National,regional and local attitudes towards climate change: identifying appropriate target audiences for communications

A government-funded scheme, the UK Climate Change Communications Initiative (UKCCCI), has provided money for organisations to deliver projects that attempt to impact positively on people's attitudes towards climate change. This devolution of communications is a relatively novel approach after previous centralised campaigns. This paper considers what size of target audience is most appropriate for attitude change initiatives. It compares data from a regional UKCCCI project aimed at residents of two counties with a nationally representative dataset. Regional data are also analysed to see if there are differences in attitudes within the two-counties target audience. The study suggests that attitude change interventions must strike a balance between personalisation of information and the higher cost of targeting smaller groups with more specific material.     

Social learning and sustainable communities: An interim assessment of research into sustainable communities projects in the UK

Abstract

The delivery of many of the most pressing environmental issues will rely on changes in environmental attitudes and behaviour at community level. At a UN Special Session in 1997, the British Government highlighted its initiatives on Local Agenda 21 (LA21) and Going for Green (GFG) as significant advances. This paper adds a new perspective, drawing on the range of experiences of some of the research teams that have been working with local authorities on pilot Sustainable Community Projects (SCPs) in England and Scotland. It sheds light on three substantive themes: the tensions inherent in the implementation of internationally and nationally agreed goals through local action; the ambiguity of local agencies acting as facilitators of community ownership of processes, and the requirements for successful partnership between local authorities and higher education.     

Effect of humic acid on water chemistry, bioavailability and toxicity of aluminium in the freshwater snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, at neutral pH

The influence of humic acid on the water chemistry of environmentally relevant concentrations of Al at neutral pH was studied, together with its effect on the bioavailability and toxicity of Al in Lymnaea stagnalis. Humic acid significantly reduced the loss of Al from the water and increased the fraction of filterable Al, although this was a relatively small fraction of total Al. Filterable Al concentration in the presence or absence of humic acid was independent of initial Al concentration. Humic acid only partly reduced toxicity, as observed by a reduction in behavioural suppression, and had no effect on the level of Al accumulated in tissues. These results suggest that humic acid maintains Al in a colloidal form that is bioavailable to L. stagnalis. However, these colloidal Al-humic acid species were less toxic since behavioural toxicity was reduced. Humic acid may play an important role in limiting the toxicity of Al to freshwater organisms.     

Recent trends and developments in dialogue on radioactive waste management: experience from the UK

This paper highlights some recent trends and developments in dialogue on radioactive waste management in the UK. In particular, it focuses on the use of dialogue around options for the management of risk, and describes techniques for stakeholder dialogue in the field of radioactive waste management. The paper summarises past and on-going experience in the UK, and provides an overview of some practical examples from decommissioning of the former reprocessing facility at Dounreay in Scotland. In common with developments and trend in other countries, the UK has moved to a position where there is now widespread recognition that radioactive waste management requires not only sound technical assessment of risk, but also public participation, consultation and stakeholder dialogue on proposed solutions and the associated risks. In fact, the shift of position has arguably been quite pronounced, with formal procedures to identify, clarify and integrate stakeholders' issues and concerns within the decision-making processes. Experience suggests that citizens are capable of engaging with complex technical issues such as radioactive waste. Indeed, the earlier in the decision-making process that public and stakeholder engagement (PSE) occurs--for example, on the consideration of options and alternatives--the greater the chance of reaching a successful outcome that properly reflects the values and opinions of stakeholders. In the UK, the assessment of alternative waste management options is increasingly being addressed through Best Practical Environmental Option (BPEO) studies. Responses to stakeholder engagement processes and experience of conducting BPEO studies emphasise that consultation must be open, transparent, deliberative and inclusive. However, while early consideration of generic approaches and option choices is necessary to generate a climate of openness and understanding, it remains essential to fully engage with local stakeholder and community groups to consider issues associated with proposed developments at a site-specific level. An interesting area where further attention may be warranted is the use in final decision-making of the results from participatory processes such as BPEO studies. Demonstrating clearly that participants' views have influenced decisions appears to be essential for retaining legitimacy and trust, confidence and goodwill.     

Toward cleaner production of hot dip galvanizing industry in China

China has now the largest annual outputs of galvanized steel and the most amount of galvanizing plants in the world. However, with obsolete technology, the hot dip galvanizing industry has been proved as one of the industries, which consume large amounts of raw materials and energy, produce numerous pollutants and causes serious contamination in China. Cleaner Production in the hot dip galvanizing industry is now the only way to achieve the sustainable development of hot dip galvanizing industry. The implementation of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) project: The Transfer of Technology and Promotion of demand: Batch hot dip galvanizing in China launched by International Zinc Association (IZA) is introduced in this paper, The Best Available Technologies of operation, energy and environmental management in the world are also introduced. With the implementation of the project, an assessment system of Cleaner Production and a training system have been developed and implementation of technical updating to the demonstration plant shows that the reduction of zinc loss, and water and fuel cost savings can be achieved. It is believed that the methodology of the project can be applied throughout China as the galvanizers see the cost benefits.     

Prenatal diagnosis using interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH): 2-year multi-center retrospective study and review of the literature

Since 1993, the position of the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) has been that prenatal interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is investigational. In 1997, the FDA cleared the AneuVysion^® assay (Vysis, Inc.) to enumerate chromosomes 13, 18, 21, X and Y for prenatal diagnosis. Data is presented from the clinical trial that led to regulatory clearance (1379 pregnancies) and from retrospective case review on 5197 new pregnancies. These studies demonstrated an extremely high concordance rate between FISH and standard cytogenetics (99.8%) for specific abnormalities that the AneuVysion assay is designed to detect. In 29 039 informative testing events (6576 new and 22 463 cases in the literature) only one false positive (false positive rate=0.003%) and seven false negative results (false negative rate=0.024%) occurred. A historical review of all known accounts of specimens tested is presented (29 039 using AneuVysion and 18 275 specimens tested with other probes). These performance characteristics support a prenatal management strategy that includes utilization of FISH for prenatal testing when a diagnosis of aneuploidy of chromosome 13, 18, 21, X or Y is highly suspected by virtue of maternal age, positive maternal serum biochemical screening or abnormal ultrasound findings. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Use of biological monitoring in the assessment of effects of mining wastes on aquatic ecosystems of the alligator rivers region,tropical Northern Australia

The primary objective of the biological monitoring program of the ARRRI is to develop techniques and procedures to monitor and assess effects of the mining and processing of ores on aquatic ecosystems of the Region. Studies have been made in a seasonal tributary (Magela Creek) of the East Alligator River near the Ranger Uranium Mine, and in the upper South Alligator River (SAR) near the Coronation Hill gold, platinum and palladium prospect. Ranger and Coronation Hill are enclosed by Kakadu National Park, environmental safeguards for which require the minimization of impairment of water quality in the aquatic ecosystems. Present studies on Magela Creek are designed to verify the adequacy of release standards, based on biological tests, in protecting the aquatic environment during and after releases of waste-water from Ranger during the Wet season. Detection of short-term effects will be sought by either creekside orin situ monitoring methods. The detection and assessment of any longer-term impacts, however, will rely chiefly on comparisons of post-release data with those of historical baselines. Such baseline information is provided by studies on the structure of macroinvertebrate and fish communities and/or on concentrations of elements in organisms in those communities, in Magela Creek and SAR catchments.     

Using electromagnetic induction technology to predict volatile fatty acid, source area differences

Subsurface measures have been adapted to identify manure accumulation on feedlot surfaces. Understanding where manure accumulates can be useful to develop management practices that mitigate air emissions from manure, such as odor or greenhouse gases. Objectives were to determine if electromagnetic induction could be used to predict differences in volatile fatty acids (VFA) and other volatiles produced in vitro from feedlot surface material following a simulated rain event. Twenty soil samples per pen were collected from eight pens with cattle fed two different diets using a predictive sampling approach. These samples were incubated at room temperature for 3 d to determine fermentation products formed. Fermentation products were categorized into acetate, straight-, branched-chained, and total VFAs. These data were used to develop calibration prediction models on the basis of properties measured by electromagnetic induction (EMI). Diet had no significant effect on mean volatile solids (VS) concentration of accumulated manure. However, manure from cattle fed a corn (Zea mays L.)-based diet had significantly ( P ≤ 0.1) greater mean straight-chained and total VFA generation than pens where wet distillers grain with solubles (WDGS) were fed. Alternately, pens with cattle fed a WDGS-based diet had significantly (P ≤ 0.05) greater branched-chained VFAs than pens with cattle fed a corn-based diet. Many branched-chain VFAs have a lower odor threshold than straight-chained VFAs; therefore, emissions from WDGS-based diet manure would probably have a lower odor threshold. We concluded that diets can affect the types and quantities of VFAs produced following a rain event. Understanding odorant accumulation patterns and the ability to predict generation can be used to develop precision management practices to mitigate odor emissions.