Practical management of cumulative anthropogenic impacts with working marine examples

Human pressure on the environment is expanding and intensifying, especially in coastal and offshore areas. Major contributors to this are the current push for offshore renewable energy sources, which are thought of as environmentally friendly sources of power, as well as the continued demand for petroleum. Human disturbances, including the noise almost ubiquitously associated with human activity, are likely to increase the incidence, magnitude, and duration of adverse effects on marine life, including stress responses. Stress responses have the potential to induce fitness consequences for individuals, which add to more obvious directed takes (e.g., hunting or fishing) to increase the overall population‐level impact. To meet the requirements of marine spatial planning and ecosystem‐based management, many efforts are ongoing to quantify the cumulative impacts of all human actions on marine species or populations. Meanwhile, regulators face the challenge of managing these accumulating and interacting impacts with limited scientific guidance. We believe there is scientific support for capping the level of impact for (at a minimum) populations in decline or with unknown statuses. This cap on impact can be facilitated through implementation of regular application cycles for project authorization or improved programmatic and aggregated impact assessments that simultaneously consider multiple projects. Cross‐company collaborations and a better incorporation of uncertainty into decision making could also help limit, if not reduce, cumulative impacts of multiple human activities. These simple management steps may also form the basis of a rudimentary form of marine spatial planning and could be used in support of future ecosystem‐based management efforts.     

Environmental impact assessment on the construction and operation of municipal solid waste sanitary landfills in developing countries: China case study

An inventory of material and energy consumption during the construction and operation (C&O) of a typical sanitary landfill site in China was calculated based on Chinese industrial standards for landfill management and design reports. The environmental impacts of landfill C&O were evaluated through life cycle assessment (LCA). The amounts of materials and energy used during this type of undertaking in China are comparable to those in developed countries, except that the consumption of concrete and asphalt is significantly higher in China. A comparison of the normalized impact potential between landfill C&O and the total landfilling technology implies that the contribution of C&O to overall landfill emissions is not negligible. The non-toxic impacts induced by C&O can be attributed mainly to the consumption of diesel used for daily operation, while the toxic impacts are primarily due to the use of mineral materials. To test the influences of different landfill C&O approaches on environmental impacts, six baseline alternatives were assessed through sensitivity analysis. If geomembranes and geonets were utilized to replace daily and intermediate soil covers and gravel drainage systems, respectively, the environmental burdens of C&O could be mitigated by between 2% and 27%. During the LCA of landfill C&O, the research scope or system boundary has to be declared when referring to material consumption values taken from the literature; for example, the misapplication of data could lead to an underestimation of diesel consumption by 60–80%.     

Organophosphates in aircraft cabin and cockpit air--method development and measurements of contaminants

Methods for measurements and the potential for occupational exposure to organophosphates (OPs) originating from turbine and hydraulic oils among flying personnel in the aviation industry are described. Different sampling methods were applied, including active within-day methods for OPs and VOCs, newly developed passive long-term sample methods (deposition of OPs to wipe surface areas and to activated charcoal cloths), and measurements of OPs in high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) recirculation filters (n = 6). In total, 95 and 72 within-day OP and VOC samples, respectively, have been collected during 47 flights in six different models of turbine jet engine, propeller and helicopter aircrafts (n = 40). In general, the OP air levels from the within-day samples were low. The most relevant OP in this regard originating from turbine and engine oils, tricresyl phosphate (TCP), was detected in only 4% of the samples (min-max 相似文献   

Building resilience into emergency management

Emergency management faces a changed reality in terms of possibilities and threats with use of new technology. Due to the ongoing changes in the operation of oil and gas production, different constellations of actors in a distributed system are built. This introduces opportunities for planning and operation. At the same time as new technology offers opportunities, the technology-enabled distributed network of actors generate challenges for emergency handling. The purpose of the study presented has been to look for possibilities for making emergency management more resilient by becoming a part of continuous risk and hazard management. The suggested three main elements that are important to consider in the development of future emergency management are (1) proactive emergency management through early risk anticipation; and emergency management’s adaptation to new and future work practices such as (2) distributed actors and (3) new technology. Based on these results we suggest broadening the scope of emergency management to systematically include monitoring, anticipation, responding and learning.     

Decision Criteria,Scientific Uncertainty,and the Globalwarming Controversy

This paper applies several well-known decision criteria to the climate change problem. The policy process is represented by a simple game against nature with two possible choices: abate or no action. The outcome is considered a compound lottery, with one representing emissions and another representing damages. Assuming that costs exceed benefits of abatement for the participant, the paper analyzes how different decision criteria affect the decision to abate. The role of expert opinion and quality of information in climate change decisions are also considered. The complexity of global warming makes it impossible to completely overlook the consequences of alternative choices. The paper discusses the question of whether the use of less information demanding alternatives to expected utility theory is indicated. It concludes that the choice of criterion is a political question, and that those in favor of abatement policies might be using one of the alternatives as basis for their advice, and suggests that if the possibility of making irreversible mistakes is of great concern, then the minimax regret criterion might have increased relevance.     

Inter-annual Variations of Ozone and Nitrogen Dioxide Over Europe During 1958–2003 Simulated with a Regional CTM

Inter-annual variability of surface ozone (O₃) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) over Europe has been studied over the period 1958–2003 using a three-dimensional Chemistry-Transport Model coupled to meteorological data from the ERA40 data set produced at the European Centre of Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Emissions and boundary conditions were kept at present levels throughout the simulation period. It was found that the annual mean NO₂ concentration varies between ±50% and the summer mean O₃ concentration varies between −10 and +20 percent (%) compared to the 46-year average over the model domain. There is also variation in ozone and NO₂ over longer time scales. The last 22 years display high concentrations of ozone in central and south-western Europe and low concentrations in north-eastern Europe. The first 22 years display very high concentrations of NO₂ over the North Sea. There is indication of trends in ozone and nitrogen dioxide but this has to be investigated further. Such information is one factor that should be taken into account when considering future control strategies.     

WATER QUALITY OF STORMWATER RUNOFF FROM TEN INDUSTRIAL SITES1

ABSTRACT: This study was to designed to determine concentrations of selected metals, organic compounds, pesticides, and conventional pollutants in stormwater runoff from two North Carolina businesses in each of the following five general industrial groups: auto salvage, metal fabrication, scrap and recycling, vehicle maintenance, and wood preserving facilities. The sampling procedure involved collecting a first flush sample of runoff from a single storm event and both first flush and composite samples of runoff from three consecutive storm events. Analysis of samples collected during the first flush indicated that zinc and copper were the most common of the 13 metals included in the analysis. Additional analysis documented that several volatile organic, semi-volatile organic, or pesticide compounds including acrolein, methylene chloride, xylenes, toluene, tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, pentachlorophenol, and aldrin were also found in the first flush samples. Concentrations of aggregate organics, nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment were determined in both first flush and three-hour composite samples. Concentrations of pollutants in first flush samples were similar to those in corresponding composite samples.