Assessing China’s Ecological Restoration Programs: What’s Been Done and What Remains to Be Done?

This article surveys the recent literature that has assessed China’s ecological restoration programs, including the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) and the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP). Our presumption is that the performance of these programs should be determined by their effectiveness of implementation and significance of impact. Implementation effectiveness can be measured with such indicators as land area converted or conserved, and survival and stocking rates of restored vegetation, while impact significance can be gauged by the induced changes in ecosystem functionality and stability (erosion control, biodiversity protection, etc.) and socioeconomic conditions. Coupling this matrix with an exhaustive search of the publications, we find that: (1) the implementation effectiveness has not been examined as extensively as the impact significance; (2) efforts to assess the impact significance have concentrated on the SLCP, particularly its socioeconomic effects: growth of income, alternative industry, and employment, and likelihood of re-conversion; and (3) most of the socioeconomic studies are based on rural household surveys and discrete choice and difference in differences models. While much has been learned from previous studies, a lot more needs to be done in improving our understanding of the program execution and impacts. Future work should pay more attention to the NFPP and other programs, and the environmental impacts and the implementation effectiveness of all of them. To these ends, analysts must gather more field data regarding the evolving ecosystem conditions and socioeconomic information of higher aggregation, and conduct their research across scales and disciplines, with better application of geospatial technology and more effective modeling.     

Pyrolysis technologies for municipal solid waste: A review

Pyrolysis has been examined as an attractive alternative to incineration for municipal solid waste (MSW) disposal that allows energy and resource recovery; however, it has seldom been applied independently with the output of pyrolysis products as end products. This review addresses the state-of-the-art of MSW pyrolysis in regards to its technologies and reactors, products and environmental impacts. In this review, first, the influence of important operating parameters such as final temperature, heating rate (HR) and residence time in the reaction zone on the pyrolysis behaviours and products is reviewed; then the pyrolysis technologies and reactors adopted in literatures and scale-up plants are evaluated. Third, the yields and main properties of the pyrolytic products from individual MSW components, refuse-derived fuel (RDF) made from MSW, and MSW are summarised. In the fourth section, in addition to emissions from pyrolysis processes, such as HCl, SO₂ and NH₃, contaminants in the products, including PCDD/F and heavy metals, are also reviewed, and available measures for improving the environmental impacts of pyrolysis are surveyed. It can be concluded that the single pyrolysis process is an effective waste-to-energy convertor but is not a guaranteed clean solution for MSW disposal. Based on this information, the prospects of applying pyrolysis technologies to dealing with MSW are evaluated and suggested.     

Research on ecosystem services of water conservation and soil retention: a bibliometric analysis

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Water conservation and soil retention are two essential regulating services that are closely related, and their relationship might produce synergies...     

广州市环境监测管理信息化建设中若干问题探讨

以广州市环境监测中心站推进信息化的实践为例，重点对环境监测管理信息化规划、开发和应用3个环节所涉及的信息化进程路线、应用系统开发的需求分析和推广应用等问题进行了一些探讨，提出切合自身的解决思路或办法。     

The effects of autophagy in rat tracheal epithelial cells induced by silver nanoparticles

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The massive use of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is potentially harmful to exposed humans. Although previous studies have found that AgNPs can induce...     

Revealing the impact of water conservancy projects and urbanization on hydrological cycle based on the distribution of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes in water

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In recent years, the development and utilization of water resources have imposed great impacts on hydrological characteristics and ecological...     

The permeability of dredged material-bentonite backfills

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Extensive attention has been paid to the treatment and disposal of dredged material, and there is a need to clarify the feasibility of recycling...     

协同治理理论视角下连云港湾长制试点存在的问题及对策

近岸海域环境综合治理是典型的公共产品和公共服务,需要多个主体协同治理。连云港湾长制已实施两年多,虽取得了一定成效,但从协同治理理论来看,仍存在治理主体相对单一、公众参与不足问题。因此,今后应以协同治理理论为指导,形成多元的治理主体,树立各个治理主体的权威性,加强各治理主体的协同性,充分发挥各治理主体的积极性,共同推进湾长制的实施。     

Control of aliphatic halogenated DBP precursors with multiple drinking water treatment processes: Formation potential and integrated toxicity

The comprehensive control efficiency for the formation potentials(FPs) of a range of regulated and unregulated halogenated disinfection by-products(DBPs)(including carbonaceous DBPs(C-DBPs), nitrogenous DBPs(N-DBPs), and iodinated DBPs(I-DBPs)) with the multiple drinking water treatment processes, including pre-ozonation, conventional treatment(coagulation–sedimentation, pre-sand filtration), ozone-biological activated carbon(O_3-BAC) advanced treatment, and post-sand filtration, was investigated. The potential toxic risks of DBPs by combing their FPs and toxicity values were also evaluated.The results showed that the multiple drinking water treatment processes had superior performance in removing organic/inorganic precursors and reducing the formation of a range of halogenated DBPs. Therein, ozonation significantly removed bromide and iodide,and thus reduced the formation of brominated and iodinated DBPs. The removal of organic carbon and nitrogen precursors by the conventional treatment processes was substantially improved by O_3-BAC advanced treatment, and thus prevented the formation of chlorinated C-DBPs and N-DBPs. However, BAC filtration leads to the increased formation of brominated C-DBPs and N-DBPs due to the increase of bromide/DOC and bromide/DON.After the whole multiple treatment processes, the rank order for integrated toxic risk values caused by these halogenated DBPs was haloacetonitriles(HANs)》haloacetamides(HAMs) haloacetic acids(HAAs) trihalomethanes(THMs) halonitromethanes(HNMs) 》I-DBPs(I-HAMs and I-THMs). I-DBPs failed to cause high integrated toxic risk because of their very low FPs. The significant higher integrated toxic risk value caused by HANs than other halogenated DBPs cannot be ignored.