Environmental and health consequences of depleted uranium use in the 1991 Gulf War

Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of the 235U radionuclide enrichment processes for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. DU in the metallic form has high density and hardness as well as pyrophoric properties, which makes it superior to the classical tungsten armour-piercing munitions. Military use of DU has been recently a subject of considerable concern, not only to radioecologists but also public opinion in terms of possible health hazards arising from its radioactivity and chemical toxicity. In this review, the results of uranium content measurements in different environmental samples performed by authors in Kuwait after Gulf War are presented with discussion concerning possible environmental and health effects for the local population. It was found that uranium concentration in the surface soil samples ranged from 0.3 to 2.5 microg g(-1) with an average value of 1.1 microg g(-1), much lower than world average value of 2.8 microg g(-1). The solid fallout samples showed similar concentrations varied from 0.3 to 1.7 microg g(-1) (average 1.47 microg g(-1)). Only the average concentration of U in solid particulate matter in surface air equal to 0.24 ng g(-1) was higher than the usually observed values of approximately 0.1 ng g(-1) but it was caused by the high dust concentration in the air in that region. Calculated on the basis of these measurements, the exposure to uranium for the Kuwait and southern Iraq population does not differ from the world average estimation. Therefore, the widely spread information in newspapers and Internet (see for example: [CADU NEWS, 2003. http://www.cadu.org.uk/news/index.htm (3-13)]) concerning dramatic health deterioration for Iraqi citizens should not be linked directly with their exposure to DU after the Gulf War.     

论环境管理思想与环境科学的协同演进

文章首先分析了环境管理的思想渊源与环境科学的产生;然后分三个阶段对环境管理思想的演变和环境科学的发展进行回顾,进而从管理对象、主体和方法三个方面对环境管理思想与环境科学研究的协同演进关系进行反思;最后,文章指出,随着主流环境管理思想的演变,环境科学的发展将走向综合化、人文化、立体化和专业化。     

环境库兹涅茨曲线理论与国家环境法律间关系的研究

研究表明,经济发展与环境退化之间经常呈现倒U型曲线关系,许多学者将其定义为环境库兹涅茨曲线(EnvironmentalKuznets Curves,EKC),并将其运用到对发展中国家和发达国家的先污染,后治理的发展模式的解释之中。但是环境库兹涅茨曲线假说本身并不完善。在摒弃了传统计量模型指标后,以国家环境立法和国家环保投资作为目标研究EKC。结果表明,环境改善的重要条件是政府的支持,尤其是以环境法律的形式。     

环境承载力理论在区域规划环境影响评价中的应用

环境承载力分析是区域规划环境影响评价的评价方法之一。对环境承载力的合理分析，能够反映区域社会经济和资源环境的协调程度，准确地评估区域规划对环境造成的影响，使评价更具科学性。在环境承载力定义的基础上，通过建立一定的指标体系，结合发展变量与限制变量之间关系的描述，研究了区域环境承载力的利用强度，由此提出了一种更为直观的环境综合承载力量化方法——环境承载力综合指数。并将其应用到广州市南沙国际汽车城规划环境影响评价中，为该规划的进一步完善提出了合理的建议。该方法能够准确反映区域规划对环境的影响，为区域的协调发展提供科学依据。     

企业环境行为:环境政策研究的微观视角

企业环境行为是是企业面对来自政府、公众、市场等方面的压力．而采取的宏观战略和制度变革、内部具体生产的调整等措施和手段．是环境政策效果的具体体现。政府、公众和市场压力在不同阶段发挥着不同的作用。在工业绿色化的初级阶段以政府压力为主。随着公众和企业更多地参与到环保行动中来．来自市场及社区的压力逐渐成为企业环境行为的主导驱动力量。我国正处于工业化加速阶段．环境问题突出．必须积极开展对企业环境行为的研究，探求环境压力与企业环境行为转变的内在关系．找到促进企业改善环境行为和表现的最优方式，为我国环境政策的制定提供决策支持。     

环境载荷与环境压强:环境压力指标及应用

一个国家的经济活动产生的环境压力与其具有的环境承载能力。决定了该国社会与经济发展的可持续状况。因此．测度环境压力和承载力是制定可持续发展目标和政策的必要条件之一。基于国家尺度的社会代谢物质流、地理面积和生态承载面积。可以构建出一个国家本国环境所承受的环境压力总量指标体系——环境载荷和环境压强；德国、荷兰、奥地利、日本和美国等五个工业国家的环境载荷和各环境压强总量指标若干年的实证计算和对比分析。可以发现．虽然美国的国内环境总载荷、人均物质总需求及人均生态足迹赤字等均是各国最高者．其环境压强却处于五国的最低端。与奥地利相近；以环境压强指标测度。除日本不明显外．其余四国的经济发展与本国环境压力之间在研究期（1975—1996）均显示出“脱钩”关系．即本国环境压强并没有随经济总量的增长而增加。为此．最后就环境问题的公平性和环境压力指标的优缺点进行简要讨论。     

Practical consequences of the assessment of different energy health risks

Public authorities must make decisions about energy, and the risks of alternative strategies need to be calculated including health and environmental costs. Information from various sources must be organized into a logical framework for comparing impacts. This must include the widest practicable range of health and environmental damage — public-health impact of pollution, role of accidents, disease and hazardous materials in the workplace, and odds for catastrophes. It must put each part of the energy cycle into perspective-giving particular attention to uncertainties in knowledge - to convey what is known, what is uncertain, and the importance of each factor in the overall picture. This paper gives examples of the use of health-impact assessment by decisionmakers: (1) comparative risk assessment of the health effects of coal and nuclear fuel cycles used in nuclear power plant siting and licensing hearings, and (2) health risks of acid deposition and other air-transported pollutants, carried out as part of an assessment for the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment.     

Forest-ecological consequences of fires in light conifer forests of Transbaikalia

Consideration is given to the results of studies on the postfire dynamics of Transbaikal forests, which are formed under conditions of highly arid climate and extreme pyrological regime. Data are presented on tree die-off and recruitment in naturally burned forests and in test stands affected by creeping fires differing in intensity. The hydrothermal regime of soils, precipitation runoff, and its multifactor models are discussed. It is shown that fires aggravate moisture deficiency on mountain slopes, impair the productivity of tree stands, and cause their digression. The statistics of forest fires and the risk of lightning fires are analyzed.     

基于环境责任保险的动态环境侵权救济体系研究

通过对环境责任保险的定义和特点的总结,以及对其环境侵权救济功能的探讨,得出结论:社会从矫正的正义观到分配的正义观的转变,是推动环境责任保险制度发展的根本原因;赋予第三人直接请求权是环境责任保险制度的重要组成部分;公共补偿制度的建立和发展是对环境责任保险制度的必要补充。在此结论的基础上,以环境侵权受害者能够得到及时有效的救济为出发点,构建了以环境责任保险制度为核心的动态侵权救济体系:民事救济作为第一层次,通过法律程序来确认侵权行为、责任主体以及赔偿额度等事项;环境责任保险作为第二层次,用来分散被保险人的污染损害赔偿责任,补偿受害者损失;公共补偿制度作为第三层次,用来补充民事救济和环境责任保险所未能覆盖到的受害者的人身、财产损失。三个层次联动配合、相互补充,从而在我国面临日益增多的环境污染事故的情况下,为受害者、企业和国家开辟了一条新的环境侵权救济之路。     

负载有度:论环境法的生态承载力控制原则

可持续发展要求社会经济适度发展的同时,环境质量不退化.为达到这一目标,在环境管理中就必须以生态承载力为标准判断经济发展的规模和速度是否具有正当性和合理性,这是化解经济发展与环境保护矛盾的关键所在.环境法应当把生态承载力控制作为一项基本原则,要求人们对环境问题的预防应当以生态承载力为依据,确保向环境排放污染物的总量不得超过环境容量,并保证开发、利用自然资源不能超过生态环境在一定时期内的供给能力.这是对执法者在处理经济发展与环境保护的矛盾中所享有的过大的自由裁量权的必要制约.然而,生态承载力控制原则的实施难度较大,除了需要立法的明文规定外,还应当注重研究、建立生态承载力的核算方法体系;此外,还应当对现行环境执法体制进行改革,促使地方环保部门在环境执法中摆脱地方保护主义的不当干涉,并积极加强公众参与,通过公众监督杜绝突破生态承载力的决策的制定和实施.     

应对挑战的中国环境政策

中国的发展正处在机遇和挑战并存的时代．要在发展中实现人与自然的和谐．必须要以科学的环境政策作为保障。该文探讨了环境工作面临的巨大挑战和需要研究的问题．并对应对挑战的中国环境政策进行了总结。     

企业环境寻求、污染密集型生产区际转移与环境监管

在当前强调产业结构调整的政策背景下,产业有序转移必须以有利于或者加强环境保护为基本目标。环境规制差异造成了不同经济地域之间污染密集型生产的比较优势调整,强化了高污染产业进行生产区位选择的动机,以规避来自政府的环境监管。环境治理成本的不同是高污染企业区际转移的重要驱动因素,企业环境寻求策略推动了污染密集型生产由环境规制强度高的地区向环境规制松弛地区的转移。企业污染密集型生产的区际转移受到环境要素产品生产比较优势的明显影响,这些环境要素产品与区际环境规制差异、企业市场内部化战略以及污染密集型产品的生命周期密切关联。借鉴一般均衡分析框架,可以明晰企业环境寻求策略下污染密集型生产转移的内在机制。一方面,环境成本差异决定了非环境友好产品生产转移的意愿,高强度的环境规制使得企业生产的边际环境治理成本和平均环境治理成本提高,污染密集型生产外迁的动力加强,生产效率高的企业对环境规制强度更加敏感。污染密集型生产承接地提高环境规制强度能形成对环境负面影响的有力对冲,遏制环境恶化趋势。另一方面,合理的区际环境政策差异能在产业有序转移中发挥重要作用。合理设定区际环境规制级差与碳信征信系统建设,加强分类监管与行业节能减排,建立拟承接生产项目的效率筛选机制,提高区域市场开放程度、降低产业优惠政策所形成隐性市场保护等环境监管手段是保证欠发达地区通过产业承接实现跨越式发展的关键所在。     

Environmental Communication: Why This Crisis Discipline Should Facilitate Environmental Democracy

The authors concur with Cox's claim that environmental communication (EC), like conservation biology, is a crisis discipline. Cox's proposed tenets for EC challenge the scientific norm of objectivity that has guided science for centuries, suggesting that today's environmental crisis requires us to travel a different path. The authors take Cox's essay as provocation to radically challenge magical notions of scientific objectivity. They briefly review Platonic contributions to the myth of scientific objectivity and then advocate a nondualistic perspective toward the relationship between humans and nature. They then suggest how this perspective both expands upon and diverges from Cox's vision of political and ethical engagement among EC scholars.     

基于独立环境报告的中日石油企业环境绩效信息披露比较研究

有效的环境绩效信息披露是正确进行企业环境绩效评估的基础.本文首次依据全球报告倡议组织(GRI)<可持续发展报告指南>(2006年版)中的30个环境绩效指标,对中石油独立环境报告中环境绩效信息披露的研究发现,中石油环境绩效指标披露不完整,重要的核心指标披露情况更不理想,年度间纵向比较还出现了倒退;定性指标披露多于定量指标;体现企业积极行动和效果的内容和数据披露得相对较为详细;存在选择性披露问题,可比性较差,相关信息披露也较为散乱,不利于读者进行环境绩效评估.对此,我国企业应重视环境原始信息的收集和处理,将环境相关信息纳入企业日常的信怠管理系统,在披露方法上则应综合借鉴相关国际组织的做法并不断加以改进;政府监管部门也应对环境信息披露做出系统指引和规范,并积极推动环境报告审计的发展.     

Environmental pollution in Africa

Mining and minerals industries are fast-growing, but at the same time, they have gained more attention due to their impacts over the environment and society. This research aims to provide new insights into the topic of perception and awareness toward sustainability in industrial mining in Brazil. The work included in-depth interviews with a set of companies’ managers/directors focusing in particular on aspects related to the social and environmental dimensions, including communication and relationship with the community, impact assessment and mitigation strategies. The knowledge and use of for formal indicators was also evaluated and analyzed through the proposed Model for Sustainability Assessment of Mining (SAoM model), which was applied to all participating companies. The results put in evidence the existing gap between large and small companies, with these last ones showing lower awareness for the impacts of their activities. The lack of community engagement and of local stakeholders’ involvement, as well as the disregard for actions to mitigate their environmental and social impacts, is the main challenges to be overcome by this sector. The sector has then a long path to go toward sustainability and an active involvement of public institutions is required to allow for its development without compromising locals welfare.     

论环境产业

本文在可持续发展视角下,把环境的保护、修复、维护的生产活动及与之直接相关的服务活动称为环境产韭,包括发挥减少、避免污染环境作用的资源再利用鼗和发挥治理污染物与修复、改善环境作用的环境维护业.通过探讨环境产业的内涵、发展历程、运行机制和在产业体系中的位置与作用,指出环境产业是在法规保障下政府强行推动产生和发展起来的,是产业体系中不可缺少的重要组成部分;考虑自然环境对社会行为的影响,改进政府行为构建适台环境产业与传统产业协调发展的经济体制是加快发展环境产业的关键.     

Researching Visual Environmental Communication

In 2008, we published a journal paper arguing that while scholarly work on media representations of environmental issues had made substantial progress in textual analysis, there had been much less work on visual representations. This special edition has a number of aims in this respect. It seeks to mark out where there has been progress since 2008, and the papers in this collection represent some of the fresh and exciting high quality scholarly work now emerging on an expanding number of topics and using different methods. We argue that we need to think more openly about what we mean by “the visual.” We begin by placing research into visual representations of the environment into the wider trajectory of visual studies research. We then proceed to review key trends in visual environmental communication research and to delineate core dimensions, contexts and sites of visual analysis.