Are we planning for sustainable disaster recovery? Evaluating recovery plans after the Wenchuan earthquake

This article examines local recovery plans that were created in response to the Wenchuan earthquake and then suggests ways that planners can better apply the concept of sustainability to the recovery process. We utilize a plan evaluation protocol to analyze 16 recovery plans in counties and towns that were severely affected by the earthquake. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with public officials and planners, with the qualitative data gleaned from these interviews being used to supplement the plan quality assessment. The results reveal that local recovery plans do not appear to have incorporated sufficiently the concepts of sustainability. We conclude the paper with the following recommendations: emphasizing sustainability as a policy priority during vision and goal development; developing solid databases and planning techniques; designing a diversified set of regulatory- and incentive-based policy tools suitable for local governments; enhancing social and institutional learning; and further integrating multi-level and interagency governmental units.     

Investigating the key indicators for evaluating post‐disaster shelter

This study sought to identify the primary indicators for evaluating shelter assistance following natural disasters and then to develop a shelter evaluation instrument based on these indicators. Electronic databases and the ‘grey’ literature were scoured for publications with a relation to post‐disaster shelter assistance. Indicators for evaluating such assistance were extracted from these publications. In total, 1,525 indicators were extracted from 181 publications. A preliminary evaluation instrument was designed from these 1,525 indicators. Shelter experts checked the instrument for face and content validity, and it was revised subsequently based on their input. The revised instrument comprises a version for use by shelter agencies (48 questions that assess 23 indicators) and a version for use by beneficiaries (52 questions that assess 22 indicators). The instrument can serve as a standardised tool to enable groups to gauge whether or not the shelter assistance that they supply meets the needs of disaster‐affected populations.     

农作物病虫害专业化防治服务对农药施用强度的影响

农药过量施用已造成严重的负外部性。推行农作物病虫害专业化统防统治服务可以实现安全、科学、合理用药,有效缓解农业面源污染问题和提升食品的质量安全水平。为了探究病虫害专业化统防统治服务在缓解农业面源污染方面的效果,文章利用全国七省水稻病虫害专业化防治服务调查数据,基于倾向得分匹配方法(PSM),剔除样本自选择内生性问题的影响,分析农户将水稻病虫害防治环节外包给植保专业化服务组织("统防统治")与"自防自治"户相比使用农药的种类和施用次数的差异,即植保专业化防治是否取得了较好的环境效应。研究结果表明,植保专业化服务显著减少了农药施用强度,提高了无公害低毒农药的采用比例;并且其效果在小农户和规模种植大户之间存在明显差异,与采纳病虫害统防统治服务的规模种植大户相比,小规模种植户在采纳病虫害统防统治服务后在降低农药施用强度,提高无公害低毒农药的应用比例方面效果更显著。基于此,文章建议强化对植保专业化防治项目的财政扶持力度,提高病虫害专业化防治覆盖率;重点鼓励小规模种植户采纳病虫害统防统治服务;鼓励农户土地流转,促进农业生产规模化经营,加强对种植专业户的病虫害防治方面的培训和引导,并着力发挥专业大户的示范带头作用,提高统防统治的效率,从而促进食品质量安全水平的提升和农业生态环境的保护。     

中国新克强指数的构建与实证分析

随着中国经济进入新常态,英国《经济学人》杂志构建的克强指数已无法反映中国经济的全貌,如何客观地反映中国经济的真实状况成为一个迫切需要解决的现实问题。为更好地测度中国经济运行的真实状况,本文根据李克强总理提出的"未来会更加关注就业、居民收入和生态环境的持续改善"的愿景,在原有克强指数的基础上,增加年末就业人员数、农村居民家庭人均纯收入、城镇居民家庭人均可支配收入等就业和收入方面的指标,使用中国1995—2015年的相关数据和层次分析法构建了克强指数的修订版本即新克强指数,并将新克强指数与GDP增长率、克强指数进行了比较,发现新克强指数在反映中国经济波动和经济整体运行状态上有更为优良的性质。与GDP增长率相比,新克强指数克服了服务业比重提高带来的熨平效应,进而灵敏地反映中国经济波动情况,并对异常事件更加具有敏感性。相对于克强指数而言,新克强指数破除了因中国在第二产业上存在失衡性发展所带来的经济波动的杠杆效应,降低了经济增长中的虚假成分,从而与中国经济运行的整体关联度更为密切。此外,相对于克强指数而言,新克强指数在反映经济景气方面有着较好的时效性与关联性。采用时差相关分析法对新克强指数与宏观经济指标之间的关系进行分析,发现新克强指数在反映第一产业增加值、第三产业增加值、最终消费支出、资本形成总额、对外贸易、通货膨胀等方面具有优势。研究表明:新克强指数是更适宜测度中国经济的多元评价指标,为测度中国经济运行的真实状况提供了科学的参考依据。     

电厂建设运行中的水土流失预测与水土保持设计

在燃煤电厂建设运行的同时,将引起一系列的水土流失问题.以四川国电金堂电厂二期扩建工程为例,简要说明项目区水土流失预测的内容和方法,并在其基础上对可能产生的水土流失和危害进行了分析,同时介绍了建设期和运行期采取的综合防治措施,为类似工程的水土保持提供借鉴.     

基于生态位理论的京津冀城市生态文明评价

生态文明评价体系是明确生态文明建设现状、定位生态文明建设存在问题的关键。从城市群视角出发引入生态位理论,界定生态文明位内涵,构建涵盖社会子系统生态位—经济子系统生态位—资源环境子系统生态位共29项指标的城市生态文明评价指标体系,并提出相对生态文明位和生态经济指数的二维模型,测算京津冀城市群6个案例城市在2007—2011年的生态文明建设水平、趋势以及地位。结果显示,2011年北京生态文明水平(相对生态文明位)最高,邢台生态文明水平最低,石家庄、秦皇岛、承德、天津生态文明水平分别排名第2、第3、第4、第5。2007—2011年,北京、承德、邢台生态文明水平呈现波动下降趋势,而秦皇岛、石家庄、天津呈现小幅上升趋势;但生态经济指数测算显示,北京的经济社会发展对于生态资源环境的占用消耗大,承德有较好的经济发展潜力。并基于该二维模型,将京津冀城市生态文明建设分为4种类型:发展失衡型、相对和谐型、高质量发展型、资源环境优势型,分别确定城市生态文明建设重点,为京津冀协同发展提供了指导依据。     

福州市城市化进程与大气污染关系研究

以福州市为研究区域,选取福州市1996—2012年的时间序列数据,将大气污染物浓度作为被解释变量,城市化水平作为解释变量,分别设定二次曲线模型和三次曲线模型,通过比较PM10、SO2、NO2浓度与城市化水平的二次曲线和三次曲线模型的回归拟合效果,得出福州市大气污染与城市化水平之间的演化规律。结果表明,1996—2012年,福州市城市化水平平稳上升,城市的大气污染程度与城市化水平之间的关系并不完全符合"倒U型"的环境库兹涅茨曲线,不同的污染物类型具有不同的演化规律。PM10、SO2与城市化水平呈"倒N型"的曲线关系;NO2与城市化水平之间呈现"倒U型"曲线关系。由于研究的时间序列较短,因而研究结果可能只是真实曲线的一部分,福州市的大气污染与城市化水平之间的关系还有待进一步研究。     

利用卫星遥感评估广西壮族自治区SO_2减排成效

基于2005—2012年OMI卫星遥感PBL SO2柱浓度数据分析了广西壮族自治区SO2污染的时空格局和变化特征,并结合燃煤火电厂SO2排放模型估算与工业经济增长数据,在时间、空间尺度上分析了自治区内不同区域的SO2污染对火电厂烟气脱硫政策的响应以及所呈现出的减排成效。结果表明,广西因火电厂脱硫政策驱动的SO2污染改善具有显著的空间异质性,自治区内高污染区的SO2浓度在2011—2012年出现了显著下降,而低污染区的SO2浓度则在8年中持续增长;排放模型估算结果显示,烟气脱硫驱动的火电厂SO2减排贡献将在2008年后持续下降,而遥感观测结果显示,广西全区SO2半年浓度均值总体呈现波动上升趋势,2005—2012年浓度增加了8.6%、年均增长约0.9%;综合工业经济增长数据发现,近年来其他工业源的增量排放已给广西SO2减排带了新挑战,而这一变化仍未得到相关决策部门关注,存在明显缺陷的SO2统计排放量数据尚未得到修正。针对上述污染变化新特征,政府相关部门应引起足够重视,尽快更新完善污染源信息并启动针对其他污染源的限排措施,以确保环境持续改善。     

Co-composting of livestock manure with rice straw: Characterization and establishment of maturity evaluation system

Composting is considered to be a primary treatment method for livestock manure and rice straw, and high degree of maturity is a prerequisite for safe land application of the composting products. In this study pilot-scale experiments were carried out to characterize the co-composting process of livestock manure with rice straw, as well as to establish a maturity evaluation index system for the composts obtained. Two pilot composting piles with different feedstocks were conducted for 3 months: (1) swine manure and rice straw (SM–RS); and (2) dairy manure and rice straw (DM–RS). During the composting process, parameters including temperature, moisture, pH, total organic carbon (TOC), organic matter (OM), different forms of nitrogen (total, ammonia and nitrate), and humification index (humic acid and fulvic acid) were monitored in addition to germination index (GI), plant growth index (PGI) and Solvita maturity index. OM loss followed the first-order kinetic model in both piles, and a slightly faster OM mineralization was achieved in the SM–RS pile. Also, the SM–RS pile exhibited slightly better performance than the DM–RS according to the evolutions of temperature, OM degradation, GI and PGI. The C/N ratio, GI and PGI could be included in the maturity evaluation index system in which GI > 120% and PGI > 1.00 signal mature co-composts.     

Chemical oxidation of sulfadiazine by the Fenton process: Kinetics,pathways, toxicity evaluation

This paper investigated sulfadiazine oxidation by the Fenton process under various reaction conditions. The reaction conditions tested in the experiments included the initial pH value of reaction solutions, and the dosages of ferrous ions and hydrogen peroxide. Under the reaction conditions with pH 3, 0.25 mM of ferrous ion and 2 mM of hydrogen peroxide, a removal efficiency of nearly 100% was achieved for sulfadiazine. A series of intermediate products including 4-OH-sulfadiazine/or 5-OH-sulfadiazine, 2-aminopyrimidine, sulfanilamide, formic acid, and oxalic acid were identified. Based on these products, the possible oxidation pathway of sulfadiazine by Fenton's reagent was proposed. The toxicity evaluation of reaction solutions showed increased antimicrobial effects following the Fenton oxidation process. The results from this study suggest that the Fenton oxidation process could remove sulfadiazine, but also increase solution toxicity due to the presence of more toxic products.