Forest fires and adaptation options in Europe

This paper presents a quantitative assessment of adaptation options in the context of forest fires in Europe under projected climate change. A standalone fire model (SFM) based on a state-of-the-art large-scale forest fire modelling algorithm is used to explore fuel removal through prescribed burnings and improved fire suppression as adaptation options. The climate change projections are provided by three climate models reflecting the SRES A2 scenario. The SFM’s modelled burned areas for selected test countries in Europe show satisfying agreement with observed data coming from two different sources (European Forest Fire Information System and Global Fire Emissions Database). Our estimation of the potential increase in burned areas in Europe under “no adaptation” scenario is about 200 % by 2090 (compared with 2000–2008). The application of prescribed burnings has the potential to keep that increase below 50 %. Improvements in fire suppression might reduce this impact even further, e.g. boosting the probability of putting out a fire within a day by 10 % would result in about a 30 % decrease in annual burned areas. By taking more adaptation options into consideration, such as using agricultural fields as fire breaks, behavioural changes, and long-term options, burned areas can be potentially reduced further than projected in our analysis.     

Understanding non-compliance in small-scale fisheries: Shark fishing in Myanmar’s Myeik Archipelago

Achieving fisheries compliance is challenging in contexts where enforcement capacity is limited and the incentives for rule-breaking are strong. This challenge is exemplified in Myanmar, where an active shark fishery exists despite a nationwide ban on targeted shark fishing. We used the Kipling method (5W1H) to gather a complete story of non-compliance in five small-scale fishing communities in the Myeik Archipelago. Among 144 fishers surveyed, 49% were aware of the nationwide ban. Shark fishers (24%) tended to be younger individuals who did not own a boat and perceived shark fishing to be prevalent. Compliant fishers were motivated by a fear of sharks and lack of capacity (equipment, knowledge), whereas food and income were cited as key motivations for non-compliance. The results of our study emphasize that in resource-dependent communities, improving compliance for effective shark conservation may require addressing broader issues of poverty, food security and the lack of alternatives.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01400-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Markets and environmental management with a storable pollutant

Lee [J. Environ. Econ. Manag., in press] investigates possibilities where pollutants may be stored for a period of time and later released into the environment when adverse effects are minimal. The treatment and storage of pollutants before their release into the environment is a crucial part of many abatement programs. Surprisingly, emission charges will not induce optimal abatement when storage is possible. This occurs because the firms' response to the dynamic tax is indeterminant. We suggest alternative controls, whereby rights to emit pollutants are sold competitively and demonstrate that markets provide incentives for the optimal generation-storage-emission of pollution by firms. In deriving this result an important difference between markets and taxes is revealed. With markets there is still indeterminacy at the firm level, but the aggregate response of all firms is dictated by market forces that insure pollution is reduced by some desired amount.     

Statistical Evaluation of Variables Affecting Occurrence of Hydrocarbons in Aquifers Used for Public Supply,California

The variables affecting the occurrence of hydrocarbons in aquifers used for public supply in California were assessed based on statistical evaluation of three large statewide datasets; gasoline oxygenates also were analyzed for comparison with hydrocarbons. Benzene is the most frequently detected (1.7%) compound among 17 hydrocarbons analyzed at generally low concentrations (median detected concentration 0.024 μg/l) in groundwater used for public supply in California; methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE) is the most frequently detected (5.8%) compound among seven oxygenates analyzed (median detected concentration 0.1 μg/l). At aquifer depths used for public supply, hydrocarbons and MTBE rarely co‐occur and are generally related to different variables; in shallower groundwater, co‐occurrence is more frequent and there are similar relations to the density or proximity of potential sources. Benzene concentrations are most strongly correlated with reducing conditions, regardless of groundwater age and depth. Multiple lines of evidence indicate that benzene and other hydrocarbons detected in old, deep, and/or brackish groundwater result from geogenic sources of oil and gas. However, in recently recharged (since ~1950), generally shallower groundwater, higher concentrations and detection frequencies of benzene and hydrocarbons were associated with a greater proportion of commercial land use surrounding the well, likely reflecting effects of anthropogenic sources, particularly in combination with reducing conditions.     

An empirical survey of the benefits of implementing pay for safety scheme (PFSS) in the Hong Kong construction industry

Introduction

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) has implemented different safety initiatives to improve the safety performance of the construction industry over the past decades. The Pay for Safety Scheme (PFSS), which is one of the effective safety measures launched by the government in 1996, has been widely adopted in the public works contracts. Both the accident rate and fatality rate of public sector projects have decreased noticeably over this period.

Method

This paper aims to review the current state of application of PFSS in Hong Kong, and attempts to identify and analyze the perceived benefits of PFSS in construction via an industry-wide empirical questionnaire survey. A total of 145 project participants who have gained abundant handson experience with the PFSS construction projects were requested to complete a survey questionnaire to indicate the relative importance of those benefits identified in relation to PFSS. The perceived benefits were measured and ranked from the perspectives of the client and contractor for crosscomparison.

Results

The survey findings suggested the most significant benefits derived from adopting PFSS were: (a) Increased safety training; (b) Enhanced safety awareness; (c) Encouragement of developing safety management system; and (d) Improved safety commitment. A wider application of PFSS should be advocated so as to achieve better safety performance within the construction industry.

Impact on Industry

It is recommended that a similar scheme to the PFSS currently adopted in Hong Kong may be developed for implementation in other regions or countries for international comparisons.     

Potential Methods for Managing Prymnesium parvum Blooms and Toxicity,With Emphasis on Clay and Barley Straw: A Review1

Hagström, Johannes A., Mario R. Sengco, and Tracy A. Villareal, 2010. Potential Methods for Managing Prymnesium parvum Blooms and Toxicity, With Emphasis on Clay and Barley Straw: A Review. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(1):187-198. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2009.00402.x Abstract: Harmful algal bloom (HAB) control and mitigation is a complex problem in ecosystem management. Phytoplankton play an important role in aquatic ecosystems as primary producers and food sources for many commercially important shellfish and there are limited options for targeting just a single species within the community. Chemical treatments (e.g., algaecides), rotting barley straw, nitrogen and phosphorus manipulation, and clay and/or flocculants are but a few techniques tested or used to reduce fish kills or shellfish contamination during a HAB event. Prymnesium parvum control has focused on the use of chemicals, nutrient manipulation, and clay flocculation. However, many HAB control methods have been rejected due to their effects on ecosystems, high costs, or limited effects on target organisms. For example, rotting barley straw (Hordeum vulgare) is considered to be an environmentally friendly alternative, but has been found to have very different results on the phytoplankton community depending on the dominating taxa and is ineffective against P. parvum and dinoflagellate blooms. Clay flocculation is a useful control/mitigation technique during fish kills in marine aquaculture sites in South Korea and can be effective in freshwater if the correct combination of clay and flocculent is used. Toxins produced by P. parvum and Karenia brevis also bind to phosphatic clay, thereby removing and/or neutralizing the toxins, but there is concern that the clay will have a negative effect on sessile organisms. Some shellfish suffer high mortalities and significant impacts on somatic and reproductive tissue growth at high clay loads; however, benthic communities appear to be unchanged after five years of clay treatment in South Korea. There are likely site-specific and ecosystem-specific characteristics that make generalizations about control options difficult and require careful assessment of options at each location.     

Variations in pesticide leaching related to land use, pesticide properties, and unsaturated zone thickness

Pesticide leaching through variably thick soils beneath agricultural fields in Morgan Creek, Maryland was simulated for water years 1995 to 2004 using LEACHM (Leaching Estimation and Chemistry Model). Fifteen individual models were constructed to simulate five depths and three crop rotations with associated pesticide applications. Unsaturated zone thickness averaged 4.7 m but reached a maximum of 18.7 m. Average annual recharge to ground water decreased from 15.9 to 11.1 cm as the unsaturated zone increased in thickness from 1 to 10 m. These point estimates of recharge are at the lower end of previously published values, which used methods that integrate over larger areas capturing focused recharge in the numerous detention ponds in the watershed. The total amount of applied and leached masses for five parent pesticide compounds and seven metabolites were estimated for the 32-km2 Morgan Creek watershed by associating each hectare to the closest one-dimensional model analog of model depth and crop rotation scenario as determined from land-use surveys. LEACHM parameters were set such that branched, serial, first-order decay of pesticides and metabolites was realistically simulated. Leaching is predicted to be greatest for shallow soils and for persistent compounds with low sorptivity. Based on simulation results, percent parent compounds leached within the watershed can be described by a regression model of the form e(-depth) (a ln t1/2-b ln K OC) where t1/2 is the degradation half-life in aerobic soils, K OC is the organic carbon normalized sorption coefficient, and a and b are fitted coefficients (R2 = 0.86, p value = 7 x 10(-9)).     

Pesticide fate and transport throughout unsaturated zones in five agricultural settings, USA

Pesticide transport through the unsaturated zone is a function of chemical and soil characteristics, application, and water recharge rate. The fate and transport of 82 pesticides and degradates were investigated at five different agricultural sites. Atrazine and metolachlor, as well as several of the degradates of atrazine, metolachlor, acetochlor, and alachlor, were frequently detected in soil water during the 2004 growing season, and degradates were generally more abundant than parent compounds. Metolachlor and atrazine were applied at a Nebraska site the same year as sampling, and focused recharge coupled with the short time since application resulted in their movement in the unsaturated zone 9 m below the surface. At other sites where the herbicides were applied 1 to 2 yr before sampling, only degradates were found in soil water. Transformations of herbicides were evident with depth and during the 4-mo sampling time and reflected the faster degradation of metolachlor oxanilic acid and persistence of metolachor ethanesulfonic acid. The fraction of metolachlor ethanesulfonic acid relative to metolachlor and metolachlor oxanilic acid increased from 0.3 to >0.9 at a site in Maryland where the unsaturated zone was 5 m deep and from 0.3 to 0.5 at the shallowest depth. The flux of pesticide degradates from the deepest sites to the shallow ground water was greatest (3.0-4.9 micromol m(-2) yr(-1)) where upland recharge or focused flow moved the most water through the unsaturated zone. Flux estimates based on estimated recharge rates and measured concentrations were in agreement with fluxes estimated using an unsaturated-zone computer model (LEACHM).     

Simulated fate and transport of metolachlor in the unsaturated zone, Maryland, USA

An unsaturated-zone transport model was used to examine the transport and fate of metolachlor applied to an agricultural site in Maryland, USA. The study site was instrumented to collect data on soil-water content, soil-water potential, ground water levels, major ions, pesticides, and nutrients from the unsaturated zone during 2002-2004. The data set was enhanced with site-specific information describing weather, soils, and agricultural practices. The Root Zone Water Quality Model was used to simulate physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring in the unsaturated zone. Model calibration to bromide tracer concentrations indicated flow occurred through the soil matrix. Simulated recharge rates were within the measured range of values. The pesticide transport model was calibrated to the intensive data collection period (2002-2004), and the calibrated model was then used to simulate the period 1984 through 2004 to examine the impact of sustained agricultural management practices on the concentrations of metolachlor and its degradates at the study site. Simulation results indicated that metolachlor degrades rapidly in the root zone but that the degradates are transported to depth in measurable quantities. Simulations indicated that degradate transport is strongly related to the duration of sustained use of metolachlor and the extent of biodegradation.