in order to better assess its effectiveness in enabling dialogue on local responses to climate change.     

一种改进的多学习教与学优化算法

针对传统教与学算法在解决复杂多峰函数优化问题时,具有局部最优且搜索开发能力较差的缺点,提出了一种改进的多学习教与学优化算法,新算法为学员的每一维加入不同的教学因子,设计了基于学员均值比较的教师选择策略和向教师及学员学习的多学习策略。基于多个单峰和多峰函数的仿真结果表明,新算法跟传统的、改进的教与学算法相比,在稳定性、寻优精度和收敛速度方面更具优势。     

Industrial pollution discharges from the West African region

Information on the type and quantity of industrial pollutants from major land-based sources entering the marine environment through direct coastal discharges or indirectly through rivers, as well as on the present status of industrial waste management (treatment and disposal) practices, are provided for the West African region. Most of the data utilized in this analysis were collected by six UNIDO experts who visited the eighteen countries of the West African region during the period of January through August 1980. Industrial operations were visited and information was collected from the various ministries involved with industrial development and environmental protection. Estimates of the mass of pollutants discharged to the ocean were based upon production rates used in conjunction with actual measurements made by the industries located in the countries visited; studies reported in the literature; and an extrapolation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Effluent Standards for various industrial sectors. The West African region was divided into five zones closely approximating the major currents of the Atlantic Ocean. The estimated pollution discharged by the industrial sector was calculated for each of the zones by adding the contribution from each country assigned to a zone.     

Effects of climate change and UV radiation on fisheries for arctic freshwater and anadromous species

Fisheries for arctic freshwater and diadromous fish species contribute significantly to northern economies. Climate change, and to a lesser extent increased ultraviolet radiation, effects in freshwaters will have profound effects on fisheries from three perspectives: quantity of fish available, quality of fish available, and success of the fishers. Accordingly, substantive adaptation will very likely be required to conduct fisheries sustainably in the future as these effects take hold. A shift to flexible and rapidly responsive 'adaptive management' of commercial fisheries will be necessary; local land- and resource-use patterns for subsistence fisheries will change; and, the nature, management and place for many recreational fisheries will change. Overall, given the complexity and uncertainty associated with climate change and related effects on arctic freshwaters and their biota, a much more conservative approach to all aspects of fishery management will be required to ensure ecosystems and key fished species retain sufficient resiliency and capacity to meet future changes.     

Cadmium accumulation and toxicity in the kidney of the bay scallop Argopecten irradians

Specimes of bay scallops, Argopecten irradians, collected from shallow-water eel-grass beds near Beaufort, North Carolina (USA) in September 1979, were exposed to 0.7 ppm cadmium in flowing seawater for 5 d. This exposure resulted in a massive extrusion of the calcified concretions of most of the kidney epithelial cells, although marked morphological damage consisting of cytoplasmc degeneration was apparent in only a few focal areas of the kidney. In addition, unique cytoplasmic membrane-bound bodies were observed in epithelial cells of cadmium-treated but not control scallop kidneys. In some cells, these bodies appeared to fuse with the main concretion vacuole. Kidneys of cadmium-treated scallops accumulated cadmium to 200 ppm on a wet wt basis; of this 60% was associated with concretions (2 000 ppm dry wt) and 38% with the membranous pellet obtained after ultracentrifugation at 105 000 g for 1 h. Approximately 2% of total kidney cadmium was associated with the cytosolic fractions but, unlike zinc or manganese, which were bound to either high or low molecular weight species, a large component of the cadmium in this fraction was bound to a protein peak of approximately 21 000 daltons. Results of this study indicate that kidney concretions of A. irradians play a major role in the control of renal cadmium accumulation and excretion and hence the toxicity of cadmium to this organism.     

Acid rain and acidification in China: the importance of base cation deposition

Acid deposition has been recognized as a serious environmental problem in China. Most acid deposition studies have focused on sulfur deposition and the pH of precipitation. However, as high concentration of alkaline dust is an important feature of the atmosphere in large parts of China, base cation deposition must be taken into account when discussing possible effects on soils and vegetation from acid deposition. We estimate the deposition of sulfur as well as calcium, i.e. the dominating anion and cation, on a regional scale in China using data both from measurements and modeling. The ratio of sulfur/calcium in deposition is then used as an indicator for identifying areas where deposition acidity exceeds alkalinity, and where soils may be at risk to acidification. The dynamic soil acidification model MAGIC is applied with data from two sites receiving high deposition loads in southwest China. The model predictions indicate that considerable soil acidification has been going on for the last decades due to acid deposition inputs. Effects on the spatial distribution of acidic deposition in China, using different future deposition scenarios, are illustrated. As the size of the anthropogenic fraction of the base cation deposition is unknown, different possible future trends in calcium deposition were used. Soil response, according to the model, using different combinations of sulfur and calcium deposition scenarios is shown. Applying the most strict measures to reduce sulfur emission will almost eliminate the acid deposition problem; however, such a scenario is not economically feasible in the short term. A strict, but possibly realistic, future scenario for sulfur may be enough to keep the situation at the present level, assuming only moderate reductions in calcium deposition. With large decreases in base cation deposition, increased soil acidification can be expected even with considerable sulfur emission reductions.     

Improving simulations of sulfate aerosols during winter haze over Northern China: the impacts of heterogeneous oxidation by NO2

Incorporating the missing heterogeneous oxidation of S(IV) by NO₂ into the WRF-Chem model. Sulfate production is not sensitive to increase in SO₂ emission. The newly added reaction reproduces sulfate concentrations well during winter haze. We implemented the online coupled WRF-Chem model to reproduce the 2013 January haze event in North China, and evaluated simulated meteorological and chemical fields using multiple observations. The comparisons suggest that temperature and relative humidity (RH) were simulated well (mean biases are -0.2K and 2.7%, respectively), but wind speeds were overestimated (mean bias is 0.5 m?s⁻¹). At the Beijing station, sulfur dioxide (SO₂) concentrations were overpredicted and sulfate concentrations were largely underpredicted, which may result from uncertainties in SO₂ emissions and missing heterogeneous oxidation in current model. We conducted three parallel experiments to examine the impacts of doubling SO₂ emissions and incorporating heterogeneous oxidation of dissolved SO₂ by nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) on sulfate formation during winter haze. The results suggest that doubling SO₂ emissions do not significantly affect sulfate concentrations, but adding heterogeneous oxidation of dissolved SO₂ by NO₂ substantially improve simulations of sulfate and other inorganic aerosols. Although the enhanced SO₂ to sulfate conversion in the HetS (heterogeneous oxidation by NO₂) case reduces SO₂ concentrations, it is still largely overestimated by the model, indicating the overestimations of SO₂ concentrations in the North China Plain (NCP) are mostly due to errors in SO₂ emission inventory.     

Carbonaceous species in fine particles at the background sites in Korea between 1994 and 1999

Organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in fine particles (PM_2.5) at two background sites, Kosan and Kangwha in Korea were measured during intensive field studies between 1994 and 1999. Fine particles were collected on pre-fired quartz filters in a low-volume sampler and analyzed using the selective thermal oxidation method with MnO₂ catalyst. The OC and EC concentrations at Kosan located at western tip of Cheju Island in southern Korea are lower than those at Kangwha located at western coastal area in mid-Korean peninsula. Still, the OC concentrations at Kosan are generally higher than those at other background areas in Japan and USA. The EC concentrations at Kosan are lower than or comparable to those at other background areas. The total carbon (TC, sum of OC and EC) to EC ratio values at both sites were higher than those at other background areas in Japan and USA. At Kosan, the OC and EC concentrations when air parcels were from southern China were higher than those when air parcels were coming from northern China. However, at Kangwha, the differences were statistically not clear since most air parcels were from northern China. Except when air parcels were from the North Pacific during summer, the OC and EC concentrations are well correlated indicating that both OC and EC share the same emission/transport characteristics. From the gaseous hydrocarbon data and the OC and EC relationship, it was found that during summer local biogenic emissions of OC might be significant at Kosan.