The Efficacy of a Programme of Landslide Risk Reduction in Areas of Unplanned Housing in the Eastern Caribbean

Poor countries are disproportionately affected by the cost of disasters. Yet there is evidence of the benefits of seeking to mitigate the impact of a disaster, compared with the costs incurred in ‘making good’ after a major event has occurred. This article reviews a programme of landslide risk reduction in unplanned communities in the Eastern Caribbean. The construction of appropriate surface water management measures, based on the application of scientific and engineering principles, has been demonstrated to reduce the hazard from rainfall-triggered landslides. Adopting a community-based approach additionally delivers social and environmental benefits relating to employment generation, improvements in the environmental conditions within the community, and improvements slope management practices. The sustained implementation of the community-based projects has provided the necessary evidence-base for these practices to influence Government policy and practice, and gain recognition from regional development agencies. The strategic and incremental uptake of the community-based methodology is demonstrated to be an effective means for delivering physical landslide risk reduction measures in the most ‘at risk’ areas of unplanned housing.     

Sea-level rise vulnerability in the countries of the Coral Triangle

Sea-level rise is a major threat facing the Coral Triangle countries in the twenty-first century. Assessments of vulnerability and adaptation that consider the interactions among natural and social systems are critical to identifying habitats and communities vulnerable to sea-level rise and for supporting the development of adaptation strategies. This paper presents such an assessment using the DIVA model and identifies vulnerable coastal regions and habitats in Coral Triangle countries at national and sub-national levels (administrative provinces). The following four main sea-level rise impacts are assessed in ecological, social and economic terms over the twenty-first century: (1) coastal wetland change, (2) increased coastal flooding, (3) increased coastal erosion, and (4) saltwater intrusion into estuaries and deltas. The results suggest that sea-level rise will significantly affect coastal regions and habitats in the Coral Triangle countries, but the impacts will differ across the region in terms of people flooded annually, coastal wetland change and loss, and damage and adaptation costs. Indonesia is projected to be most affected by coastal flooding, with nearly 5.9 million people expected to experience flooding annually in 2100 assuming no adaptation. However, if adaptation is considered, this number is significantly reduced. By the end of the century, coastal wetland loss is most significant for Indonesia in terms of total area lost, but the Solomon Islands are projected to experience the greatest relative loss of coastal wetlands. Damage costs associated with sea-level rise are highest in the Philippines (US $6.5 billion/year) and lowest in the Solomon Islands (US $70,000/year). Adaptation is estimated to reduce damage costs significantly, in particular for the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia (between 68 and 99%). These results suggest that the impacts of sea-level rise are likely to be widespread in the region and adaptation measures must be broadly applied.     

A Systematic Approach to the Evaluation of RCRA Disposal Facilities Under Future Climate‐Induced Events

The ability of near‐surface disposal facility cover designs to meet percolation performance criteria can be influenced by naturally occurring climatic mechanisms as well as anthropogenic forcing. This study was conducted to determine the effect of climate‐induced events on percolation based, probabilistic distributions derived from historical climate data. Water balance predictions were evaluated using the HELP model, employing several variations of degradation in a traditional RCRA disposal facility cover design over a 100‐year simulation period. Results demonstrated that changes in precipitation and temperature can influence performance. The analysis also revealed that when both precipitation and temperature are increased, warmer temperatures tend to offset some of the impact from greater precipitation. ©2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Predicting Radon Testing Among University Employees

Abstract

To determine covariates of radon testing behavior, we surveyed by mail a random sample of all Boston University employees (N = 915) six to nine months after they had been informed of the availability of radon testing services through the University's medical center. The response rate was 58%. Analysis suggests blue collar workers were underrepresented within the response rate. Slightly more than half of the respondents (51%) were men. The majority (69%) were under the age of 45. Twenty-seven percent of the respondents (N = 143) had tested their homes for radon. Bivariate analysis revealed important differences between radon testers and nontesters. Testers were 12 times more likely to be home owners than renters (p = 0.00), and were more knowledgeable about radon's characteristics and testing procedures (p = 0.00). Testers were more likely to view radon as a serious problem (p = 0.00), to consider radon testing efficacious (p = 0.00), and to consider themselves susceptible to exposure (p = 0.00). Testers were also less likely to perceive barriers to radon testing. We used logistic regression to compare the usefulness of the Health Belief Model and the Diffusion of Innovations Model in predicting radon testing. We concluded that the knowledge deficits and barriers to radon testing identified in this study should be targeted in radon educational interventions.     

Brassica napus hairy roots and rhizobacteria for phenolic compounds removal

Phenolic compounds are contaminants frequently found in water and soils. In the last years, some technologies such as phytoremediation have emerged to remediate contaminated sites. Plants alone are unable to completely degrade some pollutants; therefore, their association with rhizospheric bacteria has been proposed to increase phytoremediation potential, an approach called rhizoremediation. In this work, the ability of two rhizobacteria, Burkholderia kururiensis KP 23 and Agrobacterium rhizogenes LBA 9402, to tolerate and degrade phenolic compounds was evaluated. Both microorganisms were capable of tolerating high concentrations of phenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), guaiacol, or pentachlorophenol (PCP), and degrading different concentrations of phenol and 2,4-DCP. Association of these bacterial strains with B. napus hairy roots, as model plant system, showed that the presence of both rhizospheric microorganisms, along with B. napus hairy roots, enhanced phenol degradation compared to B. napus hairy roots alone. These findings are interesting for future applications of these strains in phenol rhizoremediation processes, with whole plants, providing an efficient, economic, and sustainable remediation technology.     

Modeling the impacts of calcite precipitation on the epilimnion of an ultraoligotrophic, hard-water lake

A mass-balance model of calcite precipitation was developed to investigate the interactions of the varied processes governing the generation and fate of calcite in lakes. The model was used in conjunction with data to assess the evolution and impact of calcite precipitation for calcareous, ultraoligotrophic Torch Lake, Michigan (USA). This lake is an ideal setting for implementation of a baseline modeling study of calcite precipitation where the physical drivers could be evaluated without being dominated, as in many systems, by biological processes. The model provides a representation of calcite precipitation with particulate surface area changing over time, and demonstrates that it is possible for the change in water clarity to be explained by calcite precipitation employing standard optical models. Using the mass balance model to quantify the roles of the various chemical, biological and physical processes interacting in the lake's epilimnion, it was shown that the seasonal temperature rise and air-water CO₂ exchange drive calcite precipitation much more than primary production for this ultraoligotrophic system.     

Evaluation of tidal marsh restoration: Comparison of selected macroinvertebrate populations on a restored impounded valley marsh and an unimpounded valley marsh within the same salt marsh system in Connecticut,USA

Macroinvertebrates were examined on an impounded valley marsh in Stonington, Connecticut, that has changed from aTypha-dominated system to one with typical salt-marsh vegetation during 13 years following the reintroduction of tidal exchange. Animal populations on this restored impounded marsh were evaluated by comparing them with populations on a nearby unimpounded valley marsh of roughly the same size. Populations of the high marsh snail,Melampus bidentatus Say, were quantitatively sampled along transects that extended from the water-marsh edge to the upland; those of the ribbed mussel,Geukensia demissa Dillwyn, were sampled in low marsh areas on transects along the banks of creeks and mosquito ditches. The occurrence of other marsh invertebrates also was documented, but their abundance was not measured. The mean density ofMelampus was 332±39.6 SE/m² on the restored impounded marsh and 712±56.0 SE/m² on the unimpounded marsh. However, since snails were larger on the restored impounded marsh, the difference in snail biomass was less pronounced than the difference in snail density. MeanMelampus biomass was 4.96±0.52 SE g dry wt/m² on the restored impounded marsh and 6.96±0.52 SE g dry wt/m² on the unimpounded marsh. On the two marshes, snail density and biomass varied in relation to plant cover and other factors. The density and biomass ofGeukensia at the edge of the marsh were comparable on the restored impounded and unimpounded marshes. Mean mussel densities ranged from 80 to 240/m² and mean mussel biomass varied from 24.8–64.8 g dry wt/m² in different low marsh areas. In contrast, below the impoundment dike, meanGeukensia density was 1100±96.4 SE/m² and meanGeukensia biomass was 303.6±33.28 SE g dry wt/m². A consideration of all available evidence leads to the conclusion that the impounded marsh is in an advanced phase of restoration.     

THE SOCIAL IMPACT OF RESERVOIR CONSTRUCTION IN THE URBAN FRINGE: A TEN-YEAR COMPARISON1

ABSTRACT This paper examines the social impact of reservoir construction on a rural community group located in the urban fringe of a major metropolitan area in central Ohio. The study data were collected at three intervals over a ten-year period (1970, 1974, 1980). Evaluation of resident opinions in the affected community revealed significant attitude differences over time for four of the five variables measured. The findings revealed that the study group desired more social stability but had accommodated the changes experienced to date. Responses to the attitude scales showed that the people in the study group were well integrated and were closely identified with each other at all three test periods. Attitudes toward the lake project were significantly more positive over time, and in 1980 the collective community group held a basically neutral attitude about the lake. The development agency was also perceived more positively over time.     

Visualizing reductive dechlorination in support of intrinsic bioremediation using multivariate plots and GIS

Demonstrating intrinsic bioremediation requires not only that the right types of evidence be gathered, but also that those data be analyzed at an appropriate level of detail and presented in a manner that clearly illustrates the key trends to the target audience. The goal of this study was to develop one type of multivariate pattern diagram, the pie diagram, for clearly and efficiently presenting data demonstrating the occurrence of reductive dechlorination at sites contaminated by chlorinated ethenes. The pie diagrams were created using normalized ethenes molar concentrations to estimate and illustrate the changes in the concentrations of contaminants and metabolic intermediates that could be attributed to biodegradative processes. Spatial pie‐diagram maps illustrating the normalized chlorinated‐ethenes data were produced using geographic information system (GIS) software. Application of this visualization tool is demonstrated using an example data set and is compared with a conventional x‐y graph of the data. The trends elucidated on the basis of the pie diagrams, coupled with additional site evidence of natural attenuation (e.g., electron donor and acceptor data), are shown to provide a consistent interpretation of the site data. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.