Climate variability and changes in the major cities of Bangladesh: observations,possible impacts and adaptation

High population density, inadequate infrastructure and low adaptive capacity have made the urban population of Bangladesh highly vulnerable to climate change. Trends in climate and climate-related extreme events in five major cities have been analyzed in this paper to decipher the variability and ongoing changes in urban Bangladesh. An analysis of 55 years (1958–2012) of daily rainfall and temperature data using nonparametric statistical methods shows a significant increase in annual and seasonal mean daily maximum and minimum temperatures in all five cities. A significant increase in climate-related extreme events, such as heavy rainfall events (>20 mm), hot days (>32 °C) and hot nights (>25 °C), is also observed. Climate model results suggest that these trends will continue through the twenty-first century. Vulnerability of urban livelihoods and physical structures to climate change is estimated by considering certainty and timing of impacts. It has been predicted that public health and urban infrastructures, viz. water and power supply, would be the imminent affected sectors in the urban areas of Bangladesh. Adaptation measures that can be adopted to mitigate the negative impacts of climate change are also discussed.     

Decline of traditional rice farming constrains the recovery of the endangered Asian crested ibis (Nipponia nippon)

Traditional agriculture benefits a rich diversity of plants and animals. The winter-flooded rice fields in the Qinling Mountains, China, are the last refuge for the endangered Asian crested ibis (Nipponia nippon), and intensive efforts have been made to protect this anthropogenic habitat. Analyses of multi-temporal satellite data indicate that winter-flooded rice fields have been continuously reduced across the current range of crested ibis during the past two decades. The rate of loss of these fields in the core-protected areas has unexpectedly increased to a higher level than that in non-protected areas in the past decade. The best fit (R² = 0.87) numerical response model of the crested ibis population shows that a reduction of winter-flooded rice fields decreases population growth and predicts that the population growth will be constrained by the decline of traditional winter-flooded rice fields in the coming decades. Our findings suggest that the decline of traditional rice farming is likely to continue to pose a threat to the long-term survival and recovery of the crested ibis population in China.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13280-015-0649-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Toxicity of sediment cores from Yangtze River estuary to zebrafish (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Danio rerio</Emphasis>) embryos

Toxicity evaluation is an important segment in sediment quality monitoring in order to protect aquatic organisms and human health. The purpose of this study is to assess the toxicity of sediments from three sediment cores in Yangtze River Estuary, China, using the zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo tests. Fertilized zebrafish eggs were exposed to both whole sediments and sediment organic extracts prepared from collected sediments, in order to provide a comprehensive and realistic insight into the bioavailable toxicity potential of the sediments. As end points, development parameters (mortality, hatching rate, and abnormality) in the developing embryos were recorded during the 96-h exposure. The results showed that some samples increased mortality, inhibited the hatching of embryos, and induced morphological abnormalities. The embryonic toxicities presented serrated changes and irregular distribution with depth, which may be related to hydrodynamic effect and unstable environmental input. However, lethal and sub-lethal effects were more significant at the sub-surface sediments (10～40 cm), which indicated that the pollution is more serious in recent decades.     

水体浊度对马来眼子菜和菹草生长的影响

研究了不同浊度(30、60和90 NTU)水体中,马来眼子菜及菹草的生长发育状况,并用水下饱和脉冲叶绿素荧光仪(Diving-PAM)测定其叶片荧光参数指标。结果表明,不同的浊度对马来眼子菜的叶片数及株高无显著影响,而对菹草的叶片数及株高生长速率有一定的影响。30 d胁迫下,浊度组马来眼子菜的最大光化学量子产量(maximum quantum yield,Fv/Fm)、光化学淬灭系数(photochemical quenching,q P)、非光化学淬灭系数(non-photochemical quenching,q N)、相对光合电子传递速率(electron transport rate,ETR)与对照组差异不显著(p>0.05),表明马来眼子菜对浑浊水体有较强的耐受能力;实验结束时,高浊度组(90 NTU)中,菹草Fv/Fm、q P、q N、ETR与对照组达到极显著差异(p<0.01),其余浊度组也相应受到影响,说明菹草的光系统II(PSII)受到破坏。该研究的成果可为沉水植物恢复研究与实践提供技术支撑。     

微生物絮凝剂M-C11处理高岭土悬浊液的响应曲面优化

采用响应曲面法对微生物絮凝剂M-C11处理高岭土悬浊液的过程参数进行优化,选取中心复合实验设计(CCD),以p H、M-C11投加量和Ca Cl2投加量等因素为自变量,以处理后的高岭土悬浊液絮凝率(Fr)为响应值,并借助扫描电镜对絮凝剂的作用机理进行初步探讨。结果表明,微生物絮凝剂M-C11可显著改善高岭土悬浊液的絮凝性能,且选取的3种单因素水平均可影响絮凝剂活性。经多元回归拟合分析,在M-C11投加量为2.56 m L,Ca Cl2投加量为0.37 g/L的最优条件下,微生物絮凝活性实验值可达92.37%,接近模型预测值(92.30%)。Ca Cl2投加量对絮凝效果的影响高于M-C11投加量(PCa Cl2相似文献   

印染RO浓水深度处理及回用

采用Fenton-石灰苏打法耦合工艺对某印染厂印染反渗透(RO)浓水进行深度处理。通过实验研究了不同H2O2和Fe2+投加量、p H和反应时间对废水COD去除率的影响,以及不同石灰和碳酸钠投加量对废水硬度的脱除效果,出水回用于染色工段进行染色实验。结果表明,在p H=3.0,Fe2+投加量为1.5 mmol/L,H2O2投加量为3.75 mmol/L,反应时间为45 min,石灰和碳酸钠投加量分别为450 mg/L和1 000 mg/L的条件下,出水COD和硬度的去除率可分别达到73.9%和85.0%,耦合工艺出水水质符合该厂回用染色水标准,且减少了盐的使用,可实现印染RO浓水回用。     

隔膜压滤机滤室最优空腔厚度

利用UG软件对隔膜压滤机滤室内流体进行三维建模,导入Gambit中进行网格划分及边界条件的设定,结合Fluent选用RNG k-ε湍流模型,采用多孔介质模型模拟隔膜压滤机滤室内固-液两相流分离,得到不同空腔厚度下滤室内流体的体积分数轮廓图、压强云图,得出滤饼含水率与空腔厚度大小的关系。实验结果表明,模拟和实验结果具有较好的一致性。在压滤机滤室空腔厚度为12 mm时,滤饼含水率为48%,每天污泥处理量为102 t,隔膜压滤机工作效率最高。     

改性SCAC催化臭氧氧化去除布洛芬效能与反应活性位点研究

采用不同的表面改性方法(去矿化处理、氧化改性、碱改性和还原改性)对污泥基活性炭(SCAC)进行处理,分别获得了表面金属含量低、碱位低、碱性官能团含量高及Lewis碱含量高的4种改性SCAC(SCAC-D、SCAC-S、SCAC-OH和SCAC-N),对比考察了改性前后SCAC催化臭氧氧化去除布洛芬(IBP)的效能,并探讨了SCAC催化臭氧氧化反应的主要活性位点。结果表明,5种SCAC催化活性顺序为:SCAC-N>SCAC-OH>SCAC>SCAC-S>SCAC-D;金属组分减少会直接影响SCAC的催化活性,碱位减少对其催化活性的影响相对较弱,说明SCAC表面较为丰富的金属组分是其催化臭氧氧化反应的主要活性位点;增加SCAC表面碱位(Lewis碱和碱性官能团),减少表面酸性官能团有助于提高其催化活性。