Functional mechanisms of mandatory corporate environmental disclosure: an empirical study in China

This paper analyzes the functions of a government-oriented disclosure program in China, which rates company environmental performance into five colors and discloses the results to the public. The rating results and their annual changes during 2005–2007 are statistically summarized by using the detailed database provided by municipal environmental protection bureau of the study area: Changshu city in Jiangsu province. The reflexive, deterrent and enhancement mechanisms, preliminarily identified for the disclosure program, are qualitatively evaluated by using the information collected by onsite interviews to 32 program participating firms. In overall, the firms' environmental performances have been improved. The companies with worse rating records would be more likely to improve their environmental performances in the following years. The disclosure program encourages the firms to be more reflexive to their internal environmental problems. The deterrent and enhancement functions of the program are weak due to the marginal pressure from the classified stakeholders such as investors, business partners and creditors. The influence of the public, such as neighboring communities and environmental NGOs, is weak too. Encouraging serious reactions of firm's stakeholders to the disclosed rating results should be addressed in order to enhance the effectiveness of the disclosure strategy.     

An empirical study on the driving mechanism of proactive corporate environmental management in China

Environmentalism in China is under transformation from the traditional command and control model to emphasize the advantages of economic tools and encourage the participation of the public. Firms are much more aware of the importance of environmental issues, and some of them have practiced environmental activities beyond compliance. In order to help understand the driving mechanism of proactive corporate environmental behaviors from the firm’s perspective, this paper identifies the drivers affecting the proactive environmental management level (EML_p) based on the institutional theory, and gives an empirical study on the firms based in Changshu city of Jiangsu Province, China. The usable data, collected from the 117 valid respondents in a questionnaire survey, indicates that EML_p is still moderately low currently. Less than 10% of the samples are practicing all the six categorized types of voluntary environmental activities. The econometric exercise confirms a significantly positive effect of the externally mimetic pressure on EML_p, which may attribute to a higher sensitivity of Chinese companies to the market factors. However, the roles of the general public and industrial associations are not significant, showing the marginal power of selected normative pressures. Regarding internal factors, firms, which view environmental issues as opportunities and often arrange internal environmental training, are more likely to adopt proactive environmental activities. More concerns from the general public like neighborhood communities and mass media shall be addressed to enhance the normative power to improve EML_p in China from the future perspective.     

2000～2017年贵州省植被覆盖时空变化特征及其对气候变化的响应

利用MODIS/NDVI数据、近18年来贵州省气象站点数据，辅以时间序列、变化趋势和空间动态变化分析等方法，研究贵州省植被覆盖的时空变化特征；探讨植被覆盖变化对气象因子在地域、变化速率和变化方向方面的时空响应规律。研究结果显示：（1）2000~2017年贵州省植被覆盖呈现显著增加的趋势，增速为0.004/a，夏季NDVI值最高，冬季增加趋势最大；空间上，贵州省植被覆盖格局呈现"南高北低、东高西低"的空间分布特征。在变化趋势上，贵州省植被覆盖呈改善和退化趋势的面积分别占贵州省总面积的94.97%和5.03%。（2）2000~2017年，贵州省气候变化特征是降雨量在年内分布不均，且主要分布在5月至8月；温度在各个季节变化趋势不明显，但是总体呈上升的趋势。气温和降水变化趋势大于零的面积分别占贵州省总面积的98.4%和60.46%，说明在全球暖湿化的大背景下，贵州省大部分地区亦呈温度升高、降水增加的态势。（3）贵州省NDVI与气温的相关性大于降水，但其对降水的滞后性却高于气温。其中，秋季植被受降水影响滞后性最强，其次是夏季。（4）不同气候要素对贵州省植被生长影响具有空间差异性，98.4%的地区NDVI与同期温度均达到正相关水平；NDVI与同期降水并未表现出良好的相关性，但82.63%的地区植被与前一年降水呈正相关水平。植被与降水呈负相关的地区，建设用地、裸地占更大比率，且人类活动在植被变化中的作用不容忽视。     

海洋硅藻细胞表面物理化学特性对镉累积的影响

硅藻是海洋生态系统中主要的初级生产者,在全球碳循环中扮演重要角色。硅藻在镉(Cd)的生物地球化学循环中同样发挥了关键的作用。营养盐、盐度、pH、光照、温度等因子可改变Cd在硅藻中的累积,但其关键过程尚未清楚。借助多功能原子力显微镜(AFM)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、非损伤微测(NMT)等先进表征手段,可定量研究硅藻细胞的表面物理化学特性。本综述讨论环境因子对细胞表面粗糙度的影响,探索粗糙度-表面功能基团-电势之间的联系,从微观层次揭示硅藻细胞与Cd之间的相互作用,诠释硅藻吸附金属Cd的过程。     

Detection of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol by liquid-liquid extraction-gas chromatograph mass spectrum (LLE-GCMS) and solid phase extraction-gas chromatograph mass spectrum (SPE-GCMS)

Two sample preparation methods were introduced and compared in this paper to establish a simple, quick and exact analysis of geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol. LC-18 column was employed in solid phase extraction (SPE), 1.0 mL of hexane was adopted in liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), and the extracts were analyzed by gas chromatograph mass spectrum (GCMS) in selected ion mode. Mean recoveries of SPE were low for 2-methylisoborneol (2-MIB) and geosmin (GSM) with values below 50%. For LLE, the recoveries were satisfyingly above 50% for 2-MIB and 80% for GSM. Detection limits of the LLE method were as low as 1.0 ng/L for GSM and 5.0 ng/L for 2-MIB. A year-long investigation on odor chemicals of drinking water in Shanghai demonstrated that in the summer, there was a serious odor problem induced by a high concentration of 2-MIB. The highest concentration of 152.82 ng/L appeared in July in raw water, while GSM flocculation was minimal with concentrations below odor threshold.     

新冠肺炎疫情期间我国人群交通出行行为分析

为了解我国新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19,简称“新冠肺炎”）疫情期间人群出行频次及交通方式,调查收集了2020年2月25日—3月14日我国31个省（自治区、直辖市）8 330名居民疫情期间的出行频次及交通方式等信息,并分析了其影响因素;对我国31个省（自治区、直辖市）按疫情严重程度进行等级划分,分析不同疫情等级下人群交通出行方式的差异,并与非疫情期间进行对比.结果表明:①新冠肺炎疫情期间调查人群中有75.1%的人有出行行为,其中,5.5%的人一天多次外出,17.6%的人每周出行频次不到一次.出行过程中乘坐公共交通和出租车这两类感染风险较高的交通工具的人数占比分别为6.3%和4.0%.②新冠肺炎疫情期间,我国居民的出行频次和交通方式可能受性别、年龄、城乡、片区等人口统计学变量以及当地或附近疑似/确诊病例情况的影响,还可能与所在省份疫情严重程度有关.西藏自治区、青海省等地区人群出行频次及交通方式受疫情影响变化相对较小,湖北省居民出行频次及交通方式与非疫情期间相比变化最大.③新冠肺炎疫情期间,我国成人居民选择步行和小轿车（出租车和私家车）出行的人数占比远高于非疫情期间,而选择公共交通和自行车或电动车等交通方式的人数占比与非疫情期间相比有所降低.研究发现,新冠肺炎疫情极大地改变了我国人群出行频次及交通方式.      

QTRAP LC-MS/MS技术在污染事故快速定性中的应用

采用液相色谱-四极杆/线性离子阱复合质谱(QTRAP LC-MS/MS)技术用于污染事故水样中未知农药的快速定性分析。由于QTRAP LC-MS/MS具有较好的灵敏度,样品无需前处理即可进样,大大提高了样品的分析速度。在某次污染事故水样定性分析工作中,该技术的应用非常快速地解决了污染源判定问题,为污染事故的应急处置提供了强有力的技术支撑。     

太湖流域经济增长与环境污染水平的关系研究

环境库兹涅茨曲线（KEC）是描述污染问题与经济发展之间关系的常用模型,一般情况下呈倒“U”形。通过对太湖流域1991-2005年的人均GDP与工业三废排放量之间的关系分析,研究发现,太湖流域的环境库兹涅茨曲线特征为增长的凹曲线,不同于传统的环境库兹涅茨曲线,同时分析了产生这一现象的原因,并从调整经济结构、转变增长方式、发展循环经济方面给出政策建议。     

The environmental fate of thymol,a novel botanical pesticide,in tropical agricultural soil and water

In this study, the environmental fate of thymol, including hydrolysis, aqueous photolysis, soil sorption and soil degradation, was studied under conditions that simulated the tropical agricultural environment. This study was undertaken to supply basic information for evaluating the environmental risks of applying this new botanical pesticide to tropical crop production. The results showed that the hydrolysis of thymol was pH-dependent and accelerated by acidic conditions and high temperatures. However, the hydrolysis rate was far lower than the aqueous photolysis rate, indicating that direct photolysis is an important dissipation pathway for thymol in water. The sorption of thymol by three tropical soils was consistently well described by the Freundlich model, and the sorption coefficients increased in the order sandy soil < loamy soil < clay soil, a characterization that depended on the organic carbon contents of the soil. The soil degradation rate of thymol decreased in the order sandy soil > loamy soil > clay soil, which has a negative correlation with the sorption of thymol in soils. We concluded that the degradation rates of thymol in tropical soil and water are fast: thymol in water is photodegraded (50%) by sunlight within 28 h, and the thymol in soils is degraded (50%) within 8.4 d. Therefore, the environmental risk to the surrounding soils and water of thymol application for tropical crop production is low.