Forest policies and programs affecting vulnerability and adaptation to climate change

Due to large scale afforestation programs and forest conservation legislations, India’s total forest area seems to have stabilized or even increased. In spite of such efforts, forest fragmentation and degradation continues, with forests being subject to increased pressure due to anthropogenic factors. Such fragmentation and degradation is leading to the forest cover to change from very dense to moderately dense and open forest and 253 km² of very dense forest has been converted to moderately dense forest, open forest, scrub and non-forest (during 2005–2007). Similarly, there has been a degradation of 4,120 km² of moderately dense forest to open forest, scrub and non-forest resulting in a net loss of 936 km² of moderately dense forest. Additionally, 4,335 km² of open forest have degraded to scrub and non-forest. Coupled with pressure due to anthropogenic factors, climate change is likely to be an added stress on forests. Forest sector programs and policies are major factors that determine the status of forests and potentially resilience to projected impacts of climate change. An attempt is made to review the forest policies and programs and their implications for the status of forests and for vulnerability of forests to projected climate change. The study concludes that forest conservation and development policies and programs need to be oriented to incorporate climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation.     

Implications of climate change on mitigation potential estimates for forest sector in India

Climate change is projected to impact forest ecosystems, including biodiversity and Net Primary Productivity (NPP). National level carbon forest sector mitigation potential estimates are available for India; however impacts of projected climate change are not included in the mitigation potential estimates. Change in NPP (in gC/m²/yr) is taken to represent the impacts of climate change. Long term impacts of climate change (2085) on the NPP of Indian forests are available; however no such regional estimates are available for short and medium terms. The present study based on GCM climatology scenarios projects the short, medium and long term impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems especially on NPP using BIOME4 vegetation model. We estimate that under A2 scenario by the year 2030 the NPP changes by (−5) to 40% across different agro-ecological zones (AEZ). By 2050 it increases by 15% to 59% and by 2070 it increases by 34 to 84%. However, under B2 scenario it increases only by 3 to 25%, 3.5 to 34% and (−2.5) to 38% respectively, in the same time periods. The cumulative mitigation potential is estimated to increase by up to 21% (by nearly 1 GtC) under A2 scenario between the years 2008 and 2108, whereas, under B2 the mitigation potential increases only by 14% (646 MtC). However, cumulative mitigation potential estimates obtained from IBIS—a dynamic global vegetation model suggest much smaller gains, where mitigation potential increases by only 6% and 5% during the period 2008 to 2108.     

Evaporating liquid flow in a channel (An integral model based on shallow water flow approximation)

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) storage facilities generally include channels to convey potential spills of the liquid to an impoundment. There is increasing concern that dispersion of vapors generated by flow of LNG in a channel may lead to higher than limit vapor concentrations for safety at site boundary from channels that may be close to the dike walls. This issue is of recent concern to regulatory agencies, because the calculation of vapor hazard distance(s) from LNG flow in a channel is not required under existing LNG facility siting standards or regulations.An important parameter that directly affects the calculated LNG vapor dispersion distance is the source strength (i.e., the rate of vaporization of LNG flow from the wetted channel surfaces, as a function of spatial position and time). In this paper a model is presented which considers the variation of the depth of the flowing LNG with spatial location and time, and calculates the spatial and temporal dependence of the mass rate of vapor generation. Self similar profiles for the spatial variation of the thermal boundary layer in the liquid wetted wall and liquid depth variation are assumed. The variation with time of the location of the liquid spread front and the evaporation rate are calculated for the case of a constant LNG spill rate into a rectangular channel. The effects of two different channel slopes are evaluated. Details of the results and their impact on dispersion distances are discussed.     

Effects of significant damage of flame gap surfaces in flameproof electrical apparatus on flame gap efficiency

Electrical apparatus for use in the presence of explosive gas atmospheres has to be specially designed to prevent the apparatus from igniting the gas. Flameproof design is one of several options, and one requirement is then that any holes and slits in the enclosure wall be designed to prevent a possible gas explosion inside the enclosure from being transmitted to an explosive gas cloud outside it. Current standards (IEC) require that joint surfaces have a surface roughness of <6.3 μm. Any damaged joint surface has be restored to this quality. The present investigation has demonstrated that flame gap surfaces in flameproof electrical apparatuses can suffer considerable mechanical and corrosive damage before the flame gaps no longer function satisfactorily. In some cases very significant mechanical surface damage in fact improves the gap performance. This indicates that current high costs of repairing and replacing flameproof electrical apparatus in process plants offshore and onshore can be reduced considerably without any increase of the explosion risk.     

Risk analysis and assessment methodologies in the work sites: On a review, classification and comparative study of the scientific literature of the period 2000-2009

The objective of this work is to determine and study, analyze and elaborate, classify and categorize the main risk analysis and risk-assessment methods and techniques by reviewing the scientific literature. The paper consists of two parts: a) the investigation, presentation and elaboration of the main risk-assessment methodologies and b) the statistical analysis, classification, and comparative study of the corresponding scientific papers published by six representative scientific journals of Elsevier B.V. covering the decade 2000-2009. The scientific literature reviewing showed that the risk analysis and assessment techniques are classified into three main categories: (a) the qualitative, (b) the quantitative, and (c) the hybrid techniques (qualitative-quantitative, semi-quantitative). The qualitative techniques are based both on analytical estimation processes, and on the safety managers-engineers ability. According to quantitative techniques, the risk can be considered as a quantity, which can be estimated and expressed by a mathematical relation, under the help of real accidents’ data recorded in a work site. The hybrid techniques, present a great complexity due to their ad hoc character that prevents a wide spreading. The statistical analysis shows that the quantitative methods present the highest relative frequency (65.63%) while the qualitative a lower one (27.68%). Furthermore the hybrid methods remain constantly at a very low level (6.70%) during the entire processing period.     

On the development of a new hybrid risk assessment process using occupational accidents’ data: Application on the Greek Public Electric Power Provider

The occupational accidents have a major impact upon human integrity and also bring about high costs for the social health and insurance system of a country. In addition, risk analysis is an essential process for the safety policy of a company, having as main aim the effacement of any potential of damage in a productive procedure, while the quantified risk evaluation is the most crucial part of the whole procedure of assessing hazards in the work. The main goal of this study is double: a) the development and presentation of a new hybrid risk assessment process (HRAP) and b) the application of HRAP in the Greek Public Power Corporation (PPC) (the unique electric power provider and the largest industry in Greece), by using occupational accidents that have been recorded, during the 12-year period of 1993-2004. The new process consists of four distinct phases a) the hazard sources’ identification phase, b) the risk consideration phase, c) the risk-evaluation phase, and d) the phase of the risk assessment and safety-related decision making. The results show that in some cases the risk value has been calculated in PPC to be higher than 500 (in the risk rating of 0-1000), which imposes the taking of suppressive measures for abolishing the danger source, while the fatal accident frequency rate (per 10⁸ man-hrs) is FAFR ≅ 2.4.     

Biologie und Biochemie des Elements Selen

The importance of selenium as an essential trace element has progressively emerged during the last years due to the analysis of selenium deficiency diseases and to the identification and characterization of a number of selenoenzymes. Selenium is incorporated in the catalytic site of the enzymes as an integral selenocysteine residue. The pathway of selenocysteine biosynthesis and incorporation has been elucidated recently for Escherichia coli. This article presents an overview on these subjects and describes the mechanisms which confer selenocysteine specificity in the framework of protein biosynthesis. In addition, some considerations concerning the phylogeny of selenocysteine incorporation are presented and a model for the evolution of the selenocysteine pathway is proposed.     

Der Einfluß von Verbraucher und Handel auf die Qualität landwirtschaftlicher Produkte und Lebensmittel

The modern consumer is very much interested in healthy food. The reason is that a special group of consumers is focusing more and more attention on health and nutrition problems. Further, there is increased emphasis on education in food science at universities as well as polytechnics. For some years worldwide dietary goals are published with the intention to reduce nutrition-based sickness. For the first time in our nutrition report 1988, clear proposals for optimal nutrition were formulated.