Climate Policy to Defeat the Green Paradox

Carbon dioxide emissions have accelerated since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. This discouraging development may partly be blamed on accelerating world growth and on lags in policy instruments. However, it also raises serious question concerning whether policies to reduce CO₂ emissions are as effective as generally assumed. In recent years, a considerable number of studies have identified various feedback mechanisms of climate policies that often erode, and occasionally reinforce, their effectiveness. These studies generally focus on a few feedback mechanisms at a time, without capturing the entire effect. Partial accounting of policy feedbacks is common in many climate scenarios. The IPCC, for example, only accounts for direct leakage and rebound effects. This article attempts to map the aggregate effects of different types of climate policy feedback mechanisms in a cohesive framework. Controlling feedback effects is essential if the policy measures are to make any difference on a global level. A general conclusion is that aggregate policy feedback mechanisms tend to make current climate policies much less effective than is generally assumed. In fact, various policy measures involve a definite risk of ‘backfiring’ and actually increasing CO₂ emissions. This risk is particularly pronounced once effects of climate policies on the pace of innovation in climate technology are considered. To stand any chance of controlling carbon emissions, it is imperative that feedback mechanisms are integrated into emission scenarios, targets for emission reduction and implementation of climate policy. In many cases, this will reduce the scope for subsidies to renewable energy sources, but increase the scope for other measures such as schemes to return carbon dioxide to the ground and to mitigate emissions of greenhouse gases from wetlands and oceans. A framework that incorporates policy feedback effects necessitates rethinking the design of the national and regional emission targets. This leads us to a new way of formulating emission targets that include feedback effects, the global impact target. Once the full climate policy feedback mechanisms are accounted for, there are probably only three main routes in climate policy that stand a chance of mitigating global warming: (a) returning carbon to the ground, (b) technological leaps in zero-emission energy technology that make it profitable to leave much carbon in the ground even in Annex II countries and (c) international agreements that make it more profitable to leave carbon in the ground or in forests.     

Variation in immune function, body condition, and feather corticosterone in nestling Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) on reclaimed wetlands in the Athabasca oil sands, Alberta, Canada

In the Athabasca oil sands region of northern Alberta, mining companies are evaluating reclamation using constructed wetlands for integration of tailings. From May to July 2008, reproductive performance of 40 breeding pairs of tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), plus growth and survival of nestlings, was measured on three reclaimed wetlands on two oil sands leases. A subset of nestlings was examined for i) feather corticosterone levels, ii) delayed-type hypersensitivity response, and iii) innate immune function. Nestlings on one of two wetlands created with oil sands process affected material (OSPM) were heavier and had greater wing-lengths, and mounted a stronger delayed-type hypersensitivity response compared those on the reference wetland. Corticosterone was significantly higher in male nestlings on one of two OSPM-containing wetland compared to the reference wetland. Body condition of 12-day-old female nestlings was inversely related to feather corticosterone. Under ideal weather conditions, reclaimed wetlands can support healthy populations of aerially-insectivorous birds.     

Adverse effects of erythromycin on the structure and chemistry of activated sludge

This study examines the effects of erythromycin on activated sludge from two French urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Wastewater spiked with 10 mg/L erythromycin inhibited the specific evolution rate of chemical oxygen demand (COD) by 79% (standard deviation 34%) and the specific N-NH₄⁺ evolution rate by 41% (standard deviation 25%). A temporary increase in COD and tryptophan-like fluorescence, as well as a decrease in suspended solids, were observed in reactors with wastewater containing erythromycin. The destruction of activated sludge flocs was monitored by automated image analysis. The effect of erythromycin on nitrification was variable depending on the sludge origin. Erythromycin inhibited the specific nitrification rate in sludge from one WWTP, but increased the nitrification rate at the other facility.     

Will photosynthetic capacity of aspen trees acclimate after long-term exposure to elevated CO2 and O3?

Photosynthetic acclimation under elevated carbon dioxide (CO₂) and/or ozone (O₃) has been the topic of discussion in many papers recently. We examined whether or not aspen plants grown under elevated CO₂ and/or O₃ will acclimate after 11 years of exposure at the Aspen Face site in Rhinelander, WI, USA. We studied diurnal patterns of instantaneous photosynthetic measurements as well as A/C_i measurements monthly during the 2004-2008 growing seasons. Our results suggest that the responses of two aspen clones differing in O₃ sensitivity showed no evidence of photosynthetic and stomatal acclimation under either elevated CO₂, O₃ or CO₂ + O₃. Both clones 42E and 271 did not show photosynthetic nor stomatal acclimation under elevated CO₂ and O₃ after a decade of exposure. We found that the degree of increase or decrease in the photosynthesis and stomatal conductance varied significantly from day to day and from one season to another.     

Effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 and tropospheric O3 on tree branch growth and implications for hydrologic budgeting

The forest hydrologic budget may be impacted by increasing CO₂ and tropospheric O₃. Efficient means to quantify such effects are beneficial. We hypothesized that changes in the balance of canopy interception, stem flow, and through-fall in the presence of elevated CO₂ and O₃ could be discerned using image analysis of leafless branches. We compared annual stem flow to the results of a computerized analysis of all branches from the 2002, 2004, and 2006 annual growth whorls of 97 ten-year-old trees from the Aspen Free-Air CO₂ and O₃ Enrichment (Aspen FACE) experiment in Rhinelander, WI. We found significant effects of elevated CO₂ and O₃ on some branch metrics, and that the branch metrics were useful for predicting stem flow from birch, but not aspen. The results of this study should contribute to development of techniques for efficient characterization of effects on the forest hydrologic budget of increasing CO₂ and tropospheric O₃.     

Decolouration of azo dyes by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phanerochaete chrysosporium</Emphasis> immobilised into alginate beads

Background, aim and scope  

Because of high discharged volumes and effluent composition, wastewater from the textile industry can be considered as the most polluting amongst all industrial sectors, thus greatly requiring appropriate treatment technologies. Although some abiotic methods for the reduction of several dyes exist, these require highly expensive catalysts and reagents. Biotechnological approaches were proven to be potentially effective in the treatment of this pollution source in an eco-efficient manner. The white-rot fungi are, so far, the most efficient microorganisms in degrading synthetic dyes. This white-rot fungi’s property is due to the production of extracellular lignin-modifying enzymes, which are able to degrade a wide range of xenobiotic compounds because of their low substrate specificity. In this paper, we studied the ability of the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium immobilised into Ca-alginate beads to decolourise different recalcitrant azo dyes such as Direct Violet 51 (DV), Reactive Black 5 (RB), Ponceau Xylidine (PX) and Bismark Brown R (BB) in successive batch cultures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study on the immobilisation of P. chrysosporium into Ca-alginate beads for its application in dye decolouration.     

Biochemical biomarkers in environmental studies—lessons learnt from enzymes catalase,glutathione <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>-transferase and cholinesterase in two crustacean species

Background, aim and scope  

For reliable environmental risk assessment of pollutants, knowledge on the effects at different levels of biological organisation is needed. During the early days of biomarker research in environmental studies approximately two decades ago, biochemical biomarkers were considered as the most promising tool for such purposes. Among these, three enzymes have often been studied: catalase (CAT), glutathione S-transferase (GST) and cholinesterase (ChE). However, despite their intensive research, their measurements in invertebrates have not been commonly applied in environmental risk assessment (ERA) or for regulatory purposes.     

Bio-immobilization of Cu and Zn in recirculated bioreactor landfill

Purpose  

To protect the environmental quality of soil, groundwater, and surface water near the landfill site, it is necessary to make an accurate assessment of the heavy metal mobility. This study aims to present the bio-immobilization behavior of heavy metals in landfill and provide some reference suggestion for the manipulation of heavy metal pollution control after closure.     

Assessment of low-level metal contamination using the Mediterranean mussel gills as the indicator tissue

Purpose  

The aim of this study was to compare the level of metal contamination in two bays in the middle part of the Eastern Adriatic coastal zone in Croatia using the gills of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis as indicator tissue. Despite the existing sources of contamination, previous studies with caged mussels only indicated moderate metal contamination of the Kaštela Bay, contrary to the Trogir Bay in which marina and shipyard present a probable source of Cu- and Zn-contamination.     

Determination of the insecticide diflubenzuron in mushrooms by kinetic method and high-performance liquid chromatographic method

In the present study, a new sensitive and simple kinetic-spectrophotometric method for the determination of the insecticide diflubenzuron [1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-(2,6-diflubenzoil)urea] is proposed. The method is based on the inhibited effect of diflubenzuron on the oxidation of sulphanilic acid (SA) by hydrogen peroxide in phosphate buffer in presence Cu(II) ion. Diflubenzuron was determined with linear calibration graph in the interval from 0.31 to 3.1 μg mL?1 and from 3.1 to 31.0 μg mL?1. The optimized conditions yielded a theoretical detection limit of 0.18 μg mL?1 corresponding to 0.036 mg kg(-1)mushroom sample based on the 3S(b) criterion. The RSD is 5.03-1.83 % and 2.81-0.71 % for the concentration interval of diflubenzuron 0.31-3.1 μg mL?1 and 3.1-31.0 μg mL?1, respectively. The reaction was followed spectrophotometrically at 370 nm. The kinetic parameters of the reaction are reported, and the rate equations are suggested. The developed procedure was successfully applied to the rapid determination of diflubenzuron in spiked mushroom samples of different mushroom species. The HPLC method was used like a comparative method to verify results.