A case study of REDD+ challenges in the post‐2012 climate regime: The scenarios approach

The REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) partnership works to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by protecting forests in developing countries through positive incentives. It is regarded as an essential component of the post‐2012 climate regime to stabilize GHG emissions and engage developing countries in worldwide mitigation endeavours. This study focuses on the gap between agricultural revenue and REDD+ compensation through the construction of several scenarios that explore the impacts of possible carbon price ranges.Three scenarios that reflect different potential policies are examined: (1) current carbon trading; (2) carbon trading with all forestry activities; and (3) carbon trading with all countries participating gradually over the coming decades. Data for developing the scenarios were obtained through a case study in central Kalimantan, Indonesia, by interrogating the potential for revenue by expanding agricultural land. The results indicate that REDD+ payments could not effectively compensate land users for their opportunity cost of deforestation, making it difficult for the governments to ensure that REDD+ money “reaches the ground” in terms of balancing the agricultural revenue of land users.     

2012年全球地震灾害概要

2012年是近百年来全球地震的轻灾年.根据本年度国内外地震灾害资料,总结出2012年全球地震灾害的主要数据和“双震”成灾、沿“地球脐带”的分布特征.     

Quantitative assessment in safety reports of the consequences from the detonation of solid explosives

Safety reports are mandatory documents in member states of European Union whenever any threshold limits of amounts of either stored or processed hazardous substances are exceeded. After a short introduction to EU Seveso Directives on major-accident hazards involving dangerous substances and to the transposition and implementation by member states, with a brief comment on last 2012/18/EU Directive (also known as Seveso III directive), the paper focuses on drafting of safety reports for industrial activities involving solid explosives. Specifically, the quantitative assessment of consequences from detonation is tackled respect to the side-on overpressure and the debris production. Both direct and inverse problems are illustrated to determine respectively the overpressure value at a given distance, and the explosive amount that allows respecting the regulations. Their solution is based on either analytic or numerical techniques and being based on recent scientific publications on the matter either evaluates or zeroes nonlinear algebraic equations. The availability of these equations avoids grounding the consequences assessment on diagrams and nomograms that otherwise would lead to interpretation and usage errors besides avoiding the automatic solution of the inverse problem. The paper focuses also on details such as embankment, crater, munitions, rocket propellant, building structure, and wall material that, at different levels, play a role in the assessment of detonation consequences. A discussion on debris formation, the available literature, and the evaluation of the impact probability of fragments on both fixed and moving targets closes the paper.     

陕西2012年极端天气气候事件与气象灾害

利用极端天气气候事件监测系统监测结果,分析了陕西1981-2012年极端天气气候事件出现次数和强度,发现2012年陕西极端天气气候事件次数少于多年平均值,但华阴7月2-4日、佳县7月24-28日极端降水事件强度之大,为历史罕见,佳县27日降水量、26-28日3d降水量均超过百年一遇的水平,造成严重人员伤亡和经济损失.说明即便是在极端天气气候事件出现次数少,气候年景较好的年份,局地也会出现历史罕见的极端事件和灾害.此外,还分析了极端天气气候事件次数与灾情年景评估指数之间的相关性.     

2012年我国主要气象灾害回顾

2012年,我国主要气象灾害为暴雨洪涝、热带气旋、干旱、高温、连阴雨、雪灾、风雹及沙尘暴.其中暴雨过程多,长江、黄河、海河等流域先后出现明显汛情,北京、甘肃、四川、重庆、云南、贵州、宁夏、青海和新疆等地出现山洪地质灾害,但暴雨洪涝灾情偏轻;热带气旋数量接近常年,但影响时间集中、范围广,灾情偏重;阶段性干旱明显,但干旱范围小,影响偏轻;中东部地区高温日数多,极端性强,南方部分地区早稻遭受轻至中度高温热害;区域性、阶段性低温阴雨天气多发,对农业生产造成一定影响;降雪量明显偏少,雪灾偏轻;风雹日数少,灾害损失偏轻;春季北方沙尘日数为近52年最少;中东部地区雾霾天气频繁,对交通运输产生较大影响.总体而言,2012年为我国气象灾害偏轻年份.     

Determination of toxic metals in discarded Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs)

This study focused on the determination of the toxic metal content of Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) present in various Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The main objective was the identification and quantification of toxic metals detected in LCD panels. An experimental procedure which involved dismantling, shredding, pulverization, digestion and chemical analysis was followed for the sorting, separation and analysis of LCD monitors from various electronic devices that are currently on the market. Nine selected devices were examined, originated from four different types of e-waste (WEEE); TVs, computers, mobile phones and tablets. Eleven metals were measured in all examined samples. In addition, concentration values of chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) were compared with the respective limits set by the RoHS 2002/95/EC Directive that was recently renewed by the 2012/19/EU recast. The comparison revealed that the examined toxic metals on LCD panels did not exceed the limits set by the European Union (EU). Furthermore, when results were compared to the TTLC regulatory limits it was revealed that in three samples As concentrations were higher than the limit. Finally, when the TCLP test was implemented the aforementioned samples did not exhibit proportionally elevated values in their leachates.     

农村土地承包经营权确权登记颁证土地调绘勘测工程有关问题的解决方法——以江西省分宜县为例

本文采用AutoCAD2012、ARCGIS10.2等软件为数据处理和数据库建设的平台,前期通过ARCGIS10.2成图,进行基本属性管理,取得了比较满意的外业调绘成果,后期与基于AutoCAD2012平台的建库软件完美对接,对农村土地承包经营权项目相关问题的解决具有一定的参考价值。     

Superstorm Sandy and voter vulnerability in the 2012 US Presidential Election: a case study of New Jersey and Connecticut

Superstorm Sandy was an unprecedented meteorological event that devastated the Caribbean and the Northeastern Coast of the USA in October 2012. While many research efforts will focus on the atmospheric conditions that led to the creation and unusual track of the storm, this study evaluates the impact of Sandy on voter turnout in the 2012 US Presidential Election. The goals of this paper are to (1) determine if any alterations in voter turnout occurred, (2) assess the extent to which Sandy was responsible for any voter turnout changes and (3) investigate if the influence of Sandy on voter turnout was contingent upon social vulnerability. To accomplish these goals, voter turnout change between the 2008 and 2012 US Presidential Elections was analysed at the county and municipal level for both New Jersey and Connecticut. The notable decreases in voter turnout discovered in both states were likely due to the election occurring in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. The correlation, spatial clustering analysis, analysis of variance and multiple regression results all suggest that storm surge was more likely to be responsible for reduced voter turnout in New Jersey than in Connecticut. Specifically in New Jersey, the findings indicate that storm surge coverage, rather than height, was influential in reducing voter turnout and that this relationship was contingent upon the racial composition of the municipalities. Overall, understanding how Sandy affected voter turnout will help improve the resiliency of electoral systems to future natural disasters.     

Fairness aspects of linking the European emissions trading scheme under a long-term stabilization scenario for CO2 concentration

Climate equity is a crucial but difficult element in negotiations on a post-2012 climate regime. With respect to the trading of greenhouse gas emissions the equity aspect is considered in the Kyoto Protocol which demands that emissions trading should be supplemental to domestic abatement efforts. The question arises whether a linking of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) to non-EU emission trading schemes or the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) could have an impact on principles of climate justice and thus potentially affect ongoing negotiations. In this study, we present the results of a three step analysis: In a first step, it estimates mid-term greenhouse gas emission entitlements for Annex B and Non-Annex B countries for the year 2020 which keep within reach a stabilization of the CO₂ concentration at 450 ppmv in the long-term. In the second step, the resulting emission entitlements are used as an input to an economic partial-equilibrium model in order to assess the shift of abatement efforts under different scenarios of linking the EU ETS. In a third step, we analyze the outcome of the economic model with respect to the future trend of European per capita emissions under the current EU ETS relative to different scenarios of linking the EU ETS. The model results indicate that European per capita emissions have to be reduced to a considerably smaller extent if a linking of the EU ETS is accompanied by an optimal design of the National Allocation Plans and if low-cost CO₂ permits became available via the CDM to a large extent.