Global temperature change from the transport sectors: Historical development and future scenarios

Transport affects climate directly and indirectly through mechanisms that operate on very different timescales and cause both warming and cooling. We calculate contributions to the historical development in global mean temperature for the main transport sectors (road transport, aviation, shipping and rail) based on estimates of historical emissions and by applying knowledge about the various forcing mechanisms from detailed studies. We also calculate the development in future global mean temperature for four transport scenarios consistent with the IPCC SRES scenarios, one mitigation scenario and one sensitivity test scenario. There are large differences between the transport sectors in terms of sign and magnitude of temperature effects and with respect to the contributions from the long- and short-lived components. Since pre-industrial times, we calculate that transport in total has contributed 9% of total net man-made warming in the year 2000. The dominating contributor to warming is CO₂, followed by tropospheric O₃. By sector, road transport is the largest contributor; 11% of the warming in 2000 is due to this sector. Likewise, aviation has contributed 4% and rail ～1%. Shipping, on the other hand, has caused a net cooling up to year 2000, with a contribution of ?7%, due to the effects of SO₂ and NOx emissions. The total net contribution from the transport sectors to total man-made warming is ～15% in 2050, and reaches 20% in 2100 in the A1 and B1 scenarios. For all scenarios and throughout the century, road transport is the dominating contributor to warming. Due to the anticipated reduction in sulphur content of fuels, the net effect of shipping changes from cooling to warming by the end of the century. Significant uncertainties are related to the estimates of historical and future net warming mainly due to cirrus, contrails and aerosol effects, as well as uncertainty in climate sensitivity.     

Compact semi-automatic incident sampler for personal monitoring of volatile organic compounds in occupational air

Suddenly occurring and time limited chemical exposures caused by unintended incidents might pose a threat to many workers at various work sites. Monitoring of exposure during such occasional incidents is challenging. In this study a compact, low-weight and personal semi-automatic pumped unit for sampling of organic vapor phase compounds from occupational air during sporadic and suddenly occurring incidents has been developed, providing simple activation by the worker potentially subjected to the sudden occurring exposures when a trained occupational hygienist is not available. The sampler encompasses a tube (glass or stainless steel) containing an adsorbent material in combination with a small membrane pump, where the adsorbent is capped at both ends by gas tight solenoid valves. The sampler is operated by a conventional 9 V battery which tolerates long storage time (at least one year), and is activated by pulling a pin followed by automatic operation and subsequent closing of valves, prior to shipping to a laboratory. The adjustable sampling air flow rate and the sampling time are pre-programmed with a standard setting of 200 mL min(-1) and 30 min, respectively. The average airflow in the time interval 25-30 min compared to average airflow in the interval 2-7 min was 92-95% (n = 6), while the flow rate between-assay precisions (RSD) for six different samplers on three days each were in the range 0.5-3.7%. Incident sampler recoveries of VOCs from a generated VOC atmosphere relative to a validated standard method were between 95 and 102% (+/-4-5%). The valves that seal the sampler adsorbent during storage have been shown to prevent an external VOC atmosphere (500 mg m(-3)) to enter the adsorbent tube, in addition to that the sampler adsorbent is storable for at least one month due to absence of ingress of contaminants from internal parts. The sampler was also suitable for trapping of semi-volatile organophosphates.     

Aluminium and Alzheimer's disease: is there a causal connection?

At the present time there seems to be sufficient evidence to conclude that aluminium may, at least under some circumstances, be neurotoxic. Furthermore, several studies have found increased amounts of aluminium in specific brain structures of people who have died with Alzheimer's disease. From the available evidence it is not possible, however, to draw any firm conclusions regarding the possible role of aluminium in the aetiology or pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.Even though there is some evidence from ecological studies that exposure to aluminium at least from drinking water may be causally linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease, it is still entirely possible that the accumulation of aluminium in the brains of people with this disorder is a secondary phenomenon. There is a lack of data relating individual exposure to aluminium with subsequent risk of developing the disease.A case-control study currently being carried out in Norway will seek to collect individual exposure data with particular emphasis on aluminium exposure from drinking water sources. The design of this study is presented.     

挪威的环境家庭保护

Miljφheimevernet,即环境家庭保护,是1991年10月在挪威开始的.     

Rapid sperm evolution in the bluethroat (Luscinia svecica) subspecies complex

Spermatozoa are among the most variable animal cell types, and much research is currently directed towards explaining inter- and intraspecific variation in sperm form and function. Recent comparative studies in passerine birds have found associations between the level of sperm competition and both sperm length and sperm velocity. In species with sperm competition, postcopulatory sexual selection may shape the morphology of sperm as adaptations to the female environment. The speed of evolutionary change in sperm morphology at the species level is largely unknown. In this study, we analysed variation in sperm morphology among morphologically distinct and geographically isolated bluethroat subspecies in Europe. Consistent with previous studies, our analyses of mtDNA and nuclear introns suggest recent divergence and lack of lineage sorting among the subspecies. We found significant divergence in total sperm length and in the length of some sperm components (i.e. head and midpiece). There was a significantly positive relationship between pairwise divergences in sperm morphology and mitochondrial DNA, suggesting a role for genetic drift in sperm divergence. The magnitude of sperm length divergence was considerably higher than that in other geographically structured passerines, and even higher than that observed between several pairs of sister species. We hypothesize that the rapid sperm evolution in bluethroats is driven by sperm competition, and that strong postcopulatory sexual selection on sperm traits can lead to rapid speciation through reproductive incompatibilities.     

Sperm quantity and quality effects on fertilization success in a highly promiscuous passerine, the tree swallow Tachycineta bicolor

Sperm competition is widespread among animal taxa and considered a major force in sperm evolution. Recent comparative studies have indicated that sperm competition selects for high sperm production capacity and long and fast-swimming spermatozoa across species. Here, we examine the role of sperm quantity and quality for fertilization success of individual males in a Canadian population of tree swallows Tachycineta bicolor, a socially monogamous, but highly promiscuous passerine. Male fertilization success (the sum of withinpair and extrapair young) was significantly associated with the size of the cloacal protuberance (a proxy for sperm quantity), but not with sperm size or in vitro sperm swimming speed. In a multivariate analysis, both cloacal protuberance volume and relative sperm midpiece size (i.e. high mitochondrial loading) had significant effects on male fertilization success. However, relative sperm midpiece size was not associated with fertilization success in a simple regression. Further, both cloacal protuberance volume and relative midpiece size had significant effects on sperm velocity, both in simple regressions and in a multivariate analysis. The finding that males with large relative midpiece size had both higher fertilization success and faster swimming sperm, suggests an indirect link between sperm morphology and male fertility mediated through sperm velocity. In conclusion, both quantitative and qualitative sperm traits seem to affect male fertilization success in tree swallows.     

Radiative forcing from household fuel burning in Asia

Household fuel use in developing countries, particularly as biomass and coal, is a major source of carbonaceous aerosols and other air pollutants affecting health and climate. Using state-of-the-art emission inventories, a global three-dimensional photochemical tracer/transport model of the troposphere, and a global radiative transfer model based on methods presented in the latest IPCC Assessment Report (2007-AR4), we estimate the radiative forcing (RF) attributable to household fuel combustion in Asia in terms of current global annual-mean RF and future global integrated RF for a one-year pulse of emissions (2000) over two time horizons (100 and 20 years). Despite the significant emissions of black carbon (BC) aerosols, these estimates indicate that shorter-lived (non-Kyoto) air pollutants from household fuel use in the region overall seem to exert a small net negative RF because of the strong influence of reflective aerosols. There are, however, major uncertainties in emission estimates for solid fuel burning, and about the sustainability of household fuel wood harvesting in Asia (the carbon neutrality of harvesting). In addition, there is still substantial uncertainty associated with the BC radiative forcing. As a result we find that the sign of the RF from household biomass burning in the region cannot be established. While recognizing the value of integrating climate change and air pollution policies, we are concerned that for a ‘Kyoto style’ post-Kyoto treaty (with global cap-and-trade and the Global Warming Potential as the metric) expanding the basket of components with a selection of short-lived species without also including the wider range of co-emitted species may lead to unintended consequences for global-scale climate. Additional measurement, modelling, and policy research is urgently needed to reduce the uncertainties so that the net impact on climate of emissions and mitigation measures in this sector can be accurately assessed.     

Testing a post-copulatory pre-zygotic reproductive barrier in a passerine species pair

Sexual selection may drive speciation, but most research focuses on pre-copulatory sexual selection, overlooking post-copulatory processes. Post-copulatory sexual selection in allopatric populations could drive divergence in post-copulatory pre-zygotic (PCPZ) phenotypes, limiting gene flow upon secondary contact. Here, we performed in vitro experiments examining one potential PCPZ barrier between two closely related passerine species, house sparrows (Passer domesticus) and Spanish sparrows (Passer hispaniolensis). In birds, crossing in the vagina may be particularly challenging for sperm, so we tested the effect of female reproductive tract fluids on sperm swimming speed and motility. If a PCPZ barrier exists at this stage of the fertilization process, heterospecific female fluids are predicted to reduce sperm swimming speed or motility relative to conspecific female fluid. We found that house sparrow female fluids affected the two species’ sperm asymmetrically, depending on the control sperm velocity and male species. Overall, however, sperm performed equally in conspecific and heterospecific female fluids, and the species had similar sperm morphology and sperm swimming performance. Low divergence in PCPZ phenotypes between species, perhaps because post-copulatory sexual selection is stabilizing or only moderately strong in these taxa, may be insufficient to cause an overall PCPZ barrier. Reinforcement may be unlikely to drive PCPZ barriers for this species pair, because relatively effective pre-copulatory barriers exist between the species, and because hybrids can be quite successful. Testing the role of PCPZ barriers in birds with more divergent PCPZ phenotypes will improve our understanding of speciation in passerines.     

Is female promiscuity constrained by the presence of her social mate? An experiment with bluethroats <Emphasis Type="Italic">Luscinia svecica</Emphasis>

Extra-pair paternity is common in birds and much research has focussed on the selective advantage of extra-pair matings for both sexes. In contrast, little attention has been given to the fact that in most species the majority of offspring are sired by the social male. We investigated whether extra-pair matings of female bluethroats (Luscinia svecica) are constrained by the presence of the pair male, by detaining males in cages on their territories for one morning during the peak of female fertility. The proportion of offspring sired by extra-pair males was higher in broods where males had been detained (35%) than in control broods (16%), while the proportion of broods that had at least one extra-pair offspring did not differ significantly between experimental (65%) and control broods (44%). Within the experimental group, levels of extra-pair paternity were not related to the day of experiment in relation to start of egg laying, but males caught early in the morning lost more paternity than males caught later on. Our results show that pair males exert constraints on the frequency of extra-pair paternity by being present during the period of peak fertility, which could be a direct effect of their mate guarding effort and/or due to an advantage in sperm competition for pair males.