The Declining Influence of Science On Marine Environmental Policy

Abstract

Differences between the scientific and environmental policy communities regarding marine environmental protection strategies are discussed in the context of the nature and extent of scientific influence on marine environmental policy. Public perceptions of the nature and severity of marine pollution frequently differ from scientific assessments. the thesis of this paper is that the increasing influence of public perception on marine environmental protection policy is leading to the adoption of simplistic and unnecessarily extreme approaches to marine pollution prevention and to a reduced reliance on science. This trend is illustrated by some recent international developments and some suggestions are made towards enhancing the influence of science on marine protection policy.     

Toxicological attributes of plant chemicals and their biochemical impacts on cholinesterase and protein levels in relation with conventional insecticides against mosquito larvae of Karachi city

In order to control mosquito, different chemicals were applied against the larvae of Culex fatigans (Diptera Culicidae). The tested chemicals were Lambda cyhalothrin, chlorpyrifos, Azadirachta indica (Spindales meliaceae) neem extract, and Sueda monoica extract. All chemicals were found to have significant efficacy against Culex fatigans mosquito larvae. In terms of efficacy, the biochemical effects after treatment with such chemicals were found to vary. Total protein levels and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity were the parameters examined. Chlorpyrifos, Lambda cyhalothrin, and neem elevated AChE activity levels whereas the plant extract S. monoica decreased enzymic activity. Total protein levels were decreased by Lambda cyhalothrin and chlorpyrifos whereas protein was increased by neem extract and S. monoica.     

Book reviews and notices

The aim of sustainable development is to balance social, economic, and environmental needs. In order to justify the decisions they make, stakeholders must quantify the different impacts found in the operations and developments of companies and/or projects throughout their life cycle. However, as some areas are subjective in nature, the quantification process of the different impacts and the assessment of sustainable development performance become arduous tasks of development, validation, and application of scientific and empirical methods with the intrinsic objective of finding an agreement among the involved parties (i.e., stakeholders). Several environmental and sustainability assessment tools, instruments, processes, and methodologies have been developed; rating systems stand out and have gained attention and credibility, as demonstrated by the vast number of certified projects around the world and the widely-known usefulness and advantages of their application. The Wa-Pa-Su project sustainability rating system presents an integrated approach to sustainability assessment by integrating three distinctive areas of knowledge: (1) sustainable development theory and fundamentals supports the ultimate goal of the rating system, which is to contribute to sustainability, with the aim of finding a path to balance social, economic, and environmental needs; (2) continual performance improvement becomes essential due to the duration of the projects, as it is critical to allow organizations or projects to improve performance over time; and (3) multi-criteria decision analysis assists with the assessment process through stakeholder engagement and participation, and the design and implementation of a criteria weighting system.     

Relationships between runoff and land degradation on non-cultivated land in the Middle Hills of Nepal

SUMMARY

Rainfall-surface water runoff relationships have been examined for 912 rainfall events during the 1992 and 1993 monsoon seasons on 15 erosion plots on a variety of non-cultivated land uses in the Middle Hills, Nepal. Vegetation cover and type examined ranged from grassland and relatively undisturbed mixed broadleaf forest to subtropical Sal forest, in various states of degradation, and bare ground. Runoff was frequently generated on most plots and often by relatively small rainfall amounts (less than 5 mm) and low rainfall intensities (3 mm/h). Ground cover and canopy cover were significant factors in determining amounts of runoff. Runoff coefficients ranged from 1–2% under grassland and mixed broadleaf forest to 57–64% on the bare sites. Coefficients for Sal forest were between these two extremes; specific values depended on the level of degradation induced by human activity. The most degraded forest sites experienced runoff coefficients of 33%. Ground cover beneath the trees, especially leaf litter, was more effective in reducing runoff than the amount of canopy cover. Canopy cover was more effective during the less intense storms but was ineffective when the rainfall intensity was high. The results suggest that a minimum ground cover of 60% will keep runoff to within 10% of total rainfall amounts for most normal monsoons in the Middle Hills. This will also reduce the risk of gullying and surface soil erosion. It is the nature of the forest that is important and not its total area. In the study area, although the total area under forest had not changed, some of the forest had become more degraded with a corresponding increase in mean runoff rates. Increased runoff can occur even if the area under forest increases. Estimates of levels of degradation based solely on changing forest areas are likely to be inaccurate.     

Urban fuelwood demand and markets in a small town in South Africa: Livelihood vulnerability and alien plant control

Fuelwood is the primary energy for most households throughout the developing world. With increasing urbanization and declining local availability of fuelwood, a growing proportion of households obtain their fuelwood by purchasing it. These fuelwood markets are the key nexus in supply and demand scenarios and can be potentially significant points for intervention to address energy security amongst the urban poor. This paper reports on the fuelwood demand and marketing in a small town in South Africa. Despite the availability of more modern fuels and state subsidization of electricity, fuelwood was still used by half the households. Annual demand was 1.2 t per household. Over half of the households bought their fuelwood requirements because local stocks were limited. Those households that did collect their own fuelwood were significantly poorer than households that purchased fuelwood, as well as households that did not use fuelwood at all. Fuelwood markets operated through 45-60 vendors who transported fuelwood from further afield. Income from the fuelwood trade was low, but was strongly linked to hours worked. Thus, vendors working a full week did earn a meaningful income, especially in the context of high unemployment in the area. Fuelwood vendors also provided casual employment opportunities for unskilled labour. Most vendors harvested fuelwood from commonage lands, with most of the wood being from alien species. Local stocks of wood are declining in the face of constant transformation of commonage to residential areas, and a national water and biodiversity conservation programme to eradicate alien plants. This decline poses a threat to the financial viability of fuelwood markets. Yet, an opportunity exists to incorporate the vendors into the alien plant clearing programme, since they already perform such a function.     

Benefits and challenges of streamlined life-cycle assessment for SMEs – findings from case studies on climate change impacts

ABSTRACT

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a substantial role in the economy and job creation, but they are a remarkable source of environmental impacts. SMEs often lack skills and resources to compile environmental impact assessments; Streamlined Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) can provide efficient tools for this. An application of streamlined LCA relying heavily on database data, LCA clinic, was developed and tested on 23 SMEs in Finland. The climate change impacts were mainly caused by the production of raw materials, electricity and heating, whereas packaging and transportation were not influential. A significant amount of emissions were indirect, i.e. caused by production of raw materials. Thus, decreasing emissions from raw material production or selecting raw materials with a smaller environmental load could be a more efficient way to decrease emissions than reducing direct emissions such as those from electricity use. Lack of data in the LCA-databases was considered a challenge. An access to regionally customised datasets is important for the implementation of LCA clinics. Company feedback indicated that LCA clinics were useful in climate-friendly product design and increased environmental awareness, but did not lead to immediate actions to reduce emissions because of inadequate investment capabilities. Company managers had limited possibilities to use the results in marketing as comparative assessments would require a full LCA. Many company managers were willing to pay a fee sufficient to cover the costs of an LCA clinic, but some considered that the costs should be covered by external funding sources.     

Sustainability in manufacturing processes: practices performed in metal forming,casting, heat treatment,welding and electrostatic painting

ABSTRACT

This article aims to list the main sustainable practices developed in the processes of metal forming, casting, heat treatment, welding and electrostatic painting. When analysed the literature about sustainable manufacturing, a predominance of studies about machining is observed and the processes mentioned are few explored in academic studies. The research strategy used to reach the objective was systematic literature review, conducted for each process cited. Many sustainable practices were identified with prominence of better materials use and energy efficiency. The authors of this article believe that the information presented here can be useful for researches in their future studies and for industry professionals interested in improving manufacturing processes.     

Trophic transfer of polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polychlorinated biphenyls in a tidal freshwater marsh

The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) at Tinicum Marsh contains one of the last remaining tidal freshwater marsh communities along the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River Estuary. The marsh receives a significant load of nutrients and sediment-associated contaminants and is hypothesised to act as an effective trap for these chemicals. The goal of this study was to quantify the levels of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at various trophic levels at two sites within Tinicum Marsh and assess the factors important in determining their bioaccumulation and trophic transfer. For both PCBs and PBDEs, lipid variation for all species was a large factor in determining contaminant body burden. Also, concentrations in biota increased with increasing trophic level as determined by nitrogen isotope analysis (δ¹⁵N values) at the downstream site within Tinicum Marsh. This trend was less apparent at the upstream site and may be due to differences in feeding behaviours among species between the two sites and/or differences in carbon and nitrogen sources and recycling. These data are valuable in assisting bioaccumulation/trophic transfer studies and serve as benchmarks to which future PCB and PBDE concentrations will be compared.     

Physicochemical properties of non-living water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and lesser duckweed (Lemna minor) and their influence on the As(V) adsorption processes

Eichhornia crassipes (Ec) and Lemna minor (Lm) are aquatic plants. They are considered as weeds of the water and approach being a scourge in many parts of the world, choking waterways and hindering transport upon them. At the same time they are known to readily remove heavy metal ions from water. This paper considers the use of non-living plants as novel and inexpensive biosorbent for the removal of As(V) from watersheds. In the first place they were conditioned and characterised to determine their physicochemical and surface properties and in the second place their adsorption properties for As(V) from aqueous solution were evaluated considering the toxicity of this metalloid in the environment. It describes the methodology to prepare the non-living biomasses; the physicochemical characterisation by SEM, XRD, FTIR, TGA analyses and surface characterisation of Ec and Lm by specific surface, hydration kinetic, point of zero charge determination by mass titration, active site density and XPS analysis are described. Both studied biomasses were found to be potential bio-sorbents for arsenic ions from aqueous solution. According to their efficiency to remove arsenic, they can be used in a very low cost metalloid ions removal system.