Impact of Human Activities on Carbon Dioxide (CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>) Emissions: A Statistical Analysis

Summary The balance of evidence suggests a perceptible human influence on global ecosystems. Human activities are affecting the global ecosystem, some directly and some indirectly. If researchers could clarify the extent to which specific human activities affect global ecosystems, they would be in a much better position to suggest strategies for mitigating against the worst disturbances. Sophisticated statistical analysis can help in interpreting the influence of specific human activities on global ecosystems more carefully. This study aims at identifying significant or influential human activities (i.e. factors) on CO₂ emissions using statistical analyses. The study was conducted for two cases: (i) developed countries and (ii) developing countries. In developed countries, this study identified three influential human activities for CO₂ emissions: (i) combustion of fossil fuels, (ii) population pressure on natural and terrestrial ecosystems, and (iii) land use change. In developing countries, the significant human activities causing an upsurge of CO₂ emissions are: (i) combustion of fossil fuels, (ii) terrestrial ecosystem strength and (iii) land use change. Among these factors, combustion of fossil fuels is the most influential human activity for CO₂ emissions both in developed and developing countries. Regression analysis based on the factor scores indicated that combustion of fossil fuels has significant positive influence on CO₂ emissions in both developed and developing countries. Terrestrial ecosystem strength has a significant negative influence on CO₂ emissions. Land use change and CO₂ emissions are positively related, although regression analysis showed that the influence of land use change on CO₂ emissions was still insignificant. It is anticipated, from the findings of this study, that CO₂ emissions can be reduced by reducing fossil-fuel consumption and switching to alternative energy sources, preserving exiting forests, planting trees on abandoned and degraded forest lands, or by planting trees by social/agroforestry on agricultural lands.     

Ethological farm programs and the “market” for animal welfare

Ethological farm programs as they exist in Switzerland are compared with environmental farm programs in respect of demand and supply. Because animal welfare is not a public good but rather a relation that causes psychological externalities, the demand for animal welfare has a different standing in economic theory than the demand for a clean environment. The supply of animal welfare by farmers, however, largely follows the patterns known from the delivery of environmental goods. Farm size, age and education, and also family size and capital intensity are influencing variables. The paper concludes that the design of ethological farm programs should be based on broad public discussions as described by deliberation theorists rather than willingness-to-pay studies.     

The Ethics of Constrained Choice: How the Industrialization of Agriculture Impacts Farming and Farmer Behavior

The industrialization of agriculture not only alters the ways in which agricultural production occurs, but it also impacts the decisions farmers make in important ways. First, constraints created by the economic environment of farming limit what options a farmer has available to him. Second, because of the industrialization of agriculture and the resulting economic pressures it creates for farmers, the fact that decisions are constrained creates new ethical challenges for farmers. Having fewer options when faced with severe economic pressures is a very different situation for farmers than having many options available. We discuss the implications of constrained choice and show that it increases the likelihood that farmers will consider unethical behavior.     

Respecting The Autonomy of European and American Consumers: Defending Positive Labels on Gm Foods

In her recent article, “Does autonomy count in favor of labeling genetically modified food?,” Kirsten Hansen argues that in Europe, voluntary negative labeling of non-GM foods respects consumer autonomy just as well as mandatory positive labeling of foods with GM content. She also argues that because negative labeling places labeling costs upon those consumers that want to know whether food is GM, negative labeling is better policy than positive labeling. In this paper, we argue that Hansen’s arguments are mistaken in several respects. Most importantly, she underestimates the demands of respecting autonomy and overestimates the cost of positive labeling. Moreover, she mistakenly implies that only a small minority of people desire information about GM content. We also explore the extent to which her arguments would apply to the US context, and argue that any discussion of the relationship between autonomy and labeling should include not just considerations of consumer autonomy but also considerations of what we call citizen autonomy.     

Human Diets and Animal Welfare: the Illogic of the Larder

Few moral arguments have been made against vegetarian diets. One exception is the “Logic of the Larder:” We do animals a favor by purchasing their meat, eggs, and milk, for if we did not purchase these products, fewer animals would exist. This argument fails because many farm animals have lives that are probably not worth living, while others prevent a significant number of wild animals from existing. Even if this were not so, the purchase of animal products uses resources that could otherwise be used to bring a much greater number of animals into existence.     

Status and fuzzy comprehensive assessment of combined heavy metal and organo-chlorine pesticide pollution in the Taihu Lake region of China

The status of combined heavy metal and organo-chlorine pesticide (OCPs; i.e. HCH and DDT) pollution was investigated and the soil environmental quality of the Taihu Lake watershed, one of the most developed regions in China, was evaluated using a fuzzy comprehensive assessment. Statistical analyses showed the presence of combined pollution in the soil. At many sampling sites, heavy metal concentrations were above corresponding background values, indicating the effects of extraneous pollutants. It has been over 20 years since China banned the use of OCPs, but they can still be found in soil samples of this region. HCH levels at all investigated sites were below the Chinese Environmental Quality Standard for Soils. Fuzzy comprehensive assessment showed that the overall soil quality in this region could be categorized as class I. Nevertheless, the high coefficients of variation for levels of DDT, Cd and Hg indicated the existence of some point-source pollution. Continuous monitoring and further studies of the region are recommended to prevent pollution of farmland from these sources.     

基于IFS-动态加权的地下综合体深基坑施工风险评价

为控制地下综合体深基坑施工风险,提出了一种基于直觉模糊集(IFS)-动态加权的风险评价方法.从地质条件、建筑环境、岩土设计、施工方案和偶然风险5个方面分析地下综合体深基坑施工风险因素,构建了综合风险评价指标体系.采取施工风险5级划分方法,利用IFS理论确定指标风险;以偏大型正态加权函数确定指标权重,得到系统综合风险.以西安市某地下综合体深基坑施工实际为背景,进行方法应用.结果表明,该西安市地下综合体深基坑施工系统风险等级为显著风险.其中,指标"邻近建筑""地下管网"的风险等级为高度风险,"道路交通""基坑边坡稳定性""降排水实施"为显著风险,对此提出了相应的安全措施.     

Research on the experiment of the enhancement removal of fine sand by hydrocyclone in sewage treatment plant

The content of fine sand (< 200 μm) in primary sludge is relatively high in Chongqing sewage treatment plant owing to the part of rainwater will be mixed with sand and discharged into the municipal pipe network. Due to the insufficient separation of the sand, different obstacles to subsequent treatment processes may increase equipment wear, reduce effective volume of the tank, or shorten the cleaning cycle. There is a common use of grit chamber for the separation. Nevertheless, the use of hydrocyclone shows an outstanding performance in cost effectiveness and ease operation. The primary sludge in a sewage plant in Chongqing was monitored, and the average concentration of total suspend solids (TSS), total sand content, and volatile suspended solid (VSS) were 40.25 g/L, 17.51 g/L, and 13.41 g/L, respectively. The size of sand in the sludge was small, and the sand below 30 μm accounted for about 70% of the total sand. It formed flocs with organic matter and was removed in subsequent process units. While the size between 30–200 μm, called fine sand, was the main separation object, accounted for about 28.5%. According to XRF and XRD analysis, the sludge composition was mainly composed of quartz (SiO₂), plagioclase (Na(AlSi₃O₈)), and calcite (CaCO₃), which were similar to the main mineral composition of surface sediments and mountain rocks in the main urban area of Chongqing. A single-factor experiment on two types (FX100 and FX50) of hydrocylones was conducted to determine their abilities concerning the separation of fine sand and enrichment of organic matters from primary sludge. FX100 and FX50 showed best performance in the case of P = 0.17 Mpa, underflow diameter (Du) = 18 mm and P = 0.20 Mpa, Du = 6 mm, respectively. The removal efficiency of fine sand by hydrocyclone FX50 was 71.39%. While, it had poor performance on organic matter enrichment and the removal efficiency of which was 17.38%. By contrast, the removal rate by FX100 reached 61.89% for fine sand and only 6.89% for organic matters detached. The superimposition effect did not appear in the serial experiments on hydrocylone FX100 and FX50, but the power is 3.5 times of that of single-stage hydrocylone FX100. Comprehensive consideration of the processing capacity per unit time and operating power, the hydrocylone FX100 was more suitable for actual operation.