Phosphine by bio-corrosion of phosphide-rich iron

Phosphine is a toxic agent and part of the phosphorus cycle. A hitherto unknown formation mechanism for phosphine in the environment was investigated. When iron samples containing iron phosphide were incubated in corrosive aquatic media affected by microbial metabolites, phosphine was liberated and measured by gas chromatography. Iron liberates phosphine especially in anoxic aquatic media under the influence of sulfide and an acidic pH. A phosphine-forming mechanism is suggested: Phosphate, an impurity of iron containing minerals, is reduced abioticly to iron phosphide. When iron is exposed to the environment (e.g. as outdoor equipment, scrap, contamination in iron milled food or as iron meteorites) and corrodes, the iron phosphide present in the iron is suspended in the medium and can hydrolyze to phosphine. Phosphine can accumulate to measurable quantities in anoxic microbial media, accelerating corrosion and preserving the phosphine formed from oxidation.     

Climate change impacts on tree crop suitability in Southeast Asia

Regional Environmental Change - Understanding popular attitudes to climate change can be important in developing effective climate adaptation responses. However, in the Pacific region, which is at...     

Analysis of macroinvertebrate assemblages in relation to environmental gradients among lotic habitats of California's Central Valley

We assessed relationships between environmental characteristicsand macroinvertebrate assemblages in lotic habitats of California's Central Valley with community metric and multivariate statistical approaches. Using canonical ordinationanalyses, we contrasted results when assemblage structure was assessed with macroinvertebrate metrics, as suggested for use inindices of biotic integrity, or with genera abundances. Our objectives were to identify metrics or taxa diagnostic of loticenvironmental stressors and compare the capacity of theseapproaches to detect stressors in order to suggest how they mightbe used to diagnose stressors. For macroinvertebrate metrics,redundancy analysis (RDA) extracted three axes correlated withchannel morphology and substrates. For genera abundances, canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) extracted two axescorrelated with soluble salts and with channel morphology andsubstrates but did not separate these gradients onto differentaxes. Cluster analyses identified five RDA and five CCA sitegroups, which exhibited differences for environmental variables,metrics, or genera abundances, and agreement between the analysesin partitioning of sites was greater than if sites were partitioned randomly. These approaches differ in their abilityto detect environmental stressors, because they measure differentaspects of assemblages and would be complementary in design ofnew metrics diagnostic of stressors.     

Soil organic carbon storage in a mountain permafrost area of Central Asia (High Altai,Russia)

The thawing and subsequent decomposition of large stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) currently stored in the northern circumpolar permafrost region are projected to result in a ‘positive’ feedback on global warming. The magnitude of this feedback can only be assessed with improved knowledge about the total size and geographic distribution of the permafrost SOC pool. This study investigates SOC storage in an under-sampled mountain permafrost area in the Russian High Altai. SOC stocks from 39 soil pits are upscaled using a GIS-based land cover classification. We found that the top 100 cm of soils in Aktru Valley and the adjacent Kuray Basin only holds on average 2.6 ± 0.6 kg C m⁻² (95% confidence interval), of which only c. 1% is stored in permafrost. Global warming will result in an upward shift of alpine life zones, with new plant cover and soil development at higher elevations. As a result, this type of mountain permafrost area might act as a net C sink in the future, representing a ‘negative’ feedback on global warming.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01433-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

The effect of economic consequences on social judgment and choice: Reward interdependence and the preference for sociability versus competence

Competence and sociability (warmth) are fundamental dimensions of social judgment in organizations. However, these qualities are frequently seen as negatively related, with mixed evidence on which is more important. In three studies (N = 993), we investigated the effects of reward interdependence on the preference for sociability versus competence. We predicted that reward interdependence would elicit a more instrumental, calculative mindset, which in turn, would lead individuals to value competence more. Study 1 surveyed working adults who were in actual work groups and found that those who worked in more (vs. less) reward interdependent environments were more likely to think instrumentally and calculatively when considering potential colleagues. This mindset, in turn, was associated with a greater tendency to value competence over sociability. Studies 2 and 3 used an experimental design and found that when people imagined or anticipated working in a situation in which their economic outcomes depended in part on others, they were more likely to adopt an instrumental focus and choose a “competent jerk” over a “lovable fool.” These results call into question a vast social judgment literature that has made claims about the importance of sociability and related constructs without considering the context, and particularly the reward interdependence, often inherent in organizational contexts.     

Feeling interrupted—Being responsive: How online messages relate to affect at work

Being constantly connected to others via e‐mail and other online messages is increasingly typical for many employees. In this paper, we develop and test a model that specifies how interruptions by online messages relate to negative and positive affect. We hypothesize that perceived interruptions by online messages predict state negative affect via time pressure and that perceived interruptions predict state positive affect via responsiveness to these online messages and perceived task accomplishment. A daily survey study with 174 employees (a total of 811 day‐level observations) provided support for our hypotheses at the between‐person and within‐person level. In addition, perceived interruptions showed a negative direct association with perceived task accomplishment. Our study highlights the importance of being responsive to online messages and shows that addressing only the negative effects of perceived interruptions does not suffice to understand the full impact of interruptions by online messages in modern jobs.     

Foreign,Domestic, and Cultural Factors in Climate Change Reporting: Swedish Media’s Coverage of Wildfires in Three Continents

This study examines domestic media’s coverage of foreign wildfires from a climate change perspective. It explores Swedish newspapers’ coverage of wildfires in Australia, the Mediterranean region, and the USA during a three-year period (February 2013–March 2016), focusing on how and to what extent climate change is viewed as an underlying cause. A central result is that climate change is mentioned far more often in the case of Australian wildfires than of fires in the other two regions. Another finding is that the climate change issue became more prominent after a severe domestic wildfire in 2014. These observations are also examined qualitatively through a combined frame and discourse study where the importance of foreign news values, the use of foreign sources, cultural proximity/distance, and domestication procedures are analysed. In conclusion, foreign, domestic, and cultural factors in climate change reporting in relation to extreme events are further discussed.     

The power of environmental norms: marine plastic pollution and the politics of microbeads

Emerging environmental norms gain strength and diffuse more quickly when scientific evidence of harm is consolidating, when activism is intensifying, and when political and corporate resistance is relatively weak. The anti-microbead norm – that plastic microbeads should be removed from personal care products – has been gaining global influence since 2012; witness the upsurge in anti-microbead activism, public concern, voluntary corporate phasedowns and governmental bans. By 2018, the world was on track to eliminate microbeads from ‘rinse-off’ products within a decade, reducing microplastics flowing into oceans by 1–2%. This confirms the power of environmental norms, but how and why this phaseout is occurring – unequally across jurisdictions, with firms creating loopholes, missing deadlines and limiting the scope of reforms – also reveals innate weaknesses of bottom-up, ad hoc norm diffusion as a way of improving marine governance. These weaknesses are heightened when economic stakes are high, solutions are complex and costly, authority is fragmented across jurisdictions and corporate resistance is strong.     

Phosphorus transformations in plant-based and bio-waste materials induced by pyrolysis

Strategies are needed to increase the sustainability of phosphorus (P) fertiliser management in agriculture. This paper reports on the potential of pyrolysis treatment to recycle P from renewable materials previously regarded as wastes. The study used K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy to examine chemical forms of P in the waste feedstock materials and corresponding biochars (pyrolysis at 480–500 °C) of four ligno-cellulosic, plant-based residues and five relatively P-rich livestock and water-treatment by-products, to acquire information on changes in potential P fertiliser value. Pyrolysis enriched P in the biochars by factors of 1.3–4.3, thus offering wide-ranging P fertiliser potential. XANES spectroscopy revealed hydroxyapatite (HAP) as one of the dominant chemical P compounds in the feedstocks, ranging from 14% (rice husks) to 98% (animal bone) of total P. For most materials, pyrolysis increased the proportion of HAP, and pyrophosphates were generated in several cases. These alterations possibly lead to diversity in the P solubility characteristics of the biochars if used as soil amendments; this is an important property of environmentally sound P fertilisers.     

Life around the North Water ecosystem: Natural and social drivers of change over a millennium

The formation of the North Water in Smith Sound about 4500 years ago, as evidenced by the establishment of bird colonies and human presence, also initiated a long-term anthropogenic agent as part of this High Arctic ecosystem. Different epochs have influenced the human occupation in the area: immigration pulses from Canada and Alaska, trade with meteorite iron throughout the Arctic, introduction of new technologies by whalers and explorers, exploitation of resources by foreigners, political sequestration, export of fox and seal skins and later narwhal products, and recently fishing. Physical drivers in terms of weather and climate affecting the northern hemisphere also impact accessibility and productivity of the ecosystem, with cascading effects on social drivers, again acting back on the natural ecologies. Despite its apparent isolation, the ecosystem had and still has wide ranging spatial ramifications that extend beyond the High Arctic, and include human activity. The challenge is to determine what is internal and what is external to an ecosystem.