Increasing Local Salience of Climate Change: The Un-tapped Impact of the Media-science Interface

ABSTRACT

The media play a vital role in framing the narrative on climate change, however little work exists to assess the extent to which local media outlets increase public engagement on climate change through interaction and engagement with local academics. As temperatures rise and concerns mount that we have passed the tipping point, local media play a potentially critical role in communicating how climate change exacerbates their impact. Based on a review of extant literature on this topic, and a small pilot email survey, this article argues that scientists could be more active in increasing local salience of climate change by building trusted relationships with local media. Coverage of science in the media could benefit from closer engagement with local scientists as environmental stories often get more coverage in local media (compared to national media) which constitute an important source of knowledge on climate change. This would enable constructive discussions between local media and scientists, better translation of science to publics, increased awareness and interest of science production locally, and ultimately creating a trusted intermediary in the science-public interface.     

Pioneers of ecological restoration: the people and legacy of the University of Wisconsin Arboretum

A focus on communication can provide in-depth understanding of public participation in natural resource management. Analysis of empirical material from a participatory process using the theoretical concepts of discursive closure and discursive opening revealed that openings were achieved, but the perspectives represented in the process were also closed down. The reasons for closures are discussed in terms of structural constraints, with participants shown to have many different constraints and different reasons for making closures. The conclusion is that the type of theoretical analysis presented in this paper could be used by a facilitator in meetings as a participatory tool to investigate closures and open them up to achieve a more deliberative process.     

合流制管网溢流污染过程中溶解性有机污染物演替特征分析

合流制管网溢流（Combined Sewer Overflows,CSOs）是我国城镇地表水环境日益突出的瞬时污染源,明确其重要污染物溶解性有机质（Dissolved Organic Matter,DOM）的组分和来源对CSOs污染控制具有导向性意义.本研究以北运河上游沙河水库流域为对象,连续采集CSOs过程的样品,通过峰值法、特征参数法和平行因子法等解析CSOs中DOM的三维荧光光谱特征,发现CSOs中DOM主要有类色氨酸（S、T）、类富里酸（A）和类酪氨酸（D）,代表内源输入的类色氨酸（S、T）和类酪氨酸（D）占比超过4/5.特征参数法和平行因子法的结果均表明DOM的腐殖化程度较低,生物活性较强,主要为微生物降解生成的和沉积物自身在冲刷和水力输运作用下释放的内源污染,建议CSOs污染控制主要应从内源输入的角度进行,着重控制管道沉积物中污染物的释放.     

基于彼得斯治理理论的京津冀协同发展路径重构

基于彼得斯治理理论,分析了京津冀地区的协同发展现状和要求,重构了其协同发展路径。结果表明:①要素禀赋、区域政策分别是区域协同发展的客观基础和主观条件。②区域协调发展新机制为京津冀地区提出了“坚持以北京和天津尤其是以非首都功能疏解为引领,借助市场力量调动各个主体的积极性,同时注重协同方式(机制)建设”的新要求。③京津冀协同发展路径重构可从“由软硬兼施的市场(市场平台和政府效能)、三维协同的主体(地方政府,中央政府和非政府部门)和富有弹性的方式(临时机构和互动机制)”的“3M”策略入手。     

Transformation of rural communities: lessons from a local self-initiative for building resilience in the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is vulnerable to negative impacts from climate change, where people’s livelihoods and their well-being are threatened, especially the viability of isolated communities. Realising the increasing risks from climate change on communities, government, in partnership with aid-donor partners, has invested millions of dollars in climate change projects, through mitigation and adaptation strategies. As a form of adaptation, the government invests in programmes aimed at increasing the adaptive capacity of the vulnerable communities through landscape and seascape projects across the rural communities. Focusing on the “transformation concept” as a long-term adaptation strategy and enlargement of climate engineering and ecological resilience concepts, the paper discusses why building resilience from transformation of rural communities, as well as from landscape and seascape projects, would benefit communities and relevant authorities. This paper describes the findings of a study on two rural villages, Keigold and Mondo, from Ranogha Islands, Western Province, in Solomon Islands, where 80% of households decided to relocate from their old village “Mondo” to their new home “Keigold” after an earthquake in 2007, as part of a self-initiative. The reallocation process can be seen as a case of pro-active community transformation that provides valuable lessons to other rural communities that may be forced to move due to impacts from natural catastrophes, including those explained by climate change risks. Lessons from this experience suggest that policy-makers and non-government organisations should consider and empower local transformation initiatives as a way to building long-term adaptation to climate change.     

环境行政公益诉讼中检察机关与公众的合作机制研究

《中华人民共和国行政诉讼法》的最新修改增加了检察机关提起行政公益诉讼的规定。从此前试点情况看,生态环境和资源保护案件在行政公益诉讼案件中占比最大,加之"生态文明"入宪,此类案件在今后一段时间依然会是行政公益诉讼的重点。制度虽已建立但落实千头万绪,检察机关面临诸多困境。在党的十九大提出的构建"全民共治"的环境治理体系框架下,基于此类诉讼的公益性,寻找公众与检察机关之间的合作空间,可以实现多赢。     

突发性水环境应急监测中快速定性未知有机污染物及案例分析

近年来我国水环境突发性污染事故呈逐年上升趋势,但目前还没有形成一套规范和完整的应急监测体系。结合3个具体案例,介绍了一套操作性、针对性强的突发性水环境应急监测工作方法。提出,在检测未知挥发性有机物时,首先采用便携式气相色谱-质谱仪对污染物进行初筛,再用台式气相色谱-质谱联用仪做准确定性;在检测未知半挥发性有机物时,主要采用液液萃取法进行前处理,采用台式气相色谱-质谱联用仪对污染物定性。该方法能够快速、高效地鉴定出样品中未知有机污染物的种类,可为今后类似的突发性水环境污染事故提供参考。     

Time‐Dependent Health Risk from Contaminated Groundwater Including Use of Reliability,Resilience, and Vulnerability as Measures

Traditionally, assessment of human health risk caused by contamination of a water supply focuses on the maximum risk to an individual. Here, we introduce a time‐dependent risk assessment method and adapt and explore the reliability, resilience, and vulnerability (RRV) criteria from the surface‐water literature as possible tools for assessing this risk. Time‐dependent risk assessment, including RRV, is applied to two synthetic examples where water quality at a well varies over time. We calculate time‐dependent health risks for discrete periods of exposure to the contaminated water for a variable population. The RRV criteria provide information about time‐dependent risk: probability of an acceptable risk, probability of system recovery, maximum risk, and average exceedance of a prescribed risk threshold. The results demonstrate that episodic contamination events produce fundamentally different time‐dependent risks than long‐term events: these differences, such as generally lower risks for the episodic contamination, can be captured via plots of the risk and the RRV criteria. Furthermore, the evaluation of time‐dependent health risk and the RRV criteria demonstrates significant sensitivity to the shape of the contaminant breakthrough curve, length of exposure, and variability within the population. Overall, analysis of time‐dependent health risks provides substantial insight into the structure of risk, with RRV providing a reasonable framework for the evaluation of these risks.     

低可见度情况下从众行为对疏散的影响分析

在火灾等紧急情况下,可见度较低时的行人疏散与正常时的疏散情况有明显的区 别。基于前人成果的基础上,通过引入从众效应阐述了可见度较低时的元胞自动机疏散 理论模型,并定义区分了普遍性从众、理性从众和盲目从众。研究结果表明:理性从众 对疏散能够起到良好的优化作用;盲目从众对疏散的作用效果具有不可预测性,在某些 情况下盲目从众甚至会对疏散起到严重阻碍的作用。因此,建议在条件允许的条件下积 极采用理性从众的行为方式,尽量避免采用盲目从众。研究还发现,理性从众对疏散的 优化效果基本不受初始行人数量、出口宽度和可视距离的影响。