Changing Human Landscapes Under a Changing Climate: Considerations for Climate Assessments

Climate change is a fundamental aspect of the Anthropocene. Climate assessments are frequently undertaken to evaluate climate change impacts, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity. Assessments are complex endeavors with numerous challenges. Five aspects of a climate assessment that can be particularly challenging are highlighted: choice of assessment strategy, incorporation of spatial linkages and interactions, the constraints of climate observations, interpretation of a climate projection ensemble, uncertainty associated with weather/climate dependency models, and consideration of landscape–climate influences. In addition, a climate assessment strategy that incorporates both traditional “top-down” and “bottom-up” methods is proposed for assessments of adaptation options at the local/regional scale. Uncertainties associated with climate observations and projections and with weather/climate dependency (i.e., response) models are incorporated into the assessment through the “top-down” component, and stakeholder knowledge and experience are included through the “bottom-up” component. Considerable further research is required to improve assessment strategies and the usefulness and usability of assessment findings. In particular, new methods are needed which better incorporate spatial linkages and interactions, yet maintain the fine grain detail needed for decision making at the local and regional scales. Also, new methods are needed which go beyond sensitivity analyses of the relative contribution of land use and land cover changes on local/regional climate to more explicitly consider landscape–climate interactions in the context of uncertain future climates. Assessment teams must clearly communicate the choices made when designing an assessment and recognize the implications of these choices on the interpretation and application of the assessment findings.     

Changing Governments and Changing Environmental Policies in Ontario: A discourse analysis

In 1995 the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) defeated the New Democratic Party (NDP) to form the government in the province of Ontario, Canada. These parties represent different positions regarding the management, regulation and control of environmental affairs. The effects of provincial legislation on the environment are typically felt at the local level and hence we argue that this study has relevance for those interested in local environments. One policy paper regarding the environment for each party is analysed using a formal discourse analysis technique called textual analysis computing tools (TACT). The rationale for using TACT is included, as is a brief commentary on previous studies that have used discourse analysis to examine environmental issues. The results of the analysis indicate the different ways that the NDP and the PC express their philosophical positions as applied to environmental policy making in Ontario. The shift in 1995 from the social democratic and interventionist stance of the NDP with respect to environmental policy making toward the more corporate, free-market privatisation regime of the PC is demonstrated. Close attention is paid in the discourse analysis to the use of words like 'cost', 'economy' and 'environment' in the two documents analysed. The use of language in a government position paper creates meaning and significance to citizens in the context of their local environment. En 1995 el Partido Conservador Progresista (PC) vencio al Nuevo Partido Democratico (NDP) para formar el gobierno en la provincia de Ontario, Canada. Estos partidos representan diferentes posiciones con respecto al manejo, regulación y control de los asuntos ambientales. Los efectos de la legislación provincial en el ambiente son sentidos típicamente a nivel local y por lo tanto nosotros argumentamos que este estudio tiene relevancia para los interesados en ambientes locales. Un documento de cada partido de politicas concernientes al medio ambiente es analizado usando una técnica de análisis de discurso formal llamada TACT. La razón para usar TACT es incluida yá que es un leve comentario sobre estudios previos que han usado análisis de discurso para examinar temas ambientales. Los resultados del análisis indican las diferentes formas que el NDP y el PC expresan su posiciones filósoficas como aplicación a la creación de politicas ambientales en Ontario. El cambio en 1995 de la actitud intervencionista y social-democrata del NDP con respecto a la creación de politicas ambientales hacia una postura mas corporativa de regimen de privatización de mercado libre del PC es demostrado. En los dos documentos analizados se presta una detenida atención en el análisis de discurso al uso de palabras como 'costo', 'economía', y 'ambiente'. El uso del lenguaje en un documento de la posición del gobierno crea sentido y significado a los ciudadanos en el contexto de su ambiente local.     

Economic Linkages to Changing Landscapes

Many economic processes are intertwined with landscape change. A large number of individual economic decisions shape the landscape, and in turn the changes in the landscape shape economic decisions. This article describes key research questions about the economics of landscape change and reviews the state of research knowledge. The rich and varied economic–landscape interactions are an active area of research by economists, geographers, and others. Because the interactions are numerous and complex, disentangling the causal relationships in any given landscape system is a formidable research challenge. Limited data with mismatched temporal and spatial scales present further obstacles. Nevertheless, the growing body of economic research on these topics is advancing and shares fundamental challenges, as well as data and methods, with work in other disciplines.     

Changing patterns in aluminium production costs

The average cost of producing aluminium fell slightly in nominal terms between 1982 and 1992, and there has thus been a sharp fall in real terms. The average cost also shows a marked cyclical fluctuation during individual years, partly as a result of the feedback effect from final metal prices to the cost curve. Between 1985 and 1992, exchange rate fluctuations produced a sharp change in the relative position of US and European smelters. During the next eight years, costs are likely to rise gradually in real terms, reversing the historical trend, and unless the higher cost European smelters can cut costs significantly, they may face a bleak future.     

Changing Ecosystem Service Values Following Technological Change

Research on ecosystem services has focused mostly on natural areas or remote places, with less attention given to urban ecosystem services and their relationship with technological change. However, recent work by urban ecologists and urban designers has more closely examined and appreciated the opportunities associated with integrating natural and built infrastructures. Nevertheless, a perception remains in the literature on ecosystem services that technology may easily and irreversibly substitute for services previously obtained from ecosystems, especially when the superiority of the engineered system motivated replacement in the first place. We emphasize that the expected tradeoff between natural and manufactured capital is false. Rather, as argued in other contexts, the adoption of new technologies is complementary to ecosystem management. The complementarity of ecosystem services and technology is illustrated with a case study in Barcelona, Spain where the installation of sophisticated water treatment technology increased the value of the ecosystem services found there. Interestingly, the complementarity between natural and built infrastructures may remain even for the very ecosystems that are affected by the technological change. This finding suggests that we can expect the value of ecosystem services to co-evolve with new technologies. Technological innovation can generate new opportunities to harness value from ecosystems, and the engineered structures found in cities may generate more reliance on ecosystem processes, not less.     

水质改性工艺原理和现场管理探讨

中原油田的注入水是一种由CO2-HCO-3构成的弱酸性缓冲体系,具有很强的腐蚀倾向,增加了水处理的难度。通过加入一种以OH-为主要成份的调整剂,对水中离子进行重新调整,除掉水中的CO2和HCO-3离子,使水中离子形成热力学或动力学的稳定分布,从而抑制使水质变劣的化学反应,使水质沿注水流程达标。通过几年的实践,表明该工艺在处理油田污水方面具有可行性和实效性。采用该工艺的污水处理站水质全面达标。     

Changing the Culture of Underdevelopment and Unsustainability

Complex relationships exist between human nature and needs, cultural evolution and ecological dynamics. The purpose of this paper is to present a working hypothesis that explores how we may reverse worsening underdevelopment, poverty and unsustainability trends world-wide. Empirical evidence from cultural history and contemporary project experience are used to suggest a development process that combines three critical dimensions: ethics, productive social interaction and knowledge integration. Logic dictates that the process should be applied in any given country to mobilize investment in supplies of natural, human and economic capital, principally biodiversity, soil and water conservation, education and public health. A sociopolitical theory of underdevelopment is presented to suggest that unethical virtual cartels control social interaction, knowledge integration and resource mobilization, precipitating negative feedback effects on human development, ecological stability and, ultimately, cultural evolution. The hypothesis was formulated using observations over 5 years in Mexico and case-study experience to initiate an alternative process of water resource conservation.     

Changing corporate environmental philosophy: Project renewal gets companies started

Project RENEWAL is an innovative new environmental business project taking place in New Jersey. Project RENEWAL stands for Resource Efficiency Network to Eliminate Waste and Liability. The purpose of this project is to investigate and promote the linkages between ecology, technology, and business economics for the benefit of the economy and the environment. This is a collaborative effort, initially focused on equipment and inventory assets, between the business and environmental communities in order to explore new ways to increase business efficiency and profitability and also benefit the environment. Participants in the project include representatives from industry, consulting, local and state government, environmental agencies, trade groups and academia. This article will outline the background and initial framework of Project RENEWAL's initiatives. (The authors are open to comments, suggestions, criticism, and most importantly input from others who share their vision and are willing to cooperatively accelerate the change process).     

转变发展方式,走循环经济发展之路在中国环境管理干部学院颁发 "曲格平奖学金"大会上的演讲

2004年10月23日,原国家环保局首任局长,原全国人大环境与资源保护委员会第一任主任委员,中华环境保护基金会理事长,中国环境管理干部学院名誉院长曲格平教授亲临首届“曲格平奖学金”颁奖仪式为陈鑫淼、安伟贞、毛利凤三名获此殊荣的同学颁奖。曲格平教授有“中国环保之父”的美誉,同时也受到国际社会的广泛赞誉和奖励。1992年6月在巴西里约热内卢召开的联合国环境发展大会上,他获得了联合国环境大奖和十万美元的奖金。获奖后,他以这笔奖金为基础成立了中华环保基金会。为促进中国环境保护事业和环境教育事业的发展,今年曲格平教授在众多的高校中选择了在中国环境管理干部学院设立“曲格平奖学金”。颁奖仪式后,他发表了热情洋溢的演讲,本刊予以全文刊出。     

Changing Farmers' Land Management Practices in the Hills of Nepal

This paper sheds light on changing farmers' land management practices in two mountain watersheds, with and without external assistance, in the western hills of Nepal. Information used in the analysis were obtained through a survey of 300 households, group discussion, key informant interviews, and field observation conducted during April–September 1999. Confronted with ever-decreasing landholding size due to a steadily growing population and scarcity of nonfarming employment opportunities, farmers in both watersheds have increasingly adopted assorted types of structural and biological measures to control soil erosion, landslides, gully expansion, and soil nutrient loss to maintain or even enhance land productivity. Adoption of gully control measures, construction of the retention walls, alley cropping, use of vegetative measures for landslide control, mulching, and use of green manure and chemical fertilizers are found significantly high in the project area due to the provision of technical and financial support, whereas composting is found significantly high in the nonproject area. Different from the traditionally held beliefs, population pressure on a finite land resource has brought positive change in land management. However, the experience from both watersheds indicates that there is limit to the extent that resource poor farmers can respond to land degradation without any external assistance. Required is the arrangement for appropriate polices and support services and facilities enabling farmers to adopt locationally suitable and economically attractive land management technologies.     

宝玉石改色原理与辐照改色宝石的残余放射性

传统的宝石改色是以泰国的还原热处理工艺为代表，现已逐渐被人们所接受。现代科技与珠宝工艺相结合，出现辐照改变宝石颜色，然而，部分宝石因辐照而带有残余放射性，对消费者造成伤害．本文指出了宝玉石射线来源与防护措施。     

Changing Trends in World Metal Demand: The Case of Tin

This paper examines the changing trends in world tin demand for the period 1962–1985. In the early 1970s tin production peaked, and has since declined. The reasons for the decline are examined in terms of changes in product composition of income (i.e. mix of goods and services), changes in material composition of products, decline in gross domestic investment and the rising price of tin.     

湘潭市环境空气质量变化趋势分析及对策

本文以湘潭市1996～2003年大气监测资料数据为依据,确定了湘潭市空气中的主要污染物,并利用Spearman相关系数法对湘潭市空气质量变化趋势进行了分析,结果表明：湘潭市大气污染属于煤烟型,主要污染物为PM10、SO2,其次为NO2,三种污染物浓度均呈现上升趋势,PM10和NO2上升趋势更为明显.文章并进一步提出了改善空气质量的防治对策.     

Changing abundance of elephants and willingness to pay for their conservation

This paper explores the way in which the stated willingness to pay for the conservation of Asian elephants in Sri Lanka varies with hypothetical variations in their abundance. To do that, it relies on results from a sample of residents of Colombo. The willingness to pay function is found to be unusual. It increases at an increasing rate for hypothetical reductions in the elephant population compared to its current level (a level that makes the Asian elephant endangered) and also increases at a decreasing rate for increases in this population from its current level. Rational explanations are given for this relationship. The relationship is, however, at odds with relationships suggested in some of the literature for total economic value as a function of the abundance of a wildlife species. It is suggested that willingness to pay for conservation of a species rationally includes a strategic element and may not always measure the total economic value of a species. Nevertheless, willingness to pay is still policy relevant in such cases.     

浅谈大气中可吸入颗粒物的变化规律

对大气中的PM10随季节、时间、及气象条件的变化规律做以总结,呈现“冬重夏轻”的特点,日变化为双峰结构,在北方具有代表性和典型性。