Dynamics and Causation of Environmental Equity, Locally Unwanted Land Uses, and Neighborhood Changes

/ Why are some environmental risks distributed disproportionately in the neighborhoods of the minorities and the poor? A hypothesis was proposed in a recent study that market dynamics contributed to the current environmental inequity. That is, locally unwanted land uses (LULUs) make the host communities home to more poor people and people of color. This hypothesis was allegedly supported by a Houston case study, whereby its author analyzed the postsiting changes of the socioeconomic characteristics of the neighborhoods surrounding solid waste facilities. I argue that such an analysis of postsiting changes alone is insufficient to test the causation hypothesis. Instead, I propose a conceptual framework for analysis of environmental equity dynamics and causation. I suggest that the presiting neighborhood dynamics and the characteristics of control neighborhoods be analyzed as the first test for the causation hypothesis. Furthermore, I present theories of neighborhood change and then examine alternative hypotheses that these theories offer for explaining neighborhood changes and for the roles of LULUs in neighborhood changes. These alternative hypotheses should be examined when analyzing the relationship between LULUs and neighborhood changes in a metropolitan area. Using this framework of analysis, I revisited the Houston case. First, I found no evidence that provided support for the hypothesis that the presence of LULUs made the neighborhoods home to more blacks and poor people, contrary to the conclusion made by the previous study. Second, I examined alternative hypotheses for explaining neighborhood changes-invasion-succession, other push forces, and neighborhood life-cycle; the former two might offer better explanation.KEY WORDS: Environmental equity and justice; Locally unwanted lane uses; Siting; Market dynamics; Invasion-succession; Neighborhood changes     

Analysis of Environmental and Socio-economic Determinants Affecting Population Longevity Level at County Level in China

INTRODUCTIONIn recent thirty years, due to the decreasing fertility andincreasing life expectancy, China's population is aging ata very rapid pace and the elderly population size is keepingon growing. During the dramatic aging progress, the oldestold group in China is catching our eyes. More and moreold people of China are becoming the oldest old. Theextremely old population (aged 80 and above) is increasingat 5.1% annually, while the old population above 65 isincreasing at 2.9%, and the…     

Gauging the environmental efficiency with ecological compensation in presence of missing data using data envelopment analysis

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The ecological compensation mechanism is regarded as the direction for the future management of the ecological environment of the river basin, which...     

Study on cooperative strategies of rural water environment governance PPP project between companies and farmers from the perspective of evolutionary game

Environment, Development and Sustainability - The PPP mode of rural water environment governance was conducive to attracting social capital for giving full play to the decisive role of the market...     

Effects of Different Litter Treatments on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Pinus densata in Southeast Tibet,China

Russian Journal of Ecology - The aim of this study is to explore the effects of the litter cover thickness and cleaning methods on seed germination and seedling growth of Pinus densata. The overall...     

中国菌糠露天焚烧污染物排放时空分布特征

基于我国2000~2017年食用菌年产量数据,采用排放因子法估算了菌糠露天焚烧的污染物排放量,利用Mann-Kendall法和聚类分析法分析了排放量的时空分布特征,使用回归分析法预测了污染物的排放趋势.结果表明：（1）2000~2017年全国菌糠露天焚烧污染物排放量持续上升,PM_2.5、CO₂、CO、CH₄、NMVOCs、PAHs、NO_x、SO₂累积排放量分别为1.40×10⁶,3.48×10⁸,1.99×10⁷,8.43×10⁵,2.08×10⁶,3.00×10⁴,6.34×10⁵,8.29×10⁴t;（2）污染物排放量较高的省区包括山东、黑龙江、浙江、湖南、江苏、福建和河南,排放量较低的省区包括贵州、宁夏、天津、北京、新疆、重庆、甘肃;（3）预计2021年菌糠焚烧污染物总排放量高达4.25×10⁷t,其对生物质焚烧污染物总排放量的贡献率约为19.82%.我国菌糠露天焚烧污染物排放规模较大,应予以重点关注.     

全球液化石油气运输网络贸易社区特征及其演化分析

液化石油气在全球清洁能源消耗市场中扮演着极为重要的角色,其通过船舶在不同港口之间进行运输,而港口之间通过局部密集的运输关系,形成了联系极为紧密的贸易社区。采用复杂网络社区探测方法,基于2013—2017年全球液化石油气船舶轨迹大数据构建运输网络,并对其贸易社区特征及其演化趋势开展分析。结果表明：（1）液化石油气（Liquefied Petroleum Gas,LPG）贸易社区内的港口之间的联系更加紧密,不同社区内的枢纽港口联系也日益紧密;（2）各个贸易社区的规模呈现出增长趋势,且同一社区内的港口在地理空间上变得更为集聚;（3）亚太地区、中东、西北欧和地中海地区形成的社区在全球LPG贸易中一直保持着重要地位,而随着时间推移,美洲社区已逐渐从一个相对孤立的社区发展成为与其他社区存在紧密联系的社区。     

焚烧飞灰重金属含量及浸出长期变化规律研究

通过对24个飞灰样品的重金属全量消解和高精度X射线荧光光谱法（HDXRF）快速检测结果进行线性回归分析,发现HDXRF法可较准确测定飞灰中Cu、Pb、Zn、Ni和Cd含量（线性回归决定系数R²³0.90）.采用HDXRF法对某焚烧厂飞灰重金属含量6个月快速检测及浸出毒性测定数据统计分析发现：飞灰重金属月均含量较稳定（变异系数CV<0.14）但日均含量波动较大（CV>2.54）;飞灰中Pb、Cu和Zn含量呈正相关（相关系数r>0.78）;金属浸出浓度受浸出液终点pH值影响显著,超标频率依次为Pb（68.9%）、Cd（66.1%）、Ni（24.0%）、Cu（14.2%）和Zn（1.6%）.短期飞灰金属含量和浸出毒性数据受焚烧工况,烟气处理工况和垃圾组分等多种因素共同影响,不具有代表性.为评估垃圾分类源头削减重金属效果,建议采用快速检测方法对焚烧飞灰重金属含量进行长期监测.     

Preparation of hydrophobic hierarchical pore carbon–silica composite and its adsorption performance toward volatile organic compounds

Carbon–silica materials with hierarchical pores consisting of micropores and mesopores were prepared by introducing nanocarbon microspheres derived from biomass sugar into silica gel channels in a hydrothermal environment.The physicochemical properties of the materials were characterized by nitrogen physical adsorption(BET),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and thermogravimetric(TG),and the adsorption properties of various organic waste gases were investigated.The results showed that microporous carbon materials were introduced successfully into the silica gel channels,thus showing the high adsorption capacity of activated carbon in high humidity organic waste gas,and the high stability and mechanical strength of the silica gel.The dynamic adsorption behavior confirmed that the carbon–silica material had excellent adsorption capacity for different volatile organic compounds(VOCs).Furthermore,the carbon–silica material exhibited excellent desorption characteristics:adsorbed toluene was completely desorbed at 150℃,thereby showing superior regeneration characteristics.Both features were attributed to the formation of hierarchical pores.