Anthropogenic mercury emissions in China

An inventory of mercury emissions from anthropogenic activities in China is compiled for the year 1999 from official statistical data. We estimate that China's emissions were 536 (±236) t of total mercury. This value includes open biomass burning, but does not include natural sources or re-emission of previously deposited mercury. Approximately 45% of the Hg comes from non-ferrous metals smelting, 38% from coal combustion, and 17% from miscellaneous activities, of which battery and fluorescent lamp production and cement production are the largest. Emissions are heaviest in Liaoning and Guangdong Provinces, where extensive smelting occurs, and in Guizhou Province, where there is much small-scale combustion of high-Hg coal without emission control devices. Emissions are gridded at 30×30 min spatial resolution. We estimate that 56% of the Hg in China is released as Hg⁰, 32% as Hg²⁺, and 12% as Hg^p. Particulate mercury emissions are high in China due to heavy burning of coal in residential and small industrial settings without PM controls. Emissions of Hg²⁺ from coal-fired power plants are high due to the absence of flue-gas desulfurization units, which tend to dissolve the soluble divalent mercury. Metals smelting operations favor the production of elemental mercury. Much of the Hg is released from small-scale activities in rather remote areas, and therefore the activity levels are quite uncertain. Also, emissions test data for Chinese sources are lacking, causing uncertainties in Hg emission factors and removal efficiencies. Overall, we calculate an uncertainty level of ±44% (95% confidence interval) in the estimate of total emissions. We recommend field testing of coal combustors and smelters in China to improve the accuracy of these estimates.     

Do females pay attention to secondary sexual coloration in vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops)?

Several primate species show sexual dichromatism with males displaying conspicuous coloration of the pelage or skin. Studies of scrotal coloration in male vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) suggest that it is an important intrasexual signal, with relatively dark, colourful males dominating paler males. To date, no studies have examined the influence of male colour on intersexual social interactions in vervet monkeys. The primary goal of the present study was to evaluate whether female vervet monkeys attend to male coloration. We experimentally introduced females, housed with either “pale” or “dark” males, to stimulus males whose scrota were pale, dark, or pale but painted to look dark. Overall, during introductions, females did not differ in time spent directing affiliative behaviour toward pale, dark, and painted males; however, females, permanently housed with dark males, spent significantly more time directing affiliative behaviour toward pale than painted males. When the stimulus male was pale, affiliative exchanges between males and females were longer than when the stimulus male was painted. Home male colour was not related to female-initiated aggression. Home male colour was also not related to male-initiated aggression, although painted stimulus males were more likely to initiate aggression than pale stimulus males. These findings lead us to conclude that females pay attention to male coloration, but do not bias their interactions toward males solely on the basis of natural male coloration.     

Sex differences in survival costs of reproduction in a promiscuous primate

In sexually promiscuous mammals, female reproductive effort is mainly expressed through gestation, lactation, and maternal care, whereas male reproductive effort is mainly manifested as mating effort. In this study, we investigated whether reproduction has significant survival costs for a seasonally breeding, sexually promiscuous species, the rhesus macaque, and whether these costs occur at different times of the year for females and males, namely in the birth and the mating season, respectively. The study was conducted with the rhesus macaque population on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. Data on 7,402 births and 922 deaths over a 45-year period were analyzed. Births were concentrated between November and April, while conceptions occurred between May and October. As predicted, female mortality probability peaked in the birth season whereas male mortality probability peaked in the mating season. Furthermore, as the onset of the birth season gradually shifted over the years in relation to climatic changes, there was a concomitant shift in the seasonal peaks of male and female mortality. Taken together, our findings provide the first evidence of sex differences in the survival costs of reproduction in nonhuman primates and suggest that reproduction has significant fitness costs even in environments with abundant food and absence of predation.     

Perceptions of visibility degradation in Hong Kong

The human dimensions of visibility degradation remain under-researched academically. Based on Zube and Sell's Process Model of the Perception of, and Response to, Environmental Change, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong between 5 June 2012 and 26 January 2013 (n = 1,203). The respondents’ perceptions towards visibility degradation were collected. The results show that respondents were moderately knowledgeable to visibility degradation, perceiving the problem as anthropogenic and unfavorable and identifying the fight against the degradation as an important environmental issue. It is further deduced that the respondents’ physical and sociocultural attributes, and the way they gain information about visibility degradation, can affect their perceptions of visibility degradation. The results reveal that improving information channels can positively promote human sensitivity to and understanding of visibility degradation in order to mitigate it. Yet, any attempts to educate the lay public should not assume the existence of a homogenous community of like-minded people.     

A Comparison of Three Federal Datasets for Thermoelectric Water Withdrawals in the United States for 2010

Historically, thermoelectric water withdrawal has been estimated by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) water‐use compilations. Recently, the USGS developed models for estimating withdrawal at thermoelectric plants to provide estimates independent from plant operator‐reported withdrawal data. This article compares three federal datasets of thermoelectric withdrawals for the United States in 2010: one based on the USGS water‐use compilation, another based on EIA data, and the third based on USGS model‐estimated data. The withdrawal data varied widely. Many plants had three different withdrawal values, and for approximately 54% of the plants the largest withdrawal value was twice the smallest, or larger. The causes of discrepancies among withdrawal estimates included definitional differences, definitional noise, and various nondefinitional causes. The uncertainty in national totals can be characterized by the range among the three datasets, from 5,640 m³/s (129 billion gallons per day [bgd]) to 6,954 m³/s (158 bgd), or by the aggregate difference between the smallest and largest values at each plant, from 4,014 m³/s (92 bgd) to 8,590 m³/s (196 bgd). When used to assess the accuracy of reported values, the USGS model estimates identify plants that need to be reviewed.     

Demographic shifts around drinking water supply reservoirs in North Carolina,USA

Infrastructure intended to serve the public good frequently has implications for environmental justice and social sustainability. Drinking water supplies for sub/urban areas in North Carolina, USA, have regularly been secured by constructing dams to impound reservoirs. We used high-resolution, publicly available US Census data to explore whether 66 such reservoirs in North Carolina have induced demographic shifts in the communities that find themselves adjacent to the newly created lakeshores. Our principal findings include: (1) The ratio of white people to non-white people was significantly higher in communities within 0.5 miles of reservoir shorelines than in more distant communities; (2) even as North Carolina overall became less white from 1990 to 2010, the ratio of white people to non-white people within the 0.5 miles of the shoreline increased relative to the overall ratio in the State; and (3) similar, but less distinct, shifts in per capita income occurred during the period. Our results are consistent with the proposition that reservoirs have induced demographic shifts in communities adjacent to newly created lakeshores similar to the shifts associated with environmental gentrification and amenity migration, and may now be associated with perpetuating those shifts. These findings raise concerns about environmental justice and social sustainability that should be considered when planning and building infrastructure that creates environmental amenities. Where reservoirs are being planned, social costs, including the costs of demographic shifts associated with environmental gentrification or amenity migration, and disproportionate regulatory burdens, should be mitigated through innovative policy if possible.     

Estimating Social Impacts of a Remediation Project Life Cycle With Environmental Footprint Evaluation Tools

This article presents a methodology to calculate the social cost of sustainability metrics with environmental footprint evaluation tools. Measuring the impacts of a remediation project on society is challenging because the methods by which these impacts can be measured have not been established. To perform a complete sustainability assessment of a project's life cycle, costs borne by society in terms of environmental, economic, and community impacts must be evaluated. Two knowledge gaps have been identified among the sustainability assessments currently being performed during a remediation project's life cycle: (1) lack of methodologies available to evaluate impacts on the socioeconomic aspects of remediation and (2) lack of sustainability assessments conducted during the site characterization stage. Sustainability assessments were conducted on two case studies using the methodology proposed in this article: one during the site characterization stage and the other during remedial action. The results of this study demonstrated that costs borne by society from a remediation project are significant and metric specific. This study also highlighted the benefits of conducting a sustainability assessment at the site characterization stage using environmental footprint analysis tools, cost benefit analysis, and an evaluation of costs borne by society. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Bioaccumulation and biotransformation of brominated and chlorinated contaminants and their metabolites in ringed seals (Pusa hispida) and polar bears (Ursus maritimus) from East Greenland

We report on the comparative bioaccumulation, biotransformation and/or biomagnification from East Greenland ringed seal (Pusa hispida) blubber to polar bear (Ursus maritimus) tissues (adipose, liver and brain) of various classes and congeners of persistent chlorinated and brominated contaminants and metabolic by-products: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlordanes (CHLs), hydroxyl (OH-) and methylsulfonyl (MeSO₂-) PCBs, polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs), OH-PBBs, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) flame retardants and OH- and methoxyl (MeO-) PBDEs, 2,2-dichloro-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethene (p,p′-DDE), 3-MeSO₂-p,p′-DDE, pentachlorophenol (PCP) and 4-OH-heptachlorostyrene (4-OH-HpCS). We detected all of the investigated contaminants in ringed seal blubber with high frequency, the main diet of East Greenland bears, with the exception of OH-PCBs and 4-OH-HpCS, which indicated that these phenolic contaminants were likely of metabolic origin and formed in the bears from accumulated PCBs and octachlorostyrene (OCS), respectively, rather than being bioaccumulated from a seal blubber diet. For all of the detectable sum of classes or individual organohalogens, in general, the ringed seal to polar bear mean BMFs for ΣPCBs, p,p′-DDE, ΣCHLs, ΣMeSO₂-PCBs, 3-MeSO₂-p,p′-DDE, PCP, ΣPBDEs, total-(α)-HBCD, ΣOH-PBDEs, ΣMeO-PBDEs and ΣOH-PBBs indicated that these organohalogens bioaccumulate, and in some cases there was tissue-specific biomagnification, e.g., BMFs for bear adipose and liver ranged from 2 to 570. The blood-brain barrier appeared to be effective in minimizing brain accumulation as BMFs were ≤ 1 in the brain, with the exception of ΣOH-PBBs (mean BMF = 93 ± 54). Unlike OH-PCB metabolites, OH-PBDEs in the bear tissues appeared to be mainly accumulated from the seal blubber rather than being metabolic formed from PBDEs in the bears. In vitro PBDE depletion assays using polar bear hepatic microsomes, wherein the rate of oxidative metabolism of PBDE congeners was very slow, supported the probability that accumulation from seals is the main source of OH-PBDEs in the bear tissues. Our findings demonstrated from ringed seal to polar bears that organohalogen biotransformation, bioaccumulation and/or biomagnification varied widely and depended on the contaminant in question. Our results show the increasing complexity of bioaccumulated and in some cases biomagnified, chlorinated and brominated contaminants and/or metabolites from the diet may be a contributing stress factor in the health of East Greenland polar bears.     

Classification of errors contributing to rail incidents and accidents: A comparison of two human error identification techniques

Identifying the errors that frequently result in the occurrence of rail incidents and accidents can lead to the development of appropriate prevention and/or mitigation strategies. Nineteen rail safety investigation reports were reviewed and two error identification tools, the Human factors analysis and classification system (HFACS) and the Technique for the retrospective and predictive analysis of cognitive errors (TRACEr-rail version), used as the means of identifying and classifying train driver errors associated with rail accidents/incidents in Australia. We aimed to identify the similarities and differences between the techniques in their capacity to identify and classify errors and also to determine how consistently the tools are applied. The HFACS analysis indicated that slips of attention (i.e. ‘skilled based errors’) were the most common ‘unsafe acts’ committed by drivers. The TRACEr-rail analysis indicated that most ‘train driving errors’ were ‘violations’ while most ‘train stopping errors’ were ‘errors of perception’. Both tools identified the underlying factors with the largest impact on driver error to be decreased alertness and incorrect driver expectations/assumptions about upcoming information. Overall, both tools proved useful in categorising driver errors from existing investigation reports, however, each tool appeared to neglect some important and different factors associated with error occurrence. Both tools were found to possess only moderate inter-rater reliability. It is thus recommended that the tools be modified, or a new tool be developed, for complete and consistent error classification.     

Quantification of source-level turbulence during LNG spills onto a water pond

The use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to simulate LNG vapor dispersion scenarios has been growing steadily over the last few years, with applications to LNG spills on land as well as on water. Before a CFD model may be used to predict the vapor dispersion hazard distances for a hypothetical LNG spill scenario, it is necessary for the model to be validated with respect to relevant experimental data. As part of a joint-industry project aimed at validating the CFD methodology, the LNG vapor source term, including the turbulence level associated with the evaporation process vapors was quantified for one of the Falcon tests.This paper presents the method that was used to quantify the turbulent intensity of evaporating LNG, by analyzing the video images of one of the Falcon tests, which involved LNG spills onto a water pond. The measured rate of LNG pool growth and spreading and the quantified turbulence intensity that were obtained from the image analysis were used as the LNG vapor source term in the CFD model to simulate the Falcon-1 LNG spill test. Several CFD simulations were performed, using a vaporization flux of 0.127 kg/m² s, radial and outward spreading velocities of 1.53 and 0.55 m/s respectively, and a range of turbulence kinetic energy values between 2.9 and 28.8 m²/s². The resulting growth and spread of the vapor cloud within the impounded area and outside of it were found to match the observed behavior and the experimental measured data.The results of the analysis presented in this paper demonstrate that a detailed and accurate definition of the LNG vapor source term is critical in order for any vapor cloud dispersion simulation to provide useful and reliable results.