What are the implications of sea-level rise for a 1.5, 2 and 3 °C rise in global mean temperatures in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and other vulnerable deltas?

Even if climate change mitigation is successful, sea levels will keep rising. With subsidence, relative sea-level rise represents a long-term threat to low-lying deltas. A large part of coastal Bangladesh was analysed using the Delta Dynamic Integrated Emulator Model to determine changes in flood depth, area and population affected given sea-level rise equivalent to global mean temperature rises of 1.5, 2.0 and 3.0 °C with respect to pre-industrial for three ensemble members of a modified A1B scenario. Annual climate variability today (with approximately 1.0 °C of warming) is potentially more important, in terms of coastal impacts, than an additional 0.5 °C warming. In coastal Bangladesh, the average depth of flooding in protected areas is projected to double to between 0.07 and 0.09 m when temperatures are projected at 3.0 °C compared with 1.5 °C. In unprotected areas, the depth of flooding is projected to increase by approximately 50% to 0.21–0.27 m, whilst the average area inundated increases 2.5 times (from 5 to 13% of the region) in the same temperature frame. The greatest area of land flooded is projected in the central and north-east regions. In contrast, lower flood depths, less land area flooded and fewer people are projected in the poldered west of the region. Over multi-centennial timescales, climate change mitigation and controlled sedimentation to maintain relative delta height are key to a delta’s survival. With slow rates of sea-level rise, adaptation remains possible, but further support is required. Monitoring of sea-level rise and subsidence in deltas is recommended, together with improved datasets of elevation.

     

Clusters of community exposure to coastal flooding hazards based on storm and sea level rise scenarios—implications for adaptation networks in the San Francisco Bay region

Regional Environmental Change - Sea level is projected to rise over the coming decades, further increasing the extent of flooding hazards in coastal communities. Efforts to address potential...     

Are the residents of former Yugoslavia still exposed to elevated PCB levels due to the Balkan wars? Part 1: Air sampling in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) spilled into the environment as a result of damaged industrial and military targets, natural resources, and infrastructure during the Balkan wars still pose a problem several years later. The aim of this project was to investigate an extent to which the residents of former Yugoslavia are exposed to elevated levels of POPs as a consequence of the wars. The atmospheric as well as the soil levels of PCBs, OCPs and PAHs were determined in Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina during five high volume air sampling campaigns in 2003 and 2004. A considerable contamination of several sites was detected (PCB concentrations in the atmosphere ranged between 67 pg m(-3) and 40 ng m(-3) for the sum of 7 indicator congeners) and the levels are reported in this article.     

Are Chinese consumers at risk due to exposure to metals in crayfish? A bioaccessibility-adjusted probabilistic risk assessment

Freshwater crayfish, the world's third largest crustacean species, has been reported to accumulate high levels of metals, while the current knowledge of potential risk associated with crayfish consumption lags behind that of finfish. We provide the first estimate of human health risk associated with crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) consumption in China, the world's largest producer and consumer of crayfish. We performed Monte Carlo Simulation on a standard risk model parameterized with local data on metal concentrations, bioaccessibility (φ), crayfish consumption rate, and consumer body mass. Bioaccessibility of metals in crayfish was found to be variable (68–95%) and metal-specific, suggesting a potential influence of metal bioaccessibility on effective metal intake. However, sensitivity analysis suggested risk of metals via crayfish consumption was predominantly explained by consumption rate (explaining > 92% of total risk estimate variability), rather than metals concentration, bioaccessibility, or body mass. Mean metal concentrations (As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Se and Zn) in surveyed crayfish samples from 12 provinces in China conformed to national safety standards. However, risk calculation of φ-modified hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) suggested that crayfish metals may pose a health risk for very high rate consumers, with a HI of over 24 for the highest rate consumers. Additionally, the φ-modified increased lifetime risk (ILTR) for carcinogenic effects due to the presence of As was above the acceptable level (10^− 5) for both the median (ILTR = 2.5 × 10^− 5) and 90th percentile (ILTR = 1.8 × 10^− 4), highlighting the relatively high risk of As in crayfish. Our results suggest a need to consider crayfish when assessing human dietary exposure to metals and associated health risks, especially for high crayfish-consuming populations, such as in China, USA and Sweden.     

Are the residents of former Yugoslavia still exposed to elevated PCB levels due to the Balkan wars? Part 2: Passive air sampling network

Many Eastern European countries suffer the lack of data on concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in the environmental matrices. This absence of information is preventing the local authorities from taking the adequate actions to protect the people and environment. This is even more alarming in the countries recently affected by the wars where the chemicals released to the environment during the military operations can cause a significant ecological damage and health effects on the population. A potential of passive air sampling technique as a tool capable of providing seasonally and spatially resolved information about the local sources and levels of contamination was explored in this study as a first step to the establishment of a cost-effective long-term monitoring in this area. The passive air samplers proved to be a powerful technique capable of detecting the concentrations ranging over four orders of magnitude providing the information very comparable with the conventional techniques.     

‘Complex crisis’ and the rise of collaborative natural resource governance: institutional trajectory of a wildlife governance experience in Ghana

Natural resource governance is underpinned by institutions which evolve ‘circumstantially’ over time. An attempt at understanding the contemporary institutions and governance structure of a resource requires an in-depth ethnographic enquiry. Adapting a four-phase institutional analysis framework, this study discusses the evolution and adaptation of wildlife governance structures and institutions using the unique experience of Boabeng–Fiema Monkey Sanctuary in Ghana. The study adopted a transdisciplinary research approach which was participatory and consultative. The key observations are that: wildlife institutions have gone through three main evolutionary phases, a pre-collaborative phase, which was exclusively underpinned by informal institutions; a critical juncture stage, where contextual challenges led to an adaptive response; the third and contemporary phase is a collaborative governance regime, where the erstwhile informal institutions have been complemented by formal state structures and institutions to synergistically enhance viability of the wildlife species. In spite of the problems posed to community members by the monkeys (wildlife), the study still observes a cordial human–wildlife relationship. Based on the study outcomes, we derive four key conclusions which have implications for institutionalism and natural resource governance.     

‘Eco-city’ to ‘disaster-resilient eco-community’: a concerted approach in the coastal city of Puri, India

The need for environmental and urban planning reached a critical point in the year 2007, when one-half of the world's population could be defined as living in cities. Urbanisation in India is also increasing at a fast rate. Urban chaos in India, emanating from the continuous ignorance of fragile ecosystems, calls for the reshaping of existing cities as ‘eco-cities’. The ‘eco-city’—a well-known concept in the western world—is new to the Indian context. While western connotations of eco-cities should not be discarded outright in the context of India, core concerns vary significantly for obvious reasons. Recognising two facts—firstly, eco-city development is altogether a fresh approach to human settlement development in India, and, secondly, the manifold increase in the vulnerability of cities—this paper discusses documented good practice, reinforcing evolution towards the eco-city vision. Lessons drawn from the examples cited are further deconstructed in the light of their contribution to urban risk reduction, which provides direction to appreciating the ‘disaster-resilient eco-community’ concept in Puri, a coastal city in India. Further, this paper attempts to unravel existing community-based practices in Puri, which are boon to the local environment and invariably reduce disaster risk. These seemingly modest neighbourhood initiatives symbolise immense societal wealth, which can be calibrated appropriately for reducing urban environmental risk as well. This paper also illustrates how a ‘disaster resilient eco-community’ approach is inevitable in the present and future contexts not only to preserve sustainable development gains but also to secure human well-being.     

Residents’ Willingness to Pay for Improving Air Quality in Jinan, China

Along with the progress of urbanization and environ- mental deterioration, residents’ desire for improved air quality is increasing. In order to quantify an individual’s willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved air quality in Jinan of eastern China, a contingent valuation method (CVM) was employed. A sample of 1,500 residents was chosen on the basis of multistage sampling methods with face-to-face interviews by using a series of hypo-thetical, open-ended scenario questions which were designed to elicit the respondents’ WTP. Results showed that 59.7% of respondents were able to express their WTP and the mean WTP is 100 Chinese Yuan (CNY) per person per year. A probit model on the probability of a positive WTP and a regression model were developed to find the relationship between endogenous variables and WTP. Most parameters in the econometric analysis had the expected sign. Annual household income and expenditure on treating respiratory diseases significantly influence WTP. The rates of positive WTP and the monetary amount are larger for men than for women. Results also showed that people who lived in more polluted areas were willing to pay more for clean air. Unlike developed countries, clean air may only be considered as a public good in China in that more than 40% of respondents had no incen- tive to bear the costs of attempting to achieve better air quality, which indicates the relatively low environmental consciousness.     

Comparing exposure metrics for classifying ‘dangerous heat’ in heat wave and health warning systems

Heat waves have been linked to excess mortality and morbidity, and are projected to increase in frequency and intensity with a warming climate. This study compares exposure metrics to trigger heat wave and health warning systems (HHWS), and introduces a novel multi-level hybrid clustering method to identify potential dangerously hot days. Two-level and three-level hybrid clustering analysis as well as common indices used to trigger HHWS, including spatial synoptic classification (SSC), and the 90th, 95th, and 99th percentiles of minimum and relative minimum temperature (using a 10 day reference period), were calculated using a summertime weather dataset in Detroit from 1976 to 2006. The days classified as ‘hot’ with hybrid clustering analysis, SSC, minimum and relative minimum temperature methods differed by method type. SSC tended to include the days with, on average, 2.5 °C lower daily minimum temperature and 5.3 °C lower dew point than days identified by other methods. These metrics were evaluated by comparing their performance in predicting excess daily mortality. The 99th percentile of minimum temperature was generally the most predictive, followed by the three-level hybrid clustering method, the 95th percentile of minimum temperature, SSC and others. Our proposed clustering framework has more flexibility and requires less substantial meteorological prior information than the synoptic classification methods. Comparison of these metrics in predicting excess daily mortality suggests that metrics thought to better characterize physiological heat stress by considering several weather conditions simultaneously may not be the same metrics that are better at predicting heat-related mortality, which has significant implications in HHWSs.     

Statistics for National Natural Reserves in China (Up to the End of 2003)

4660 100949 104387 62319 3603 1 157829 559381 1682750 0 455667 96449 132764 160966 81536 159194 353201 166418 353617 175193 加8831 83637 185467 1458130 214279 1375278 37031230 68104 50950 233977 996538 6799728 702490 1577335 1011302 93821 75407 121994 391590 177750 217739 250270 140626 365856 483311 5 18736 892849 2539623 173735 3962255 34201 1087539 3841668 36150 3644 8806 0 268351 669384 20664 282845 0 100331 0 0 75574 0 263441 !63 215078 0 301442 1 18600 15913 0 1 16命11 148355 493419 0 0 0 1…     

Beyond ‘just’ flood risk management: the potential for—and limits to—alleviating flood disadvantage

Regional Environmental Change - The threat of flooding poses a considerable challenge for justice. Not only are more citizens becoming exposed to risk, but they are expected to play increasingly...     

On the road to ‘research municipalities’: analysing transdisciplinarity in municipal ecosystem services and adaptation planning

Transdisciplinary research and collaboration is widely acknowledged as a critical success factor for solution-oriented approaches that can tackle complex sustainability challenges, such as biodiversity loss, pollution, and climate-related hazards. In this context, city governments’ engagement in transdisciplinarity is generally seen as a key condition for societal transformation towards sustainability. However, empirical evidence is rare. This paper presents a self-assessment of a joint research project on ecosystem services and climate adaptation planning (ECOSIMP) undertaken by four universities and seven Swedish municipalities. We apply a set of design principles and guiding questions for transdisciplinary sustainability projects and, on this basis, identify key aspects for supporting university–municipality collaboration. We show that: (1) selecting the number and type of project stakeholders requires more explicit consideration of the purpose of societal actors’ participation; (2) concrete, interim benefits for participating practitioners and organisations need to be continuously discussed; (3) promoting the ‘inter’, i.e., interdisciplinary and inter-city learning, can support transdisciplinarity and, ultimately, urban sustainability and long-term change. In this context, we found that design principles for transdisciplinarity have the potential to (4) mitigate project shortcomings, even when transdisciplinarity is not an explicit aim, and (5) address differences and allow new voices to be heard. We propose additional guiding questions to address shortcomings and inspire reflexivity in transdisciplinary projects.     

‘We have a right to breathe clean air’: the emerging environmental justice movement against waste incineration in cement kilns in Spain

Waste is increasingly being used as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels in cement kilns worldwide. This has led to the emergence of socio-environmental conflicts in many countries in which local groups articulate a common struggle against the cement industry, a new target within the international anti-incineration movement. This case report aims at characterising this emerging movement against waste incineration in cement kilns in Spain and explores its main four discursive dimensions in relation to the concept of environmental justice. We argue that the movement against waste incineration in cement kilns is incipient and growing in Spain, and it uses a distinctive vocabulary to refer to the environmental justice dimension of the struggle.     

Organohalogenated contaminants in domestic cats' plasma in relation to spontaneous acromegaly and type 2 diabetes mellitus: A clue for endocrine disruption in humans?

It was recently hypothesized that pets may serve as sentinels to explore human exposure to organohalogenated chemicals (OHCs) via indoor environments and adverse health effects. The current study investigates OHCs contamination in domestic cats suffering from diabetes mellitus (DM), particularly DM induced by acromegaly and a form of DM akin to human type 2 DM (T2DM). Plasma from three groups of domestic cats was analyzed: acromegaly induced DM, T2DM and age matched control cats without DM. Analytes targeted included organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), together with their hydroxylated (HO-) metabolites. Similar PCB profiles were measured in cat plasma compared to humans, while the PBDE profile (dominated by BDE-99 (48%–55%) and BDE-47 (19%–25%)), the PCB and PBDE metabolite profiles were different in cat plasma than found in humans. Significantly higher OHC concentrations were recorded in plasma of acromegalic cats compared to the other two groups. Group differences in the PCBs/HO-PCBs ratios suggest that acromegalic cats have a lower capacity to metabolize persistent OHCs, like PCBs, than diabetic cats or cats without an endocrinopathy. As pituitary tumorigenesis in animals can be induced by estrogens, and PCBs may act as xenoestrogens, further investigation into whether there could be a causative link with the induction of feline acromegaly is warranted. Interestingly, BDE-47/BDE-99 ratios in cats were similar to the ratios in house dust. The results of this study suggest that domestic cats may represent a good model to assess human exposure to chemicals present in indoor dust.     

No net loss of what,for whom?: stakeholder perspectives to Biodiversity Offsetting in England

Market-based instruments (MBIs) have emerged as a popular approach to balance development and conservation objectives. However, their ability to accomplish this is often beset by poor implementation in practice. This is testament to a widening gap between the rate of policy development and implementation of MBIs and the maturity of research and evaluation on their design, and impact on affected stakeholders. Within this context, this paper examines multi-stakeholder perspectives to the adoption of Biodiversity Offsetting in England, an instrument designed to enable biodiversity losses in one place to be compensated through conservation improvements elsewhere. Analysis reveals issues associated with social and ecological compensation of biodiversity loss. Findings suggest that there is a need for a broader consideration of issues surrounding distributive justice, access to nature and the status of ownership over sites of common heritage when accounting for biodiversity loss and its compensation. This message is salient to both the study context as well as the burgeoning international practice of Biodiversity Offsetting.