Status report on flood warning systems in the United States

One of the major changes in flash-flood mitigation in the past decade is the number of communities that have implemented warning systems. The authors conducted a survey of 18 early-warning systems in the United States developed by communities or regions to provide protection against flash floods or dam failures. Problems revealed by the study included the following: equipment malfunctions, inadequate maintenance funding, inconsistent levels of protection and expenditure, inconsistent levels of expectations and formalization, varying levels of local commitment to the systems, underemphasis on response capability, and a tendency to over-rely on warning systems. The study also revealed some unanticipated benefits experienced by the survey communities: the warning systems serve as valuable data collection tools, a great deal of interagency cooperation has been demonstrated, and warning systems offer increased alternatives to structural modification projects. The interjurisdictional nature of drainage basins, the evolving roles of the various federal agencies involved in flood mitigation, and the lack of governmental standards of operations for flood warning systems are issues that must be considered as communities make decisions regarding the adoption of warning systems. The record on these systems is too short for a precise assessment of how successful they are; however, results of the study indicate that if the goal of reducing loss of life and property from flooding is to be achieved, warning systems must be only one part of a comprehensive flood loss reduction program.     

Linking molecular interactions to consequent effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) upon populations

There is great concern about the potential adverse effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on wildlife. Threats come from toxic chemicals with long half lives in the environment that were released worldwide on a large scale in the past, at a time when little was known of their potential effects on the environment. Although the Stockholm Convention (2001) initially targeted 12 POP chemicals--organochlorinated compounds--for the reduction/elimination of releases, the problem can be extended to persistent toxic substances more generally. Therefore, identifying early biomarkers for possible toxic effects to populations in the long term is a challenge for ecotoxicologists. Regional decline in fish, bird and/or invertebrate populations resulting from exposure to POPs, such as DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), PCDD (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins), and TBT (tributyltin) could be related to some biochemical, endocrine and physiological effects in individuals. Examples of known mechanisms of POP ecotoxicity will be illustrated in the first part. The next parts will be devoted to (i) data gaps and limitations to extrapolation from lower to higher levels of biological organization, (ii) confusing factors in field studies and the combined effects of persistent toxic pollutants and (iii) recommendations for the design and interpretation of experimental studies.     

Biomarkers and community indices as complementary tools for environmental safety

Research on biomarkers as early bioindicators of perturbation in populations and individuals has been gaining ground over the last decade. This ecotoxicological approach relies on the fact that changes occur at low levels of organization before the community is affected and thus they can be monitored to assess environmental safety. Changes may concern behavior, physiology, biochemistry, or genomic structure and functioning, and may impair population dynamics in the long-term.Ecotoxicity studies based on biomarkers allow us to measure the impact of environmental stressors and to easily follow the evolution of the systems towards degradation or restoration. Over and above their use as simple indices of exposure to specific pollutants, biomarkers can give an insight into ecosystem health.The results of our experience in field studies involving ecotoxicologists and ecologists will be presented in order to illustrate the relevance of such an integrating strategy for environmental quality assessment.     

High-temporal resolution landscape changes related to anthropogenic activities over the past millennium in the Vosges Mountains (France)

Iron mining activities in the Bruche valley (Vosges Mountains, France) date historically from the Roman period to the mid-nineteenth century. The geochemical and palynological study of a core from the peat bog of Le Champ du Feu allows highlighting impacts of these activities over the past millennium. Trace metal contamination is recorded for lead (Pb), arsenic, zinc, and antimony during the Middle Ages, the sixteenth century, and from cal. ad 1750–1900, with several sources distinguished by Pb isotope analyses. Forest exploitation is attested by the palynological analysis of the core, with exploitation of Fagus for smelting processes and cutting of Abies for agro-pastoralism. This approach highlights several patterns of contamination, corresponding to the mixing sources and the contamination intensity, which can be linked to the pollen assemblage zones. Hence, anthropogenic activities such as mining and farming led to long-term modification of the landscape composition in this mountainous area.     

Corbicula fluminea gene expression modulated by CeO2 nanomaterials and salinity

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Cerium dioxide nanomaterials (CeO2 NMs) are used in different fields and incorporated in daily products. Several studies highlighted their effects on...     

Sustainability or collapse: what can we learn from integrating the history of humans and the rest of nature?

Understanding the history of how humans have interacted with the rest of nature can help clarify the options for managing our increasingly interconnected global system. Simple, deterministic relationships between environmental stress and social change are inadequate. Extreme drought, for instance, triggered both social collapse and ingenious management of water through irrigation. Human responses to change, in turn, feed into climate and ecological systems, producing a complex web of multidirectional connections in time and space. Integrated records of the co-evolving human-environment system over millennia are needed to provide a basis for a deeper understanding of the present and for forecasting the future. This requires the major task of assembling and integrating regional and global historical, archaeological, and paleoenvironmental records. Humans cannot predict the future. But, if we can adequately understand the past, we can use that understanding to influence our decisions and to create a better, more sustainable and desirable future.