面向突发性水污染事件的三维可视化系统

针对突发性水污染事件的突发性、复杂性与潜在的次生衍生危害等特点,设计并开发了面向突发性水污染事件的三维可视化系统。对建设三维可视化系统的需求进行了分析,提出了系统的四层体系结构,基于三维地理信息系统World Wind组件,采用三维可视化环境建模、海量数据缓存机制以及基础地理信息集成等信息技术,开发了系统的基本应用与高级应用,将系统应用到2005年发生在松花江流域的突发性水污染事件中。实例表明:所设计的三维可视化系统具有集成性、可扩展性和较好三维表现力等特点,支持海量数据与复杂应用的集成与三维展示,为突发性水污染事件的空间模拟和决策支持提供支撑。     

消能减震技术用于C类框架学校建筑提高一度抗震设防加固的探讨

针对既有的C类框架学校建筑提高一度抗震设防的加固目标,从地震作用计算、结构抗震验算和抗震构造措施等方面详细分析了其中的加固难点,指出了应用传统抗震加固方法的一些不足之处,探讨了应用消能减震技术进行结构提高一度抗震设防加固的可行性;并以某C类框架学校建筑加固工程为实例,从减震控制效果分析、弹塑性变形验算、消能部件影响评价、抗震构造措施核查4个方面论证了消能减震加固方法的有效性和可操作性。结果表明,消能减震技术在C类框架学校建筑抗震加固中具有一定的应用优势,不但能有效控制结构的地震响应,而且依据减震效果可以适当降低结构的抗震构造要求。因此,只要通过合理的消能减震加固设计,再辅以额外的局部加强处理,完全可以实现C类框架学校建筑提高一度抗震设防的加固目标需求。     

Increased Bioavailability of Mercury in the Lagoons of Lomé, Togo: The Possible Role of Dredging

Surface sediments of the lagoons of Lomé, Togo, were analyzed for mercury, methylmercury, and trace elements. Concentrations were greater than typical for natural lagoon sediments, and with greater variability within the Eastern lagoon compared to the Western one. The Eastern lagoon is larger and has been dredged in the past, while the Western lagoon, which also receives major waste inputs, has not been dredged and shows less tidal flushing. Accordingly, one naturally believes that the Eastern lagoon is cleaner and probably safe to use due to its natural resources, including fishes to eat. Unexpectedly, we describe here that mercury methylation was greater in the Eastern lagoon, indicating increased bioavailability of mercury, as probably facilitated by past dredging that decreased solid-phase retention of inorganic mercury. Urbanization has historically been more developed in the southern part of the lagoons, which is still reflected in contamination levels of sediment despite dredging, probably because sources of contamination are still more important there today. Such urban contamination emphasizes the need to regulate waste discharges and possible airborne contamination in growing cities of developing countries, and implements environmental and public health monitoring, especially in relation to misbelieves systematically associated with the cleansing effect of dredging activity.     

Global Urban Growth and the Geography of Water Availability,Quality, and Delivery

Globally, urban growth will add 1.5 billion people to cities by 2030, making the difficult task of urban water provisions even more challenging. In this article, we develop a conceptual framework of urban water provision as composed of three axes: water availability, water quality, and water delivery. For each axis, we calculate quantitative proxy measures for all cities with more than 50,000 residents, and then briefly discuss the strategies cities are using in response if they are deficient on one of the axes. We show that 523 million people are in cities where water availability may be an issue, 890 million people are in cities where water quality may be an issue, and 1.3 billion people are in cities where water delivery may be an issue. Tapping into groundwater is a widespread response, regardless of the management challenge, with many cities unsustainably using this resource. The strategies used by cities deficient on the water delivery axis are different than for cities deficient on the water quantity or water quality axis, as lack of financial resources pushes cities toward a different and potentially less effective set of strategies.     

Assessment of oral bioaccessibility of arsenic in playground soil in Madrid (Spain): a three-method comparison and implications for risk assessment

Three methodologies to assess As bioaccessibility were evaluated using playground soil collected from 16 playgrounds in Madrid, Spain: two (Simplified Bioaccessibility Extraction Test: SBET, and hydrochloric acid-extraction: HCl) assess gastric-only bioaccessibility and the third (Physiologically Based Extraction Test: PBET) evaluates mouth-gastric-intestinal bioaccessibility. Aqua regia-extractable (pseudo total) As contents, which are routinely employed in risk assessments, were used as the reference to establish the following percentages of bioaccessibility: SBET - 63.1; HCl - 51.8; PBET - 41.6, the highest values associated with the gastric-only extractions. For Madrid playground soils - characterised by a very uniform, weakly alkaline pH, and low Fe oxide and organic matter contents - the statistical analysis of the results indicates that, in contrast with other studies, the highest percentage of As in the samples was bound to carbonates and/or present as calcium arsenate. As opposed to the As bound to Fe oxides, this As is readily released in the gastric environment as the carbonate matrix is decomposed and calcium arsenate is dissolved, but some of it is subsequently sequestered in unavailable forms as the pH is raised to 5.5 to mimic intestinal conditions. The HCl extraction can be used as a simple and reliable (i.e. low residual standard error) proxy for the more expensive, time consuming, and error-prone PBET methodology. The HCl method would essentially halve the estimate of carcinogenic risk for children playing in Madrid playground soils, providing a more representative value of associated risk than the pseudo-total concentrations used at present.     

Atmospheric particle characterization, distribution, and deposition in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, Central China

Physical characterization and chemical analysis of settled dusts collected in Xi’an from November 2007 to December 2008 show that (1) dust deposition rates ranged from 14.6 to 350.4 g m⁻² yr⁻¹. The average deposition rate (76.7 g m⁻² yr⁻¹) ranks the 11th out of 56 dust deposition rates observed throughout the world. The coal-burning power was the major particle source; (2) on average (except site 4), ∼10% of the settled dusts having size <2.6, ∼30% having size <10.5, and >70% having size <30 μm; (3) the concentrations for 20 out of 27 elements analyzed were upto 18 times higher than their soil background values in China. With such high deposition rates of dusts that contain elevated levels of toxic elements, actions should be taken to reduce emission and studies are needed to assess the potential impacts of settled particles on surface ecosystem, water resource, and human health in the area.     

Environmental assessment of garden waste management in the Municipality of Aarhus, Denmark

An environmental assessment of six scenarios for handling of garden waste in the Municipality of Aarhus (Denmark) was performed from a life cycle perspective by means of the LCA-model EASEWASTE. In the first (baseline) scenario, the current garden waste management system based on windrow composting was assessed, while in the other five scenarios alternative solutions including incineration and home composting of fractions of the garden waste were evaluated. The environmental profile (normalised to Person Equivalent, PE) of the current garden waste management in Aarhus is in the order of −6 to 8 mPE Mg⁻¹ ww for the non-toxic categories and up to 100 mPE Mg⁻¹ ww for the toxic categories. The potential impacts on non-toxic categories are much smaller than what is found for other fractions of municipal solid waste. Incineration (up to 35% of the garden waste) and home composting (up to 18% of the garden waste) seem from an environmental point of view suitable for diverting waste away from the composting facility in order to increase its capacity. In particular the incineration of woody parts of the garden waste improved the environmental profile of the garden waste management significantly.     

福州市城区内河引闽冲污后水质变化趋势及防治对策

简述了福州市城区内河河网结构特点和河网水文特征,对1994年-2003年福州城区内河的水质变化趋势进行了分析和评价。结果表明,自1998年福州市全面开始内河引水冲污工程后,内河水质得到了改善,有机污染得到缓解,基本消除了水体的黑臭现象。指出了在内河整治中存在的一些问题。提出,应优化引水方案,最大限度发挥效益;明确河段的使用功能,发挥其潜能;开展生物防治,建立良性循环的水生生态系统,对内河实施综合管理。     

Urban sustainable energy development: A case study of the city of Philadelphia

Cities throughout the world are key sites for energy sustainability activities. However, analysis of such efforts to date has focused on a sub-set of atypical cities: early adopters and/or world cities. This article undertakes a case-study analysis for an ordinary city, Philadelphia, PA in order to assess the extent to which prior research provides adequate policy explanation for ordinary cities and to gain empirical insight on two under-researched aspects: policy actors, and the policy-making and implementation sites (action sites) for urban energy sustainability. Overall, the types of policy drivers, modes of governance, and enabling factors and barriers in the Philadelphia case fit with prior studies. Focusing on actors and action sites, however, offers insight on the city’s relative policy-making approach based on “non-controversy”, the key role of third-sector actors in both policy-making and implementation, and the diversification of action sites through external-level policy-making operationalised locally nevertheless at the expense of reduced control by urban actors. These findings lead to recommendations for urban energy sustainability research and practice.     

Drought,water access,and urban agriculture: a case study from Silicon Valley

In California, the growing popularity of urban agriculture (UA) has unfolded against a backdrop of historic drought. While UA is often celebrated as an urban sustainability strategy, it must be able to persist during drought if it is to perform these functions. Using Santa Clara County – the geographic core of Silicon Valley – as a case study, we use interviews and surveys to explore the implications of drought for UA. We show how developing an understanding of water access for UA during a drought requires examining the social and institutional context of water management and use. In metropolitan California, the highly decentralised water supply system combined with the diverse institutional arrangements that support UA create an uneven landscape of water access. Consequently, the pressure to change water-consuming practices – that is, the stress that institutional drought responses place on different water users – is geographically and socially differentiated. Among UA water users, responses to drought have also varied, in part because the possibilities for change are constrained by the sociotechnical arrangements of UA sites and the different purposes of UA.