An environmental measurement for a dynamic and endogenous global environmental Kuznets curve in the global context

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Planetary boundaries (PB) is a novel conceptual framework that assesses the state of processes fundamental to the stability of the Earth system....     

Disparities in the provision of public parks in neighbourhoods with varied Latino composition in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area

ABSTRACT

This article examines the provision of public parks in Latino and non-Latino neighbourhoods in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area. Though previous research has examined the socio-spatial distribution of urban parks, few have analysed both accessibility and variations in park features associated with the Latino composition of neighbourhoods. In this study, geographical information systems were employed to assess the availability and accessibility of neighbourhood parks, and Google Earth was used to audit their natural and built environmental features. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Games-Howell post hoc test was applied to examine the hypothesis that park resources are not equitably distributed across neighbourhoods, and that Latino places are disproportionally affected by a suboptimal provision of park space and services. The analysis points to invariance across neighbourhoods in terms of quantity and features of public parks, so the expected systemic pattern of inequality affecting Latino neighbourhoods in Phoenix Metro was not found. The study suggests, however, some areas wherein cities in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area could act to improve the allocation of public park resources and engage the diversity of local populations.     

Fluvial levees in compound channels: a review on formation processes and the impact of bedforms and vegetation

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Natural levees are wedge-shaped morphological features developing along the boundaries of mass flows. When they form in fluvial landscapes, they can have multiple...     

Pesticide removal from cotton farm tailwater by a pilot-scale ponded wetland

A pilot-scale, ponded wetland consisting of an open pond and a vegetated pond in series was constructed on a cotton farm in northern New South Wales, Australia, and assessed for its potential to remove pesticides from irrigation tailwater. Ten incubation periods ranging from 7 to 13 days each were conducted over two cotton growing seasons to monitor removal of residues of four pesticides applied to the crop. Residue reductions ranging 22–53% and 32–90% were observed in the first and second seasons respectively. Average half-lives during this first season were calculated as 21.3 days for diuron, 25.4 days for fluometuron and 26.4 days for aldicarb over the entire wetland. During the second season of monitoring, pesticide half-lives were significantly reduced, with fluometuron exhibiting a half-life of 13.8 days, aldicarb 6.2 days and endosulfan 7.5 days in the open pond. Further significant reductions were observed in the vegetated pond and also following an algal bloom in the open pond, as a result of which aldicarb and endosulfan were no longer quantifiable. Partitioning onto sediment was found to be a considerable sink for the insecticide endosulfan. These results demonstrate that macrophytes and algae can reduce the persistence of pesticides in on-farm water and provide some data for modelling.     

Comparative acute toxicity of organic pollutants and reference values for crustaceans. I. Branchiopoda, Copepoda and Ostracoda

The acute toxicity of 468 organic pollutants to planktonic crustaceans (Branchiopoda, Copepoda and Ostracoda) from pre-existing data was compared by means of statistical analysis and relative tolerance indices (Trel). A surrogate species commonly used in toxicity bioassays (Daphnia magna) showed toxicity levels--within one order of magnitude--similar to all other Cladocera species, at least for 82% of the chemicals studied. All neurotoxic insecticides except neonicotinoids, PCBs, organometallic compounds and PAHs are the most toxic substances to these organisms. Sensitivity levels among taxa were compared for individual chemicals as well as groups of chemicals with similar characteristics. Whilst there are marked differences in sensitivity among taxa and particular groups of chemicals, no consistent trends were found for freshwater and saltwater species in relation to the latter groups. No correlation between LC50 and size of these organisms was found other than by chance, making extrapolations based on allometric equations impossible.     

Ionic Dye Removal Using Solvent-Assisted Ionic Micellar Flocculation

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - The environmental impacts caused by dyes in industrial wastewater are incalculable, due to their adverse effects on the ecosystem and human life,...     

Removal of Cresols From Water by Packed Beds of Cyclodextrin-Based Hydrogels

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - A cyclodextrin-based polymer was prepared by crosslinking β-cyclodextrin with epichlorohydrin to be assessed as a sorbent material for cresols in...     

Assessing the effects of multivariate functional outlier identification and sample robustification on identifying critical PM2.5 air pollution episodes in Medellín,Colombia

Environmental and Ecological Statistics - Identification of critical episodes of environmental pollution, both as a outlier identification problem and as a classification problem, is a usual...