Comparing urban air quality in Europe in real time a review of existing air quality indices and the proposal of a common alternative

The EU directives on air quality force member states to inform the public on the status of the ambient air quality. The Internet is commonly used for this purpose and often air quality is being presented as an index ranging from good to bad. A review of existing websites and air quality indices shows that the way air quality is interpreted differs considerably. The paper presents a new air quality index. The index is part of a project to develop a website dedicated to comparing air quality in European cities. The common air quality index (CAQI) is not aimed at replacing existing local indices. The CAQI is a set of two indices: one for roadside monitoring sites and one for average city background conditions. Differentiating between roadside and general city conditions is a first step in assuring consistence in the parameters that are being compared.     

Precise sex ratio in a parasitic wasp: the result of counting eggs

Summary The parasitic wasp Nesolynx albiclavus maintains a very skewed offspring sex ratio (ca. 4% males). We studied proximate, causal factors of the son-daughter choice mechanism to obtain insight into the precision of the procedures and the underlying rules. We analyzed the number of males in clutches produced during sessions of 12 or 24 h. The results show that the timing of the next male egg depends on the time elapsed and the number of eggs laid since the previous one. The influence of the passage of time per se during non-laying periods was reduced in an experiment with 4-h periods. The data show that the first male egg is produced by a fairly rigid process: about the sixth egg in a run will be left unfertilized. No further male egg will appear in the next 10–20 eggs if they are laid in rapid succession.     

Attitudes to nuclear energy: Beliefs,values and false consensus

Attitudinal differences regarding the use of nuclear energy were investigated. Results obtained in a random sample drawn from the population of four communities in The Netherlands within 30 miles of a nuclear power plant showed a strong relationship between subjects' attitudes towards nuclear energy and their perceptions of the possible consequences of nuclear energy. ‘Pro’- and ‘con’-subjects showed marked differences in the importance attached to the different possible consequences and their endorsement of the salience of more general social issues. Results provide support for the view that individuals perceive a false consensus with respect to the relative prevalence of similar attitudes among other people. Finally, subjects' perceptions of others with similar or opposing attitudes towards the issue of nuclear energy showed marked differences in evaluation especially for the extreme attitude groups.     

Influence of light and temperature on the photosynthetic rate of marine benthic diatoms

The influence of light and temperature on photosynthetic rate as measured by C¹⁴O₂-fixation of marine benthic diatoms was investigated, using both intact sediment samples (Marshall et al., 1973) and suspensions of diatoms harvested by a lenstissue technique (Eaton and Moss, 1966). After C¹⁴-incubation, sediment samples were filtered, burned in a sample oxidizer, and their activity determined in a liquid scintillation counter. Photosynthetic rate of mixed field populations is saturated by a light intensity of approximately 10,000 lux; at still higher light intensities no photoinhibition was found. In contrast to the mixed field populations, unialgal cultures of the benthic diatom Amphiprora alata Kütz. exhibited strong photoinhibition at higher light intensities (10,000 to 60,000 lux). Within a range of 4° to 20°C, the photosynthetic rate increased about 10%/C^o. No differences in photosynthetic pattern were observed between epipelic and epipsammic species.     

Towards a framework to assess,compare and develop monitoring and evaluation of climate change adaptation in Europe

Adaptation is increasingly recognised as essential when dealing with the adverse impacts of climate change on societies, economies and the environment. However, there is insufficient information about the effectiveness of adaption policies, measures and actions. For this reason, the establishment of monitoring programmes is considered to be necessary. Such programmes can contribute to knowledge, learning and data to support adaptation governance. In the European Union (EU), member states are encouraged to develop National Adaptation Strategies (NASs). The NASs developed so far vary widely because of differing views, approaches and policies. A number of member states have progressed to monitoring and evaluating the implementation of their NAS. It is possible to identify key elements in these monitoring programmes that can inform the wider policy learning process. In this paper, four generic building blocks for creating a monitoring and evaluation programme are proposed: (1) definition of the system of interest, (2) selection of a set of indicators, (3) identification of the organisations responsible for monitoring and (4) definition of monitoring and evaluation procedures. The monitoring programmes for NAS in three member states—Finland, the UK and Germany—were analysed to show how these elements have been used in practice, taking into account their specific contexts. It is asserted that the provision of a common framework incorporating these elements will help other member states and organisations within them in setting up and improving their adaptation monitoring programmes.