How much could a tanker spill cost British Columbians?

Ocean-based industries provide employment for nearly 30 % of the population in the North Coast region of British Columbia. Marine resource dependence has raised concerns about the possible economic impacts of a tanker spill along the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway shipping route, which would export 525,000 barrels (bbls) per day of oil, bitumen, and condensate from Kitimat, British Columbia, to international markets. This study uses current and projected future values of four ocean-based industries and the Enbridge Northern Gateway project to estimate total (i.e., direct, indirect, and induced) economic effects on total output, employment, and gross domestic product (GDP) and impacts on the regional economy over a 50-year period under three potential spill scenarios: no impact (no spill), medium impact (a 63,000-bbl spill), and high impact (a 257,000-bbl spill). The proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway project could produce total positive economic effects of $600 million in output, 5,700–8,400 person years (PYs) of employment, and $300 million in GDP in the North Coast region. A medium impact tanker spill could cause losses of $40–$190 million in output, 400–1,500 PYs of employment, and $20–$100 million in GDP, and a high-impact spill could cause losses of $90–$300 million in output, 1,650–4,500 PYs of employment, and $70–$200 million in GDP.     

Evidence for a warm and humid Mid-Holocene episode in the Aegean and northern Levantine Seas (Greece,NE Mediterranean)

Marine and terrestrial biological and biogeochemical proxies in three sediment cores from North and SE Aegean and northern Levantine Seas record continuous warm and humid conditions between 5.5 and 4.0 ka BP related to the establishment of relatively stratified conditions in the upper water column. These conditions may have resulted from the concordant albeit weak Mid-Holocene South Asian monsoon forcing, combined with lighter Etesian winds. During this interval, sea surface temperatures fluctuate in the Aegean Sea, although exhibiting a strong positive shift at ~4.8 ka BP. The warm and humid climatic conditions triggered upper water column stratification and enhancement of the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM), leading to dysoxic conditions and the deposition of a sapropel-like layer, but only in the SE Aegean site. In contrast to the shallow water SE Aegean, the deeper North Aegean and the northern Levantine sites, although experiencing stratification in the upper parts of the water column, did not achieve bottom-water dysoxia. Thus, a top–bottom mechanism of stratification–DCM development accompanied by fast transport and burial of organic matter is a likely explanation for the preservation of productivity signal in the shallow sites of the SE Aegean and establishment of sapropelic conditions during the warm and humid Mid-Holocene. The termination of the Mid-Holocene warm and humid phase coincides with the “4.2 ka” climate event. Our data exhibit an N–S time transgressive aridification gradient around the Aegean Sea, most probably associated with the reorganization of the general atmospheric circulation during the Mid-Holocene.     

Radionuclide content of building materials and associated gamma dose rates in Egyptian dwellings

Studies have been carried out to determine the natural radioactivity in some building materials (bricks, tiles, marble and ceramics) and their associated radiation hazard. The radioactivity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K were measured using a gamma spectrometer with a Hp–Ge detector. The activities of ²³⁸U and ²³⁴U were measured using an alpha-spectrometer with a surface barrier detector after applying a radiochemical procedure. The ²³⁴U/²³⁸U isotopic ratios were calculated. The radium equivalent activities and the radiation hazard index associated with the natural radionuclides were calculated. A computer program was developed and applied to calculate the dose rate a person will receive from the walls of a room constructed from the studied building materials.     

Integrated hydrochemical and geophysical studies for assessment of groundwater pollution in basaltic settings in Central India

The Pithampur Industrial sectors I, II, and III, located approximately, 45 km from Indore in Central India have emerged as one of the largest industrial clusters in the region. Various types of industries ranging from automobiles to chemicals and pharmaceuticals have been set up in the region since 1990. Most of the industries have effluent treatment plants (ETP) for treating wastewater before its disposal on land and/or in water body. The present study is an attempt to assess the groundwater quality in the watersheds surrounding these industrial sectors to develop the baseline groundwater quality in order to enable the policy makers to facilitate decisions on the development of industries in this region. The industries are located in two sub-watersheds, namely, Gambhir river sub-watershed and Chambal river sub-watershed. Geologically, the study area is located in the Deccan traps of Cretaceous to Paleocene age. The different basaltic flow units underlie clayey soils varying in thickness from 2–3 m. The aquifer is mostly of unconfined nature. Samples have been collected from a network of observation wells set up in the watersheds. The water quality analysis of the groundwater samples has been carried out six times during three hydrological cycles of 2004, 2005, and 2006. The results indicate that a few observation wells in the vicinity of the industrial clusters have very high TDS concentration and exceed the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) guideline for TDS concentration. The contamination of groundwater has been more severe in the Gambhir watershed as compared to the Chambal watershed. The presence of the impermeable clay layers has resulted in a slow migration of contaminants from the sources. The findings reveal that there is no significant groundwater contamination in the Pithampur industrial sectors except in the vicinity of the industrial clusters, which indicates that there is good environmental space available for the expansion of industrial units in the Pithampur industrial hub.     

Investigation of impact of environmental changes on precipitation pattern of Pakistan

In this paper, variability in precipitation pattern of Pakistan due to environmental and climatic changes has been studied. Maps have been generated to depict global precipitation variation. Precipitation data of 25 stations of Pakistan have been used. These data were taken from Meteorological Department, Islamabad, Pakistan. The results of two global climate models, namely Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research’s third generation general circulation model and National Center for Atmospheric Research’s first generation precipitation circulation model for A2 scenario have been applied to investigate the changes. It is observed that precipitation pattern will change significantly in the future. The occurrence of precipitation in all seasons for Pakistan is expected to increase with almost uniform distribution across a season. Average annual precipitation of the country will undergo an increase in the range of +57 to +71 % as compared to average of the base period.     

Seasonal variation in physicochemical properties of coastal waters of Kalpakkam, east coast of India with special emphasis on nutrients

A study pertaining to the seasonal variation in physicochemical properties of the coastal waters was carried out at Kalpakkam coast for a period of 1 year (February 2006 to January 2007). It revealed that the coastal water was significantly influenced by freshwater input during North East (NE) monsoon and post-monsoon periods. Concentration of all the nutrients and dissolved oxygen (DO) was relatively high during the NE monsoon, whereas, salinity and chlorophyll-a (chl-a) were at their minimum level during this period. Phytoplankton production peak was observed in summer during which a typical marine condition prevailed. The present observed values of nitrate, phosphate, silicate, and turbidity are significantly high (five to ten times) compared to that of the pre-Tsunami period from this coast. Relatively low DO and chl-a concentration was noticed during the post-Tsunami period. A notable feature of this study is that though nutrient concentration in the coastal waters during post-Tsunami period has increased significantly, turbidity, the most single dominating factor, was found to adversely affect the phytoplankton production during post-Tsunami period as reflected by relatively low chl-a concentration. Thus, the post-Tsunami period may result in a change in coastal biodiversity pattern concomitant with change in coastal water quality.     

Seasonal variation and partition of trace metals (Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cr, Cd and Pb) in surface sediments: relationship with physico-chemical variables of water from the Calabar River, South Eastern Nigeria

The seasonal variation and partition of trace metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Cd, Cr and Pb) in the surface sediments of the Calabar River are reported. Chemical partition of the metals in the sediments reveals that 2–30% of the total metal load was contributed by the non-detrital (acid-soluble) fraction, while fine-grained host minerals/compounds are the main carriers of the detrital (acid-insoluble) fraction (70–98%). Using multivariate statistical analysis, the seasonal fluctuations in the distribution of some of the metals show significant influence by physio-chemical changes (dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity and conductivity) in the water column. Fe–Mn oxide grain coatings and sulphide materials have been identified as scavengers of some of the non-detrital and detrital trace metals in the sediments. On the basis of index of geoaccumulation (I-geo) and comparison with previous studies, the Calabar River surface sediments have been classified as unpolluted.     

When females should contest for food – testing hypotheses about resource density, distribution, size, and quality with Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus)

Predictions of ecological models on female social relationships (van Schaik 1989) and their links with food distribution and the potential competitive regime are used to analyze the feeding and spatial behavior, and resource density, size, distribution, and quality in a forest population of Hanuman langurs (Presbytis entellus). In contrast to other populations, and assumptions on folivorous primates, the females of this population exhibit a linear dominance hierarchy. The langurs concentrated their feeding on three key resources with a low density and clumped distribution. Two out of the three key resources contained significantly higher levels of extractable protein and soluble sugar than other food plants, indicating high spatial variability of food quality. Even the mature leaves of the most preferred food plant were about twice as nutritious as those from other food plants. Group spread was small and only a single high-quality resource was used at a time. Finally, even rich resources could accommodate only a subset of a group. These findings fit predictions made for the prevalence of within-group contest competition. Given the observed food distribution and phytochemical heterogeneity of mature foliage, even females of folivorous species should contest for food. The effect of female dominance rank on size and composition of feeding parties also agrees with this prediction. A comparison with data from another forest population, where female dominance relations are weakly developed, revealed a clear-cut difference in the use and abundance of resources. It is argued that between-population differences in female social relationships within a species may be viewed as adaptive responses to local habitat conditions. Received: 1 August 1997 / Accepted after revision: 7 December 1997     

Geochemistry and toxicity of sediment porewater in a salt-impacted urban stormwater detention pond

A comprehensive study was carried out to investigate the impacts of road salts on the benthic compartment of a small urban detention facility, Rouge River Pond. Although the pond is an engineered water body, it is representative of many small urban lakes, ponds and wetlands, which receive road runoff and are probable high impact areas. Specific objectives of the study were to document the porewater chemistry of an aquatic system affected by elevated salt concentrations and to carry out a toxicological assessment of sediment porewater to determine what factors may cause porewater toxicity. The results indicate that the sediment porewater may itself attain high salt concentrations. The computations show that increased chloride levels have important implications on the Cd complexation, augmenting its concentration in porewater. The toxicity tests suggest that the toxicity in porewater is caused by metals or other toxic chemicals, rather than high levels of chloride.     

The European land leech: biology and DNA-based taxonomy of a rare species that is threatened by climate warming

The European land leech Xerobdella lecomtei was discovered in 1868 and is one of the rarest animals on Earth. During the 1960s, several individuals of these approx. 40 mm long, cold-adapted terrestrial annelids that inhabit the moist soils of birch forests around Graz, Austria, were investigated. Only one original research paper has been published on the biology of this species. Between 2001 and 2005, we re-investigated the morphology of preserved specimens and searched for living individuals in their natural habitat that appeared to be intact. We found only one juvenile individual (length approx. 10 mm), indicating that this local leech population became largely extinct over the past four decades. The feeding behaviour of our ‘lonesome George of the annelids’ was studied and is described here in detail. After its death, the Xerobdella individual was used for chemical extraction and molecular studies (deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA] barcoding, based on one gene, the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I). In addition, novel DNA barcodes for a land leech from Madagascar and a recently discovered species from Europe were obtained. Our phylogenetic tree shows that X. lecomtei is not a member of the tropical land leeches (family Haemadipsidae), as previously thought, but represents a separate line of descent (family Xerobdellidae). The decline of the local leech population around Graz correlates with a rise in average summer temperatures of +3°C between 1961 and 2004. This warming led to a drastic reduction in the moisture content of the soil where X. lecomtei lives. We suggest that human-induced climate change without apparent habitat destruction can lead to the extinction of populations of cold-adapted species that have a low colonization ability.