The effect of papermill wastewater and organic amendments of sodium accumulation by potted cottonwoods

In this experiment, the impacts of pulp mill effluent irrigation, Fraser cottonwood (Populus deltoides 'Fraser') seedlings, and pulp sludge and manure soil amendments on sodium accumulation and distribution in the soil profile were evaluated during a 6 month greenhouse study. Sludge soil amendments and wastewater irrigation did not reduce stem biomass production of the cottonwood. Increased stem biomass production associated with manure soil amendments resulted in greater total uptake of sodium into stem material. This uptake was 0.002% of wastewater sodium inputs. In containers with seedlings, sodium concentrations were less in the surface horizon and more in the lower horizons than in containers with no seedlings. Infiltration rates and total sodium accumulation in the soil profile were not affected by the presence of Fraser cottonwood or the application of sludge or manure amendments to soil.     

How to reconcile environmental and economic performance to improve corporate sustainability: corporate environmental strategies in the European paper industry

This paper discusses the relationship between environmental and economic performance and the influence of corporate strategies with regard to sustainability and the environment. After formulating a theoretical model, results are reported from an empirical analysis of the European paper manufacturing industry. New data are used to test hypotheses derived from the theoretical model, using environmental performance indices representing different corporate environmental strategy orientations. In particular, an emissions-based index largely reflecting end-of-pipe strategies and an inputs-based index reflecting integrated pollution prevention are distinguished. For the emissions-based index, a predominantly negative relationship between environmental and economic performance is found, whereas for the inputs-based index no significant link is found. This is consistent with the theoretical model, which predicts the possibility of different relationships. The results also show that for firms with pollution prevention-oriented corporate environmental strategies, the relationship between environmental and economic performance is more positive, thus making improvements in corporate sustainability more likely. Based on this last insight, managerial implications of this are discussed with regard to strategy choices, investment decisions and operations management.     

Marine nature conservation and conflicts with fisheries

Globally, conflicts between marine nature conservation and fishery interests are common and increasing, and there is often a glaring lack of dialogue between stakeholders representing these two interests. There is a need for a stronger and enforced coordination between fishing and conservation authorities when establishing marine protected areas for conservation purposes. We propose that an appropriate instrument for such coordination is a broad ecosystem-based marine spatial planning procedure, representing neither nature conservation nor fishery. Strategic environmental assessment for plans and programmes and environmental impact assessment for projects are commonly used tools for assessing the environmental impacts of different human activities, but are seldom used for evaluating the environmental effects of capture fisheries. The diversity of fisheries and the drastic effects of some fisheries on the environment are strong arguments for introducing these procedures as valuable supplements to existing fisheries assessment and management tools and able to provide relevant environmental information for an overall marine spatial planning process. Marine protected areas for nature conservation and for protection of fisheries have different objectives. Therefore, the legal procedure when establishing marine protected areas should depend on whether they are established for nature conservation purposes or as a fisheries resource management tool. Fishing in a marine protected area for conservation purpose should be regulated according to conservation law. Also, we argue that marine protected areas for conservation purposes, in the highest protection category, should primarily be established as fully protected marine national parks and marine reserves.     

CHO cell cytotoxicity and genotoxicity analyses of disinfection by-products: An updated review

The disinfection of drinking water is an important public health service that generates high quality, safe and palatable tap water. The disinfection of drinking water to reduce waterborne disease was an outstanding public health achievement of the 20th century. An unintended consequence is the reaction of disinfectants with natural organic matter, anthropogenic contaminants and bromide/iodide to form disinfection by-products (DBPs). A large number of DBPs are cytotoxic, neurotoxic, mutagenic, genotoxic, carcinogenic and teratogenic. Epidemiological studies demonstrated low but significant associations between disinfected drinking water and adverse health effects. The distribution of DBPs in disinfected waters has been well defined by advances in high precision analytical chemistry. Progress in the analytical biology and toxicology of DBPs has been forthcoming. The objective of this review was to provide a detailed presentation of the methodology for the quantitative, comparative analyses on the induction of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of 103 DBPs using an identical analytical biological platform and endpoints. A single Chinese hamster ovary cell line was employed in the assays. The data presented are derived from papers published in the literature as well as additional new data and represent the largest direct quantitative comparison on the toxic potency of both regulated and emerging DBPs. These data may form the foundation of novel research to define the major forcing agents of DBP-mediated toxicity in disinfected water and may play an important role in achieving the goal of making safe drinking water better.     

Adaptive-filtering of trisomy 21: risk of Down syndrome depends on family size and age of previous child

The neonatal incidence rate of Down syndrome (DS) is well-known to accelerate strongly with maternal age. This non-linearity renders mere accumulation of defects at recombination during prolonged first meiotic prophase implausible as an explanation for DS rate increase with maternal age, but might be anticipated from chromosomal drive (CD) for trisomy 21. Alternatively, as there is selection against genetically disadvantaged embryos, the screening system that eliminates embryos with trisomy 21 might decay with maternal age. In this paper, we provide the first evidence for relaxed filtering stringency (RFS) to represent an adaptive maternal response that could explain accelerating DS rates with maternal age. Using historical data, we show that the proportion of aberrant live births decrease with increased family size in older mothers, that inter-birth intervals are longer before affected neonates than before normal ones, and that primiparae exhibit elevated levels of DS incidence at higher age. These findings are predicted by adaptive RFS but cannot be explained by the currently available alternative non-adaptive hypotheses, including CD. The identification of the relaxation control mechanism and therapeutic restoration of a stringent screen may have considerable medical implications.     

Complex and nonlinear climate-driven changes in freshwater insect communities over 42 years

The ongoing biodiversity crisis becomes evident in the widely observed decline in abundance and diversity of species, profound changes in community structure, and shifts in species’ phenology. Insects are among the most affected groups, with documented decreases in abundance up to 76% in the last 25–30 years in some terrestrial ecosystems. Identifying the underlying drivers is a major obstacle as most ecosystems are affected by multiple stressors simultaneously and in situ measurements of environmental variables are often missing. In our study, we investigated a headwater stream belonging to the most common stream type in Germany located in a nature reserve with no major anthropogenic impacts except climate change. We used the most comprehensive quantitative long-term data set on aquatic insects available, which includes weekly measurements of species-level insect abundance, daily water temperature and stream discharge as well as measurements of additional physicochemical variables for a 42-year period (1969–2010). Overall, water temperature increased by 1.88 °C and discharge patterns changed significantly. These changes were accompanied by an 81.6% decline in insect abundance, but an increase in richness (+8.5%), Shannon diversity (+22.7%), evenness (+22.4%), and interannual turnover (+34%). Moreover, the community's trophic structure and phenology changed: the duration of emergence increased by 15.2 days, whereas the peak of emergence moved 13.4 days earlier. Additionally, we observed short-term fluctuations (<5 years) in almost all metrics as well as complex and nonlinear responses of the community toward climate change that would have been missed by simply using snapshot data or shorter time series. Our results indicate that climate change has already altered biotic communities severely even in protected areas, where no other interacting stressors (pollution, habitat fragmentation, etc.) are present. This is a striking example of the scientific value of comprehensive long-term data in capturing the complex responses of communities toward climate change.     

Fast,cheap, and imperfect? US public opinion about solar geoengineering

ABSTRACT

Solar geoengineering, which seeks to cool the planet by reflecting a small fraction of sunlight back into space, has drawn the attention of scientists and policymakers as climate change remains unabated. Unlike mitigation, solar geoengineering could quickly and cheaply lower global temperatures. It is also imperfect. Its environmental impacts remain unpredictable, and its low cost and immediate effects may result in ‘moral hazard,’ potentially crowding out costly mitigation efforts. There is little understanding about how the public will respond to such tradeoffs. To address this, a 1000-subject nationally representative poll focused on solar geoengineering was conducted as part of the Cooperative Congressional Election Study (CCES) of the US electorate in October–November 2016. The importance that individuals place on solar geoengineering’s speed and cost predicts their support for it, but there is little to no relationship between their concerns about its shortcomings and support for its research and use. Acquiescence bias appears to be an important factor for attitudes around solar geoengineering and moral hazard.     

Assessing the long-term supply risks for mineral raw materials—a combined evaluation of past and future trends

This paper develops a method for identifying and assessing long-term supply risks for mineral raw materials. The method is based on a combined evaluation of past and future supply and demand trends. By analysing raw material boom and bust cycles over the past 50 years, we have quantified indicators and defined benchmarks for identifying critical market situations. By applying the method, risks for supply shortage may be identified at an early stage. In addition, a numerical evaluation model has been developed for better comparison between various mineral raw materials. Compared to other assessment methods this method uses specific benchmarks for each raw material to better assess supply risks. The method is embedded within a systematic and comprehensive analytical approach.     

Aboveground biomass and carbon stock are related with soil humidity in a mangrove at the Piraquê-Açu River,Southeastern Brazil

In Brazil, few studies have been conducted about the assimilation of carbon and biomass accumulation in mangroves despite its great role as a carbon sink. In this sense, this study aimed to estimate the aboveground biomass (AGB) and carbon stocked by mangrove species in a stretch along the Piraquê-Açu River in southeastern Brazil, and to verify their relation with some soil parameters. For such, the height and diameter of all trees inside six plots of 100 m² were measured and used to quantify AGB through an allometric equation, and soil samples were collected to calculate granulometry, humidity, time of infiltration and permeability. Multiple regressions were used to identify relations between AGB and soil parameters. A total of 296 trees were found in the area and the AGB and carbon assimilated were 2.92 t ha^?1 and 1.46 t ha^?1, respectively. Laguncularia racemosa was the most abundant species and contributed with 61% of these values. Only a positive relation between AGB/carbon of L. racemosa and soil humidity was found, probably due to the substrate characteristics which contain a large concentration of silt/clay, and may store more water and do not yet provide firmness to the roots. By comparison, this mangrove had a low amount of AGB and carbon stocked and has yet to develop structurally. Along with other ecological functions and its associated ecosystem services such as supplying food for the local community, these features highlight the importance to conserve the studied mangrove and the interlinked coastal ecosystems.     

Climate change,future Arctic Sea ice,and the competitiveness of European Arctic offshore oil and gas production on world markets

A significant share of the world’s undiscovered oil and natural gas resources are assumed to lie under the seabed of the Arctic Ocean. Up until now, the exploitation of the resources especially under the European Arctic has largely been prevented by the challenges posed by sea ice coverage, harsh weather conditions, darkness, remoteness of the fields, and lack of infrastructure. Gradual warming has, however, improved the accessibility of the Arctic Ocean. We show for the most resource-abundant European Arctic Seas whether and how a climate induced reduction in sea ice might impact future accessibility of offshore natural gas and crude oil resources. Based on this analysis we show for a number of illustrative but representative locations which technology options exist based on a cost-minimization assessment. We find that under current hydrocarbon prices, oil and gas from the European offshore Arctic is not competitive on world markets.