Assessing the Vulnerability of Coastal Communities to Extreme Storms: The Case of Revere,MA., USA

Climate change may affect the frequency, intensity, and geographic distribution of severe coastal storms. Concurrent sea-level rise would raise the baseline of flooding during such events. Meanwhile, social vulnerability factors such as poverty and disability hinder the ability to cope with storms and storm damage. While physical changes are likely to remain scientifically uncertain into the foreseeable future, the ability to mitigate potential impacts from coastal flooding may be fostered by better understanding the interplay of social and physical factors that produce human vulnerability. This study does so by integrating the classic causal model of hazards with social, environmental, and spatial dynamics that lead to the differential ability of people to cope with hazards. It uses Census data, factor analysis, data envelopment analysis, and floodplain maps to understand the compound social and physical vulnerability of coastal residents in the city of Revere, MA, USA. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

印度化学事故管理能力建设

提高的公众意识、更严格的法规和反应灵敏的司法体系,都是印度工业界正在改善其事故预防与准备能力的原因.目前特别需要恰如其分的培训与教育.由于心中想着此事,印度行政人员学院能源、环境与技术中心组织了一个关于化学事故管理的培训计划,以期提高化学工艺工业中事故预防与准备意识和发展这一方面的技术.介绍了该培训计划的具体目标、主要话题和所出现的问题.     

Large inter annual variation in air quality during the annual festival ‘Diwali' in an Indian megacity

A network of air quality and weather monitoring stations was established under the System of Air Quality Forecasting and Research(SAFAR) project in Delhi. We report observations of ozone(O_3), nitrogen oxides(NO_x), carbon monoxide(CO) and particulate matter(PM_2.5and PM_(10)) before, during and after the Diwali in two consecutive years, i.e., November 2010 and October 2011. The Diwali days are characterised by large firework displays throughout India. The observations show that the background concentrations of particulate matter are between 5 and 10 times the permissible limits in Europe and the United States. During the Diwali-2010, the highest observed PM_(10) and PM_2.5mass concentration is as high as2070 μg/m~3 and 1620 μg/m3, respectively(24 hr mean), which was about 20 and 27 times to National Ambient Air Quality Standards(NAAQS). For Diwali-2011, the increase in PM_(10) and PM_2.5mass concentrations was much less with their peaks of 600 and of 390 μg/m~3 respectively, as compared to the background concentrations. Contrary to previous reports,firework display was not found to strongly influence the NO_x, and O_3 mixing ratios, with the increase within the observed variability in the background. CO mixing ratios showed an increase. We show that the large difference in 2010 and 2011 pollutant concentrations is controlled by weather parameters.     

Potential benefits of drought and heat tolerance in groundnut for adaptation to climate change in India and West Africa

Climate change is projected to intensify drought and heat stress in groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) crop in rainfed regions. This will require developing high yielding groundnut cultivars that are both drought and heat tolerant. The crop growth simulation model for groundnut (CROPGRO-Groundnut model) was used to quantify the potential benefits of incorporating drought and heat tolerance and yield-enhancing traits into the commonly grown cultivar types at two sites each in India (Anantapur and Junagadh) and West Africa (Samanko, Mali and Sadore, Niger). Increasing crop maturity by 10 % increased yields up to 14 % at Anantapur, 19 % at Samanko and sustained the yields at Sadore. However at Junagadh, the current maturity of the cultivar holds well under future climate. Increasing yield potential of the crop by increasing leaf photosynthesis rate, partitioning to pods and seed-filling duration each by 10 % increased pod yield by 9 to 14 % over the baseline yields across the four sites. Under current climates of Anantapur, Junagadh and Sadore, the yield gains were larger by incorporating drought tolerance than heat tolerance. Under climate change the yield gains from incorporating both drought and heat tolerance increased to 13 % at Anantapur, 12 % at Junagadh and 31 % at Sadore. At the Samanko site, the yield gains from drought or heat tolerance were negligible. It is concluded that different combination of traits will be needed to increase and sustain the productivity of groundnut under climate change at the target sites and the CROPGRO-Groundnut model can be used for evaluating such traits.     

Microbial degradation of pyridine using Pseudomonas sp. and isolation of plasmid responsible for degradation

Pseudomonas (PI2) capable of degrading pyridine was isolated from the mixed population of the activated sludge unit which was being used for treating complex effluents, the strain was characterized. Aerobic degradation of pyridine was studied with the isolated strain and the growth parameters were evaluated. Pyridine degradation was further conformed by chromatography (HPLC) analysis. The process parameters like biomass growth and dissolved oxygen consumption were monitored during pyridine degradation. In order to conform with the plasmid capability to degrade pyridine, the requisite plasmid was isolated and transferred to DH 5alpha Escherichia coli. The subsequent biodegradation studies revealed the ability of the transformed plasmid capability to degrade the pyridine.     

Biodegradation of mono-alkyl phthalate esters in natural sediments

Mono-alkyl phthalate esters (MPEs) are primary metabolites of di-alkyl phthalate esters (DPEs), a family of industrial chemicals widely used in the production of soft polyvinyl chloride and a large range of other products. To better understand the long term fate of DPEs in the environment, we measured the biodegradation kinetics of eight MPEs (-ethyl, -n-butyl, -benzyl, -i-hexyl, -2-ethyl-hexyl, -n-octyl, -i-nonyl, and -i-decyl monoesters) in marine and freshwater sediments collected from three locations in the Greater Vancouver area. After a lag period in which no apparent biodegradation occurred, all MPEs tested showed degradation rates in both marine and freshwater sediments at 22 °C with half-lives ranging between 16 and 39 h. Half-lives increased approximately 8-fold in incubations performed at 5 °C. Biodegradation rates did not differ between marine and freshwater sediments. Half-lives did not show a relationship with increasing alkyl chain length. We conclude that MPEs can be quickly degraded in natural sediments and that the similarity in MPE degradation kinetics among sediment types suggests a wide occurrence of nonspecific esterases in microorganisms from various locations, as has been reported previously.     

Eutrophication induced changes in benthic community structure of a flow-restricted tropical estuary (Cochin backwaters), India

The influence of anthropogenic loading on the distribution of soft bottom benthic organisms of a tropical estuary (Cochin backwaters) was examined. The industrial activities were found to be high in the northern and central part of the estuary, where dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN > 210 ??M) and phosphorus (DIP > 6.5 ??M) have caused high abundance of chlorophyll a (up to 73 mg m^???3) and accumulation of organic carbon in sediments (up to 5%). Principal component analysis distinguished three zones in the estuary. The central zone (Z1) was characterized by organic enrichment, low species diversity, and increased number of pollution tolerant species. Long-term deterioration of the estuary is indicated by an increase in the nutrients and chlorophyll a levels by sixfold during the last few decades. Flow restrictions in the lower estuary have lead to a fourfold increase in sediment organic carbon over the period of three decades. The reduced benthic diversity followed by an invasion of opportunistic polychaetes (Capitella capitata), are indicative of a stress in the estuary.     

Geo-spatial and log-linear analysis of pedestrian and bicyclist crashes involving school-aged children

PROBLEM: There is a growing concern with the safety of school-aged children. This study identifies the locations of pedestrian/bicyclist crashes involving school-aged children and examines the conditions when these crashes are more likely to occur. METHOD: The 5-year records of crashes in Orange County, Florida where school-aged children were involved were used. The spatial distribution of these crashes was investigated using the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the likelihoods of crash occurrence under different conditions were estimated using log-linear models. RESULTS: A majority of school-aged children crashes occurred in the areas near schools. Although elementary school children were generally very involved, middle and high school children were more involved in crashes, particularly on high-speed multi-lane roadways. Driver's age, gender, and alcohol use, pedestrian's/bicyclist's age, number of lanes, median type, speed limits, and speed ratio were also found to be correlated with the frequency of crashes. DISCUSSION: The result confirms that school-aged children are exposed to high crash risk near schools. High crash involvement of middle and high school children reflects that middle and high schools tend to be located near multi-lane high-speed roads. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The pedestrian's/bicyclist's demographic factors and geometric characteristics of the roads adjacent to schools associated with school children's crash involvement are of interest to school districts.     

Monitoring the sedimentary carbon in an artificially disturbed deep-sea sedimentary environment

An area of 0.6 km(2) in the manganese nodule field of the Central Indian Basin was physically disturbed and sediments discharged in the near bottom waters to simulate seabed mining and study its impact on benthic ecosystem. An estimated 2 to 3 tonnes of sedimentary organic carbon (C(org)) was resuspended into the water column during a 9-day experiment. The majority of the sediment cores from within the disturbed area and areas towards the south showed a ~30% increase in C(org) content as well as an increase in carbon burial rates after disturbance, though with a reduction in carbon/phosphorus ratios. High specific surface area (SSA~25 m(2) g(-1)) and low C(org)/SSA ratios (mostly <0.5) are typical of deep-sea sediments. The increased C(org) values were probably due to the organic matter from dead biota and the migration and redeposition of fine-grained, organic-rich particles. Spatial distribution patterns of C(org) contents of cores taken before and after disturbance were used to infer the direction of plume migration and re-sedimentation. A positive relationship was observed between total and labile C(org) and macrobenthos density and total bacterial numbers prior to disturbance, whereas a negative relationship was seen after disturbance owing to drastic reduction in the density of macrofauna and bacteria. Overall decrease in labile organic matter, benthic biota and redistribution of organic matter suggest that the commercial mining of manganese nodules may have a significant immediate negative effect on the benthic ecosystem inducing changes in benthic community structure.     

A numerical model for drying of spherical object in an indirect type solar dryer and estimating the drying time at different moisture level and air temperature

A numerical model for simultaneous heat and mass transfer was developed for solar drying of spherical objects and the object considered is green peas. Solar collector outlet temperature is assumed as drying chamber temperature and justified through energy balance equations. Assumptions are imposed on heat and mass transfer governing equations without losing the physics of the problem. Discretization is performed by finite difference method with implicit scheme. To generalize, the governing equation and boundary conditions are non-dimensionalized. The set of finite difference equations was solved by Tridiagonal Matrix Algorithm and a computer code in MATLAB was developed to solve them. The drying curves showed two stages of drying, initial, and secondary drying stage. At all drying temperatures and drying time, the center moisture was maximum and it was minimum at the boundary. A percentage of 85.67 surface moisture content and 25.33% center moisture was eliminated in the first 1 hr at 348 K. The product should be dried up to 7.45, 4.74, and 3.74 hr at air drying temperatures of 318, 333, and 348 K respectively, to maintain 10% of the product’s initial moisture content. The result is compared with the experimental result from literature and they are found to be in good agreement.