Work less,do less?

A reduction in working hours is being considered to tackle issues associated with ecological sustainability, social equity and enhanced life satisfaction—a so-called triple dividend. With respect to an environmental dividend, the authors analyse the time use rebound effects of reducing working time. They explore how an increase in leisure time triggers a rearrangement of time and expenditure budgets, and thus the use of resources in private households. Does it hold true that time-intensive activities replace resource-intensive consumption when people have more discretionary time at their disposal? This study on environmental issues is complemented by introducing the parameters of voluntary social engagement and individual life satisfaction as potential co-benefits of rebound effects. In order to analyse the first dividend, a mixed methods approach is adopted, enabling two models of time use rebound effects to be applied. First, semi-standardised interviews reveal that environmentally ambiguous substitutions of activities occur following a reduction in working hours. Second, estimates for Germany from national surveys on time use and expenditure show composition effects of gains in leisure time and income loss. For the latter, we estimate the marginal propensity to consume and the marginal propensity to time use. The results show that time savings due to a reduction in working time trigger relevant rebound effects in terms of resource use. However, both the qualitative and quantitative findings put the rebound effects following a reduction in working time into perspective. Time use rebound effects lead to increased voluntary social engagement and greater life satisfaction, the second and third dividends.     

Ecosystem services in mountain regions: experts’ perceptions and research intensity

Facing the challenges of global and regional changes, society urgently needs applicable and broadly accepted tools to effectively manage and protect ecosystem services (ES). This requires knowing which ES are perceived as important. We asked decision-makers from different thematic backgrounds to rank 25 ES on the basis of their importance for society. To test whether perceptions are varying across regions, we surveyed three Alpine regions in Austria and Italy. The ranking of importance showed a high variability amongst experts but was not influenced by region or thematic background. ES that satisfy physiological needs (‘fresh water’, ‘food’, ‘air quality regulation’) were indicated as most important. ES that relate to safety and security needs were ranked in the middle field, whereas cultural ES were perceived as less important. We used principal component analysis (PCA) to identify ES bundles based on perception of importance. In order to investigate whether research intensity follows the perceived importance, we related the interviews with a comprehensive literature review. ‘Global climate regulation’, ‘food’, ‘biodiversity’, ‘fresh water’ and ‘water quality’ were studied most often. Although ‘habitat’, ‘energy’, ‘primary production’, ‘tourism’, ‘water cycle’, and ‘local climate regulation’ were ranked as important by decision-makers, they did not receive corresponding research attention. We conclude that more interaction between research and stakeholders is needed to promote a broader application and understanding of the ES concept in practice. The use of ES bundles could help to manage its inherent complexity and facilitate its application.     

Effects of wildfire on runoff generating processes in northern Mongolia

Regional Environmental Change - Seasonal runoff generation in a headwater (~100 km2) of the mountainous Sugnugr Basin, situated within the discontinuous permafrost zone of...     

Influence of various emission scenarios on ozone in Europe

In this study, we investigated the effect of numerous regulations enforced since 1985 to improve air quality on ozone in Europe with the focus on Switzerland, using the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) for a specific summer period. Several emission scenarios for the year 2010 were also considered. The model results suggest that the emission reductions of ozone precursors should have been effective to reduce ozone production between 1985 and 2000 in northern Switzerland. However, observations do not indicate any significant change in surface ozone levels since early 1990s, except in the region of Zurich where there is a small negative trend. On the other hand, the model predictions match very well the spatial variability of the trends but the calculated trends are around 0.5 ppb year⁻¹ lower than those observed. This difference is similar to the background ozone increase as suggested by the long-term observations at the high Alpine station Jungfraujoch. These results support the hypothesis that the decrease in local ozone production due to emission reductions might have been partly or completely compensated by the simultaneous increase in the background ozone. In 2010, a strict application of the Gothenburg Protocol in Europe would lead to a decrease in peak ozone concentrations by about 5% in Switzerland under the meteorological conditions applied. Our calculations also indicated that emission controls only in Switzerland would not be very effective to improve the air quality in the future. The further development of the background ozone will in any case be very important for the tropospheric ozone levels.     

Multidimensional risk analysis of antifouling biocides

In order to improve the orientation about the long-term sustainability of the use of the antifouling biocides tributyltin (TBT), copper, Irgarol® 1051, Sea-Nine? 211 and zinc pyrithione, used for the protection of fouling in sea-going ships, the risks posed to the marine biosphere due to their use are evaluated. The newly presented method of risk analysis uses release rate, spatiotemporal range, bioaccumulation, bioactivity and uncertainty as 5 dimensions of ecotoxicological risk. For each dimension, a scoring procedure is briefly described. The resulting risk profiles of the antifouling biocides show characteristics of the different substances, but also indicate where further information is required. Application of the method is proposed as a decision support in the integrated development of products, informed purchasing and for regulatory purposes.     

Scrutinizing compost properties and their impact on methane oxidation efficiency

Methane emissions from active or closed landfills can be reduced by means of microbial methane oxidation enhanced by properly designed landfill covers and engineered biocovers. Composts produced using different waste materials have already been proven to support methane oxidation, and may represent a low-cost alternative to other suitable substrates such as sandy or humic-rich soils, which are frequently not available in sufficient amounts or are too costly. In the present study a data set of 30 different compost materials (different age and input materials) and mixtures, as well as seven soils and mineral substrates were tested to assess methane oxidation rate under similar conditions in a laboratory column set-up. Multivariate data analysis (discriminant analysis) was applied to predict the influence of 21 different parameters (chemical, maturation and physical) on methane oxidation rate in a PLS-DA model. The results show that bulk density, total nutrient content (nitrogen and phosphorus), as well as the quantity and quality (with respect to maturity) of organic matter determined methane oxidation rate in this data set. The model explained 50% of the data variation, indicating how characterisation of oxidation rate by single, even diverse conventional parameters was limited. Thus for the first time, Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was applied to a series of samples to better determine the characteristics of methane-oxidising materials. The initial data obtained in this study appear to be most promising. The prediction of specific methane oxidation rate of a potential biocover material from FTIR spectra and multivariate data analyses is a target to be focused on in the future.     

Verteilungskoeffizienten chlorierter Kohlenwasserstoffe zwischen Muskulatur und Leber bei Fischen

Measured partition coefficients (KL_M/L) related to lipid-concentrations between the muscle (C_ML) and liver (C_LL) tissue of two fish species (Abramis brama, Zoarces viviparus) exhibit nominal values of unity according the relationship KL_M/L=C_ML/C_LL=1 for persistent compounds such as highly chlorinated PCB and values above one for degradable compounds for example chlorinated cyclohexanes or DDT. The corresponding theory is presented. The relationship holds for samples for single fish as well as for pooled samples.     

Summaries

Summaries

Summaries     

New Unstructured Mesh Water Quality Model for Cooling Water Biocide Discharges

A new unstructured mesh coastal water and air quality model has been developed that includes species transport, nonlinear decay, by-product formation, and mass-exchange between sea and atmosphere. The model has been programmed with a graphical user interface and is applicable to coastal seawater, lakes, and rivers. Focused on species conversion and interaction with the atmosphere, the water and air quality model follows a modular approach. It is a compatible module which simulates distributions based on fluid dynamic field data of underlying existing hydrodynamic and atmospheric simulations. Nonlinear and spline approximations of decay and growth kinetics, by-product formation, and joint sea–atmosphere simulation have been embedded. The Windows application software includes functions allowing error analysis concerning mesh and finite volume approximation. In this work, a submerged residual chlorine cooling water discharge and halogenated matter by-product formation has been simulated. An error analysis has been carried out by varying vertical meshing, time-steps and comparing results based on explicit and implicit finite volume approximation. The new model has been named 3D Simulation for Marine and Atmospheric Reactive Transport, in short 3D SMART.