Regulatory frameworks to ensure municipal drinking water safety exist in most North American jurisdictions. However, similar protection is rarely provided to people reliant on water provided from private wells. In Canada, approximately 4 million people depend on privately owned, domestic wells for their drinking water. Numerous studies have shown that people who rely on private wells for their water supplies are at risk from nitrate and bacterial contamination. Given the fact that regulations relating to private wells tend to be weak or poorly enforced, actions taken by well owners to protect their own drinking water safety are extremely important. Drawing on one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys of private well owners ever conducted in Canada or elsewhere, this paper explores factors that influence well owner stewardship behaviour. Key behaviours examined included annual testing of well water and inspection of wells, measures to protect water quality, and proper decommissioning of unused wells. A geographically-stratified survey, sent to 4950 well owners in Ontario, Canada, resulted in an effective response rate of 34% (n = 1567). Logistic regression analyses revealed that motivations for well stewardship behaviours included reassurance, the perception of problems, and knowledge of the environment. Knowing how to perform stewardship behaviours was an important antecedent to action. Barriers to stewardship included complacency, inconvenience, ignorance, cost, and privacy concerns. To promote stewardship, local initiatives, better educational materials, and enforcement through real estate laws are all required. Ultimately, drinking water safety for people reliant on private wells is shown to be a responsibility shared by governments and private well owners. 相似文献
This paper explores the lessons learned by leaders in agricultural adaptation planning in order to assist other jurisdictions to develop adaptation strategies. It seeks to identify effective institutional, participatory and collaborative processes involved in designing agricultural adaptation strategies at the national and sub-national levels in Germany, Finland, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Its methodology is based on review of agricultural adaptation policy documents, research initiatives, stakeholder engagement processes, and cross-sectoral collaborations as well as interviews with key informants such as leaders and actors in adaptation planning. The gathered data show that early adapters have an improved regional and national understanding of climatic impacts, and of the risks to agriculture before the initiation of the planning process. The results indicate that the interplay between bottom-up and top-down initiatives has been crucial in the development of adaptation strategies. The former has provided rich and robust participation in designing, implementing and monitoring adaptations, while the latter was important for prioritizing and legitimizing the development of strategy. It also provided access to high-level decision makers and funding. The results of the study suggest that fostering cross-sectoral collaborations—especially by focusing on broader questions such as the role of agriculture in society—has become an important part of adaptation planning. Finally, our results also stress that adaptation planning in agriculture could be enhanced by skills development and mutual learning across stakeholder groups, research and policy-makers, and through the ongoing interactive development of institutional capabilities. 相似文献
Abstract The overall purpose of this study was to assess whether interaction with a regionally based computer simulation software tool, Gb-Quest, was an effective tool for learning about sustainability. A questionnaire was administered to 189 participants, before and after attending a workshop on Gb-Quest. Factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure of the three scales used in this study. Seven variables were identified and were examined for group differences (gender, age, and whether or not they were Canadian born). In particular, younger individuals and males were more likely to endorse the view that the earth is being destroyed by humans. In addition, Canadian-born individuals were more likely to endorse the consumption of environmentally friendly products, but less likely to be supportive of development and using public transportation. We also examined change for each of the variables and found that Gb-Quest had an effect on all of them. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for future research. 相似文献
Fish from the Great Lakes contain polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)which have been shown to disrupt endocrine function and mimic thyroid hormones,but they also contain beneficial omega-3 fatty acids that may offer protection against endocrine cancers.The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Lake Ontario fish consumption and the estimated consumption of PCBs and omega-3 fatty acids on the risk of thyroid cancer in a group of sport fishermen.Anglers from the New York State Angler Cohort Study were followed for cancer incidence from 1991–2008.Twenty-seven cases of incident thyroid cancer and 108 controls were included in the analyses.Total estimated fish consumption,estimated omega-3 fatty acid consumption,and estimated PCB consumption from Lake Ontario fish were examined for an association with the incidence of thyroid cancer,while matching on sex,and controlling for age and smoking status.Results from logistic regression indicate no significant associations between fish consumption,short-term estimated omega-3 fatty acids,or estimated PCB consumption from Great Lakes fish and the development of thyroid cancer,but it was suggested that long-term omega-3 fatty acid from Great Lakes fish may be protective of the development of thyroid cancer.In conclusion,fish consumption,with the possible concomitant PCBs,from the Great Lakes does not appear to increase the risk of thyroid cancer in New York anglers.Further research is needed in order to separate the individual health effects of PCBs from omega-3 fatty acids contained within the fish. 相似文献
An increase in the rate of sea-level rise and potential changes in storminess represent important components of global climate
change that will likely affect the extensive coasts of the Northeastern USA. Raising sea level not only increases the likelihood
of coastal flooding, but changes the template for waves and tides to sculpt the coast, which can lead to land loss orders
of magnitude greater than that from direct inundation alone. There is little question that sea-level rise, and in particular
an increased rate of rise, will result in permanent losses of coastal land. However, quantitative predictions of these future
coastal change remains difficult due in part to the complexity of coastal systems and the influence of infrequent storm events,
and is further confounded by coastal science’s insufficient understanding of the behavior of coastal systems over decadal
timescales. Recently, dramatic improvements in technology have greatly improved our capabilities to investigate and characterize
processes and sedimentary deposits in the coastal zone, allowing us, for the first time, to address some of the over-arching
problems involved in shoreline change. Despite advances in many areas of coastal geology, our fundamental understanding of
shoreline change has been limited by a lack of a broad and integrated scientific focus, a lack of resources, and a lack of
willingness on the part of policymakers who make crucial decisions about human activity along the coast to support basic research
in this area. Although quantitative predictions remain constrained, there remains little doubt that the predicted climates
changes will have profound effects upon the Northeastern coast. 相似文献
Environmental radionuclides can be employed as tracers of sediment movement and delivery to water bodies such as lakes and reservoirs. The chronologies of sediments that have accumulated in the Cordeaux reservoir in Sydney, Australia, were determined by the rate of change of (210)Pb(ex) with depth and indicate slow accretion in the reservoir. The ratio of enrichment of radionuclides in sediment cores to (210)Pb(ex) and (137)Cs concentrations in a reference soil sample within the Cordeaux catchment indicates that the dominant source of sediment in the Cordeaux reservoir is surface erosion (detachment and removal of sediment at depths less than 30 cm). However, in the Kembla Creek arm of the reservoir a mixture of sources was detected and includes sheet and rill erosion together with sub-soil contributions. Implications for the utility of these radionuclide sedimentation assessments, especially where samples are limited, are that well-constrained chronologies and sources of soil erosion are facilitated. 相似文献
Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - This study aimed to quantify the amount of pharmaceutical waste produced in New Zealand, and determine the composition of pharmaceutical waste from... 相似文献
Degradation of warmwater streams in agricultural landscapes is a pervasive problem, and reports of restoration effectiveness
based on monitoring data are rare. Described is the outcome of rehabilitation of two deeply incised, unstable sand-and-gravel-bed
streams. Channel networks of both watersheds were treated using standard erosion control measures, and aquatic habitats within
1-km-long reaches of each stream were further treated by addition of instream structures and planting woody vegetation on
banks (“habitat rehabilitation”). Fish and their habitats were sampled semiannually during 1–2 years before rehabilitation,
3–4 years after rehabilitation, and 10–11 years after rehabilitation. Reaches with only erosion control measures located upstream
from the habitat measure reaches and in similar streams in adjacent watersheds were sampled concurrently. Sediment concentrations
declined steeply throughout both watersheds, with means ≥40% lower during the post-rehabilitation period than before. Physical
effects of habitat rehabilitation were persistent through time, with pool habitat availability much higher in rehabilitated
reaches than elsewhere. Fish community structure responded with major shifts in relative species abundance: as pool habitats
increased after rehabilitation, small-bodied generalists and opportunists declined as certain piscivores and larger-bodied
species such as centrarchids and catostomids increased. Reaches without habitat rehabilitation were significantly shallower,
and fish populations there were similar to the rehabilitated reaches prior to treatment. These findings are applicable to
incised, warmwater streams draining agricultural watersheds similar to those we studied. Rehabilitation of warmwater stream
ecosystems is possible with current knowledge, but a major shift in stream corridor management strategies will be needed to
reverse ongoing degradation trends. Apparently, conventional channel erosion controls without instream habitat measures are
ineffective tools for ecosystem restoration in incised, warmwater streams of the Southeastern U.S., even if applied at the
watershed scale and accompanied by significant reductions in suspended sediment concentration. 相似文献
Phosphogypsum (PG) is a large hazardous waste from fertiliser and phosphoric acid industries from which useful products including rare-earth elements (REEs) can be recovered depending on the treatment process. Its conversion to calcium sulphide (CaS) which was achieved at 95% followed by the formation of S, CaCO3 and residue is one of the plausible treatment processes leading to economic and environmental benefits. This study aimed at monitoring selected REEs behaviour during the conversion of (PG) to (CaS). The concentrations of REEs in the raw PG, the produced CaS and the obtained residue were determined after digestion (microwave and traditional acid leaching) using ICP-OES. The effect of CO2 and H2S used in the process of forming CaCO3 and S from PG on the concentrations of REEs was also investigated. Microwave digestion proved to be more effective than traditional acid leaching in the recovery of REEs. Microwave digestion using 3 mL HNO3 + 1 mL HCl was more effective than 1 mL HNO3 + 3 mL in REEs recovery. CaS contained the highest amount of Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Dy, Ho, Er, La and Y with values of 2646, 476, 2255, 320, 60.5, 376, 79.8, 1.24, 476, 1185 and 318 µg/g respectively. Based on these findings, the residue could be further processed to recover REEs despite less than 40% decrease in concentration for the majority of REEs observed due to the use of H2S and CO2. CO2 was found to be more suitable as fewer REEs were leached as compared to H2S. All things considered, the obtained residue could be a good secondary source of REEs as it is easier to leach, retained good amount of REEs and lesser impurities.