Environmental sustainability is the foundation and of great significance for the sustainable development of urban agglomerations. Taking the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration as an example, we developed a method to effectively assess long-term regional environmental sustainability based on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. We used the GEE to obtain 5206 Landsat remote sensing images in the region from 1983 to 2016 and developed the comprehensive environmental index (CEI) to assess regional environmental sustainability based on the theme-oriented framework proposed by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. We found that the environmental sustainability of the urban agglomeration showed a trend of first rising, then falling, and then rising again in the past 30 years. The average CEI increased from 0.621 to 0.631 from 1985 to 1990, dropped to the lowest value of 0.618 in 2000, and then rose to the highest value of 0.672 in 2015. In particular, the extent of areas in which environmental sustainability improved (56% of the region) was greater than the extent of areas in which environmental deterioration occurred. The environmental sustainability of Hengshui, Xingtai, and Cangzhou in the southeast of the region has been significantly improved. The method proposed in this study provides an automatic, rapid, and extensible way to assess regional environmental sustainability and provides a scientific reference for improving the sustainability of the regional environment.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research - As China’s pollution problems worsen, environmental disputes are increasing rapidly. However, only 1% of environmental disputes can be resolved... 相似文献
A simulation-based interval quadratic waste load allocation (IQWLA) model was developed for supporting river water quality
management. A multi-segment simulation model was developed to generate water-quality transformation matrices and vectors under
steady-state river flow conditions. The established matrices and vectors were then used to establish the water-quality constraints
that were included in a water quality management model. Uncertainties associated with water quality parameters, cost functions,
and environmental guidelines were described as intervals. The cost functions of wastewater treatment units were expressed
in quadratic forms. A water-quality planning problem in the Changsha section of Xiangjiang River in China was used as a study
case to demonstrate applicability of the proposed method. The study results demonstrated that IQWLA model could effectively
communicate the interval-format uncertainties into optimization process, and generate inexact solutions that contain a spectrum
of potential wastewater treatment options. Decision alternatives can be generated by adjusting different combinations of the
decision variables within their solution intervals. The results are valuable for supporting local decision makers in generating
cost-effective water quality management strategies. 相似文献
In this study, a solid waste decision-support system was developed for the long-term planning of waste management in the City of Regina, Canada. Interactions among various system components, objectives, and constraints will be analyzed. Issues concerning planning for cost-effective diversion and prolongation of the landfill will be addressed. Decisions of system-capacity expansion and waste allocation within a multi-facility, multi-option, and multi-period context will be obtained. The obtained results would provide useful information and decision-support for the City's solid waste management and planning. In the application, four scenarios are considered. Through the above scenario analyses under different waste-management policies, useful decision support for the City's solid waste managers and decision makers was generated. Analyses for the effects of varied policies (for allowable waste flows to different facilities) under 35 and 50% diversion goals were also undertaken. Tradeoffs among system cost and constraint-violation risk were analyzed.Generally, a policy with lower allowable waste-flow levels corresponded to a lower system cost under advantageous conditions but, at the same time, a higher penalty when such allowances were violated. A policy with higher allowable flow levels corresponded to a higher cost under disadvantageous conditions. The modeling results were useful for (i) scheduling adequate time and capacity for long-term planning of the facility development and/or expansion in the city's waste management system, (ii) adjusting of the existing waste flow allocation patterns to satisfy the city's diversion goal, and (iii) generating of desired policies for managing the city's waste generation, collection and disposal. 相似文献