Will Evolving Climate Conditions Increase the Risk of Floods of the Large U.S.‐Canada Transboundary Richelieu River Basin?

In spring 2011, an unprecedented flood hit the complex eastern United States (U.S.)–Canada transboundary Lake Champlain–Richelieu River (LCRR) Basin, destructing properties and inducing negative impacts on agriculture and fish habitats. The damages, covered by the Governments of Canada and the U.S., were estimated to C$90M. This natural disaster motivated the study of mitigation measures to prevent such disasters from reoccurring. When evaluating flood risks, long‐term evolving climate change should be taken into account to adopt mitigation measures that will remain relevant in the future. To assess the impacts of climate change on flood risks of the LCRR basin, three bias‐corrected multi‐resolution ensembles of climate projections for two greenhouse gas concentration scenarios were used to force a state‐of‐the‐art, high‐resolution, distributed hydrological model. The analysis of the hydrological simulations indicates that the 20‐year return period flood (corresponding to a medium flood) should decrease between 8% and 35% for the end of the 21st Century (2070–2099) time horizon and for the high‐emission scenario representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5. The reduction in flood risks is explained by a decrease in snow accumulation and an increase in evapotranspiration expected with the future warming of the region. Nevertheless, due to the large climate inter‐annual variability, short‐term flood probabilities should remain similar to those experienced in the recent past.     

危险品仓库静电隐患的测量、评估与防护危险品仓库中"搬运工具"静电与摩擦火花的防护

本文阐述了危险品仓库中"搬运工具"静电和摩擦火花防护的必要性,分析了"搬运工具"静电和摩擦火花产生的原因,提出了"搬运工具"静电及摩擦火花的防护措施.     

Transferral of HMs pollution from road-deposited sediments to stormwater runoff during transport processes

Ratio of turbidity and TSS (Tur/TSS) was used to characterize PSD of stormwater particles. Pb and Zn preferred to accumulate in finer RDS, while Cu, Cr and Ni in coarser RDS. HMs pollution in stormwater particles increased linearly with Tur/TSS. Dissolvability of HMs and PSD variations contribute to the differences between RDS and stormwater. Stormwater runoff, derived from the wash-off of road-deposited sediments (RDS), contains elevated heavy metal (HM) concentrations and, thus, imposes an increasing threat to urban aquatic ecosystems. In-depth understanding of the variations of HMs pollution from RDS to stormwater during transport processes facilitates the development of effective RDS and stormwater control strategies. Toward this end, the distribution of HMs (Cu, Pb, Zn, Cr, and Ni) in RDS and stormwater were investigated simultaneously. The results show a preferential accumulation of Pb and Zn in the finer (<38.5 μm) RDS, and Cu, Cr and Ni in the coarser (38.5–150 μm) RDS. For stormwater, n.d.~48.6% of HMs fractionated into the dissolved phase, and stormwater particles constitute the primary carriers of HMs. Furthermore, the accumulation of HMs in stormwater particles increased linearly with finer particle size distributions (PSD). Geoaccumulation index (I_geo) highlighted the predominant pollution of both RDS and stormwater particles by Cu, Pb and Zn. Nonetheless, Cu, Pb, and Ni mostly contributed the potential ecological risk of RDS, whereas Cu, Pb, and Zn mainly contributed that of stormwater particles. Moreover, contamination by Cu, Pb and Zn was significantly higher in stormwater particles than that in RDS. These differences are attributable to the solubility and size-dependent accumulation of HMs in RDS, as well as the PSD variations during transport processes. The study outcomes highlight the importance of very fine (nano- and submicron- scale) RDS in stormwater pollution and the necessity of control.     

Understand the local and regional contributions on air pollution from the view of human health impacts

• PM_2.5-related deaths were estimated to be 227 thousand in BTH & surrounding regions. • Local emissions contribute more to PM_2.5-related deaths than PM_2.5 concentration. • Local controls are underestimated if only considering its impacts on concentrations. • Rural residents suffer larger impacts of regional transport than urban residents. • Reducing regional transport benefits in mitigating environmental inequality. The source-receptor matrix of PM_2.5 concentration from local and regional sources in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) and surrounding provinces has been created in previous studies. However, because the spatial distribution of concentration does not necessarily match with that of the population, such concentration-based source-receptor matrix may not fully reflect the importance of pollutant control effectiveness in reducing the PM_2.5-related health impacts. To demonstrate that, we study the source-receptor matrix of the PM_2.5-related deaths instead, with inclusion of the spatial correlations between the concentrations and the population. The advanced source apportionment numerical model combined with the integrated exposure–response functions is used for BTH and surrounding regions in 2017. We observed that the relative contribution to PM_2.5-related deaths of local emissions was 0.75% to 20.77% larger than that of PM_2.5 concentrations. Such results address the importance of local emissions control for reducing health impacts of PM_2.5 particularly for local residents. Contribution of regional transport to PM_2.5-related deaths in rural area was 22% larger than that in urban area due to the spatial pattern of regional transport which was more related to the rural population. This resulted in an environmental inequality in the sense that people staying in rural area with access to less educational resources are subjected to higher impacts from regional transport as compared with their more resourceful and knowledgeable urban compatriots. An unexpected benefit from the multi-regional joint controls is suggested for its effectiveness in reducing the regional transport of PM_2.5 pollution thus mitigating the associated environmental inequality.     

Assessment of soil washing for heavy metal contaminated paddy soil using FeCl3 washing solutions

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - In this study, soil washing is applied for the remediation of heavy-metal (Pb, Cu and Zn) contaminated paddy soil located near an abandoned mine area. FeCl3...     

Sonication and grinding pre-treatments on <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gelidium amansii</Emphasis> seaweed for the extraction and characterization of Agarose

Various pretreatments methods including sonication and grinding were performed on red seaweed Gelidium amansii for the subsequent extraction of agarose. The agarose products are usually extracted from agar powder products from seaweeds. In this study, the agarose was extracted using a direct polyethylene glycol (PEG) method without the need to first process the agar from seaweed. The agar extract was frozen then thawed and mixed directly with PEG solution to precipitate the agarose. The quality of agarose obtained was evaluated through physico-chemical properties analysis which includes spectral technique (FTIR), melting and boiling point, gel strength and sulfate content. These properties were compared with a non-pretreated sample and it was found that the addition of pretreatment steps improved the quality of agarose but gave a slightly lower yield. The gel strength of pretreated samples was much higher and the sulfate content was lower compared to non-pretreated samples. The best pretreatment method was sonication which gave gel strength of 742 g cm^-2 and sulfate content of 0.63%. The extraction of agarose can be further improved with the use of different neutralizing agents. Pretreating the seaweed shows potential in improving the quality of agarose from seaweed and can be applied for future extraction of the agarose.

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Digital disparities and vulnerability: mobile phone use,information behaviour,and disaster preparedness in Southeast Asia

This paper proposes an ecological view to investigate how disparities in mobile technology use reflect vulnerabilities in communities vis‐à‐vis disaster preparedness. Data (n=1,603) were collected through a multi‐country survey conducted equally in rural and urban areas of Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines, and Vietnam, where mobile technology has become a dominant and ubiquitous communication and information medium. The findings show that smartphone users' routinised use of mobile technology and their risk perception are significantly associated with disaster preparedness behaviour indirectly through disaster‐related information sharing. In addition to disaster‐specific social support, smartphone users' disaster‐related information repertoires are another strong influencing factor. In contrast, non‐smartphone users are likely to rely solely on receipt of disaster‐specific social support as the motivator of disaster preparedness. The results also reveal demographic and rural–urban differences in disaster information behaviour and preparedness. Given the increasing shift from basic mobile phone models to smartphones, the theoretical and policy‐oriented implications of digital disparities and vulnerability are discussed.     

植酸掺杂聚苯胺对水中Cr(Ⅵ)的去除研究

为实现对废水中Cr（Ⅵ）的高效去除,利用PA（植酸）掺杂PANI（聚苯胺）制备了一种新型三维多孔吸附剂PANI/PA,探究PA的掺杂浓度、pH、反应时间、反应温度、共存金属离子和无机阴离子对Cr（Ⅵ）去除率的影响.首先,采用SEM、FTIR、XPS等表征手段证实PA成功掺杂到PANI上形成三维多孔结构,并进一步利用吸附动力学、吸附等温线、吸附热力学模型分析PANI/PA对Cr（Ⅵ）的吸附特性.结果表明:①0.05 mol/L PA掺杂的吸附材料具有最优吸附效果.当pH为4.0时,吸附剂可以实现对Cr（Ⅵ）最有效的去除.②吸附动力学符合准二级动力学模型,表明化学吸附是控制反应速率的主要因素.Langmuir等温吸附模型对等温吸附过程实现较准确拟合,在318 K时达最大吸附容量（99.0 mg/g）,优于普通PANI吸附剂.③吸附机理主要是表面静电吸附、络合作用和还原作用.④在其他金属离子和无机阴离子共存下,PANI/PA对Cr（Ⅵ）具有较强的选择吸附性.研究显示,PANI/PA吸附材料成功制备并具有稳定结构,能够对水中Cr（Ⅵ）实现有效去除,并具有较强的选择吸附性,因此对废水中Cr（Ⅵ）的去除具有潜在的应用价值.      

燃煤电厂大气污染物“近零排放”技术研究及工程应用

在燃煤电厂实现大气污染物“近零排放”过程中,烟尘控制技术是关键,通过对除尘、脱硫、脱硝等先进环保技术的系统比较,提出了燃煤电厂大气污染物“近零排放”技术路线. 在地处长三角的国华舟山电厂4号机组采用高效低氮燃烧+SCR(选择性催化还原法)脱硝+旋转电极除尘+海水脱硫+湿式静电除尘的技术路线,ρ(烟尘)、ρ(SO₂)、ρ(NO_x)的实际排放值分别为2.46、2.76、19.80 mg/m3;在地处京津冀的国华三河电厂1号机组,采用高效低氮燃烧+SCR脱硝+低温省煤器+静电除尘(高效电源)+湿法脱硫+湿式静电除尘的技术路线,ρ(烟尘)、ρ(SO₂)、ρ(NO_x)的实际排放值分别为5、9、35 mg/m3. 实践表明,立足国情走煤炭清洁高效利用之路,燃煤电厂可以在低成本下实现大气污染物的“近零排放”. 通过对技术路线优化、低浓度污染物在线测量技术及“近零排放”中存在的一些问题进行分析和探讨,提出了燃煤电厂大气污染物控制技术的研究和发展方向. 估算结果表明,如果全国燃煤机组自2015年起采用“近零排放”技术,5 a内烟尘、SO₂、NO_x年均减排率分别可达19.0%、18.9%、18.5%.      

Electricity generation from cattle dung using microbial fuel cell technology during anaerobic acidogenesis and the development of microbial populations

A microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed to investigate the possible generation of electricity using cattle dung as a substrate. After 30 days of operation, stable electricity was generated, and the maximum volumetric power density was 0.220 W/m(3). The total chemical oxygen demand (TCOD) removal and coulombic efficiency (CE) of the MFC reached 73.9±1.8% and 2.79±0.6%, respectively, after 120 days of operation. Acetate was the main metabolite in the anolyte, and other volatile fatty acids (VFAs) (propionate and butyrate) were present in minor amounts. The PCR-DGGE analysis indicated that the following five groups of microbes were present: Proteobacteria, Bacteroides, Chloroflexi, Actinobacteria and Firmicutes. Proteobacteria and Firmicutes were the dominant phyla in the sample; specifically, 36.3% and 24.2% of the sequences obtained were Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, respectively. Clostridium sp., Pseudomonas luteola and Ochrobactrum pseudogrignonense were the most dominant groups during the electricity generation process. The diversity of archaea dramatically decreased after 20 days of operation. The detected archaea were hydrogenotrophic methanogens, and the Methanobacterium genus disappeared during the periods of stable electricity generation via acidogenesis.