Environmental information system for visualizing environmental impact assessment information

The Institute of Environmental Engineering at the University of Pannonia has undertaken the challenge to develop an online environmental information system. This system is able to receive and process the collected environmental data via Internet. The authors have attached importance to the presentation of the data and have included other comprehensible information for laymen as well in order to work out visualisation techniques that are expressive and attract attention for environmental questions through the developed information system. The ways of visualizing physical and chemical parameters of surface water and the effects of motorway construction were examined.     

Environmental indicators in economic models: technical information and policy implications

Environmental policies in industrialised countries are directed at phenomena like the greenhouse effect, acidification, eutrophication and waste accumulation. Environmental indicators, being a weighted average of individual emissions, measure each phenomenon. Since policymakers tend to have a preference for quantitative policy goals, improving the environment unarguably implies a reduction of emissions underlying the environmental indicators. The differences between environmental indicators are potentially large. Technical characteristics of emissions, determined by their relation to economic variables and the substitution possibilities of these economic variables, are very different. The policy simulations in this paper show these differences, which indicate the relevancy of adequate modelling efforts and sufficient detail with respect to the relation between emissions and human activity. Moreover, the results give an insight into the potential economic effects of improving the environment, which is relevant information for policymakers.     

Access to information and sustainable development: friend or foe?

This paper calls the reader's attention to the extent to which the advancement of sustainable development depends on industry's technology development ability and on the important role assigned to governments by environmental law and policy as brokers of industrial information. It argues that the provision of indiscriminate, unrestricted access to information may hinder industry's ability to contribute to the future of sustainable development. Rather than advocating restriction of the public's right to access, the paper proposes the need to review the manner in which the government's role is carried out in the light of its potential negative impact on environmentally oriented technology development.     

Chemical composition of fogwater in an urban area: Strasbourg (France)

To investigate the acidity and to identify the predominant compounds, this work presents the chemical analysis of 18 fogwater samples collected during the year 1991 in Strasbourg, in the east of France. For each fog event, two droplet size categories (2-6 microm and 5-8 microm) have been separately collected and 16 ionic components have been analysed. These two fraction sizes were chosen because they correspond approximately to the size range that can penetrate the human lung and they may have possible health effects. The dominant species were NH4+, NO3-, SO4(2-) and Cl-, with a maximum level of 12,640, 17,270, 21,620 and 13,540 microeq litre(-1), respectively. For most of the fog events the highest concentrations of all analysed species were observed in the 2-6 microm droplets. pH values ranged between 2.79 and 5.70 and the fogwater acidity was governed by three strong acids, H2SO4, HNO3 and HCl and was partially neutralised by NH3 and probably by the presence of CaCO3 in the 'loess', which is the major constituent of soils in the upper Rhine valley. In other respects the acetate/formate ratio (methanoate/ethanoate), generally lower than 1, indicates an important pollution due to automobile exhaust, although the Pb concentrations are moderate due to the general use of unleaded gasoline in France since 1989.     

Biomonitoring aquatic environmental quality in a marine protected area: a biomarker approach

The main aims of the present study, conducted in the framework of the MONIQUA-Egadi Scientific Project, were twofold: first, to make the first step in the development and validation of an ecotoxicological approach for the assessment of marine pollution in coastal environments on the basis of a set of biomarker responses in new sentinel species; and second, to obtain preliminary information on environmental quality in an Italian marine protected area, the Egadi Islands (Sicily). Several cytochrome P450-dependent mixed-function oxidase activities were measured in the following sentinel species: rainbow wrasse Coris julis, gastropod limpet Patella caerulea, and sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. The results suggest that specimens from the Favignana Harbor may be exposed to P450 inducers, whereas most of the other sites seem to share similar environmental quality. The proposed approach has potential for assessment of environmental quality in marine protected areas.     

N2 fixation in urbanization area rivers: spatial-temporal variations and influencing factors

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - While nitrogen (N2) fixation is an important process in nitrogen (N) biogeochemical cycling, supplying a significant portion of the N in natural...     

广州地区酸雨状况及其影响因素探讨

对广州地区降水酸度、酸雨频率的年际变化进行了研究,发现近十几年来广州地区的酸雨污染有所减缓,但2001-2003年有恶化的趋势.为探究原因,追溯主要酸雨污染物来源,并对各酸雨污染物进行综合评价,结论表明,广州地区的大气环境已从过去的以SO2为主的煤烟型污染转变为以NOX为主的氧化型污染.还讨论了广州地区气象条件对酸雨形成的影响.     

污灌区与非污灌区的地下水主要水质指标变化趋势及对比研究

通过对水文地质条件和天然条件下水质相似的一处非污水灌溉区地下水与一处污水灌溉区地下水水质的对比研究 ,得出污水灌溉区地下水水质变差主要是由化肥和污水灌溉共同引起的 ,且非污灌区地下水水质要好于污灌区的水质。污水灌溉对地下水的影响程度与化肥对地下水的影响基本相同。同时本文也独立地给出了污水灌溉和化肥对地下水水质的影响规律。